I blinked through tired eyes as I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, my mind still hazy after waking up.

  I tried to look around the room but my neck felt heavy. Far more than I remembered it being. It was like someone had strapped weights to my head just above the temples. My body felt odd as well, maybe I was on some kind of drug or something because it felt like my body was smoother than I remembered. I could feel straps lightly binding my arms and legs, securing them to the bed, but more importantly, I felt a completely new appendage.

  A tail?

  I tried to move it, and it actually responded! It was a strange sensation. But for some reason it felt right. Like this was the way it’s always been. My delirious mind must’ve been playing tricks on me because that obviously wasn’t true.

  I once more strained the muscles in my neck, attempting to get a better look.

  Though my muscles ached in protest, I managed to get a glimpse of myself before they gave out, forcing me to rest them once again.

  Pinkish white scales covered my body. Small, but sharp claws extended from where my fingernails once were. I couldn’t see the tail, but I noticed a lump underneath the thin white bed sheets confirming its existence.

  Just where the hell was I? What happened? Why am I in this strange body?

  I swallowed and noticed my teeth were sharp as well, almost like fangs.

  I closed my eyes, letting my aching neck recover as I focused on my memories, trying to find some clue. A flash of headlights, an impact, sirens, then darkness. My eyes snapped open once more.

  I was in a car crash! A bad one too if I remember correctly. But that still didn’t explain my new body. Or the technology I’ve never seen before.

  I looked at the seemingly holographic screen nearby. It was bluish in color and hovered above a black box sitting on a stand. It was flashing red with a big “ERROR” notice plastered in the center.

  Yeah…We definitely didn’t have that kind of tech last time I checked. And we definitely couldn’t change a human girl into some lizard hybrid!

  That flashing screen was starting to worry me. I hoped that this was just some kind of future hospital or something, and not a secret government lab.

  But a government lab would make more sense, considering my new body and all the fancy tech scattered around the room and embedded in the walls.

  I closed my eyes once more and let a long sigh escape my lips.

  There was nothing I could do right now. Best to just wait and see what happens.

  ———

  “Will she be okay, doctor?” a concerned woman’s voice woke me once more, but I kept my eyes closed for now. I might be able to get some additional information if they thought I was still sleeping.

  “As far as I can tell, yes, Lady Ordon. Aside from normal muscle atrophy stemming from disuse, there will be no complications in her recovery.” A deep sophisticated male voice this time.

  “Why is she still asleep then? You said she woke up!” That one sounded younger, young adult woman maybe?

  “She woke up from her coma a few hours ago, but fell back to sleep before our medical teams could arrive.” I peeked my right eye open in the direction of the one they referred to as doctor and had to fight the urge to jump in surprise!

  He was an orc! Like from those sci-fi or fantasy games! He was huge, covered in rippling muscles, and had large tusks sprouting from his lower jaw. His imposing presence loomed over the room. His large frame casting a shadow over me. This whole situation was crazy! Orcs in the stories I’d read depicted them as brutish and dumb, but this orc was wearing a futuristic doctor’s outfit!

  He adjusted his glasses that seemed too small for his eyes and continued.

  “We have administered some drugs to bring her to wakefulness, she should be coming to any moment now.” His answer was calm, composed, like he had to deal with concerned people on a regular basis. “I suggest you calm yourselves so you do not end up startling her.”

  “Then why did you have her strapped down?!” the younger voice questioned again and I couldn’t help but silently agree. Why had they had me strapped down? If I was in a coma I wouldn’t be going anywhere. I half expected the doctor to react defensively to that, but he just sighed.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Because of how weak she is in her current state.” The big, intimidating orc explained softly. “Patients can hurt themselves if they freak out after waking from a long coma. Had she attempted to leave on her own, she would have just injured herself further.”

  That… well that actually made a lot of sense. But I still haven’t heard anything about how my body has been changed!

  I slowly peeped out of my other eye and saw…humans mixed with dragons?

  Drakanians. A single word rose into my mind unabated. How did I know that?

  Their horns swept back through their glossy dark hair, scales stippled their cheeks and forearms, and long tails swishing casually to and fro as they unconsciously maintained their balance. Come to think of it, they looked similar to the brief view I had of myself.

  Was that the reason my head felt heavy? I had horns now?

  Just what was going on here?

  The two dragons went silent after the doctor’s explanation and turned to look at each other. The doctor sighed tiredly and went back to checking some of his notes.

