Soul Between Lives

Alex couldn't tell how long he'd been out but he most definitely had not woken up in his warm and comfy bed back home. The first thing he noticed before he even opened his eyes was the feeling of his hands being submerged in running water. The next thing he noticed right after his eyes shot open was the strange river scenery in front of him.

As he sat up and combed the hair out of his face he remarked, "Man, what the hell just happened?"

He took a long moment to look around trying to get a bearing on his surroundings. He could see that he was in a small clearing surrounded by trees on all sides with a small river running through it.

Just as he was about to stand up he heard a splashing noise right next to him and had barely turned his head to see what it was when darkness covered his vision and pain engulfed his mind followed by the plunge into the dark oblivion once more.

...

This time Alex was fully awake when he opened his eyes. He once again found himself in the strange white space filled with nothingness. Instead of being immediately harassed by lightning, he saw the crazy old man talking to a different young man.

"And that's how you died. Any questions?"

"Yeah. If you're God, then who is that guy over there?" The young man asked while pointing at Alex.

The crazy old man turned his head to see before a look of astonishment flew across his face.

"What are you doing here? I thought I already sent you on. Can't you see I'm busy with another soul?"

Taken aback Alex answered, "I don't know what happened. I was looking around when I heard something next to me and when I opened my eyes I'm back here."

The old man's mouth hung open for a moment as he pondered. "Did you die again already? You were barely there for half a minute! Just what the heck happened?"

The old man pulled out a different colored orb than the one before and cast it out toward the surrounding white space. After just a moment the orb seemed to get stuck in the air before it melted and morphed into a viewing screen of sorts.

"Let's see exactly what went on." At the old man's words, the viewing screen came to life and showed a dazed-looking Alex get bitten in half and swallowed by a giant snake-like creature that came out of the water... Nobody spoke for a moment which lasted longer than Alex's last life.

"Bwuahahahaha! What the hell was that?" The other young man pointed at the screen while laughing hysterically before he looked over at Alex. "Did you really just get eaten like that? Are you stupid or something?"

The old man snapped out of his daze when he heard this. "Ah, this is not good! Too much time is being wasted." The old man turned to the other young man "I'll finish with you before dealing with this. Try not to mess up like he just did."

"Not a problem. I doubt I could achieve such a failure even if I tried." The young man said while holding in his continued laughter as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

Alex was slow to react. He was still taking in how he had died once more. "What... what the hell man?" He said as he turned to watch the old man conversing with the rude b*stard. "What's going to happen to me now?" He mumbled to himself as he looked on.

It was only a few minutes more before the old man handed the rude young man an orb whereupon the young man was s.u.c.k.e.d into a swirl of darkness.

"Alright now onto this business." The old man said as he cracked his knuckles looking back at Alex and turned around to face him. "What should I do with you? You weren't supposed to be back here again." The old man strokes his beard covered chin while pondering.

"You mean something went wrong?"

"Obviously something went wrong! For one, you're dead again!" The old man said before taking a deep calming breath and closing his eyes for a moment.

"This has never happened before on my watch. Come to think of it I don't recall anything like this happening before with the others..." The old man said talking to himself. "Ah well, I'll just send you back again. Try not to die this time. At least not so soon, I have other souls to be dealing with."

The old man got ready to chuck another orb at Alex. This prompted Alex to raise his arms in defense.

"Wait! Why are you throwing that at me again? You just handed it over to the other guy just now."

The old man stopped and thought for a second. "Huh, you may have a point but it shouldn't make a difference how it happens. The orb and soul just have to make contact for the reincarnation process to begin."

"Then why did you chuck it at me before?"

"You were pissing me off and I just wanted to get you out of here." The old man stated matter of factly.

"Then why were you just about to hit me with it again?"

"It felt good the first time." The old man said while still ready to throw the orb at Alex. "But... fine you win. Here just grab onto it." He finally lowered the orb and handed it over to Alex.

"What'll happen to me this time?" Alex asked before even touching the orb.

The old man sighed before saying, "Last time must've just been a fluke. But to make sure, I'll send you somewhere safer. So relax and take the damn orb already."

The old man roughly tossed the orb into Alex's hands at this point. Pulled away by a dark swirl Alex once again lost consciousness.

