Chapter 1: Prologue

Aetius awoke from his daily meditation. At least he thought of it as “daily”. It was hard to tell in this realm. The sun always shined, giving warm, midday rays. The wind never fluttered on top of the reeds in the golden fields, and the trees never withered or dried up. Ever since he died with Dogar’s blade in his stomach, he had watched this scenery, but he still couldn't quite accept it.

Standing up, he started his usual walk. After the first few years here, he discovered that keeping a routine helped with adjusting to this serene reality. Typically, he would wander to nowhere in particular, but today he had a goal in mind.

He needed to see one of the Guides of this plane, a man called Charun. Aetius first met him a few days after he had first opened his eyes in the Spirit Realm. He could be easily recognized among the other dead souls because of his wings spreading from his back and his great hammer, which he would always carry with him.

“Hi there, my mortal enemy!” he heard the familiar voice call out to him. “Where are you heading to this beautiful afternoon?”

“Is it afternoon now?” He asked the broad-shouldered man who was coming up to him.

“It was morning the last time I saw you, so I reckon it must be afternoon now!” Dogar chuckled and sat down.

“You mean to say that you base the passage of time on how many times you see me? I’m flattered.” Aetius, with a grin on his face, took a seat on the grass next to him. “I didn’t know that you value me so much.”

“Of course I do! You are the only person who I talk to that I think understands me. I can’t truly consider that a time has passed whenever I talk to other souls here - loafing fools, most of them.”

A raven flew then overhead. Jet black, flying with certainty, almost like it knew exactly where it was headed. Aetius watched it soar until it disappeared from his view. It was always a rare sight, but a welcome one. These small creatures were the only thing that somehow didn’t fit in this landscape and thus were usually the talk of everyone nearby who saw them. Aetius suppressed a laugh, thinking of how a single bird flying by was now the most exciting thing to happen for months.

“I always wondered why the only animals here are the occasional raven, bolting through the sky.” Dogar wondered aloud.

Aetius sighed, “Don't ask me that question. I wish I knew.” He looked across the horizon. “Not having any animals at all in this whole place is more disturbing than I imagined.”

“Yeah… Anyway, are you ready?” Anticipation and worry marked his question. “It’s a big ‘afternoon’ after all.”

“I think I am. Thinking back, it's kinda ironic that you, of all people, are here on my ‘big afternoon’.”

Dogar laughed. “If you said to me, back when I was still alive, that this would happen, I would probably tie you behind a horse, set its backside on fire, and watch it run!”

Aetius remembered how he used to battle against Dogar’s clans and the punishment methods they used when they were still alive. He was appointed the leader of the legion, responsible for conquering central parts of Erythia. He would encounter most of his problems on the western bank of the Midarior, the inland sea. This area was occupied by semi-nomadic clans, which Dogar managed to unite against Aetius and the New Republic.

He remembered the brutal skirmishes, the endless food shortages, and the cunning of these “barbarian” people. He could make light of his death, he spent hundreds of years in the Spirit Realm after all, but remembering all the meaningless death on both sides of the struggle that could be avoided, all that he and his soldiers had to sacrifice for a cause they didn’t believe in, made him feel the rage that he had during his lifetime, except it was now directed at the people who made the decisions. Instead of sharing their newly found land with the native people, they would take it from them by the sword. “Attack is the best defense”, his masters used to say.

He was led to believe that the natives were less than human by those who appointed him the Legate of the IIIrd Legion. The Council, consisting of specially elected members of the senate in times of war, would vilify any local groups that stood between them and dominion over the whole continent.

Aetius found himself believing it at the time. Like most of his soldiers, it made it easier to kill and butcher the man standing before them on a battlefield. Even though he knew it was wrong, if he could go back in time, he wouldn't change his belief. He would make up stories about his foes and tell them to his soldiers himself if the Council didn’t do it. He would rather not be at war at all, but alas. You simply can’t go to battle without hating your enemy to the core. And Dogar knew it, too.

“You know, I think that maybe I was lucky to have died by your sword rather than by one of your punishment methods.”

“Right back at you, I cannot imagine being cooked alive by one of the bronze bulls your people seemed to love,” Dogar retorted. “That thing was pure evil.”

“Don’t mention cutting your throat, then.”

“Never saw that coming, what with my blade in your gut and all.” The burly man stood up to make a theatrical bow. “Thank you indeed, my friend, for saving me from that torture.” He squatted back down. “What would I do without you, huh?

“About that — ”

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I decided that I will reincarnate as well!” Dogar exclaimed cheerfully. “My soul was ready for quite some time already and now that you will be gone, there is nothing to keep me sane here.”

Aetius was surprised at that. “What? When did you decide this?”

“Right now! Seeing you so intent on doing this, I can’t possibly make any other decision,” he stated resolutely. “Though it will probably be a few years before Charun or some other Guide will approve it.”

“You are as unpredictable as ever, Doga.” Aetius noticed nostalgically.

“You really shouldn’t be surprised at this anymore, you know.” He paused, visibly scrambling to put together the next words. “See you again in some 70 years then, Atty.” Dogar stood up. “I hope that if our hosts ever meet in the next life, they won't have to die before becoming friends.”

“That would be fortunate indeed.” Aetius smiled, rising from the grass. “See you, Doga.”

They grasped each other's forearms in a warrior handshake, which was usually reserved only for brothers in arms. With one last look, Dogar walked away, leaving Aetius in the warm summer meadow. The former Legate started to head out as well. His meeting location with Charun was on a nearby hill. He couldn’t determine whether the hill was somewhat special or whether that's where Charun liked to spend his time. The closer he got, the more ready he was to give up on trying to figure out if there was something special on that hill. After all, he saw other souls get transported back to the physical world from all sorts of places, not only hills. Perhaps he would know soon enough, anyway.

