'What is going on?' A feeling of falling into the abyss engulfed Théoden. He would have flinched or panicked but he had no control over his body. He couldn't open his eyes either. He could only helplessly feel the wind and small debris collide against his body as the environment constantly changed.
He felt as though melting in lava then freezing within ice then drowning in water. Sometimes hit by a heavy hail then soft showers while other times he would feel as if blanketed in warm clouds. He could feel all these sensations but couldn't make anything of it.
It was an impossible situation. Unless he was going through a simulation, why couldn't he remember? His body seemed unaffected by the sudden extreme climate changes. As the temperature went beyond freezing levels and he could be assumed frozen to death or the extreme heat that surpassed that of melting metal he would have turned to ashes.
None of the reasonable things happened as he could still fill his body well intact or rather unaffected. The laws of physics he learned about were right about useless. There was no aftereffect after the sensation. No time for adaptation but sudden switches. This didn't give his mind any freedom to try to rationalize anything.
Théoden was sure he was traveling at a very fast speed as the rebound was affecting him as he was feeling nauseous and heavy. Very heavy. Gravity was several times denser.
Théoden realized that during this period he wasn't breathing. He had an idea why that was so. It was something that became apparent, only when he thought of it. When the normal reaction to nausea was to take in deep breaths. He couldn't do that. He didn't feel any air running to his nose or the rising and falling of his chest. Neither the pumping of his blood by his heart. He could literary not do anything.
This went on forever and he was sure hours or even days went by. His sense of time was long distorted. It could have been a decade for all there was to it. Maybe the fast-switching situations outside, in reality, took a long time, but his brain registered things too slowly thus the fast income making up the illusion of the situation. However, that never explained anything other than climate change.
Giving up on trying to find the reason, he simply became fascinated.
'How in the world is this possible?'
What Théoden was going through now was unheard of. So unusual it was phenomenal. There was no rule against that. There was no solution to his predicament anyways. Instead of worrying his active brain with useless thoughts, why not find the joy of it? The thought he made up in the spur of the moment.
Théoden chose to be deviant and had an unexpected reaction. To enjoy the moment. There was no pain or effect thus there was no consequence of his action.
That went on for a long, long time. After his boredom, he felt a change jogging his consciousness to be active once again.
However, his body felt strong resistance like passing through a very thick glass wall. However, his body pushed through, and at last, he could feel the air much more vividly than ever. This time the sense of gravity had activated and he felt the feeling of falling. With no balance or control over his body, he could only expect the worst. Though he couldn't open his eyes, he felt like he had locked them once again.
The terror of what he expected never came.
He landed on hard ground. He felt the impact in full. The feeling of hitting something impenetrable thus landing on it. The force with which he had landed was enormous. The ground shook and vibrated at his landing which he felt through his entire being. That was all. There was no pain or broken bones. At the very least from the fall.
'Wait, feel...I can feel my body!!'
Given that he still could think that meant he was still alive, somehow.
Théoden felt the control over his body coming back to him. He managed with great difficulty to open his eyes and painfully twist his neck. He turned and looked around. There were no signs of impact from where he had landed.
Théoden didn't have time to think over the possibility of how he had survived a full-impact crash landing that left no trace. His eyes were glued to the scene that unfolded in front of him. He was too astonished to do or say anything. He saw something far too eye-catching to be ignored.
'Maybe the first thing that happens after I just arrive is to die?' He thought.
Maybe it's the saying that your life flashes in your eyes at moments of death that all memories started resurfacing; From childhood to teenage-hood to engagement or marriage promise. The memory of leaving for the army up to his death all came rushing into his mind.
One thing he was sure of was that these were not his memories. He felt he had lived through a new life in a blink.
Yes, a blink.
The light that approached him at an astronomical speed still happened. A golden arrow-like light flew through the sky at terrifying speed, leaving an aftersound behind the rung over the place. It headed in the direction of Théoden's position. NO. More accurately, straight at him.
He didn't have much control over his body. He felt heavy, but much more numb. The feeling of an oncoming end consumed him. He knew that if the light impacted him, he was as good as dead.
