Soul of a Human

The human rushed along the dense forest, cursing whenever Mor's body stumbled because of the underbrush. The snakelike-monstrosity was close behind them. Stumbling again, the human extended the tumble with a jump and half-roll, half-tumble, evading the giant maw of the monstrosity just barely. Mor's legs burned from the continued strain, and his endurance was failing. The only thing keeping him moving was the will of the human.

"Fuck, fuck fuck! Mor!!" The human cried out in sheer panic.

Mor groaned, coming back to consciousness and wondering why his body hurt.

°What’s going on?° He asked groggy.

°MAGIC NOW!° The human shouted as a reply, noticeably relieved.

Mor wanted to complain, but then he noticed the two-meter-tall hole filled with teeth bearing down on him and screamed. He instantly pumped a ton of power into his body, allowing the human to evade the worst, though the already ruined robe was splattered with some droplets of the beast's salvia.

°Welcome back!° The human said, again starting to run away.

°What the fuck, did you do now?!° Mor complained, changing the body enhancement for healing and stamina regeneration.

The human breathed a sigh of relief. While their flight was now more efficient, the monstrosity was able to follow them more easily.

°How about a bit of thanks?!° The human grumbled.

°For what? Almost getting us gobbled up?° Mor countered.

°Not yet! And how about surviving against a Shadow-kin, saving the others, and successfully running until sleeping beauty is finished with their afternoon nap?° The human offered, jumping straight up and holding onto a high branch, evading another strike from the monstrosity.

°Shit its getting closer!° The human complained.

°What’s the plan?° Mor asked.

°The fuck would I know! I'm just running north. I saw some mountains while we were up in the air.° The human grumbled.

°Why there?° Mor asked.

°Because it's a fucking giant snake! And hopefully cold-blooded, meaning the colder it gets, the slower it might become!° The human explained in desperation, grabbing the trunk of a young tree to haul them out of the way of yet another bite.

°But it is a magic monstrosity! How would temperature influence it?° Mor asked stupidly.

°If you don't have a better idea, be useful instead!° The human complained. °How are you so fucking calm anyway?°

°Because I'm scared shitless! I can't be any more scared!° Mor admitted.

The human wanted to reply with something incredulous and didn't pay attention for a fraction of a second, just as the monstrosity changed its tactic. It struck, trying to swallow up its prey, and again, the human evaded barely, but then the grand gobbler used its bulk. It tackled the annoying little snack with its body.

Mor's body was catapulted against a tree, getting the wind knocked out of him and pain shooting through his body. He stuck to the tree briefly before gliding down to the ground, coughing. The monstrosity came closer, tasting its victory. It opened its maw, ready to strike down.

°Guess that's it.° The human said. °Our body is wrecked. We can't get away.°

°I understand. It is strangely calming. We had a good run. Thank you for everything.° Mor replied.

°It was fun, see ya in the next one.° The human agreed solemnly.

Mor closed his eyes, accepting his fate. He couldn't run, couldn't fight, and couldn't hide. And without the pain and the annoying buzzing sound, it would even be a good end. Dying to save his friends is not a bad way to go.

Then the buzzing got louder, and the monstrosity screeched, making Mor flinch. He expected the embrace of nothingness, but it didn't come. He opened one eye first, then the second, closed them again to open them up quickly, not believing what he saw.

°The fuck?° The human exclaimed, and even with the pain, Mor nodded dumbfoundedly.

Right before Mor stood a black armored giant with a tower shield, the shield brimming with power, capturing the attention of the monstrosity perfectly.

The two-meter giant firmly gripped the shield, his muscles bulging from the exertion, and with a grunt, he shoved the shield further into the gobbler's maw, sealing it until the end of its life. He finally let it go, drawing a big hammer and hitting the giant snake against the head, but because this strike was not infused with magic, it didn't shatter its skull, even if the force the warrior used should have been more than enough.

Still, it had enough force to disorient the monstrosity, giving two more hulking warriors a chance to strike. With the swing of a greatsword hitting the monstrosity's neck from below and a chop from a two-handed ax severing its spine, the grand gobbler fell to the ground, only to then get double-tapped with a spear through its brain as the last member of the group dropped from a huge tree.

It squirmed for only a moment more, then fell silent forever. The first warrior went to its maw and retrieved his shield by crushing a bunch of teeth with his hammer.

"Good job, Fortress!" The spear wielder said with a big smile.

He was the smallest of the bunch, at about 1.8 meters tall, and while muscular, he didn't have the same bulk as his comrades.

"Took your time, Drop." The giant called Fortress answered coldly. Now that Mor had the time to muster his savior, he had to correct his first assessment. Fortress was a few centimeters bigger than 2 meters and the most muscular of the bunch. He probably could grab a young tree and rip it out of the ground without even trying if he wanted to.

