So you are Creighton?

“Ye-yes.” I faltered, suddenly finding my voice. The angel wasn’t there before, was he?

Do you understand why you are here with me right now?

“No?”

You do understand you died, right?

“Yeah.”

The reason you are here and not in line at the Gates is that your death came too soon.

“What do you mean too soon?”

You are aware God gave mortal men free will?

“That was taught to me, but how could someone ever be certain?”

If you were truly certain it would just reflect pride, not faith. You lived like it was true, most of your years.

“Okay?”

The reason free will is now considered a gift is because it allows your soul to grow, the more direct guidance we give the more a soul will stagnate.

“I can accept that, but it doesn’t answer what I’m doing here with you. You don’t look like saint peter. Am I going to hell”

No, Hell is for malicious sinners. Your soul is simply unready to enter the Kingdom of God.

“Are you saying I’m going to Limbo or something? And how is that fair? No one told me that I needed a rebreather for that compartment. I haven’t even been dead for… twenty minutes?”

I know my child, and that’s why you’re going to get another chance.

“Does that mean I can see my family again? Or am I attending my own funeral?”

No, We won’t be sending you back to Earth. You must wait until you enter the Kingdom of God to be reunited with your family.

“Then we are going to Limbo?”

No, I am taking you to a whole other world. You would call it reincarnation.

“I’ll still get to be human though, right? Not going to have to be a caterpillar or something to make up for my sins?”

What form you take will, ultimately, be your choice.

“My choice?”

Yes, I will be helping you find a path that will let your soul come into its own, as opposed to re-treading the path you’ve already walked.

“Okay. How far do we have to go? I’m not even sure how long we’ve been traveling.”

This time has been for your benefit, we are already there.

When he said those words, I suddenly realized there was a star behind me. It was drawing no closer, but we were heading for a world that looked very much like earth. When I turned to look up at the angel, I could no longer see him, though I could still feel the hand he had been leading me with. I was brought into a low orbit, the planet spinning away beneath me, only for the angel leading me to reappear. He now held a golden rope that disappeared into nothing a few feet from his other hand.

This is Trezemek. It will host you for your second life, such that you may return not just to the family you are leaving behind, but also all those whose souls you have yet to touch.

The planet seemed normal, other than some areas having odd coloring, like a purple tundra, far above the equator, or a green inland ocean, seemingly just barely inside the southern hemisphere. That was allI could make out as we were entering into the nighttime side of the planet.

This world is currently less technologically advanced than ours, but it does possess a number of things seen only in fantasy on Earth. Most noteworthy is that magic is effervescent on Trezemek.

“What do you mean by magic?”

Spells, prayers, rituals. Most forms you could think of. The planet also contains new races, using this magic in many more ways, of which many are similar to your popular Earth fantasy. And a few that are not known to you.

“So you’re saying I have options other than to be just human? I could be, like, an elf?”

Yes, but children of clay are not the entirety of what is possible. Shortly the wealth of options will make themselves manifest, and you will feel more than one call to you. But to set your expectations properly, The magic this planet possesses is also capable of harboring a soul. Think of how nature spirits were depicted.

“Like a dryad or something?”

Yes, that is one, but it is one you will find less exotic.

“What would I find as the most exotic?”

That’s too individual a question for me to answer for you, I can show you what struck me the most, if you’d like.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Okay, but before we go any farther, I want to know. Did they find my will?”

I can tell you that now, sure. Your brother found it, and he shared it with the rest of your family.

“And you’re sure this isn’t a punishment for missing church so often?”

Come now Creighton, have a little Faith. You’re doubting the words of an Angel.

The next second, the hand that had been leading me let go, and with a pinch in the small of my back I suddenly felt like I was falling off a cliff, even though I couldn’t truly experience any vertigo. I was falling towards the surface, and I couldn’t even begin to fathom how fast. I could only guess I was headed for the northern hemisphere, but with no lights to guide me, all I could really see was a nearly pitch black circle blotting out more and more stars. I was falling down on not just the side opposite the sun, but the moon also hardly cast any light over the vague landmass I was heading for, and that was before the clouds that seemed to cast continent long shadows.

