Soul Between Lives

[What's this? My arms and legs feel strange yet powerful. And what is this weird feeling on my butt?]

Alex's eyes popped open and he saw a wall of green all around him. [What a strong leafy smell] He closed his eyes and basked in the new world of scent he was experiencing for the first time. Finally, the soft rustle of the canopy's leaves high above his head brings him back to his other senses.

[This is the first time I've ever seen such a lush forest. Not even the forest I went through as a goblin was like this.] Happiness welled up from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head all at once as he took in his new environment.

Such a pleasant feeling spreading throughout him gave him a boost in understanding his new form. What's more, he could feel an extra appendage coming from the back of his rump which he couldn't help but swing around in an attempt to get a good look at. [My god! Have I become Eeyore? But this feels fantastic! How could he be so down all the time?]

The first few steps he tried to take forward ended in disaster, but being so close to the ground from the start meant he only got a little shock when he unexpectedly kissed the forest floor. As he tried to stand back up his nose told him something delicious was hidden just under the dirt and leaves in front of him. It felt completely natural to stand up and walk forward as he rooted around with his snout to dig up the tasty truffle.

Having just had good food in a good body was like having a good BM in the morning. With a joyous heart Alex got the hang of moving forward and found running into stuff was much more fun than avoiding any of it. He especially disliked the feeling of digging his hooves into the ground in order to stop in time, so he didn't.

Now that he had the hang of using his new body Alex started running around laughing at how all the other wildlife would run away from him. He marveled at how even small trees would bow before his might when he ran into them hard enough. [This is truly a good life. Thank you old man god!] He exuberantly yelled out in his mind before he ran into the back of a massive brown bear just on the other side of a clump of bushes.

He hit the bear with such force that the impact made the sitting bear stand back up. It gave a surprised roar as it looked back to see what just poked, or rather, assaulted its rear end. The bear saw the impertinent boar and was just becoming hungry with such good timing. Since this four-legged food had conveniently arrived, the bear gave a menacing roar as it fully turned around and started to chase the tasty ham lunch. Luckily Alex had good enough practice with his short legs that he was able to quickly dash between enough of the larger trees and through the thicker brush such that the bear could only roar in frustration and give up after a few minutes of intense calorie burning.

As his heart hammered with the thrill of adrenaline, Alex smelled something very different from the rest of the scents of the forest and decided to follow it back to its source. He tromped among the trees and over fallen leaves as his ears began to pick up foreign yet familiar sounding animal calls.

After he poked his head through some stubborn weeds Alex stared in awe at the sight before him. Strange bipedal creatures, that in the back of his mind he could remember were called People, were splashing about the small stream and jumping from rock to rock making a bunch of noise.

[I don't know who they are but for some reason, I just want to attack them!] Alex was fully getting into the role of an impertinent wild boar and rushed out of his cover. He charged at the biggest of the strange animals since it looked like it would be the most fun to run into. He thoroughly enjoyed the screams and exaggerated reactions he got as the funny beings started thrashing and falling about trying to get away from him.

He chased them through the forest along a game trail and added his own roars to their high-pitched wails. It was great fun for him herding them left and then right as they ran through the forest. He even got to demonstrate his prowess when one of them climbed up a tree to escape. The tree trunk shattered with an earsplitting crack that made most of the strange creatures stop running long enough to look back.

"Oh gawd, I'm falling! Save me!" The strange creature in the falling tree yelled out. The tree fell toward the other bipeds while breaking many of its neighbors' branches. Everyone was able to jump out of the way and cringed as the man in the tree smacked into the ground with a thud.

"Harkon! Grab him and run!" One of the female bipeds yelled out to the biggest among them.

Harkon grabbed his fallen comrade as the rest of his party ran. Some of the men cursed at the top of their lungs as the chase resumed. A few of the women prayed for salvation swearing they'd retire from the life of adventure if they survived this day.

"This must be because we ate his relative the other day!" The male archer yelled out.

"You're the one that hunted it!" One of the females screamed back.

"It tasted so d*mn good!" The archer yelled in return.

Alex continued to chase them until they managed to climb up a small cliff that put them just out of his reach. He still dislodged some sizable rocks as he rammed into the natural barricade but eventually gave up.

