Dying was a bit trippy, first there was the darkness, then suddenly a bright light and the sensation of been pulled towards it. As all this was happening I could hear voices shouting “stat!” and “clear!” very importantly, then came the out of body experience. I slowly rose gently into the air as all the pain faded away, I saw my body crushed between two cars, I saw Toby been restrained by men in green scrubs while he screamed profanities at the prone figures of Jonathan and Cassandra who were being held down by hospital security. As I watched, the scene grew smaller and smaller as I drew further away from it. I briefly wondered how it could be so bright when it was so late at night but promptly ceased to care after all I was dead and not been a religious person had no idea where my eternal soul was headed, should have gone to church more, I was going to just enjoy the ride, but like a bad joke everything went pear shaped real fast.
A piercing pain shot through my chest and quickly jerked me sideways at incredible speeds, I tried to identify the source of the pain but my head refused to move and suddenly one more time everything went black.
To say I woke up would be an illegitimate use of the word, when my vision went black it wasn’t that I passed out; it was just that I could no longer see. I could somewhat sense myself still moving for a long time and the pain that I initially felt faded away, then suddenly I stopped.
“Ooh, you brought another one, I thought we had closed shop and were moving on” a voice called out slightly to the left of me in a mocking tone.
“ I was tying up loose ends when I came upon this soul ascending, it has some potential” another said with a dead pan voice from behind me, from what I’ve gathered so far my soul had been abducted and this voice belonged to my abductor.
“I thought we weren’t testing anymore souls?” a third voice asked in a puzzled manner, apparently missing the previous conversation. I was just about to start assigning nicknames to the voices when I heard the mocking voice ask, “Why are his eyes closed?”
The newest addition to the party had noticed that my eyes were tightly shut, even though originally my lack of eyesight wasn’t voluntary, I had shut my eyes to avoid seeing the face of my kidnappers, I had read somewhere that was the appropriate thing to do.
“He has adequate potential for our needs” the voice of my abductor said emotionlessly, “what harm could there be in trying one last time”
“ha-ha, he has a point, even though this species has lost its touch with the flow there soul is still highly resilient, I guess we can modify the rest of him to fit, there is really no harm in trying lets be done with it and leave this accursed dimension” the mocking voice said
At this point I realized there was no immediate danger so I opened my eyes and I immediately wished I hadn’t.
A massive monstrosity stood before me, its head towered far above me, it was humanoid in shape but that was where all similarity with humanity ended. Its skin was lobster red in color and stretched tightly across budging muscle, he had completely black eyes and instead of eyebrows had crab like antennae and horns on each side of its fore head.
I had just opened my mouth to scream when I caught site of the second monster, because yes I had decided that whatever these things were they were certainly monsters, and the second being fell neatly into that category.
It stood fifteen feet tall with a muscular body and thick scaled skin, spikes protruded along its spine, its knees and elbows and on the outside border of its limbs, on its shoulders was a reptilian head with a mouth filled with rows and rows of shark like teeth.
“Careful!, his soul is becoming unstable” the crustacean like monster warned in an emotionless voice and a yellow light flashed towards me. Instantly all of my fears melted away and on closer inspection so did most of my other emotions.
“By the stars what did you to him Shikubu?” the demon with the scales asked in surprise as the yellow light faded away.
I turned in the direction the scaled one was facing to see yet another monster. Shikubu was squat compared to the other two, his skin was a deep orange in color and he had bright blue hair and a full beard of the same color, with piercing green eyes.
“It was a calm spell, the whelp was so terrified his soul was moments away from shattering” Shikubu said scratching his protruding belly.
As all this happened I floated in their middle not scared, just simply curious. My thoughts organized themselves at an alarming rate, question after question popped into my head then organized themselves in term of relevance. It was like someone finally opened a window in a stuffy house to let the cool breeze in. my mind was unfettered and my thought processes were clear.
“Can you teach me that spell?” I asked Shikubu, the blue dwarf giant, staring straight into the piercing green eyes. My only reply was silence from all three monsters.
As the silence stretched out the thought that I might have offended them briefly crossed my mind but that thought was soon disproved as a thunderous laugh bellowed from the scaled one.
“Do you see that Yakamo, you finally brought us a good one” the scaled one said jovially slapping the crablike creature on his back.
“Tell me young one, why do you wish to learn this spell?” Shikubu asked.
I was briefly surprised at been called young one at the age of 65, but who knew how long these monsters had been in existence. “It makes thinking extremely easy and stops emotion from clouding my judgment” I replied frankly.
“*Humph*, what do you say to that lady Kyoso?” Shikubu asked, “Do you see it in yourself to perform one more reincarnation?”.