When I arrived on the surface, I didn't feel any impact or jolt. It was the sight of a soft orange glow illuminating the nearby trees, and their rustling leaves, that told me I had arrived in a deep forest. The angel had said there would be dryads, and there was no mistaking the first creature I saw was one. Watching as she ran in the opposite direction of the glow, I could see her clearly. It was like she gave off her own green light, but it was a light that did not illuminate her surroundings. I glanced back in the direction of the glow in front of me, and by the time I turned back I had already lost track of the dryad completely. Walking without having to touch the ground weirded me out, especially when my foot passed right through a root I would otherwise have tripped on, the feeling having been the most like taking a phantom step at the top of a staircase.

I continued on, letting the now noticeably flickering fire guide me. It must be big enough to be a real forest fire. Could he want to show me some sort of fire elemental? It sounded interesting, but after having just experienced a sudden and suffocating death, I certainly didn’t want my next life to be at risk in a passing drizzle. A better name didn’t jump out at me when I saw them, as they danced along the burning branches, so I stuck with fire elementals. What did jump out at me was that beyond the wall of fire, the blackened trees were toppled, as if by a tornado. Holding the back of my hand near the fire, I felt the presence of heat, but no pain or discomfort. I figured that would be the case, as I could see through my weird spirit hands, but it was better to check before I tried to cross.

Stepping through, and then up, the blackened trees, I climbed through the untouched heartwood until my feet tread along the bark of the tree. A circle of fire ringed the sea of broken trunks and branches, almost all of them having toppled away from the middle of the clearing. The closer I got to the center, the more battered the trees appeared. However they also became less burnt. I arrived at a crater. It was not that deep, nor wide, as far as I think craters can get. The forest seemed remarkably well off if a meteorite that large had just landed here. If this was the extent of its damage, It must not be very dense. That would mean the almost pearlescent lump in front of me should have burned up in the atmosphere, but before I could really think about that, I felt it pull me, or perhaps it was calling to me. The wind that had until now blown right through me, like I was a ragged sail riddled with holes, suddenly swelled behind me, and I unceremoniously tumbled down the crater’s wall, before everything went dark.

Well this isn’t ideal, but to be fair, it suited you far better than I’ve seen before. I suspected it might fit you, but it’s unlikely anything else on this planet would have even come close.

’What do you mean?’ I found I couldn’t speak, but he replied to my question regardless.

This is Living Metal, and it was one of your many options, however you’re now committed to it.

‘How can metal be alive? What do you mean committed?’

Think of it like that dryad, a higher order derivative of life in this forest. You are now a dryad of magically imbued metal and rock. And by committed, I’m saying if I were to extract your soul, it would be like a second death, and another death without time to grow more robust would, at the very best, scar you deeply.

‘Well, Can you tell me what living metal does? I can’t seem to move, I can’t see. It just feels like I’ve got a mouth full of cornmeal grit and sand.’

You are what passes for juvenile living metal, unworked, unrefined, unspoiled. You are essentially an ore imbued with a soul by this world’s magic. You can start by trying to spit out that ‘sand’, but for the most part you’ll be waiting for someone to come and find you. There is a lot of competition over the custody of living metal.

‘Does that mean everyone is going to be treating me like their property?’

Living metal is still living, Creighton, and if those who find you try to abuse you, you have sufficient power to rebel. They may seek you for your strength, but they cannot take it without your consent.

‘How long do I have to wait? How long will you stay with me?’

I am sorry, but now that you are incarnate, I can’t give you anything more than occasional assurances, and even then I shouldn’t do any more than say good luck. I will be watching, and we will all be waiting for you.

‘Wait a second, You still haven’t told me what living metal actually does!’

There was no response But he didn’t leave me without at least some direction, so I focused back on myself. This body must have just impacted the ground, as I still felt hot. The night air will soon be robbing me of my heat, and if I know anything about metals it’s easier to work with them when they’re hot. I pick one of the foreign feeling clumps and try to force it out. The best way to describe what happens is that it grinds along the other grains inside of me, my structure shifting and compressing to allow it to pass, until the lump hits another impurity I can’t immediately move, and the pain I feel reminds me of the worst toothache I’d ever had, cranked up to eleven. I reacted by pushing even harder, and I felt the two grains crumble, and start moving together. The feeling then went from dust in my mouth to something more akin to bitter, burning coffee, and the pain and pressure finally released as it spat out of me. The relief I felt when the pressure abated was all encompassing, and I must have passed out. The next thing I knew I felt cold and lethargic, but with a slight warmth tingling in what must be my exposed surface.