I never gave up even once.
Even when I had to endure through my soldiers and friends cruel and countless deaths, right in front of me, I didn't give up.
Even when their legs were being blown off, their heads exploding, their body's shot to pieces, I didn't give up.
I never put down my gun, never even once considered surrender.
I had fought so hard against the endless barrage of soldiers. I had used every military tactic, trained my subordinates incredibly hard, and always had made the best battle decisions I could.
I worked my way up from joining in an entry level rank as a young boy into respected General who will do the upmost to win.
I could have even been considered a genius General, a figure to be revered by those who fought with me.
So why am I here, standing on the shore of the country I fought so hard for, and only seeing death. Thousands burned alive in an instance. A whole city full of people, of my friends, of my comrade, just blown completely away.
It seemed to be just a simple plane that didn't even warrant a second glance. I didn't know that the Americans were planning to drop such a horrific bomb. Could an impossibly large flash of blinding light like this really come from a bomb that small? How could such a horrific explosion take place in the middle of a city nowhere near the fighting?
What did all the thousands of women and children do to deserve such a death?
I guess all of the fighting and deaths were for nothing after all.
If I knew I was going to end being killed like this I would have rather just lived in peace on some far off Island where war can never touch. I wouldn't have had to go through such a painful life. I could've just lived secluded, unaware of the world's problems, so I could've had a chance to be happy.
But that was impossible, as I am just moments away from my end.
Ah, the explosion is almost upon me. There is nothing I can do except wait for my impending doom. There is nowhere to run, no one to save me , not even an enemy to take down with me.
Even my top commanders are stabbing themselves in their stomach as I speak.
I just have to wait and accept my cursed fate. The seconds seemed to turn into hours , like God was giving me some chance to think about my life right before it ended.
I watch as the mushroom cloud explosion expands towards me at a terrifying pace. Building destroyed in an instant, streets torn into nothing, even the air itself seems to be filled with poison.
This is the all encompassing power of destruction at its finest.
In my last moments I can't help but think of my life.
I thought of my teacher in school who guided me through my troubled youth, I thought of my long dead father who I hated the most in my life, I thought of my soldiers , who looked up to me and respected me as a figure of hope in this war.
And as I thought about all the horrible events in my life that had happened to me, the explosion reached me.
An excruciatingly painful burning came over my body. It was a feeling I could only compare to being inside the heart of an active volcano. My body seems to be melting in front of my very eyes. I watch as my arms turn black, the skin disintegrates and my flesh rots away and reveals my bone.
This all happens in an instant where my brain could only barely process the pain before even my heart gives out.
Then no feeling at all.
There is no sensation. No sight, no touch, no taste, nothing.
It seems that all my senses have left me. I could not even tell where I was , or what had happened to me.
Is this what it's like to die?
I suppose this was truly the end.
My 45 years of painful living was finally over. I wonder if there is an after life?
I must be going to hell with the amount I have indirectly killed. I must be doomed to the eternal pits of hell.
With no concept of time I just endure with no feelings for a period.
…
Then suddenly I feel something again.
I can tell I'm out of the void.
Something is different.
Sound? I hear something crying out.
I didn't think I would be able to hear after death. Am I not dead? Where am I?
Slowly, ever so slowly, I begin to feel. I felt something familiar. A harsh long lasting pain.
I felt this often in the dingy apartment where I grew up in wintertime.
I realized what this feeling was, I was cold, chilled right to my very bones.
My senses slowly come back to me as I endure through this state of freezing. I didn't think I would experience this kind of pain so soon after an excruciating death.
I then trembled with excitement as I realized something, I was alive.
The tip of my nose seemed to be nearly frozen off as I could barely still feel it. I wiggle around trying to feel the rest of my body. All of my extremities were numb and I could only barely feel my slow, quiet heartbeat. Luckily I could still feel one of my extremities and am pleased to know I am still a male.
Trying out my nose I realized the cold air had a smoky smell to it , along with a stronger, more repugnant smell that seemed somehow familiar.
With tremendous effort I try to open up my eyes. Just peeling my eyes open seems to take all my energy. Then finally, I manage to pry them open. My eyes sting with tears as I try to regain my vision to see where I am.
I blink away tears and look around me. Ahead of me, I see a dead, snowy forest, dark in what must be the middle of the night. The moon is clearly visible and illuminates dead body's on the ground. They are wearing beautiful gold medieval armor sets with various wounds.
I now recognize the familiar smell to be that of rotting corpses and stale blood.
Now that my vision has returned to normal, I can see a dark small figure walking towards me cautiously. Where the hell kind of place am I? I wondered, as I gazed up towards the figure's face more clearly.
The figure removed their dark hood and allowed me to take a good look at their face. A weathered and old female face with green skin peered down at me as they wiped away a small tear coursing down their rough cheek. I wonder why this person is sad?
They must know the dead knights. Still however I look at it this person is definitely not human. They have dark green skin, large pointy ears, a big nose, a purple gem in the middle of her forehead, and they could only be around 4 feet tall.
"ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕ್ಷಮಿಸು" said the person in a strange language I didn't recognize. I couldn't understand what they had said, but I could tell that there was happiness in their voice. Their language was rough and guttural, but still, I could tell this person's voice had kindness in it.
Even though they did seem rather happy about my presence, there also was a tinge of sadness hidden behind their strange features. She seemed to be an old woman .. After making a strange kind of prayer gesture she picked me up in her arms. She held me preciously, like I was some delicate gift that she had to take care not to damage.
Wait, holding me? Then that means…. It suddenly clicked with me.
I'm a baby ?!
I realized after some more thought, that I must have been reborn as a baby into a new world, as there were definitely no green people who spoke that strange language on earth.
The woman holding me then pulled off something around my neck. After inspecting the object , it seemed to be a beautiful necklace with a pendant attached at the bottom.
She opened up the pendant, then after looking at whatever was inside smiled warmly and held me a little tighter, saying a few strange words I didn't understand again. She then pointed at me and declared "Lux Vanhart".
That must mean that Lux Vanhart is my new name. Lux Huh? Not a bad name, I decided.
Speaking of my new name, I wonder where my mother is? This woman who named me can't be my mother I assume, as I look down at me I see I have fair skin and normal human characteristics.
As I looked around further I could see more tarnage around me.
I manage to make out a dead horse lying on the ground next to what I assumed to have been its rider, a middle aged looking man, still holding a clean longsword with an fancy emblem on its hilt. He was sprawled out on the forest floor, in light snow painted red with his own blood.
Why was he wearing medieval armor? Why weren't my parents at my birth? Why was I born in a dark forest?
None of this made any sense.
I started to feel tired and because of my new feeble body, I soon fell into a deep sleep as I thought of this restart at life I had been gifted with.