“Why should we stretch ourselves to perform a reincarnation? Yakomo has brought this soul in to late, he can destroy it or throw it into the grate river, I will have nothing to do with it”, she said in an offhand manner and this one was undoubtedly a she. From her head to her thighs she had the body of a woman, not the food starved waspish figure we had come to idolize in our era but a full blown voluptuous figure with a large bosom, nonexistent waist and wide toned hips, and like Yakomo her skin was red, in a slightly deeper shade. On her head instead of hair she had a great rack of horns, and below her thighs fused together to become the body of a great snake. Her arms were like that of a monsters ending in claws instead of fingers and she gave off the most deadly of auras.
“Even thought the reincarnation sigil for this planet is not present we have others, if you are tired and no longer capable say so, do not give childish excuses. I Yakomo will participate in this reincarnation” Yakomo said throwing a barb in the direction of the new arrival, lady Kyoso.
“ha-ha, well said Yakomo, it is good to see you youngsters having such a friendly competition, but lady Kyoso is right we benefit nothing from manually performing a reincarnation and at the closest system whose sovereign owes a favor is Arethama do you want to waist that favor on him, his potential is high but we have seen higher, I Nikoma will not participate in this reincarnation” the jovial scaled monster said at last given his name.
“so its two votes for two votes against, I Shikubu will be supporting young Yakomo in the reincarnation, he may not be the highest potential we have ever seen, but we have never seen an individual who was compatible with so many of us, I would like to see how far he would carry the knowledge we would give him” the blue dwarf said.
“Compatible or not our gifts are ours to bestow and from what I can sense, of the both of you only you, Shikubu, are compatible with him so your plans are for nothing” lady Kyoso hissed at him the end of her tail rattling in anger.
Like a spectator at a tennis match I watched as these beasts verbally spared with one another arguing and counter arguing each other as each side tried to sway the other to their side and slowly a part of the general picture began to unfold. These beasts were part of a group that traveled round the galaxy searching for souls with potential and reincarnating them after giving them gifts of power. What they gained from these divine acts I do not know but I was a firm believer in no meal came free.
“There is no point in this his majesty is not present to give his consent and without one more vote you can do nothing” lady Kyoso screamed across the room.
“and without one more vote you cannot stop us from doing as we wish you upstart” Yakomo coldly stated a broad sword that reminded me of king Arthur, made entirely of black steel, dropped into his hand from thin air. Instantly I backed away from the screaming monstrosities as lady Kyoso screeched in indignation purple light encasing her to hands and her body moved into a tight coil ready to spring.
“ *sigh*, I Tsuburu support this reincarnation” a tired voice echoed across the empty space, freezing everyone where they stood, “this is my contribution to the reincarnation” the voice said and a bright light flashed into existence At the center of the glowing light was a black liquid. I looked around for the owner of the voice but saw no one but then again I hadn’t even seen the Kyoso lady till she had chosen to reveal herself.
“With his majesty and general Akuma absent we have gathered the necessary members to carry out the reincarnation of this soul, this is I, Shikubu, contribution to this reincarnation” Shikubu stated as another light flashed into existence this time a golden liquid in its center.
“Sorry to intrude but what if I do not want to be reincarnated?” I asked, slightly peeved that no one had asked my opinion in this monumental decision, lady Kyoso’s reply was instant and ruthless, “we will kill everyone and thing you have ever known or loved” she said her voice filled with venom.
It was a classic case of transferred aggression, she had not been able to outmaneuver the other beasts so she picked on the defenseless soul and Yakomo said as much, “how long will you continue to shame his majesty acting so foolishly in front of a mere mortal, have you no dignity left” he growled at her and with a flick of his wrist his sword disappeared.
Lady Kyoso hissed with indignation but soon calmed down as she noticed the look of disappointment on Shikubu’s and Nikoma’s faces.
“we will add ten extra years of life to five people of your choice and ensure they live the rest of their lives in good fortune” Yakomo said turning towards me, but I had also caught the underlying threat, say no and they would leave the snake lady to wreck havoc with my loved ones say yes and they would protect them, I had no choice. “I accept your gracious over “I replied mockery heavy in my voice.
“you should not antagonize an asset with this much potential lady Kyoso” Nikoma said in a lecturing tone as he and the snake lady watched Tsuburu and Yakomo grab the balls of liquid and light and approach me placing both of them besides my head. “It matters not after the reincarnation he will remember none of it” she said and with that last sentence the balls of light flew into my head and my vision went white…….
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........... As lightning flashed across the sky and pain pulsed through my head. Where was I, I thought to myself as I raised a hand to my head feeling for the cause of pain, on inspection, my hand was covered in blood.