The whole time, the screen in the background had been repeating the scene of Alex's death by giant snake.

**

***Elsewhere***

**

****

Viram left the command post after receiving new orders and headed back to his mercenary unit. The night air was heavy with the stench of burning trees and cooked bodies. The smell of cooked flesh was nothing new to him. Being an Ifrit of some power meant that his enemies regularly made such smells. Nearly every member of his mercenary unit was capable of roasting their adversary with their own flames as well.

His force specialized in rapid deployment and was highly proficient at burning through their opposition with speed and efficiency. That was why he was called back this night to receive new orders. One of the outlying battle groups ran into some stiff opposition and was repulsed after taking heavy casualties. His job was to make his way at his fastest speed and rendezvous with this defeated force as it pushed forward with a renewed assault.

Once the battle was won, he was to take his unit and continue to push through enemy territory and take out the capital. He was not only to help clear the way for the remnants of the forces he is heading to assist but also to engage and capture any targets of opportunity he encounters along the way. Honestly, Viram had received these types of orders many times before. He had never once returned defeated. There were a few close calls but his unit had been able to complete every single mission that was assigned to them.

His flames flared up as his mount reared back preparing to take to the sky. His unit was capable of accomplishing such difficult missions time and time again because it was composed of powerful flying monsters. Among them were flame sylphs and fire wyverns and the toughest beasts he had at his command were the lava dragons. His current mount was just such a beast. Normally such monsters would be too prideful to follow his command but he wasn't an ordinary Ifrit anymore. He had long ago ascended from being just a lowly demonic being.

He was once enslaved by a god that often deployed him to dangerous battlefields. It wasn't unusual to come across demigods capable of obliterating his body and many of his brethren were indeed snuffed out by such enemies. Viram, however, had survived and secretly gained power after every conflict. He had seen how other demons had become stronger before. Some of them would display their new found strength to their overlord god and be rewarded with more servitude. Other demons had gained strength and tried to get away only to be hunted down and destroyed by their own comrades.

Viram had paid attention. He was hiding his true strength and biding his time. Sheer power wasn't the only thing that made a demon strong. Viram had a keen mind and learned to cultivate a devious nature for his own survival. He had waited until the day he was dispatched to a distant battlefield to slip away. He wasn't planning on staying away from his appointed duties for long. Just long enough to infiltrate the enemies vaults and seize power from their artifacts and reserves.

By the time the rest of his comrades had fought to the enemy command camp, Viram had already gorged on the juiciest prizes meant for his god. He left no witnesses and hid his increased power well. Nobody had caught on and Viram was free to continue to harvest and save up his strength.

One day, the tables had turned on his god and all the forces under his command were deployed in a series of desperate battles. Viram knew his chance was coming soon and conserved his strength while hunting the choicest targets to gather some last minute power. In the end, he didn't have to make a move on his own master. The enemy forces had done all the work for him.

Many of his comrades had perished in the final battles but those that survived and hadn't already made their escape were given the choice to join the forces of their conquerors. Viram had observed how the lowliest of this conquering army had been treated and knew that if he joined them he'd just be used as cannon fodder. He had no interest in changing one overlord for another. Others of his brothers had the same opinion and made to leave only to be stopped with an ultimatum.

They could join them or die. This memory still brought a smile to Viram's fiery face. They actually threatened a horde of flame monsters with death. These monsters only knew battle and loved it. They were certainly not averse to being killed in combat and the prospect of fighting for their freedom with the last of their brothers without guilt ignited their passions.

The battle was fiercer than the ones just before it. The conquerors were initially caught off guard but expected an easy win considering they had already defeated these forces numerous times before. However, they didn't expect the fiery fiends to be so determined this time. The conquerors became the conquered. The last of them had been shoved into their own largest war beast that was converted into a makeshift oven with an inferno raging within the embrace of its bones.

In the end, many of Viram's brothers had recognized his strength and decided to follow him as their leader. Afterward, Viram and his host had gone around doing what they knew best and gathered more power and comrades. They were eventually swept up in a conflict that was way larger than any of them could handle. This time it was they that were as moths in front of a flame. But instead of racing to their doom they decided to take on the yoke of a new master while keeping the dignity afforded a mercenary unit.