...

Sometime later after all the excitement, Alex realized how thirsty he had become and followed his nose to the nearest source of water for a drink.

[Haha! These small mosquitoes are no match for my mighty hide!] Alex exclaimed to himself with pride as the little devils tried but failed to suck his blood.

Just as he finishes marveling at the toughness of his magnificent hide and bent down to get a drink from the pond, Alex was deeply impaled through the vulnerable flesh just underneath his extended tail. The hunter behind him saw the poisoned arrow he loosed hit the bullseye and couldn't contain his laughter as Alex jumped forward into the air. With surprise, Alex flew through the air before he splashed into the pond with his legs moving so fast he was almost running on the water's surface before the poison from the arrow took effect. Before he reached the other side, Alex the boar sank down and bobbed in the water, moving no more.

...

Back in the white space, the old man didn't have any words to say to Alex. It seemed to be all he could do to contain the warring emotions evident on his face as he tried to keep them from manifesting and ruining his dignity.

"What the h*ll killed me?" Alex asked in confusion.

The old man just tossed an orb at Alex and waited just long enough to see that the boy was in the next world before he let out a strange roar of his own.

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***Xinghai***

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The meeting proceeded easier than expected. They all agreed to take their chances by pushing through the dangerous zone blocking the path ahead together. Even if they could work together to organize into effective military units and overcome the mercenaries and slave traders through strategy, tactics and superior strength they would still take losses which they could not replace. They could win a couple of battles but in the long run, they would become too weak to protect their people. Theoretically, they could just find more refugee groups to work with but it was always a possibility that those same refugees would instead attack them if they had the superior force or saw an opportunity. The biggest reason why the refugee groups were willing to work together now was that they shared an immediate common goal. They were too weak individually to take on the slavers and didn't like their chances if they took their group through the dangerous forest alone. Especially if alone and first.

Now that they all agreed to work together, the planning for how all the groups would move in concert, or move together, took the longest. If they just went in as a disorganized mob it was possible for entire groups to get left behind or picked off without anyone knowing to come to their aid. The biggest problem is that they lacked information about the area ahead. They only knew of its danger from the telltale signs and warnings from locals that knew about the area. In particular, the refugees had come across merchant maps of the surrounding lands which marked out general areas of extreme danger.

Other than the lack of knowledge about the area's true nature they also lacked the time to properly scout out their routes. It was very possible that while they waited for their scouts to come back with details, the slave hunters would come up from behind and start taking slices of their populations away while they were cornered. They could fend off a few groups of slavers but they simply had too many people to defend to be able to effectively save everyone. Also if they concentrated their fighters in the rear to deal with the slavers, there would be too few fighters to deal with trouble in the front. If they couldn't get through the forest, they would remain sitting ducks just holding off the slavers and getting picked apart until they were completely overwhelmed.

Since they were going to work together, they might as well actually work together properly. Being organized about their formations would not only be better for communication purposes but also better allow for reinforcements to get to people under attack or in dire trouble.

Since it was decided to travel in rough formations they now had to decide their actual form. The main goal was to get as many of their people through without trouble. If their groups went through with too wide of a front, it was more likely that trouble would find them or for them to stumble into a monster den itself. If they went in with a thin but long column, it was possible to get through while disturbing less of the forest and alerting fewer monsters to their movements. But the column could be attacked in the middle and cut into pieces. It would be very difficult for reinforcements to arrive in time for each battle if they had to defend the entire line.

In the end, it was decided that they would form three columns and the middle column would act as the point of an arrow and lead the way. The two columns on either side would follow slightly back from the front. This would allow faster movement of their people and allow for reinforcements to react sooner. For example, if one side was attacked, reinforcements could be dispatched from the central column were civilians are already protected by the columns on either side. This would allow them to pass through the area without disturbing the whole forest while also providing each other support. This was how the plan was supposed to work in theory. They all knew reality could easily prove different.

The group chosen to lead the central column was Xinghai's. His group was the strongest on average and Xinghai himself had already taken a leadership role by gathering all the representatives. In addition, though he kept his power secret, his luck would also be beneficial in choosing the safer paths.