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“Young master… young master look at me, you must flee this place, abandon me and flee” a voice barely above a whisper said to me. I turned to see who it was and gasped in shock a beautiful young lady lay shattered on the rocky floor beside a cliff, her injuries where extensive and only one side of her chest rose and fell shakily in her efforts to breathe. “Young master, please listen to me, her ladyship is on her way, you must run, follow the river”.
Her sentences came rapidly and in short burst, determined to get her message across before she died. Even though she put up a brave front I could see it in her eyes, the same look I had seen in the eyes of my friends as they lay in the street riddled with bullets from drive by shootings and trigger happy police officers, she was brave but she was also scared.
I moved over to her side and picked up the least damaged hand, cupping it between my hands, and silently waited. A brief smile of gratitude was given even though I could tell she wanted me to run she also did not want to die alone. As we waited for the inevitable to happen a barrage of questions flew though my mind, where was i?, who was she?, how were we related?, who was the lady ? who had attacked us? So many questions and the only person capable of answering the question was waiting for her death, the last thing she needed is for the person she apparently gave her life to protect asking questions that would lead her to question his sanity. I sighed mentally in frustration but silently waited beside the dying lady.
Suddenly she drew in a ragged breath and held my gaze, “ forgive this useless servant my lord, I am sure in the future you will be remembered as one of the greatest elf lords so you must prevail lord Tal Van Rost” she said as her eyes closed and she breathed her last.
Like a hot knife her last sentence tore through me, elf lord? Was I not human?, my hand shot to my ears and sure enough my ears were not rounded but pointed, the universal symbol of the Elvin race that all true fantasy enthusiast identified with, as i reeled from the shock of it all memories flooded out of my mind.
I was Philip Yang, I had been killed, my soul was stolen, I was reincarnated, and almost like in a dream I was born and had lived the first six years of my life as a normal spoilt Elvin child ignorant of the world and all that it entails.
I leapt to my feet as I rapidly reviewed my memories of my elfish childhood but not as a spoilt noble but a wizened sixty-five year old man, and very quickly I came to the realization, this was an assassination attempt.
I quickly searched Aiya’s dead body; yes I remembered her name, my ever faithful ever loving handmaid Aiya. I knew she kept a dagger on her at all times and soon found it. I shoved the nine inch blade into my belt and sprinted away from the cliff.
My name is Tal Van Rost, first and only child of the head of the house Marcion Van Rost and his life mate Erulasse Van Rost, this by itself was not enough to put me in danger but add on the fact that Marcion Van Rost had been missing for 7 years and his younger sister Vanlathriel Rost had desired the house seat even when her brother was around made me an inconvenient obstacle, and it seems she had moved to remove me.
I sprinted downhill and into the woods, listening for the sound of water. I pulled memory after memory from the recesses of my mind and wanted to cry blood. My mother had tried to teach me sword play but I had refused, she had tried to hire tutors to teach me military strategy and maneuvers I had thrown a tantrum, all I had was a sub par movement technique and the memories of my past life, things were not looking good.
Just as I decided that I was lost and was about to double back I burst into a clearing. It was a tranquil setting with green grass littered here and there with wild flowers and through the middle ran a small river. I staggered over and repeatedly scooped water into my mouth between gasps for air when I caught site of my reflection. It seemed I was the male version of snow white, my skin was ridiculously pale and I had raven black hair that fell to my waist, my youthful face and chubby cheeks drove home more than anything that I was now I child, but my golden eyes sent a shiver down my spine, it seemed unnatural.
I stood back up and was about to continue my escape along the river when I felt it. If not for the that I had recently retrieved my memories I am sure the five year old Tal would have lain on the ground in a fetal position and cried until death came for him, but with the memories of the terrifying aura of the monstrosities that had flung me into this strange world still fresh in my mind, I simply crouched to the ground and unsheathed my dagger.
Five auras were racing towards me, not meandering or searching but racing towards me. As a child elf I wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of elfish physique but this elf body was quite energetic and would put my old body to shame in a foot race, and I had just spent the last forty-five minutes running away from my previous position, there was no way they could find me so easily and with the speed they were moving they weren’t tracking my footprint. I came to single conclusion, I had been tagged somehow.
I bolted down the river following it back into the woods as it looped and curved about. Could they have put some sort of magical tracking seal on me? If that was the case I was screwed because I had no knowledge of how to find or remove it, the best case scenario for me was if they had used an object. As that thought crossed my mind my hand shot to the single golden hair pin that held my hair out of my face, it was a gift from my conniving aunt, formerly my second favorite person in my naive state of mind, and sure enough the single red gem on the body of the pin was softly glowing.
