“Boss, wake up,” Rubert said.

“Fuck, shit, crap. Rubert, did I get him?” I asked panicking.

“I am not sure boss. You just passed out,” he said.

I passed out. It must have happened when I killed the Dragon. Which means he must also have just gotten here. I spread out my awareness across the Soul Dream and search for them. The mountains to the north suddenly rose in temperature. That might be a good place to search first.

“Tell the others to hold back. I can handle it from here,” I said.

I ran north each step covering more distance than it rightly should. An archmage might have a thing to say about my ability to ignore all the normal laws of reality in the Soul Dream but there were none around right now. If I hadn’t already paid for the information on the Greater Nightmare I would have ignored it and headed to Vasselheim, but I am not letting the opportunity go to waste. Once I kill it I can speak with Yussa about the Soul Dream and getting magical passage to the oldest city.

The mountains I placed in the northern section of the Soul Dream were a random assortment of peaks and rocks that I hadn’t thought about. The Planning Committee didn’t either because there was no one to call these places home yet. Well, that was until I killed the Fire Giants and the Red Dragon so maybe someone will live here now.

I reached one of the larger peaks in the area and saw the Red Dragon walking between the snow-covered mountains. Taking the moment to study them I activated my Truesight. The previous elemental fire energy they had was now gone. Their body and soul was damaged greatly. The tattered wings and thin frame remained. Their soul was ripped apart as if large pieces of it were recently ripped away. Was the elemental energy twisted with his soul and it got ripped from him when he died? I run down to them.

“Hey you might want to take it easy,” I shout to them.

They swirled around to face me. Fire was spiting out of their mouth ready to try and reduce me to ash.

“Human! Where am I? What have the Giants done to me?” They screamed with a much lighter voice than before. They were definitely lacking a lot of the power they obtained from the volcano.

“You died,” I said. Tiny has told me for people who put up a good fight it was usually best to tell them the truth since they would figure it out soon enough.

“NO! I couldn’t have died. I had the bastard right where I wanted him. His freakish powers couldn’t have saved him any longer. You lie!” They screamed.

“I am afraid I am not. You are in the afterlife called the Soul Dream. It is a plane separate from all other afterlives and not connected to any gods. You won’t find the forces of Tiamat here,” I said. They were a Red Dragon which made it highly likely that Tiamat might have a claim on their soul if I hadn’t intervened.

“Separate? That is impossible. Those false idols who claim to guide the material plane would never allow such a place to exist. This must be another trick,” they said.

“No trick. The Giant you fought is a shapeshifter that is connected to this plane. Everyone that he kills has ended up here. It is unknown why that is or why he has this power but you are now here,” I said.

“No. No no no no NO!” They screamed and blew a flame breath at me. They continued to burn the surrounding mountains. I let them vent their rage for a second before I yelled at him to stop.

“I will not be a prisoner again! I was this close to freedom and then he fucking killed me!” They screamed.

“You did this to yourself. Had you not threatened to burn a few cities to the ground you would have lived and even received help. You showed yourself to be a rampaging beast that had to be put down. I mean come on, you nearly caused Kavaraad to erupt,” I said.

“As I should have. By right of birth, I can do what I wish with my power,” they said.

“Then you have no right to complain. You fought in mortal combat and died because of it. By right of the law of survival everything you are and have go to the victor, ME!” I said.

That shut them up. Now that they know I am the thing that killed them, they took a moment and regarded me. I wasn’t just some human welcoming them into the afterlife but the Grim Reaper shepherding their soul.

“This is my world. I decide how you will spend your afterlife. I don't need you to like it or approve because from this point on I am your god,” I said.

They lowered their head to be at eye level with me.

“Prove it,” they said.

Easy enough. I thought about replacing sections of the mountain with sculptures of me killing them and standing over their body but that seemed extreme. So for now I made Roob and the others I was close with here in the Soul Dream.

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“Good enough? Should I move some mountains? Create a river? Change day to night?” I asked. I might have been a little too rude but I needed to show a little strength right now. They looked at the statues I had made for a bit before looking back at me.

“You're serious. I've died. Everything is over," they said solemnly.

"It's not over. I don't know the specifics of this world but you can get a second chance here," I said.

"Second chance? What second chance? You said only people you have killed end up here. Unless you are a mass murderer there can't be that many people here. And even if there are, I won't be able to live the life I want. I desire a kingdom. A flock of worshipers. I won't find that here. And look at my body. Am I going to be stuck with this scarred form forever?" They asked.

