LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Pulled Into Another World
The wind whispered secrets of power, and in this primal world where fierce beasts roamed, power belonged to dragons.
Living legends, scales shimmering like a thousand emeralds under the sun, and masters of the land and sky.
Hence, to see a dragon was to know your place in the world.
And that is beneath them.
Dragons are epitome of both awe and fear.
A creature that soared through the skies, commanding respect and authority wherever they went. Nothing dared to challenge their divine presence.
However, today, something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Aaaaahhh!"
A sharp cry filled with shock and helplessness came forth.
A colossal female dragon with a breathtaking glossy jade scales had been soaring above the clouds, enjoying the thrill of flight while in a drunken stupor, when a strange energy pulled her into a swirling vortex. She struggled, her claws raking against the air as she tried to break free, but the force was too powerful.
In an instant, the vortex swallowed her whole, and with a painful snap, everything went dark.
"Ugh... How badly did I crash? Everything's hurting!" groaned the girl only to find herself in a crampy fetal position. Still a bit dazed.
She felt the gentle hum of vibrations around her, an unfamiliar sense of confinement and softness.
When Nimue's eyes flickered open, the first thing she noticed was the absence of…everything. The weight of her wings, the thrum of power in her chest, the feel of the wind whipping past her snout.
All gone.
She was no longer in her dragon form!
It wasn't only that but her body was... smaller, confined, and strange.
Her mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening as she realized she was no longer in her own world—or her own body!
She was inside a delicate, almost suffocating prison of silky threads which oddly had sweet refreshing scent.
"Where the hell am I? Is this... a cocoon?"
No. Wait. Why would she be in a fucking cocoon?!
Nimue thought while struggling against the silken cage.
"How? How did I end up on one?" Her words faltered seemingly dumbfounded.
Confusion tangled her thoughts like the sticky threads of silk around her.
Soon, a sense of dread and frustration enveloped her.
"Oh no! Did I mistakenly trigger an ancient array while flying?! Darn it! Nimue you dumb girl! Just... Just how drunk did you get yourself after losing another egg?" she harshly berated herself while biting her trembling lips in agony. Followed by a daunting, helpless sigh like she was carrying the weight of the world.
Tears welled up in her weary aureate eyes.
"I'm starting to hate this fuck-up life! Am I truly cursed to die alone without leaving a descendant?! What have I done to deserve such cruel fate?" Nimue flashed self-deprecating smile, her tone filled with bitterness and sorrow.
When all of a sudden...
"What… what on earth is going on?!"
Panic surged through her as she examined herself. She was no longer a majestic dragon, the embodiment of poison and flame.
She was a... bee?
"You must be kidding me!!"
How the hell? How could this be?
Was she really cursed?
And turned into a measly, tiny bee with wings that fluttered in desperation to escape its prison?!
Her memories flickered like sparks in the dark, but the truth was clear.
She had been transmigrated and her current situation was a dreadful one at that.
Suddenly, the cocoon trembled slightly as something—or rather, someone—pressed against her from outside.
Worker bees, several of them, were hovering near the cocoon. She could hear their anxious, frantic buzzing, and... an unmistakable buzz of danger coming from a hostile group.
"Move, everyone move quickly!" one of the bees shouted, its voice laced with fear. "We have to get the new queen out of here safely before it's too late—" But it was too late! There was no hiding from the approaching throng of a murderous colony.
As expected, it wasn't long after when Nimue heard the terrifying roar of a much larger swarm, their vicious, angry buzz cutting through the air like a storm.
"Don't let them get away! All threats to our Mother must be eradicated. There must only be one queen to rule the entire colony in all of the Phoenix Mountains!"
---
As her cocoon was gently moved through the air, Nimue felt her world tilt. The buzzing grew louder, and the worker bees around her panicked, desperate to escape.
"Hey, calm down, calm the fuck down! These little... ugh! Seriously, how can you fly so carelessly like an amateurs when you guys are flying all your meager lives—ouch, my head! Stop tossing me around like measley pebble!"
Nimue frustratingly shouted inside while trying to find her way out of her restrictions.
"If this goes on, I'll end up beaten black and blue before I even get to see the outside world and do something about this terrible situation—"
Before she could process anything more, a sharp growl cut through the air, followed by the terrifying buzz of an incoming swarm. Nimue's heart raced. She could feel the bees around her scattered, their flight frantic, leaving her cocoon to dangle, suspended in the chaos.
Then, with no warning, the ground beneath her trembled. The violent buzzing stopped abruptly.
Pain seared through her as one of the worker bees, struck by something large, tumbled to the earth with a dreadful thud and dragging her along unable to brace the impact.
"Ugh! This... is... why ha... I told you to be careful! Gosh my head... It hurts so bad." The girl held her throbbing temple as she felt her surroundings spin and her vision temporary blurred.
Just then, Nimue's senses flared, and instinctively, her head perked up through a hole she successfully gnawed.
Curiosity overpowered her fear as she pushed her way out of the cocoon. Her wings were weak and crinkled, and her tiny new form, a queen bee's, felt foreign. But that didn't matter now. Her eyes darted around, searching for the source of the tension.
And then she saw it. Her eyes locked onto something massive.
A bear...
A huge, red bear!
Its fur was matted with dirt, its claws sharp as knives and stained with the blood of fallen bees—her bees!
Seeing the dead bodies of her children, the maternal instinct of the queen surged inside her.
Her sharp eyes turned bloody, "How dare you!"
Baring her small fangs, she buzzed fiercely. "How dare a lowly imbecile like you harm my... my——hic!"
Without a warning, Nimue's body shuddered. Her voice quickly turned meek, swallowed by something foreboding.
The bear's deep, wild eyes met hers, and for the first time in her life, Nimue felt the cold grip of true fear.
She was no longer a mighty dragon—the apex predator. No, in this form, she was the prey!
A shrill sense of helplessness washed over her, and her body went still, paralyzed by the oppressive force of the bear's gaze.
As a dragon, she had faced beasts far larger, far fiercer. She had never known fear like this. And yet, as she locked eyes with the bear, a primal instinct surged through her rendering her unable to move in the face of death.
The thought of death made her gulp through her dry throat, her anxious heart pulsating painfully and her small furry back covered in sweat.
This overwhelming sensation reminded her only of one thing: her grandfather, the ancient dragon king, whose presence had once made her feel like a mouse in the shadow of a mountain.
'No way... Am I… scared of a mere bear? This is ridiculous!'
Nimue's mind screamed but her body frozen in place. She had never felt so weak, so small.
'I won't accept this! I refuse this!'
'This... this was wrong. How can a dragon like me…?! No… no!'
She wasn't supposed to feel like this! She was a mighty being! A powerful dragon of the skies and the overlord of all beasts!
While she was in a turbulent state of denial, the bear's eyes gleamed with a cruel intelligence, and it grinned, showing rows of deadly teeth.
"Oh, that one over there is different and bigger. Her nectar must be sweeter! Hehe, I should catch it alive and relish its flavor at home," muttered the bear excitedly licking its nectarine-filled paws. His pair of ferocious eyes lingered on the queen bee with an obvious ravenous expression.
It was sizing her up, and in that moment, Nimue felt her body instinctively tremble.
A malicious thought filled its mind, and before Nimue could even react, the massive creature surged forward, ready to pounce.