I flung the pin into the woods and dove into the river letting the current carry me forward for a while before swimming across to the other side. Even though I had lost the tracking device, I was now cold and wet in the middle of a lightning storm, if it started raining this fragile body would succumb to hypothermia, not a good way to die.
I had bought myself thirty minutes at best five at worst, I shrugged of my wet over coat and continued my jog along the river, just this time at the other side. To escape these individuals with my current capabilities was impossible, all I could do was buy time for mother to arrive.
Erulasse Van Rost, the white swords woman of the black sword clan. the once in a generation genius of the sword, my mother. Often viewed as simple and unrefined, her marriage to Marcion Van Rost had caused a stir among the noble houses. At the time the marriage had been viewed as a power hungry move of an elfish woman, when it was later discovered that it was the head of the Van Rost house that had proposed the nobility of the elf kingdom were left baffled. Her intentions and goals were unknown to all but there was one indisputable fact, she was strong.
There was no one in the employ of aunt Vanlathriel that could stand against my mother this I was sure of, if I could survive until mother got here I would be safe.
The five auras that had been rapidly approaching suddenly slowed down drastically, thinking my plan had worked, I continued forward in relief when I felt twenty fierce auras surrounding me. Like a wild animal I had been led into a trap.
As if from the very shadow itself the assassins stepped into my line of sight, each clocked from head to toe in black with only slits that where their eyes should be.
For a moment we stood there in silence, me in shock of how I was so easily led along and the folly that I albeit a sixty five years old soul in a six year old elf body had been so foolish to believe that I could evade professional assassins, and they waiting to see what “the child” would do next.
As one they moved towards me, drawing their blades as they approached. As death approached me one more time I am ashamed to say this time I panicked. “I can offer you ten times what Vanlathriel is going to pay you, all you have to do is look away and let me escape” I said for the first time using my voice. Even in the dire situation I was in my voice stood out to me, it came out on a high note, maybe because of my age, but it also had a singing quality to it like a singer in the introductory part of a song.
The auras of the twenty before me suddenly intensified and took on an angry note, it seemed I had pissed off the assassins, one of the cloaked figures quickened his steps and raised his blade as he approached me, it seemed he would be the one to deliver the finishing blow.
I closed my eyes as the blade dropped towards me. I was surrounded and outmatched, death was inevitable. That was when I felt it. The two orbs of light that I had been gifted before my reincarnation. They floated gently in my consciousness, one a black liquid encased in an orb of light, the other golden and similarly encased, instinctively I plunged my consciousness into the golden orb and knowledge flooded my brain.
It was like my mind was smashed open and a library was shoved in ,no, that did not do it justice, it was more like someone had downloaded the entire Wikipedia website into my brain. From what I could deduce, Shikubu had bestowed somehow manage to give me a massive amount of knowledge of all things arcane, alchemy, enchanting, spells and runes, I was a living breathing encyclopedia for magic.
All this happened in an instant, I desperately searched for some knowledge to help my current situation as a blade was still currently racing towards my head. Finding the necessary runes, I mentally invoked it and the effect was instant both the assassins and to me.
“Mage!” the assassin closest to me hissed in surprise as he sprung backwards trying to warn his comrades, but it was too late. A massive amount of energy was building up around me making the very air ripple and increasing the gravity in my vicinity. All twenty assassins were smashed to the ground as their bodies weight first tripled and then quadrupled. Sickening pops echoed through the air as their bones shattered under the weight and one by one they each coughed up mouthful of blood then died, I however fearing just as bad.
As soon as I had invoked the runes I knew I had made a terrible mistake, while the drastic change in gravity had affected the assassin, the energy build up around me had turned inwards and had begun to permeate my skin. Almost like someone had poured molten lava into my veins, a crawling pain hit me; I sank to my knees as the pain spread through my body crippling me. I convulsed on the ground as my very blood vessels burst and energy and blood began leaking from every orifice in my body. Mage backlash, the two words that sprung to my mind from the wealth of information Shikubu had given me, my immature magical pathways were in no way prepared for the advanced spell I had just invoked and they were shattering under the pressure, the insignificant amount of magic I had been forced to cultivate had been shattered, I had just become a cripple.
Slowly the pain faded away and I lay on the ground amidst the shattered corpses gasping for air. I spat out the blood that had gathered in my mouth and attempted to stand but all my muscle only groaned in response, this body was done. Though healthy I was currently a child, the forced marathon and then the crippling of my magical pathways had driven my body into the ground. I lay silently amongst the trees as my labored breath slowly calmed down and I lost consciousness.