Thank you all for your support and comments. I am happy you are enjoying it so far. Here is the next chapter, but first a couple of notes.
This chapter is also dry and does not contain any scenes for reasons outlined in the chapter. At this point, the story has taken on a life of it's own and the first scene will not be until Chapter 4 for world building and plot purposes. As I've said previously, I wish to write a good story, not just another "Dick Biggins fucks everyone from paragraph two on."
All opinions and views expressed in the story are the opinions and views of the characters, respectfully, and do not reflect the views of the author.
All person(s) engaging in, witnessing, or interacting with any content of a sexual nature are over the age of 18.
A big shout out and thank you to the editor of the first two chapters, KenjiSato, for his amazing work. That man loves his commas.
Without further ado:
Chapter 2
An Eccentric Fae
Zeke could feel himself floating in the darkness. Sulena had been right, this was, indeed, like a dreamless sleep, but the fact that he was conscious of it must have meant that he was waking up. He thought about his experiences with the gods, and their words to him. Sulena's words, in particular, had resonated with him, and he felt some relief from the memories of his past life.
Well, seems like it's time to start my new life in this world... what was it called again? Krakennassy? Calabrese?
He strained his mind to remember the last words of the god, but he had been so sleepy then that it had been hard to focus. Eventually, he gave up and figured he would probably hear it again someday, and moved on to other thoughts.
I wonder what my parents'll be like?
he mused. Then, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He couldn't remember his childhood. Not the one from his past life, but from this one. Sulena had said that his old memories wouldn't return until his body was old enough to handle them, but did that mean that he would forget all of his new life's memories? Was this new body just on autopilot until then?
As his senses started to return slowly, he began to feel his body once again.
Something was wrong. There was a heavy weight on him, and he struggled to breathe. His right shoulder and the back of his head had a numbing ache, and he could smell a sharp scent in the air around him. He recognized it immediately.
It was smoke. Specifically, the smell of burning wood, but mixed with another, more terrifying, smell he knew. Burning flesh. He struggled for a moment, trying to move his body, but there was something hard and jagged pressing into his back, sending pain up his spine. He slowly opened his eyes and allowed them to adjust.
The first thing he noticed was, it was dark and he had what appeared to be a strange Heads-Up Display over his vision. There were faint lines of information, semi-transparent, so as not to cloud his peripheral vision, and they occupied the corners of wherever he looked. There was even a faint cross-hair that followed the direction of his focus. But, the second thing he saw sent horror piercing through his heart.
All around, bodies were lying on the ground and fire was raging in the trees, basking the scene in an eerie orange glow. Two of the bodies to his left were on fire, sending thick black smoke into the sky above them. There had obviously been a fierce battle and whoever these people were... had lost.
On top of him, covering his body, was a woman with blonde hair, wearing an odd-looking pink dress with frills. There were numerous arrow shafts protruding from her back and her body was cold and stiff. Zeke knew, immediately, she was dead.
As he looked around the scene of chaos before him, he saw next to them lay the body of a man, face-down, with dark brown hair, similar to what he had chosen in the character creation. He was wearing a blue coat with gold trim and shoulder pads. He wasn't moving, and Zeke could see blood pooled beneath him.
Behind him, the wreckage of what appeared to be a horse-drawn carriage, towered over his head. He was sitting in an upright position against the rear wheel, with the axle against his back. The horses had long since run away, probably when the fight had broken out.
Fear and adrenaline surged within him, and he had to fight to keep his panic at bay. Thanks to his training, he went into work mode and, calming himself, tried to assess his situation and what he should do next. First, he needed to get out from under the woman, who, based on her position, had died trying to shield him.
She must have been my mom
, Zeke thought, with sadness and pity.
Guess I won't know what she was like now.
As he tried to lift and scramble out from under her body, he felt a sharp pain on his right side. He had noticed the pain before, but was too shocked by the scene he witnessed after waking up. He turned his head to look, and sticking out of his shoulder was the shaft of an arrow. The wound was no longer bleeding, and he surmised that it was shallow, but he knew better than to try and pull it out, as doing so would probably cause even more damage, especially if it were barbed.
As he examined his wound, the pain in the back of his head increased and, freeing his left arm, he brought his hand to the spot where it hurt and pulled it back in front of him. It was covered in thick, dark blood. It was obvious that he had been unconscious for a while and explained why whoever had attacked them had left him behind. They probably thought he was dead, as well.
He slid his legs free and made an effort to try to stand without placing weight on his right arm, but his legs were asleep and he collapsed a few times. Finally, after kicking his legs while lying down for a minute, he managed to get the feeling back to them and was able to get up. He looked over the body he created, checking for more damage. He was clearly an adult, with his body being somewhere between the ages of eighteen and twenty, but he felt weaker than he should have been, based on what he had created with Ignaxi.
He walked, unsteadily, over to the man in the blue coat to try to find a pulse, but the instant he touched him, he knew that it was too late. He was cold and stiff, as well. Zeke crouched over him for a moment before lifting his head up to examine the other bodies surrounding him. Some were wearing armor and had swords lying near them; a couple had arrows peppering them; the rest had deep gashes across their chests, or were missing their heads altogether.
