Soul Between Lives

Xinghai didn't have to wait very long before the refugee representatives started showing up. His tent was open on three sides and guarded both from within and from the outside. Not many warriors had escaped Azore with him and very few of the gods that had followed were proficient at combat. But after years of living on the move and fighting against the myriad dangers along the way, even the weakest of his group was at least as strong as an average demigod. This combined with his foresight gave him the leverage he needed to hold the meeting within his camp.

Finally, as the last of the expected representatives arrived and took a seat Xinghai clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention.

"I know this is the first time many of us are meeting and you are showing me a great amount of trust by coming here with only a few of your comrades."

One of the gods interrupted before Xinghai continued, "We wouldn't have shown up if your camp looked like the rest of those raiders."

A number of the other representatives nodded their heads in agreement. They had all been through their share of trouble. If it wasn't bands of mercenaries trying to capture them, it was bands of other refugees trying to take what supplies they had left. This naturally bred a certain sense of wariness and mistrust toward outsiders, especially toward those traveling down the same paths of escape.

Xinghai had his work cut out for him in trying to get these wary bands to work together, but if all went well, this was also an opportunity to finally form lasting relationsh.i.p.s. He sincerely hoped that among these other gods he could find people willing to become allies for more than just a moment. It had already been more than fourteen years since his own group started its odyssey across the realms. In all that time, very few kingdoms had been willing to accept his group of transients for any length of time. He had met even fewer groups of refugees that he was able to trust far enough to work out a fair exchange of trade goods. So if he could forge even one lasting relationship with another group, he could call this initial meeting a great success.

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***Back to Alex***

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Alex was still in a state of shock from what had just happened to him. His mind still thought it felt the pain where the clubs and kicks had hit him and broken his bones. When he had finally ordered his thoughts enough to notice what was going on around him again his attention was drawn to the old man who was repeatedly watching Alex's final moments as Paul. It was very surreal seeing his own death from an outside perspective and the question [Who's view was this from?] finally crossed his mind.

Just as Alex opened his mouth to voice this question the old man turned toward him and started asking his own questions.

"You don't seem to be, but you aren't trying to die on purpose right?"

Alex was taken aback by the question and took a moment to digest it before he told the old man that he has had no intention of getting killed at all ever. That is aside from a few half-assed suicide attempts when he was a young teenager back on Earth but he didn't feel the need to reveal something so embarrassing and private to this stranger.

"Did you feel anything strange before you died? Such as a feeling of doom or grief? Did you suddenly start feeling weaker than normal? Did you hear any strange voices close to your ear or in your mind that had no visible speaker nearby?" The old man hit Alex with a barrage of questions.

Alex took a moment to think about the purpose of such questions and told the old man that nothing seemed out of normal for the situations that he found himself in at the time.

"After you died, what did you feel? Did it feel like you were being forcefully pulled away from something or pulled between two or more places?"

"I don't remember anything other than a blank darkness before opening my eyes and being back here." Alex replied.

The old man approached and took a closer look at Alex as he was giving his answer.

"Alright. Hopefully, you don't keep appearing back here. I'm getting sick and tired of you dying like this." The old man complained.

[What is this old man saying?] "I'm not too fond of seeing you after getting killed myself." Alex retorted.

The old man mentally noted the bemused look on Alex's face before continuing, "You don't seem to have much luck as a human in that world so I'll be sending you back as something a little different this time."

"Just how different are we talking here?" Alex asked and took a step back.

"You'll still have the basic form of a man. Just don't expect much more than that." The old man said as he produced another one of those damned orbs in his hand with a sinister looking smile on his face.

Alex could only look on with apprehension as the orb flew towards him with its usual speed and it sent him back through the spiraling darkness.

...

As he was coming too, Alex could hear odd grunting noises coming from all around him. His eyes popped open. He found himself in a dimly lit cave surrounded by strange humanoid creatures making all sorts of odd noises. Alex was starting to panic and it wasn't long before one of these creatures came close enough for him to see it clearly.

"Goblin!" Alex let out a little scream before he backed away and looked around for a way to escape.

The goblin in front of him gave him an odd look before it laughed and asked, "Hey new-bro, what you so afraid of?"

"Am me so impressive?" The goblin asked with a smile while making different poses to show off its scrawny body.

Other nearby goblins took notice and started laughing at the scene. Just then a commotion was heard from the entrance of their cave. The goblin in front of Alex stopped posing and jumped up on top of a nearby boulder to see what it was about.

With a gleeful smile, it jumped back down next to Alex and grabbed his arm as it said, "Come on, we get to eaty-eat if we're quick!" Before it dragged Alex behind it.

