Chapter 1
The heavy rain that fell made the ground slippery and muddy. Everyone had a blank expression, full of fear and insecurity. Of course, the mangled bodies of soldiers everywhere and all that blood-soaked in the mud would do that to anyone.
Not on me. I had more important things on my mind at the moment, such as the fact that I was on the verge of death, lying in Freya's arms.
She was a blonde woman with braided hair and blue eyes. He wore gleaming gold armor with beautiful white wings. Her sword was stuck at my side. There were other people around me, but my vision was blurry and blurred, so I couldn't quite identify who they were.
— I'm…sorry. — I said, my voice almost stuttering and coming out a little shaky. The blood stopped in my throat every time I tried to say something.
Freya was saying a few words, but I couldn't hear anything around me. It was silence, listening only to the noise of the cold wind, I could only smell the corpses around me and my cold hands.
Gradually my consciousness moved away, meeting with enormous darkness. Regrets? It had none other than leaving Freya behind in this world. I believe I might have been able to die in peace knowing he died in that last battle. Freya and the other two shields managed to put an end to this war hell, so it was that: 'A life for another life.'
The big oddity of the time was; I had died, but I felt my consciousness wander, even though I was in complete darkness. Smell? Anything. Hearing? Nothing. It was like being in sleep paralysis with a Hailith with bronze claws and teeth with silver fangs drooling all over you about to devour your hand shoving the tip of its bone tail into your left eye and eating it as a snack afterward…, chatting for another time.
It turns out that there, in the middle of that pitch black, the first thing I could hear after long minutes of seeing only darkness in front of me, was the sound of a whistle, being hummed far away. After a while in complete silence, the whistle returned, but it was even closer.
— Well, well, well… — said a voice. She was high-pitched as if three people with deep voices were talking at once. — A human!
I heard a snap of my fingers, and the darkness that surrounded me began to slowly fade, turning into empty white space, endless white.
— A soul lost to the void. — The voice came again. — I wonder how this is possible… — She faded away gradually, it seemed to be that very white expanse that spoke to me.
Up ahead, I watched a small black blur that got closer every second. It was walking towards me, with a huge shadow reaching toward me. She was humming a song, a strange song, slow and with some long, creepy sounds. Looking at it scared me, it reminded me of images I was used to seeing several times in the wars I fought. Yeah, looking at that thing made me think it might be the personification of death itself.
— How did this happen? — Even from a distance, his voice seemed to sing next to my ear, like a whisper.
— Who… — I tried to ask, but for a moment I stopped. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him from afar. — Who is…
— Who are you? Where am I? — The creature had taken the words out of my mouth. — These questions are quite common from wandering souls who stop at this place. — In the blink of an eye, it appeared in front of me, its appearance resembling shards that destroy and rebuild at the same time. — But… — He continued. — It's been a long time since the last one. Long time.
His eyes conveyed an empty sign of life, only the lids showed, white as that place.
— Human… who are you? — That voice repudiated my ears.
The creature raised its hand toward me; the fingers had large, sharp nails. Gently, he touched my forehead with his index finger. My entire life flashed before my eyes in that instant, it was a matter of seconds, and everything I experienced seemed to have become a big open book for anyone to see.
— Impressive… Arial Blake. — His mouth twisted into an alarming smile.
I shuddered, his presence itself was more powerful than that of Freya, Damari, and Rahjin, Yuhai's three shields. Protectors of King Layry, the demon horn. I only felt a presence similar to that, and it was nowhere near that of this creature, that man, or demon that killed me, Delgron; the god of ruin.
— How do you know my name? — I asked, my lip trembling, and I wish it were from the cold.
My hands started to shake and my skin paled. That being's gaze was like needles being slowly threaded through my body.
— What's it? — He raised his hand above his head. — As? The oracle is claiming to be this… human? — The way the creature spoke made me a little angry, but what could I have done? Nothing, of course. He gave me a look full of disdain, then continued: — That human who carried a sickle larger than his own body had much more capacity than… He…
He seemed to be arguing with someone, or something. By the way, I believe this 'human with a scythe' is Rahjin, he died fighting Delgron. If it was him I had to agree that Rahjin was better than me, whatever it was that he was arguing with this mysterious person in his head.
After a long time arguing with the wind and making horrifying expressions the whole time, he looked at me puzzled.
— Haah… — he sighed, it felt so heavy I could feel the air shifting around me. — Very good. — The creature crossed its arms, which looked more like they had merged into its body, and said: — Listen carefully. Do not disappoint the oracle. If you do… I don't need to tell you what's going to happen, do I? — He ended his nice speech with a funny smile, but I could have sworn that if I said just one measly A, I'd be dead… again.
Everything was very confusing at the time, I didn't understand what had just happened. Then the creature snapped its fingers and an ear-splitting buzz sounded like it was going to burst my eardrums. Red and black blurs covered my vision and everything went back to how it was, darkness and more darkness ahead.
For long, lingering minutes, I was trapped in that place. Far away, a white light appeared as a point of salvation for my soul. Whatever it was, my body seemed to levitate closer and closer, as if I was being drawn to her, being pulled out by the force of darkness.
As I walked through a glow dazzled my eyes as sounds assaulted my ears, I tried to say something, but all I could do was cry. I could hear muffled voices and strange silhouettes in front of me.
— Congratulations, Lucia — said a woman.
Those were the first words I could hear when my hearing became normal again. I looked up with great difficulty and came across a lady in her prime. He wore a rag of old clothes; torn and dirty. Beside her was a middle-aged man. Common clothes, a beard that covered half of his face, and a bad smell that my goodness, how long has this gentleman not taken a bath?
What drug is this? I thought that situation was something completely new for me. I tried to get to my feet, but it felt like gravity itself was pulling me down, forcing me to lie down on something extremely soft. In an attempt to turn the body to the side, small hands entered my field of vision.
'What the fuck, what the hell were' the only words I could think of at the moment. Small hands, and when I say small I mean extremely small, they seemed to be intertwined with my body. So that's how my first day in a new body began, and a new life.