Arthur lay dying. He had been dying for a long time now, and it was no longer new to him. Unfortunately, as he thought to himself, cancer can get anyone.  Combine a good dose of stage 4 brain cancer with old age did not make for a good day. 

As he lay staring at the ceiling tiles, his thoughts drifted over the course of his life. He had been, for all intents and purposes, successful, well educated, respected career, etc. However, so much of what he had seen during his successful life, he had not been able to change. 

Thoughts drifting, he thought back to university and having his world expanded, new ideas and thoughts coming all the time. With a laugh, he thought of going to early "Global Warming" demonstrations and the early parts of the recycling movement. Both now commonplace ideas but were seen as being on the fringe at the time. Arthur's smile died as he drifted to the next part of his life, the military.

After graduation and being adrift, but wanting to make a difference the military had seemed a strong choice.  Military life had all come easy to him, the training, the ideals, the closeness and comradery, the problems came later. The problems didn't arise overnight and were not constant, but cropped up more than they should have.   

Remembering the friends he had made always warmed him, remembering the times he had to stand down and leave some poor child or refugee to the metaphorical wolves soured him.  Arthur had done his best and had saved a lot of people.  Arthur knew though that many more suffered because they were just outside of some arbitrary line he was ordered not to cross due to politics or business.

Arthur felt his senses dulling and knew that this was the time for him.  The doctors had done their best to keep his cancer in check, but while he had been in great shape, he also had a body that had been through hell.  A few pins in bones here, a few tears in both tendons and ligaments, add a few bonus concussions, mix that with a collapsed lung, and twice ruptured eardrums.  

Altogether, this got you, Arthur.  As his eyes closed for what he knew to be the last time, Arthur was at peace.  His sister would have the dubious pleasure of dealing with his estate, one final trump card in their life long rivalry.  

Arthur breathed his last with a smile on his face. He had lived well.  As his brain shut down, his last thought was, if I went to do it all again, that imaginary line wouldn't stop me.

Just as the darkness crept over his mind, Arthur imagined a voice in his mind, "Just what I need."  Then it all went blank.

+++++++++++

Arthur's consciousness, much to his surprise did not end. He had no awareness, just a feeling or sensation of change and maybe of distance.  Arthur had no idea what was happening, but the afterlife was unexpectedly real, so much for his atheism.  

"Perfect," rang through his consciousness, and everything went blank again.

++++++++++

With a gasp, Arthur opened his eyes seeing only mud and filth, from a very close angle.   His mind reeled, what was happening!  Arthur's mind was a jumble, sensations returning, and with their return, pain.    Arthur's mind spun, thoughts and senses spinning faster and faster until everything once again blanked. 

After an unknown time consciousness returned to Arthur, this time, however, the confusion was muted.  Arthur breathed in slowly and once again opened his eyes.  He saw the filth again and realized he was lying in the mud.  Taking stock, he noticed a wall opposite maybe five feet away, and a small child dressed in rags cowering behind some refuse. 

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

The pain then returned to Arthur, as his mind was no longer spinning it was now being distracted by the discomfort.  Without moving and keeping an eye on the child Arthur flexed various muscles, testing to see what hurt the most.  

After surreptitiously checking his body, Arthur found that it was everything, everything hurt.  As he prepared to begin trying to move noises began approaching.  Freezing and focusing on the sounds, Arthur determined that it was two people drawing near. One voice much higher pitched, a woman most likely, and the other a deep growl, most likely belonging to a heavier man.  

Arthur didn't recognize the language, which was unusual due to his travels and career.  He stayed still, given the dim lighting he thought he would be unnoticed in the mud and trash.  The child opposite brightened at the approach, looking hopefully towards the newcomers.  

As the pair came up, the conversation became more heated, and Arthur finally caught sight of the two.  He had been correct for the most part, a large heavier man and not a woman but maybe a teen or another child.  The words became more heated, and then with shocking speed and brutality, a fist shot out and caught the girl squarely across the face.

The girl spun and, with a dull thud blood instantly spread across the wall.  The man laughed and raised his hand again, the other previously hidden child let out a quick scream and drew the man's attention.  The man turned to grab the smaller child, a cruel smile on his face.   As he reached for the child, the older girl, face covered in blood, jumped on his arm and bit him.

The man roared in anger, and with a quick shake sent the girl crashing into the wall again.  The girl collapsed in a bloody pile, and the smaller child cried piteously as the man drew a large dagger with an angry look on his face.

At this point, Arthur had seen enough the time to act had come.  The man was large but focused on the girls, Arthur knew his body was weak and injured such that he would only have one shot at this.  Rising as quietly as he could, he grabbed a fist-sized rock and approached the man from behind.  

The man was angrily muttering and looked at his arm and saw blood, drew back his foot, and kicked the limp girl on the ground.  A loud crack and a moan came from the girl on the muddy ground.  

As the man pulled back his foot again, the other child screamed, drawing his attention.  As he turned to the smaller child, dagger leading, Arthur struck.  

The distraction from the smaller child turned out perfect as the man turned, presenting his temple just as Arthur had swung the rock in his hand.  With a palpable thud, the rock struck true and the man had an instant of surprise before he dropped to the ground.

Arthur's training kicked in, and he quickly scanned his surroundings, realizing he was in an alley of some sort.  He could see people passing by the entrance, but no one looked in, or if they did, seeing him standing there over the man with a bloody rock in his hand, they quickly moved on.  

The smaller child had rushed over to the older girl and was crying softly, trying to get the other girl to respond.  

Arthur checked the man he was unconscious but alive, a large knot forming on his temple.  Arthur examined the unconscious man, finding the dagger and some odd style of axe strapped to his back.  Continuing his examination, Arthur found the man to be wearing chainmail.  Arthur was growing more and more confused but for safety disarmed the man and used the man's belt to tie his hands behind his back.  

As Arthur was doing this, the older girl had gotten up and was standing with the younger child defensively behind her.  Arthur looked up and saw the fear on both of their faces, he put on a smile and introduced himself.  The two looked on but didn't respond. Arthur tried a bunch of different greetings in languages from around the world and got no response.  Finally, the older girl pointed at the man on the ground and then at him.

Arthur shrugged unsurely then he backed away from the man a bit.  The girl approached and rapidly searched the man on the ground. After a few moments and appearing to think for a minute, the girl made a choice.  She stood up and showed a handful of coins, she put some in each of her hands then put one pike on the ground and backed away.  

Arthur understood and nodded and took the pile.  The girl nodded and began to limp away.  Arthur had no idea what was happening or where he was, so he called out to the girl.  She turned and Arthur mimed eating, the girl looked undecided but the younger one caught her attention and nodded yes.  

With a slightly uncomfortable look on her face, she waved Arthur to follow them.  Making a quick decision Arthur grabbed the axe and dagger and raced after the pair.