However, the most unthinkable thing happened. He smiled. A grin formed on his lips. It was far too absurd for him to smile in this situation, but his heart followed suit. It was joyful and exciting as it drummed in his chest, sending all adrenaline rushing. He felt these emotions as his own. Though his mind thought otherwise, his body was honest to give him what he felt. It trembled ever so slightly with excitement.
The one thing that didn't make any sense in this was he didn't feel any foreignness with this. It was as if he was used to it.
As the light approached the temperature rose alongside it. It was like a comet the closer it got to Théoden. He should have been terrified or fainted or had any reaction that wasn't what was happening right then.
His body continuously trembled with pure excitement. The light reached him as he kept eye contact until he could no longer bare the blinding light and shut them.
The end. Well, that was what was supposed to happen. After things not going per nature's law, Théoden gave up on hoping for logic to explain things.
After who knew how long, he finally regained the ability to move his body once again. The comet that was rushing towards him with all the intensity to it, hit after all and he passed out. Not until he woke back up in the same position he was laying. He rose his body and examined it.
The first thing he found out was that the body he had was not his. The memories he had were not his. He grasped a rough idea of what had happened, but even then, he had to simply accept. He was moving the body at his will with no trouble at all.
What would he do then? He wanted to stay alive and he did. He had realized how much he wanted to live when the comet-like light threatened it once. Maybe because he had experienced the death of the current body.
The host of the body was a boy sent to the battlefield among all other male members of his village who could move and were not handicapped. The boy's name was Mallory.
He was quite unfortunate since birth. His mother died while birthing him and he was criticized for it. The child of misfortune they labeled him. Mallory's father turned a blind eye to this, and he was later abandoned by his entire family for being rumored to cause all other village misfortunes. They were ashamed of him.
He was, after all, uselessly weak. He met the only girl he ever loved. A sweet young maiden who got praised for her beauty. She, fortunately, agreed to marry him. They did their vows secretly, but such marriage was not officiated and thus was not completed. In the aim to try to prove himself to the girl of his dreams, he was willingly sent to the battlefield and his death without ever achieving any of it. His last regret was not keeping the only promise he made to her. Not a moment of his life was of fortune.
Théoden confirmed he was in Mallory's body because of the significant changes. His hands were thin and bony and he was much shorter. He didn't remember having jet-black hair either. His entire look was different.
'At least I am still male.'
After examining his body Théoden stood up to look at the horizon. There was a beautiful red sunset was happening at that time. He would have had the joy to appreciate it if not for the countless corpses around him.
To say he was scared would be an understatement. Théoden was terrified. When laying down his vision was obstructed but now he was looking at corpses. They looked like they died recently as there were no signs of decomposing.
Maybe it was due to the realization, but his other senses came rushing to him. The strong stench of blood clouded his nostrils. He felt dizzy and nauseated at the new registration of his situation.
He was standing in the middle with all sorts of sliced and cut bodies surrounding him. The normal Théoden would have found it hard to adapt. Théoden's current adaptation rate was fast. Terrifyingly fast.
He accepted that he landed miles from home at who-knew-where and was fine. He quickly accepted the fact that he had another body with another pair of memories. He was fine that he was confused about his entire situation, but finding himself in the middle of a graveyard was too much.
He fell on his bottom and breathed in and out in a forced matter. Trying to calm down and sooner get himself from the situation. After a while, he had finally calmed down. He looked around once more.
Why? He could not walk away from there without seeing his surroundings, right? He wished that was the case.
Some bodies lay weirdly over each other while others were simply scattered. Some had a few severed limbs such as missing hands or legs or were decapitated. It was such a brutal way to die. He tried avoiding making eye contact but that was impossible. He had not seen a face that was in peace. They died in an extreme emotional state or severe pain.
Adding the clues which he had gathered, led to the analysis that this was indeed a graveyard, but before that, it was a battlefield. The several corpses lying around had armor on them and swords and spears. The memories in Mallory's body were blurred until his death, for reasons that remained unknown.
While his mind was filled with these thoughts, something appeared in his line of sight while another alerted him in a clear monotone voice.
[The Omnipotence System had Identified the host.]
[System assimilation starting.]
[System assimilation in progress: 2%]
Hey guys. I will be posting this story on RoyalRoad.com