  Should I still pretend to be asleep? They didn’t seem to have any bad intentions. In fact, the two Drakanians seemed to genuinely care about my well being, and the orc doctor was treating me more like I was a patient rather than a research subject.

  I swallowed, gathering my courage, and slowly opened my eyes fully.

  The younger Drakanian wearing a white hoodie noticed almost immediately and rushed to my side with a relieved expression spreading over her face.

  “Nyxia! You’re awake! How are you feeling? Are you okay? I can hardly believe it’s been over a year since the accident!” She seemed to realize how close she was and pulled back while wringing her hands.

  “I was starting to worry that you’d never wake up! I’m sorry for putting you in that situation! It was all my fault.” I blinked in confusion as her high pitched, rapid fire voice bombarded me with her exclamations, as her face gradually shifted from relief to… guilt?

  I hadn’t expected that kind of response, and didn’t know how to answer. She called me Nyxia? Or was that some kind of new expression I was unfamiliar with?

  This whole thing just left me with more questions than answers. And before I knew it, I was spouting those questions out loud.

  “Um, I’m sorry? An accident? What’s going on? Who are you?” I quickly regretted speaking, as all of their faces held signs of shock, confusion, or sadness.

  “You don’t… remember us?” The older Drakanian got over her shock before the others and spoke softly. Like she didn’t quite believe what she had heard. Her eyes were starting to water.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t…I don’t think so?” I felt bad now. Had I somehow taken over someone else’s body or something? I mentally shook my head, even if that was the case, it was something I could consider later.

  Luckily their focus turned to the doctor. Hopefully there was some kind of explanation. For all of us.

  But, unfortunately, the doctor looked just as surprised as the rest of us. He quickly started tapping away on the holographic screen I had seen earlier. I could barely hear him mumbling something but couldn't pick out anything clearly.

  “Hmm, the readings don’t show any brain damage.” He soon turned back to the dragons while scratching his chin in thought. “While quite rare, it is not unheard of to suffer memory loss after recovering from such a long coma. It is unfortunate, but there is very little I can do on that front. I apologize, Lady Ordon.”

  His words caused the two of them to slump slightly as they turned their gazes to me.

  I still didn’t know how to react to this whole situation, so I kept silent. With how everyone was acting, I was now completely convinced that this was no longer the earth I knew. But what it was exactly was still a complete mystery to me.

  ———

  I was kind of in shock for a while after that initial encounter, and barely noticed that they had put me in some kind of futuristic wheelchair and wheeled me out of the hospital and onto a small landing pad.

  There was a strange hovercraft thing that was similar to a long rectangle with a slanted cockpit and arched rear. The tinted windows prevented me from seeing inside. It was hovering just above the pad using four, powerful-looking engines that emitted a low green shimmer as it floated in place. At first, it didn’t look like it had doors but to my surprise, as we approached, two panels popped out with a hiss of air and slid off the side as a ramp extended down.

  Either these people, this body’s family, were rich, or the standard of living was vastly superior to those living on earth.

  It was the former I quickly realized as we flew above a vast sprawling metropolis of bright lights and towering buildings that put even the most modern of Earth’s cities to shame.

  The flight was surprisingly quiet as we flew toward a wealthy-looking district in the distance. Neither the sound of the engines nor the city reached the interior, probably due to some sound dampening tech. I was almost worried that I would get bombarded with questions now that we were alone, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.

  I liked the quiet. It gave me time to press my face against the window and stare, wide eyed at all the amazing sci-fi looking building and structures as more of the city came into view as we glided above the buildings.

  The city was made up of six, massive hexagons that connected with a seventh in the center. Each one separated by river running between them. One of the hexagons even touched a vast ocean that stretched into the distance.

  My eyes must have been playing tricks on me, because for a moment I thought I saw a huge leviathan coiling underneath the ocean waves.

  Yeah, no way that was real, right?

  We had taken off from the central hexagon, I guess I should call it the city center? And were making our way to rather wealthy-looking hexagon that was bordering a large forest with trees so massive that I could see their trunks even from this distance.

  “Nyxia, we’re almost home, okay?”

  I looked over to the kind face of my… sister? Yeah my older sister. Or at least, older sister to the body I was now inhabiting. She said her name Valerie, right? I’ll go with that.

  “Oh, okay, thanks… Valerie.” I forced down my guilt as I said those words, but at least it earned me a happy smile for remembering her name.

  My thoughts were once again interrupted as we started our descent.