"I had to make sure this gobbler was the only one around. It's strange for them to get that far north." The one called Drop explained. "Not that a muscle head like you understands the importance of good scouting.

"Children, stop bickering." The greatsword wielder sighed.

"Yes, father!" Drop, answered.

"You really should reprimand him, Cutter. He's not taking this seriously enough." Fortress complained.

"He did his job, and there's no better scout than him. Else, I would have let Silence silence him." Cutter answered coldly.

The last one, seemingly called Silence, stared at the giggling scout, not uttering a word.

°I somehow imagined the afterlife differently… I mean, I have been there once, but seeing muscular men bickering was definitely not part of that trip, ° the human said.

°I think we’re alive… Or we went mad… It could have gone either way.° Mor answered.

"Now who are you?" Drop suddenly asked the dumbfounded boy. "And why are you trying to feed yourself to a gobbler?

"I'm a Soul-kin," Mor answered flatly.

"Cutter, that one is a genius! He knows what he is!" Drop shouted back to the other warrior.

"Why are you here?" Cutter questioned the boy.

"I ran from the monstrosity?" Mor answered, and the warrior let out a sigh.

"That much was obvious. Why aren't you on one of your flying islands?" Cutter tried again.

This question got Mor's brain back working, and he tried to stand up, but before he could even get a foot under him, he breathed in sharply and sunk back down.

"FUCK! That hurt!" Mor cried out. He started to channel healing energy again, then suddenly stared at the sharp blade of an ax head stopping right before his eyes, shocking him into stopping his magic.

"Cutter didn't order it," Fortress stated, a hand on the ax shaft holding it in place, and therefore saving Mor from getting his head split by Silence.

"But Silence is right. Keep your Soul-kin magic contained. You don't want to draw in another one of those." Drop said, and Mor nodded, scared.

"Good boy. Now answer our leader." Drop continued.

"Our glider crashed because of a Shadow-kin! I need to save my friends!" Mor answered.

"A dark one? Then there's nothing we can do for them. They are dead, and you're the smart one for running." Cutter answered.

°Well, no. I didn't have the time to tell you everything… but the Shadow-kin is dead. That fucking snake thing had him as a snack.° The human told Mor before he could panic.

"The Shadow-kin is dead. The gobbler ate him," Mor repeated the human's words.

"Then how, by the freezing balls, did it start to hunt you?" Drop asked.

Again, the human explained quickly what had happened, and Mor repeated it to his saviors.

"It wanted to eat my friends, and because of that, I drew its attention and then ran away."

"Stupid but courageous," Cutter stated as Fortress laughed loudly, smashing one of the giant slabs he called hands on Mors's shoulder.

"I like this one! He's got balls!" The ungentle giant exclaimed while Mor howled in pain.

The sign of affection, as friendly as it was meant, had shifted some of Mor's broken bones, flooding his body with unbearable pain and knocking him out cold again. Even the human was stunned by this but could keep Mors' body upright.

°Great, he's out, and I'm stuck with the ass end of the deal…°

"Ah, sorry." Fortress apologized, getting a furious look from Cutter.

"Then they might be alive. Where did your gliding thing crash?" Cutter asked.

"Somewhere south?" The human made Mor say. "Can't really remember. I was too focused on running away."

"How long did you run?" Drop asked.

"I don't know, sorry. I was too much occupied with not getting eaten like the Shadow-fucker…" The human answered.

"That's bad. Following the trail wouldn't be that difficult," Drop answered. But we can't bring our bounty."

"Then it's out of the question." Cutter decided. "We need to return to the village before this thing spoils."

"But!" The human complained.

"You did what you could. Now you need to decide. Do you want to come with us, or will you try your luck finding that glider?" Cutter asked, and the human let out a sigh.

"I can't move, and because of the big guy, magic is no option right now. Meaning, sitting here and waiting wouldn't be smart… Sorry, buddy, but we're going with the big scary men." The human said, and the warriors looked confused at the last part of the sentence, but traumatic experiences made everyone a bit mad. So they let it go.

The Fortress's shield was quickly repurposed as a stretcher, and with a great deal of skill, the warriors felled some small trees and made a makeshift sleight to transport their loot. However, the human decided that staying awake and feeling the full brunt of pain wasn't fun and retreated into the darkness of Mor's unconsciousness.

This meant they didn't notice when they were loaded onto the sleigh and had their bones realigned, courtesy of Drop. The human spent the following travel explaining everything to Mor and the Soul-kin moping while healing his wounds slowly without using much power. If he used more than the absolute minimum, one of the warriors would threaten him. After the second time, Cutter explained that Mor wouldn't need to heal the next time because his head wouldn't be on his shoulders.

This slow healing forced Mor to stay still, unable to return to his friends. Also, did he not know where he was anymore. He was lost with those brutes and had no way home, but he knew he had to stay strong because then an opportunity would surely arrive.