I could hear the blood rushing through my body as my heart slammed against my ribs. With every beat it got louder and louder. Eventually drowning out all other sounds. Leaving me in a land of emptiness. Devoid of all things, only kept silent by the sound of my heartbeat. I was like the color of the world had drained away. Leaving me lost in an unknown world and in an unknown body.

Eventually, what felt like hours later, I heard a voice.

“Savas.”, he said with a cough, “Are you ok?”

Pain struck me again, but this time it was a little different. How could he be on the verge of death, in what I could be to be unimaginable pain and ask me if I’m ok? Realizing that I was only going to worry him more I forced a smile.

“Yeah. I’ll be ok. How about you get some rest. You won't have to worry about them anymore. Get some sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.”, I said, choking back tears.

The dawn of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he had a look of sadness. But it wasn’t meant for him. It was meant for me. Then he smiled brightly and tried to sit up. Causing him to enter a fit of coughing once again. We managed to get him settled down and he looked at me again.

He said, “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. I told him what happened with Halvar, then I told him what the shaman said about his condition. Normally healing magic and potions would be enough to save his life if it was just the wound and he’d managed to stay alive until healing could be applied. But with the severity of his wound and to make matters worse he’d been poisoned. We didn’t know what kind of poison they used so we couldn’t make an antidote for it. All that boiled down to, he was going to die in the next few days.

He thought for a moment, eventually coming to some resolution in his head. He turned to me.

“I was married once. I had a wife and 3 children. We lived in a small house at the end of the village. Back then I was a young man with lofty ambitions of joining the hunters and earning enough money to take my family into the noble ranks. Maybe one day even join the council as an elder. I had a son and 2 daughters. They were the light of my life. My wife's family lived in the capital. We’d saved up enough money to visit them in the summer. Everybody was so excited to visit the big city. I packed up our things and donned my leather armor. My son thought it was so cool. Always saying things like, “You’re like a super ranger or like a mega warrior” every time I put it on. With our things packed and ready to go we left for the city joining a caravan that included the elder’s wife. I was to be her guard for the trip, so I had to ride in her carriage. A few hours later one of our horses buckled and fell to the ground causing the carriage to flip to its side. Throwing me out the side door and into the woods where I hit my head falling unconsciousness. When I woke up, I found the caravan in shambles. It was a bandit raid, and they didn’t spare anyone. Not even the children. My children. I went into a depression, stumbling my way through life for many more years. I’m almost the age where I could be an elder, but it doesn't really matter to me anymore. Then one day I ran out of food and didn’t have enough money to buy more from the butcher. So, I went into the forest to hunt for enough food to last me for a while. But then I was grabbed up by some crazy vines after watching some crazy mage obliterate the game I’d been tracking. The look in your eyes at that time reminded me of Thayn, my son. Full of wonder and excitement. Curious about the world and ready to tackle anything that comes. It was like reality snapped back into place. I’d realized that I let my family down by letting myself become a haggard mess. A drunk and a stain to my people's image. So, I decided I’d pick myself up and start acting like a proper elven hunter again, but it was too late. The people here only saw me as a nuisance. But you. You never treated me that way. Always asking questions with genuine curiosity. So, I focused on becoming your mentor. Knowing that you were always more powerful than me. But you seemed to be missing something. Even now I still think you're missing it. Now I’m about to die and I feel like I’ve failed not only you but my family too. When I die will you ask the gods to do me a favor? Will you ask them to bring me back in a way where I can be useful to somebody? I’d like that person to be you, but I doubt that would happen. So, instead I just want to help someone achieve their dreams. I know it sounds selfish but as a man who's lost his family and who couldn’t protect a single person living in the forest. That's my dream. So, could you do that for me, Savas?”, He said with tears flowing from his eyes in waves.

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I looked him in the eyes and said, “I swear to you the gods will hear your message.”

He smiled once again and fell asleep. Not knowing the whole time, he was speaking to a god. One that loves not only him but all his creations dearly.

Standing, I went to my house determined to fulfill his request. I started to create a new spell once again.

It took the rest of the day, but I’d created a spell that allowed me to isolate the souls I consumed and keep them intact. With that done I needed a place to store the isolated soul so that it would retain its memories while having a second shot at life. Sure, I could just resurrect him, but I didn’t think that would meet the demands of his request. He wanted something new, but he wanted to be able to help others. The only way to ensure that was for him to retain his memories but if I just brought him back to life he would be bound by the shackles of his past. So, I needed a new vessel for his soul. The only thing I could think of was a living creature.

Resolved, I opened my Dungeon Creature Management interface. I got to work combining the creatures I had and wound up with something new. It was the size of an elf with a bit more muscle. One or two horns protruding from its head. This seemed to be a random genetic trait. I decided to override this and force two. Its skin was a faint green, almost the color or the backside of a leaf. Its hair ranged from a myriad of the color spectrum and it had red or blue eyes. All in all, it was bad ass. I decided to name the creature Oni and titled them the Demons of Divinity and Thorn would be the first one.

That done, I went back to check on Thorn. He wasn’t looking good. I could see his soul slipping from his body. Almost like water dripping from a cloth over filled but upward. Small pieces of light collected, forming motes of light. Slowly they drifted upward, eventually separating themselves from the core of his soul. That told me he had roughly hours left to live.

I rushed up to him and said, “I don’t have time to explain but I want your permission to do something. To make things simple. Let's say I got permission from a god to reincarnate you. Do you want me to?”

He looked at me strangely for a moment. Then he turned his head and looked at the goblins around him. A clear look of worry on their faces.

He said, “You know it’s strange. I spent more than 200 years surrounded by the same number of people but here I don’t feel alone. While I was living in the village my days were filled with emptiness. I’ve only been here a few times and I feel more welcome and appreciated than I’ve ever felt from the people there. If my family could see me now. I know they’d be smiling at me. Proud and happy. I do have one regret though. If I agree, will you help me track down those who killed them and help me get revenge?”

Smiling back at him I said, “Of course I will.”

His voice fading like the wind he whispered, “Do it.” and closed his eyes.