Piper wanted to lie in the sunlight forever—it had been so many months since she’d felt its warm caress on her skin—but she couldn’t ignore her thirst any longer. After a few more minutes, she heaved herself to her feet with a sigh and looked around.

  A valley spread out beneath her, a verdant carpet of trees blanketing the steep slope. In the far distance, she spotted a fair-sized village, with smoke curling up from the chimneys. When she turned around, she was confronted by sprawling ruins that led up to a towering mountain range, the snow-capped peaks partially obscured by clouds.

  Turning back toward the village, she tried to gauge the distance. But it had been so long since she had walked anywhere, she had no idea how long it would take to reach it. Still, if she left now, she would probably arrive in a few hours. After all, how long could it take to walk down a hill?

  Her body was telling her to rest—she was still exhausted from her strange ordeal in what she was calling the tomb—but she didn’t want to get stuck out here at night. Who knew what sorts of monsters came out when it was dark? The last thing she wanted was to be gobbled up on her first day in a new world. Plus, the village probably had all sorts of tasty food. If she hurried, they might give her a big dinner.

  Lifting her chin slightly, she started down the steep hill. The surrounding forest was mostly made up of scraggly pine trees, their roots barely clinging to the rocky soil. But as she descended, the forest slowly transformed into leafy trees, with thick bushes that clawed at her dress.

  In the distance, she heard a howl that sent a shiver up her spine. She really didn’t like being out here alone. To be honest, she hadn’t been on her own for as long as she could remember. Since her disease had gotten worse, either her mom or dad had always been at her side. And at the hospital, she constantly had doctors and nurses checking on her.

  The thought of her parents made a lump form in her throat. Somehow, she would find a way to see them again. There must be something like a portal spell in this world. Wouldn’t they be surprised when she popped out of a portal with a new tail in the near future.

  Piper stopped when she came across a tiny mountain stream. The sight of the clear water sharpened her already overpowering thirst. But she was a bit nervous about taking a drink. According to the survival shows her dad watched, you should never drink untreated water.

  She pressed her lips together, trying to remember why she shouldn’t drink from a stream. Was it pollution? Or something else? Why hadn’t she paid attention to his silly shows? Now that she thought of it, she was pretty sure it had something to do with bad bacteria.

  However, in her mind, she couldn’t see anything being cleaner than a mountain stream. Regardless, she wasn’t going to get much farther without something to drink. If anything went wrong, she could always ask for some medicine from the village. In the worst-case scenario, she got an upset stomach.

  Kneeling down, she cupped her hands and brought up a mouthful of water. She nearly gasped with pleasure as the cold liquid trickled down her throat. Nothing in her life had ever tasted so good. She hurriedly scooped up a second handful, drinking until her stomach was sloshing with liquid.

  Now that her thirst had been quenched, she felt a bit of her strength returning. Her mood also began to improve as she continued her journey down the steep hill. She wondered what she would find at the bottom. Would there be humans or something else in the village? She’d love to meet an elf. Or maybe a beastkin. Catgirls had always been her favorite in anime shows.

  She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she almost missed the sound of something big moving through the trees. At the last second, a snapping branch announced an approaching creature. She ducked behind a moss-covered tree trunk and peered out from the side.

  At first, she couldn’t make anything out through the dense brush. Then a creature the size of a house, covered in brown fur, stomped past her position. It took her a second to realize she was looking at a mammoth. An honest to goodness, real-life mammoth. More appeared after the first one, an entire herd passing close to her hiding place.

  She held her breath until they had passed, in awe of the majestic creatures. No one back home would ever believe that she’d seen a mammoth. She hadn’t even had the chance to see an elephant before; the zoo in her hometown had re-homed them to a sanctuary down south when she was just a little girl.

  But it had always been her dream to see one. And now she’d seen a mammoth. This place was awesome!

  When she stepped out of cover, she moved more cautiously. If there were mammoths in this world, then there might be saber-tooth tigers. And whatever else liked to eat mammoths. She repeated to herself that she did not want to get eaten on her first day here.

  Piper continued to walk, the sun rising overhead and then beginning its descent. After a few hours had passed, she realized she must have misjudged the distance to the village. She stumbled to a stop as a horrifying thought occurred to her—what if she had already passed it?

  The hill had flattened out a while ago, and she had no way to judge her position. What if she had just walked blissfully past her destination? She might be heading deeper into the forest, where she would starve or get eaten by a monster.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  With her anxiety compounding by the second, she broke into a run, desperately searching for any sign of civilization. Thankfully, a few minutes later, she stumbled across a deeply rutted road. The rush of relief almost made her sag to her knees, and her legs felt like jelly. Though that might just be because she hadn’t eaten anything all day.

  She picked a direction on the road she hoped led toward the village and continued on her way. After what felt like another hour, she finally came within view of a farm. It wasn’t a village, but it had what looked like a longhouse, a few outbuildings, and rows of neatly tended crops.

  At the sight of her, a young girl pointed in her direction and then ran screaming back toward the house. Piper stood there dumbfounded, watching the girl disappear into the longhouse. Why was she screaming?