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*****

Making his way to the peak, he could begin to pick out the details of the figure standing there. His wings were the first obvious identifying mark. Growing from his back, a pair of white feathered wings grew. Although it was an uncommon sight, it wasn’t something unthinkable. There were other souls with strange body parts, an effect of their rare mana mutation, most likely.

Thus, the thing most souls would point out about Charun was his weapon, as other souls didn’t carry any possessions with them, marking him, and any other tool-possessing soul as a Guide. They were the ones who any soul, upon dying and being transported here, would see first.

Their role was to explain the soul’s situation, educate them about this place, and show them how they could be reincarnated. His and Dogar’s Guide were Charun, the man standing in front of him right now. His posture showed signs of tiredness and his eyes, bright but somewhat drowsy, locked onto Aetius.

“Welcome, Aetius Summanus.” His body turned to face Aetius. “Am I to understand that you are ready to be tested once again?”

“I am,” replied Aetius.

Charun looked to the side and mumbled, “Good. I hate when they change their mind after I already chose and came to the Crossing place.”

Aetius ignored the grumbling of the Guide and asked, “Were you supposed to clarify some things about the reincarnation to me?”

The winged man turned to look at Aetius again. “Yes yes, don’t be so hasty,” he sighed, “it’s not like we are cramped for time here.” Clearing his throat, he began explaining. “Your soul has been ready for the Crossing for 259 years. When you go through the barrier connecting us to the physical world, you will feel your soul dissolving at its boundaries. This will only amplify with time, looking for a host to merge your soul. That means you can’t just fly around the real world and play ghost. You have around a month to find a host. The majority choose to link their souls to that of a child because it gives them more time to achieve the goal that they set right before the Crossing. A soul wanting to Cross must have the intention to steer their living host to a better path than that in their past life. Learning from past mistakes and all that.”

“And how am I supposed to steer anything, when I’m just an observer inside someone else's soul, with my thoughts?”

“More or less,” answered Charun. “You can push some of the qualities that you gained during your past life. Honor, loyalty, bravery, and so on, but also foolishness and stubbornness. Your host will gradually be affected by those traits, but you can push some of them a little harder from time to time. It won’t make them instantly as brave or as malicious as the soul that merged with them, but it can help when faced with a difficult decision.

“All your memories of this realm will be lost upon merging and regained when your host dies and your soul comes back here. If your goal is achieved, meaning your host lived their lives according to what you wanted them to learn, then your soul will gain more strength, more cohesion and you will be closer to ascending. But if they fail to do so, then your soul comes closer to annihilation and disappearing forever. Did you get all that?”

Aetius felt slightly dizzy but replied, “Yeah, I think I got it.”

“Fantastic, now, make your goal so I can imprint it into your soul,” he said lazily.

Aetius thought about what to make of his goal for a couple of years now and he thought he found one. “I want them to sacrifice for only the things that they truly believe in.”

“How noble,” mocked Charun, and moved closer to touch Aetiuses forehead. Taking his hand away, he said, “Now step away for a minute.”

Aetius followed his directive. Charun then gripped his hammer tighter and swung at the air. His hammer stopped midair like it hit something. Water-like ripples followed the point of impact, and the physical world could be seen through the gap, the result of the blow.

“Go now, it won’t last long,” said Charun, resting the hammer on his shoulder.

Aetius looked at the gap and gulped. He took the first step forward and could feel his soul being pulled through it. The last thing he saw was a yawning Charun. It felt frightening to have his soul yanked like that, without any ability to control it, but after a few seconds, it was over. He was now back in the world of the living, floating above a forest. He tried to look for any landmarks that would give him a hint of where he was, but couldn’t find any.

“It must have been over a thousand years since I died,” he realized. Looking for anything familiar may be futile. With nothing else to do, he set out to find a host with whom he would spend his next life.

*****

It took him less than he expected to find a candidate for his soul. What also surprised him was that his name was Summanus. Aetius didn’t know if it was a coincidence or maybe Charun did him a favor by making a gap close to the estate where his descendants lived, but he welcomed it nonetheless.

The boy in question was the older sibling of the children of the current patriarch of the family, which he surmised from his observations of the manor. He could see his soul shine so brightly, brighter than anyone else he knew from the Spirit Realm. The boy’s element was also lightning, the same as Aetius.

“With a soul such as that, he won’t need my guidance much, I reckon,” chuckled Aetius. “I will observe for a few days longer to get a better picture of how my descendants are doing.”

He soon realized that fate had other plans for him. Young Summanus would often climb trees while playing with his brother, and on the second day of Aetius watching his family, there was an accident. Aetius could hear and see the crack sky crack and lightning striking the boy as he made it to the top, winning a race with his brother. The boy fell 10 feet to the ground, smoke rising from his body. But that wasn’t the only damage he suffered. His very soul was splintered and shattered, fraying at the edges and on the verge of disappearing completely. Aetius realized that the boy would be gone soon, along with his soul, so he made his decision.

He flew in his ghostly form next to him and began filling the cracks made by the massive lightning. His soul, instead of merging with the boy’s like it was supposed to, was now flowing into it, repairing the damage. Aetius fought hard to restore the young climber’s spirit, sacrificing his own in the process.

“Instead of guiding this child’s soul to never repeat my mistakes, I got a chance to rectify them. I’m not sure that’s how it’s supposed to work!” he cackled.

His soul was nearly spent closing the last cracks, and all he could feel was peace. Not being plagued with doubts about his actions and doing what he believed was right. The fulfillment he felt then was worth sacrificing his soul for the boy. Smiling, as the last drops of his spirit passed to his descendant, he closed his eyes and let himself perish, leaving no regrets behind.

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