Reborn And Chosen By Three Gods

CHAPTER 4

Alex stood before the closed doors of a very large and grand cathedral on an alien world.

  Either that or he'd been transported back in time.

  Or lost his mind. That option was still on the table.

  Dawn's light was just beginning to touch the top of the cathedral's spire, but the sky was becoming brighter, and he could see the two-story structures surrounding the open plaza before the church. They were right out of an epic medieval-times movie. He looked to see signs he was on a lot of a movie studio, but that was a long shot.

  A few industrious souls were starting their day, rushing by with loads of goods on wooden, wheeled carts headed for a market or just getting to work themselves. Some of the storefronts were beginning to open as well.

  What Alex had accepted as nonsense earlier was becoming all too true as he saw some of the people going by weren't... human. He did his best not to stare at the hulking, green-skinned being striding along, tusks jutting up from his bottom lip.

  He spotted a human man leaning up against a building across the plaza. Realizing he'd been frozen by the unfamiliar sights, he set off down the steps and across the wide paved space.

  More people were coming outside, and while most were human, some were not. This just pushed his mind further toward accepting he was no longer on Earth. This wasn't movie makeup or latex masks. It was flesh.

  As he approached the man in the red vest, he looked him over. His outfit would have easily fit into one of those Renaissance Faire events with the jousting, swordplay, bards, and other silliness.

  But then, everyone Alex had seen was dressed in some variation if this. Alex was walking around in only a short-sleeved tunic, which reached midthigh and slippers. It was a little drafty.

  The Guild rep had his share of scars, so the man had seen some action. However, something in his eyes raised the hair on the back of Alex's neck.

  Considering how far out of his comfort zone this entire experience had pushed him, Alex wasn't sure how accurate those hairs were at the moment.

  "You're a little early, new arrival," the man said with a raised eyebrow and a sassy tone.

  Alex nodded. "According to the men I met in the catacombs, I'm actually a little late. I arrived as they closed up last night. I was stuck in that dark cave until they arrived this morning. I have no idea what that means."

  The man paused to look at him. "Huh. Trapped in a dark cave all night would have me screaming like a madman!"

  Alex looked at him carefully as the man seemed to be doing his best not to laugh. Whatever.

  "You ready to go enroll at the Adventurer's Guild?" Red Vest said.

  "I suppose so," Alex muttered.

  They headed off down the alley, with the man taking the lead. "Out of interest, which God brought you to us?"

  Alex wasn't sure he wanted to deal with the surprise this might generate, but the man worked for the Guild, so he'd likely find out soon enough.

  "Three of them did. Agron, Ullentra, and... Forex?" Alex replied but bobbled the third name.

  "Ffornexa?" the rep asked.

  "Yes, that one," Alex replied.

  The man glanced over his shoulder to give Alex an assessing look. "Three Gods. Imagine that. I guess that makes you pretty special." He turned away and continued through the narrow street.

  Alex frowned and followed. More and more, this man was creeping him out. He hoped he wasn't an example of the kind of people he'd be dealing with at the Guild. If so, living on this world would be harder than he expected.

  As they passed a shadowed side passage, Alex missed seeing the brute step out behind him and strike him on the back of the head with a club.

  Stars filled his mind as he collapsed onto the cobblestones. His senses faded to black as he was dragged into the shadows.

  -=-

  Alex struggled to comprehend the colors flashing before his eyes. He wondered how badly he'd been hit that it fucked up his brain this badly.

  Next, he was seeing cinnamon and mint and tasting red and green? Synesthesia meant a brain injury, right? His senses felt out of sync and overwhelmed like the input was so great, it was bleeding between them.

  He picked up that someone was in a rage. The intensity of the chaos was monstrous and threatened to tear him apart, but a second presence suddenly slid close. They counteracted the chaos with order and calm, which felt as soothing as a mountain stream and tasted like warm banana bread. This second presence wasn't denying the chaos but urging patience.

  As his mind returned to a state of balance and sounded like orange blossoms, a third presence made itself known by washing through his body, easing his pain and setting what was damaged to a pristine state once more. Alex felt himself relax after... she was done. He picked up her joy then the sound of crying slipped into his awareness, drawing him from the peace of his resting mind.

  His eyes blinked open, and he immediately felt the difference.

  He was naked once more, lying on his back in a dark room with bars before him and stone walls on all other sides.

  Shackles were around his wrists, ankles, and his neck. Chains connected these shackles, and all returned to a heavy ring attached to the stone wall furthest from the bars of his cell.

  On the other side of a narrow hall was another cell, and inside, he saw three women, also naked and in shackles like him.

  At the back of his mind the rage was waking again and pushed at him, so he pushed back. He needed more information before he lost his cool.

  He moved as close to the bars as his chains would allow and caught the eye of a young blonde woman in the other cell. She looked like she'd been crying for some time, and she had a black eye.

  "Hey, what's happening? Who put us in these chains?" he asked quietly.

  Nervous eyes looked down the hall, but no one came to check on them. She looked at him, and her bottom lip started trembling again.

  "They're slavers... we're going to be slaves," she managed before she began quietly crying again.

  The word triggered the rage, which suddenly exploded, filling his mind and senses. His vision filled with red, and it felt like his body was expanding to fill the space in the cell. For the briefest second, he felt the pain of his body coming apart, but it was so quick it faded as he tried to focus on it.

  His last thought before the chaos took over was his concern for the enslaved people.