And just like that, I was skydiving. Wind screamed in my ears and the biting cold ripped across my body without mercy; as if trying to tear the skin from my bones. My eyes watered as a blur rushed passed them. Faster and faster I went. My teeth chattered. I barely managed a pitiful yell before my voice was stolen from the speed and left far behind me. I speared through a cloud. I emerged soaked, more freezing than before, and barely had time to blink before the ground was right before me. My arms covered my head in a feeble attempt to protect myself.

Boom!

I slammed into the ground like a meteor. The earth wailed and roared. Dirt and debris sprayed up as a fountain in all directions.

My face embedded itself in the dirt. Pain shot through me and circled within while my bones shattered and slid into each other. Yet, a moment later, I fell flat on the dark ground and could still feel my body completely. My ears were ringing. My body felt like I had fallen from the skies, which, technically, I had. And yet, I was still breathing.

I instantly tried to spring to my feet and was quite surprised when I succeeded. I… was alive!

“I’m alive!” I shouted to the sky, throwing my hands up in joy. I immediately noticed two things then. First, my hands looked oddly smaller than I remembered them, albeit slightly. The skin smoother and less wrinkled. Younger. I didn’t have time to check on that though because of what lay in the sky right above me.

A storm. A rolling, chaotic amalgamation of the purest white and darkest black roiled above me with an angry vengeance. Arcs of lightning arced in all directions over the horizons in temperamental bursts, an appearing and vanishing web that chained the heavens in their entirety with great flashes and resounding echoes that surely terrified everyone who saw it.

“Well… now everyone in this world can probably figure out something just happened…” I said with a sigh, looking around.

I stood in a crater. A massive one. A dent within the crust of the continent large enough to serve as a an Olympic sized pool for giants. Black and white streaks burned into the earth glowed with an unnatural, magical light while wisps of smoke rose from them and drifted up, joining with their fellow brothers snaking their way into the sky. They formed into a cyclone. A cyclone that connected with the storm.

Basically, it was just like a massive sign saying ‘Hey everybody, if you wanted to know where my new play toy is, he’s right here!’

My mouth dropped. I gaped for a few seconds, unable to fathom it all. What had I just gotten myself into? No, what had I just been forced into?!

I didn’t have long to wonder. Light caught my eye and I stepped back just in time to avoid being speared by a large staff plummeting from the sky. It landed. Stood erect in front of me, the black and white metal base curving into a large crystalline spearhead at the end. Static shivered in the air around it, warping sight and never quite allowing my eyes to actually focus on it. Like trying to see through a faded and dirty window and focus on what was beyond it. Impossible. And certainly unpleasant for the eyes.

What caught my attention was a flapping note made white parchment, with seemingly English symbols etched onto it. A bit worried, I carefully grabbed the parchment and steadied it so I could see what it said.

‘Hey there, my Inglorious Gloriana! Here’s a little present to help you get started. Don’t worry, the epic entrance is totally free and on the house… that’s how you say it, right? Anyyyyyways, I suggest you grab this staff and dash, Fleeting Bunny, or you’re going to be in a very unpleasant place soon. The other goddesses don’t fancy me too much, so as my prophet, you have a heaping ton of enemies right off! So, best keep the whole prophet identity under wraps. Welcome to Mortalis, kid. Make me entertained!’

The cruel sadism of this goddess was just too much! I would have been totally in the clear if not for the fireworks display! There were more goddesses?! They didn’t like Chaos…?!

“Actually… I can see why they don’t like her,” I said to no one in particular. I grabbed the staff, a foreign energy shivering through my body at the cold touch of metal. I ignored it and sprinted up the side of the crater, not wanting to find out what prophets of an unfavored goddess were treated like.

Reaching the top of the edge, I found a grassy field nestled next to a thick forest of deciduous trees such as maples and oaks. Needing a place to hide, I dashed toward it, finding myself moving faster than I had ever run before. I simply dismissed it as divine blessing and ran in.