The mutilated remains were already torn to pieces before they got there and the sight of it made Alex's stomach turn over.

"Quick quick grab a chunk and eat!" The goblin said before jumping into the fray for the remaining scraps.

Alex couldn't clearly see what it was that all the goblins were eating but it did smell nice to his nose which made his empty stomach grumble.

[Who knows when I'll be able to get something to eat the next time? I'd better jump in there and grab something] Alex thought as he gathered his courage.

[Right there!] Alex jumped into an opening between two goblins leaving the mosh with their plunder. He couldn't quite reach what was left but he plunged his arm between the many moving bodies in a hurry and yanked at whatever he could grab.

"Hey what are you doin bro-bro!?" Squealed an indignant goblin whose foot was pulled by Alex.

"Ah sorry I thought you were food."

"Me am not eaty-food! Here eaty-eat this instead." The perturbed goblin said before chucking a hunk of flesh at Alex and diving back into the feeding frenzy.

The chunk hit Alex squarely in the face before falling to his feet. When Alex looked down to pick it up he saw it was a human hand missing most of its fingers. He couldn't even say anything as he backed up and fell on his b.u.t.t in horror. If Alex had any food in his stomach right then, it would have been all over his stomach and the ground at that point.

...

Alex was in a daze for what felt like an hour after covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut for the remainder of the feeding frenzy. The goblins that had finished eating noticed his odd behavior and stayed away from him. Some talked amongst themselves about him. Finally, Alex couldn't take it any longer and made his way out of the cavern only to find it was just a small chamber within a larger cave complex. There were many other goblins and larger hobgoblins going about their business all over the place. He saw smaller groups of larger goblins eating various kills but still felt too sick to his stomach to even consider trying the unidentifiable food.

Alex wandered around the cave learning its geography to keep himself distracted from much of his recent trauma. One thing was for sure, he was a repulsive little goblin this time. Though he didn't smell so bad to his goblin nose, he could tell it was a scent that would have curled his human nose. He finally found his way to a cave with a stronger and cooler breeze which was guarded by a few groups of the strongest looking goblins he had yet seen. They gave him inquiring looks as he walked past and between them towards the source of the draft. Near the end of the cave, a group finally spoke to him stopping him in his tracks.

"What does little gobby want to leave for?"

"I'm looking for something to eat." Alex morosely replied.

"We bring tasty meat for gobby to eaty-eat and grow strong."

"I need something better." Alex said with downcast eyes.

"Hmph, if little gobby wants better, then little gobby can go hunt it." The older goblin said before it stood aside to let Alex out of the cave.

It was dense forest surrounding the cave entrance and for fear of getting lost Alex didn't stray too far away until he was confident he could find his way back. As he wandered around looking for things to eat he tried bitting various living objects. The tree bark was hard and impossible to chew and the leaves all left his gums and lips stinging and proved impossible to swallow. He tried catching little critters as he stumbled upon them but he was still too clumsy in his new body.

Eventually, he caught a wif of smoke on the air and the smell of something truly delicious got stronger as he plodded closer. He could finally hear the crackle and sizzle of the food and fire which seemed to be just on the other side of a berm of bushes. As he was considering the wisdom of pushing through the shrubby barrier he heard people talking.

"That was a good hunt." A deep-voiced male voice said.

"Yeah! I'm really looking forward to this. Hurry up and finish cooking it." An impatient female voice said.

"You can't rush a good roast. Just be patient a little while longer." Yet another male voice responded.

[It's people!] Alex exclaimed in his mind. [I finally found proper food to eat!]

With teary eyes, he drew closer and closer desperately thinking about how to introduce himself and get some of the grub. Suddenly he heard a twang from one of the tree branches a bit behind him and felt a sharp pain replace his stomach's painful grumble. He only had time to look down and see the arrow protruding from his torso before he fell forward losing consciousness and bleeding to death.

...

Once again as Alex opened his eyes he saw the old man watching the screen playing out the epilogue of his most recent death.

"A baby goblin got so close to our camp and you didn't notice till it was right on top of us?" Asked the male adventurer in charge of cooking.

"I admit I was distracted by the hog on the spit." A male archer still holding his bow replied. "But still what is a little goblin doing out here by itself? Perhaps there's a den nearby?" The archer continued before the old man paused the video.

The old man stood there thinking and mumbling to himself while fiddling with his beard, "Is the world itself rejecting him? Those gods don't seem to have even taken notice of the failed trades let alone seem to be interfering with them. Do I really have to baby him so much to prepare him for his new life? Even so, why does his soul keep returning here rather than stay there?"