Soul Between Lives

Alex was still in a state of shock from what had just happened to him. When he had finally ordered his thoughts to notice what was going on around him again his attention was drawn to the old man repeatedly watching Alex's final moments as Paul. It was very surreal seeing his own death from an outside perspective and the question [Who's view was this from?] finally crossed his mind.

Just as Alex opened his mouth to voice this question the old man turned once again toward him and started asking his own questions.

"You don't seem to be but you aren't trying to die on purpose right?"

Alex was taken aback by the question and took a moment to digest it before telling the old man that he's had no intention of getting killed at all ever. Aside from a few half-assed suicide attempts when he was a young teenager back on Earth but he didn't feel the need to reveal something so embarrassing and private to this stranger.

"Did you feel anything strange before you died? Such as a feeling of doom or grief? Did you suddenly start feeling weaker than normal? Did you hear any strange voices close to your ear or in your mind that had no visible speaker nearby?"

After being bombarded with so many questions Alex took a moment to think about the purpose of such questions and told the old man that nothing seemed out of normal for the situations that he found himself in.

"After you died, what did you feel? Did it feel like you were being forcefully pulled away from something or pulled between two or more places?"

"I don't remember anything other than a blank darkness before opening my eyes and being back here."

The old man approached and took a closer look at Alex as he gave his answers.

"Alright, hopefully you don't keep appearing back here. I'm getting sick and tired of you dying like this."

[What is this old man saying?] "I'm not too fond of getting killed myself."

The old man noted the bemused look on Alex's face before continuing, "You don't seem to have much luck as a human of that world so I'll be sending you back as something a little different this time."

"Just how different are we talking here."

"You'll still have the basic form of a man. Just don't expect much more than that." The old man said as he produced another one of those damned orbs in his hand with a sinister looking smile.

Alex could only look on with apprehension as the orb flew towards him and with its usual speed, it sent him back through the spiraling darkness.

...

As he was coming too, Alex could hear odd grunting noises coming from all around him. His eyes popped open. He found himself in a dimly lit cave surrounded by strange humanoid creatures making all sorts of odd noises. With a growing sense of panic, it wasn't long before one of these creatures came close enough for him to see it clearly. Alex let out a little scream, "Goblin!" before backing away and looking around for a way to escape.

The goblin in front of him gave him an odd look before laughing and asking, "Hey new-bro, what you so afraid of?" Alex was shocked speechless after hearing the goblin talk. "Am me so impressive?" the goblin asked with a smile while making different poses showing off his scrawny body.

Other nearby goblins took notice and started laughing at the scene. Just then a commotion was heard from the entrance of their cave. The goblin in front of Alex stopped posing and jumped up on top of a nearby boulder to see what it was about. With a gleeful smile it jumped back down next to Alex and grabbing his arm it said, "Come on, we get to eaty-eat if we're quick!" before dragging Alex with him.

The mutilated remains were already torn to pieces before they got there and the sight of it made Alex's stomach turn over. "Quick quick grab a chunk and eat!" the goblin said before jumping into the fray for the remaining scraps. Alex couldn't clearly see what it was that all the goblins were eating but it did smell nice to his nose which made his empty stomach grumble.

[Who knows when I'll be able to get something to eat the next time? I'd better jump in there and grab something] he thought as he gathered his courage. [Right there!] Alex jumped into an opening between two goblins leaving the mosh with their plunder. He couldn't quite reach what was left but he plunged his arm between the many moving bodies in a hurry and yanked at whatever he could grab.

"Hey what are you doin bro-bro!?" said an indignant goblin whose foot was pulled by Alex.

"Ah sorry I thought you were food."

"Me am not! Here eat this instead." The perturbed goblin said before chucking a hunk of flesh at Alex and diving back into the feeding frenzy.

The chunk hit Alex squarely in the face before falling to his feet. When Alex looked down to pick it up he saw it was a human hand missing most of its fingers. He couldn't even say anything as he backed up and fell on his butt in horror. If Alex had any food in his stomach right then, it would have been all over his stomach and the ground at that point.

...

Alex was in a daze for about an hour after covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut for the remainder of the feeding frenzy. The goblins that had finished eating noticed his odd behavior and stayed away from him. Some talking amongst themselves. Finally, Alex couldn't take it any longer and made his way out of the cavern only to find it was just a small chamber within a larger cave complex. Looking around, there were many other goblins and larger hobgoblins going about their business. He saw smaller groups of larger goblins eating various kills but still felt too sick to his stomach to even consider trying the unidentified food.

Wandering around the cave learning its geography kept him distracted from much of his recent trauma. One thing was for sure. He was a little, repulsive, goblin this time. Though he didn't smell so bad to his goblin nose, he could tell it was a scent that would have curled his human nose. He finally found his way to a cave with a stronger and cooler breeze that was guarded by a few groups of the strongest looking goblins he had yet seen. They gave him inquiring looks as he walked past and between them towards the source of the draft. Near the end of the cave, a group finally spoke to him stopping him in his tracks.

"What does little gobby want to leave for?"

"I'm looking for something to eat." Alex morosely replied.

"We bring tasty meat for gobby to eaty-eat and grow strong."

"I need something better," Alex said with downcast eyes.

"Hmph, if little gobby wants better then little gobby can go hunt it." The older goblin said before standing aside to let Alex out of the cave.

It was dense forest surrounding the cave entrance and for fear of getting lost Alex didn't stray too far away until he was confident he could find his way back. As he wandered around looking for things to eat he tried bitting various living objects. The tree bark was hard and impossible to chew and the leaves all left his gums and lips stinging and proved impossible to swallow. He tried catching little critters as he stumbled upon them but he was still too clumsy in his new body.

Eventually, he caught a wif of smoke on the air and the smell of something truly delicious got stronger as he plodded closer. He could finally hear the crackle and sizzle of the food and fire which seemed to be just on the other side of a berm of bushes. As he was considering the wisdom of pushing through the shrubby barrier he heard people talking.

"That was a good hunt."

"Yeah! I'm really looking forward to this. Hurry up and finish cooking it."

"You can't rush a good roast. Just be patient a little while longer."

[It's people!] Alex exclaimed in his mind. [I finally found proper food to eat.] With teary eyes he drew closer and closer desperately thinking about how to introduce himself and get some of the grub. Suddenly he heard a twang from one of the tree branches a bit behind him and felt a sharp pain replace his stomach's painful grumble. He only had time to look down and see the arrow protruding from his torso before he fell forward losing consciousness and bleeding to death.

...

Once again as Alex opened his eyes he saw the old man watching the screen playing out the epilogue of his most recent failure.

"A baby goblin got so close to our camp and you didn't notice till it was right on top of us?" Asked the adventurer in charge of cooking.

"I admit I was distracted by the hog on the spit." The man holding a bow replied. "But still what is a little goblin doing out here by itself? Perhaps there's a den nearby?" The archer continued before the old man paused the video.

The old man stood there thinking and mumbling to himself while fiddling with his beard, "Is the world itself rejecting him? Those gods don't seem to have even taken notice of the failed trades let alone seem to be interfering with them. Do I really have to baby him so much to prepare him for his new life? Even so, why does his soul keep returning here rather than stay there?"