Branches scratched at my arms and sides. I had to continuously duck and bounce around, but, I moved quickly through a seemingly bland and just plain overgrown forest filled with one too many bushes and uncovered roots for my liking. I ran. And ran some more. I didn’t stop till my breath had ran from me and I was satisfied with the distance from the crash site.

Exhausted, sweaty, and parched like stale bread I sat down on a log and let out a heavy sigh. I dropped the staff beside. Reality began to sink in. I was… alone again. Worse yet, I had some sadist playing puppeteer with my life in a world of goddesses and who knew what else?! I only knew the name of the place.

“Mortalis…” I whispered, thinking the name was dang near to ‘Mortal,’ reminding me of death. What a depressing name. Every time someone said it you would be reminded of your own mortality. Maybe this place was infatuated with death? I wondered. Considering one of their goddesses was named Chaos and seemed to embody it, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was so.

I let out a hearty sigh and rolled my head back to look at the fractals of now blue sky staring back down at me, shifting as the leaves danced to a happy wind. My sweat soaked hair brushed against the back of my neck and my forehead in the most unpleasant way. Salt embodied my tongue. Muscles burned. The sickening stench of my own soaked self overshadowed the caress of the forest’s breath. My Bones ached. Throat choked on dryness. And here I was, being hunted just because someone thought it fun to steal me away from the afterlife and force me here.

Maybe it was a dream. I hoped. But it was too real. I was too… there. In that moment. No, I wouldn’t be so fortunate.

Depression hit like a dredge and I stayed there, still, for an hour at least, pondering what sins I had done to deserve this. Just looking up.

A noise snapped my attention back to the present. I stood. Crouched a little. Grabbed my staff and looked around cautiously for where the noise had come from. A streak. Brown. Feathers. A dash of metal on a shaft. It zipped right beside my eye, barely missing. Another plinked harmless against my staff a moment later, the metal saving me from a hit to the stomach.

“Die demon!” a man screamed out. Another gave a warbled war cry as the two burst from the underbrush ahead, brandishing two swords. I backed up. Shocked. Surprised. Terrified at the unbridled rage, hatred, and fear in their eyes. They were going to kill me. Hack at me. I could see the edges of their blades licking the air, drooling for my blade. I took another step back as they grew closer.

Seconds. Barely seconds. Everything moved in a blur. Blood rushed to my head. I gripped the staff, hands turning white, as the two men approached. The nearest leapt at me and swung. Instinctively, I rose my staff to block the blow. Metal hit metal. Ringing out.

Energy poured through me and knowledge snapped into place. I could feel the staff. Feels its desires meld with my own. Survive. Neutralize the threat. Be safe. And just like that, an explosive wave of sheer force erupted from its length, shooting in a cone before me. The two men flew back into a trunk. Hard. And slumped to the ground. They didn’t get up, their heads hanging, but I could see their chests raggedly rising and falling.

I didn’t wait to see if they would recover. I turned and ran. Ran faster than before. Ran through the pain as pure fear fueled my escape. Sweaty bangs slapped into my eyes, but I barely noticed. They had tried to kill me! Seriously they were trying to kill me! With swords! I could have died! I would have died if not for the staff! I was going to die! I was going to die because people were hunting me… I was already dead. Dead man walking.

Slowing to a stop, I walked up to a tree and lay my head against it.

“I’m dead… they wanted to kill me. The world wants to kill me, and I didn’t even do anything wrong… what a crappy reality…” And it reminded me of my previous death. What a crappy reality that had been. I had lost my fiance. My family. My friends. Grown distant from anything but myself and my own stuff. That had sucked. And it had, for the most part, been my own fault.

Life had kicked me in the teeth and I had stayed on the ground my entire life, never wanting to risk standing on my own feet again. I hadn’t taken risks. Hadn’t enjoyed life. Hadn’t had fun. Hadn’t truly lived. When my fiance died, I died with her, leaving only a shell. A zombie. Just huddled away, hoping that happiness would plop down into my lap.