"I don't know about the last one. We are still figuring everything out. And as for being a king I won't provide that but if you promise to help you can probably have some say in what happens around here. These statues are some of the members of the Planning Committee. They are in charge of various aspects of this world," I said.

"They are beasts. Animals that can't even speak," they said.

"Not anymore. This place can be strange but I promise good things can happen for you. Let's meet some of the leaders. Wait. I haven’t learned your name,” I said.

“I am Blazeflight,” they said.

“Well then despite it all, it is good to meet you Blazeflight,” I said.

I lead them to Rubert. The interaction between the two was not that bad. From there we toured the Soul Dream. Tiny and Furengur were running interference with the Fire Giants. I didn’t want to see them. Blazeflight hasn’t shown whether he put two and two together and asked about them. I know if they meet it will be a fucking disaster. If we can put that off for a bit and coordinate it later everyone will be much happier.

Theseus has gotten a lot better at policing the Soul Dream. I am confident that he will be able to handle anything that might happen. Since he drew strength from my powers here he can probably restrain every giant and Blazeflight at the same time. There should be no reason to worry but I still do. My soft heart just wants everyone to get along and stay away from the things that will cause problems. I don’t mean ignore the problem like it doesn’t exist but not let the bad things drag you down. Sometimes that is just not possible.

I will probably wait a while to make a connection with Blazeflight’s soul. I don’t necessarily need his power right now and we still need to figure out how to help him change his form into something more ideal. People don’t arrive here beat up and bleeding so the state of your body exactly when you died doesn’t matter. It must be a psychological thing. I desperately need a therapist to live here.

“Hey, Roob. I am going to end this early. I would love to stay and help but I passed out in the middle of that volcano. Aqen might have taken my body but I wasn’t in the best place to nap,” I said.

“Good idea boss. We can deal with the rest here,” Rubert said.

……………….

Rubert

"That's where Hardok has opened up his restaurant," he said.

"Restaurant? Do you need to eat here?" Blazeflight asked.

"It's not a necessity but it's good for mental wellbeing. You will have a lot of free time now. You don't need to worry about anything so people quickly got bored. Everyone started finding hobbies to pass the time. Hardok likes to recreate food from his life. Gatsby has a group that meets every week to recite poetry. Lightning organizes a monthly scavenger hunt that sends people across the Soul Dream looking for hidden items. There is a sea serpent named Temprus who likes making puzzles. He has made dozens of boxes and even some escape rooms,” Rubert said.

“What is an escape room?” Blazeflight asked.

“It's a game where you are locked in a room. You need to find clues that will help you escape before your time runs out,” Rubert said.

“What happens if you fail?” Blazeflight asked. His demeanor grew a little serious.

“You lose the game. Someone will open the exit and let you out. Not everyone succeeds but it's good fun to watch people try and figure it out,” Rubert said.

“Hmmm. This world is too weak. Do you not fear being invaded? While you lot engage in pointless distractions enemies could be lurking on your borders,” Blazeflight said.

“That is correct. We have a defense force. Theseus gathers those who want to train and he runs an arena for people to fight or settle disputes. We haven’t had anyone invade but we try and stay ready. If it worries you, you could perhaps bring that up with the Planning Committee and organize something to help prepare. We don’t judge what people did in their lives here too much. We cannot see whether you lived a just or evil life, so everyone is usually treated like how they treat others,” Rubert said.

“That is not completely true. Your lord can tell you what he knows about someone. He is a god inflicting his will on the world after all,” Blazeflight said.

“That is true but he doesn’t interfere too much here. I believe he feels quite guilty about his powers and the requirements for them to grow. He struggles with it. I believe him when he said he would have spared you,” Rubert said.

“You think he would have let me go?” Blazeflight said.

“Yes. The Fire Giants had proven themselves to be detestable slavers and deserved death,” Rubert said.

“And now they are here. Will they receive the same second chance? After everything they have done!” Blazeflight said.

“Yes and no. We know of some of their crimes. They will be separated from the rest of us for a time. If they can prove themselves to be good members of our community they might receive the chance to participate in it,” Rubert said.

“Just like that?” Blazeflight asked.

“We have no needs here other than fighting boredom. No need for gold, treasures, food, or even shelter. Everything is provided to us with little effort. As such there is only one currency we can trade here. Trust,” Rubert said.

“Trust. And how do you earn that here,” Blazeflight asked.

“Hang out with me for a bit. I will show you,” Rubert said.