  Then she realized what she must look like. In her haste to reach the village, she never thought about how they might react to her appearance if they were human. She had porcelain-white skin, a tail, and little horn-like nubs. She must look like a monster to them.

  Oh no, what if they attack me? She thought with growing fear. What if they hate my species?

  How could she have been so dumb to just walk up to them? They might even try to take her prisoner… or worse.

  Piper backed away slowly, trying to figure out what to do. She didn’t want to head back into the forest, but she had no idea what would happen to her if she stayed here.

  Her fears were confirmed a moment later when a man and woman tore out of the house. The woman clutched a club in one hand, while the man held a wicked-looking axe. They stopped a short distance from the front door. Both of them looked ready to fight.

  Since they hadn’t attacked her yet, she took a step forward. “Hello!” she called out, waving her hand. “I was hoping you could help me.”

  The woman’s eyebrows shot up, and she exchanged a look with her husband. She had braided blond hair, a simple dress, and a slender build. Meanwhile, the man looked like he was descended from the mountains themselves. His arms were as thick as tree trunks, and he had a broad barrel chest. A short beard sprouted from his weathered face like a prickly bush, giving him a menacing look.

  When neither of them replied, she continued, “Do you speak my language?”

  “Aye, we speak your tongue, foul demon,” the man spat. “Now get out of here before I split your skull with my axe.”

  Demon? She thought in shock. They think I’m a demon?

  “Please,” Piper said. “I’m not a demon. I don’t even know where I am. I woke up in some sort of tomb, and then I walked down the mountain. On my way down, I saw some woolly mammoths, which were really cool…” She trailed off as she realized that she was babbling.

  The couple glanced at each other again, and the woman lowered her weapon slightly. She touched the man’s arm and then stepped forward.

  “What’s your name?” she asked gently.

  “I… I’m Piper,” she said, sniffling as she realized she had tears running down her cheeks. When had she started crying?

  She fought back more tears as everything that had happened to her today hit her like a truck. After dying and crawling her way out of the tomb, the last thing she needed was for the first people she met to start calling her a demon.

  “What happened to you, Piper?” the woman asked softly. “How did you end up here?”

  “I… died?” she said, realizing how crazy that sounded. “Afterwards, I woke up in this body. I know that’s hard to believe, but it’s what really happened.”

  “She’s reincarnated,” the woman breathed. “I’ve only heard about that in legends.”

  The man shook his head. “Demons lie. It’s what they do. If we let that thing near our house, it will slay us all in our sleep.”

  “Nonsense,” the woman said before turning her gaze back to Piper. “I’m Ethel, and this is my husband, Alfred. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you break bread with us?”

  Piper nodded her head slowly, sniffling again. The man’s look of hatred hadn’t faded, but Ethel seemed friendly enough. The woman’s sudden kindness nearly brought her to tears a second time. She couldn’t believe the woman was showing someone who looked like her compassion.

  Glancing back at her twitching tail, she frowned, feeling slightly betrayed. Nothing in the prompt when she’d died said anything about being reborn as a demon. That was blatant false advertising. If she ran into the god who summoned her here, she was going to have some words for them.

  As she took a step forward, Alfred tightened his grip on the axe until his knuckles went white. But when Ethel shook her head, he grudgingly lowered it slightly. She noted that he kept the weapon at the ready as he went back toward the house. Alfred took up a position next to the door as Ethel stepped inside.

  Piper hesitantly slipped past him, worried he might whack her with his axe. But aside from his dour glower, he didn’t react to her entering the home.

  She stepped inside and stared around in a state of complete culture shock. She had thought this was their house, but it was more like a barn with an open-air kitchen and a sleeping area. At least that’s what she suspected the pile of hay and blankets were for.

  On the far side of the long house, numerous animals were crowded into the space. There were cows, pigs, goats, chickens, and even a horse. And you could smell them. The entire place reeked. It was so bad she swore that it burned her nose. How could they live with animals in here?

  Piper belatedly realized that Ethel was motioning her over to a table near a roaring fire. She timidly approached and took a seat. As she did, the woman placed a loaf of bread and what looked like a bucket of butter on the table.

  Ethel broke the bread and then slathered some butter on its surface with a wooden spoon. She passed the hunk of bread to Piper and watched her expectantly.

  With a glance back at Alfred, who was looming over them, Piper took a tentative bite. Flavor flooded through her mouth, and she closed her eyes as she savored it. The bread was wonderfully chewy, while the butter was nice and salty.

  “Are you going to eat some?” Piper asked, covering her mouth as she chewed.

  Ethel only shook her head.

  Piper finished the bread and fought down the urge to lick her fingers.

  Once she was done, Ethel turned to look at her husband. “No aspectborn can accept hospitality if they mean harm to the inhabitants of a house.”

  Her eyes went wide as she realized this whole thing had been a test. She’d truly believed that Ethel had trusted her. Then again, Alfred had said demons lied. They must deal with them regularly.

  “Now,” Ethel said, turning back to Piper. “I want to hear your entire story.”

  Piper nodded and began to tell Ethel everything that had happened to her so far. It was going to take a while to relay her tale, but hopefully they would offer her some more of the delicious bread before she was done.