“And it’s happening all over again… just this time I’ll die faster…” I moaned, but then stopped. It was going to happen all over again… if I let it happen again.

My eyes turned to the staff. That power had come from me. It was mine now, as long as I kept that freak goddess happy. I was strong. I could get stronger, probably. Magic… magic was real here, from what I could tell. Goddesses. An entire new world to explore. A new life to live… and I noticed again my hands seemed smaller, younger. I slowly raised a hand to my face and felt.

Smoother. Sharp features. A little stubble on a far younger chin. I felt young again. Sprinting had been so easy before! Was I younger, really?

I fished through my pockets in hopes of finding something to see my reflection in, but my pockets were empty. My eyes turned to the staff. Maybe I could somehow make a reflection? It had worked with the defense spell thing before… maybe it would work this time with a mirror?

Gripping the staff with both hands, I tried focusing on the object. Tried pushing power into it. Surging my will into it. And like that, something snapped! I could feel its will aligning toward my own.

“A mirror… I want a mirror,” I whispered to it, as if that would help.

To my utmost delight, a shimmering, thin, reflective sphere appeared in front of me. Better yet, looking back at me from said sphere was a younger version of myself. Physically fit. The longer hair I had when I was younger too. And my eyes… one was solid black, the other solid white. I blinked several times and they shifted back to their normal brown.

I shivered a little from the uncanny thing, “Weird… but, yeah, I’m young again. I’m…” A grin formed on my face. This wasn’t hell. This was my chance! My chance at a second life! And a fantastical adventure at that! Who wouldn’t want to be set in a fantasy and given mighty powers right off?! That was great! I would live to the fullest with no regrets. I had experienced that life before. I wasn’t going to fail a second time.

“Heck ya, son. Whose a handsome devil with superpowers?” I said to the sphere. Immediately my face heated in embarrassment at that. “Okay… avoid talking to yourself. And… I’m still doing it.” With a little chuckle at my own antics, I willed the sphere to vanish and it obeyed. “Awesome… just, awesome. So, what to do now… I need… need water, and information, and food.” All of which I could likely get from those two I had run into earlier.

But they wanted to kill me. Why? Maybe because they knew I was some sort of prophet? No… they called me a demon. They had attacked in fear as well. They had also charged stupidly out of hiding instead of just shooting from safety. They were obviously attacking because of Chaos’ show and my strange appearance, making assumptions.

My analytical experience started to serve. I could use this. Use them. If I played the ‘giant misunderstanding’ card and turned out to be someone really nice, perhaps they’d be more amiable. And since they had seen what powers I had, they would also be more… respectful and less prone to attack me. Especially if they were wounded or something and I could offer assistance. Earning respect and a debt right off.

“Yes… yeah, I’m going to do it!” Spinning around, I marched back in the direction they were, staff in hand. It was easy to do thanks to the wanton trail left from my swift escape; I thanked my scared self for being so lumbering in flight. As I walked, I started rehearsing what would do in different scenarios. How I would introduce myself.

That brought up a rather important question, “How will I introduce myself? My name? Hey guys, sorry about before… I’m Andy… Andy…” What a terrible name for a fantasy setting, I thought. This wasn’t Toy Story or back home. I needed something that was… cool. Epic sounding. Fantastical. Interesting. If I was going to live life to the fullest, I had to an awesome name, dangit! I started spouting off names to listen to them. “Methuselah, Anodius… ummm…” And after just two, I realized I was in trouble.

I was bad at coming up with fantasy name ideas. Crap. I started off one I knew. Chaos. Chaoz… Chaod… Chaot… Chaon… Chaon.

“Chaon. Chaon. Chaon,” I said, my grin widening. Chaon, a rather unknown Greek hero. But, the coolest part was that Chaon was that the name meant ‘Above all.’ Fitting for someone who was serving as the prophet of the dark god Chaos. I fist pumped the air, “Chaon it is!”

And like that, Andy Jameson turned to ashes and was reborn as the prophet of a dark god. I, Chaon, marched forward, ready to seize my new life to the fullest.