Return of the Runebound Professor

Death, Noah Vines found, was not what he had been expecting. He’d never considered himself a particularly religious man, but he’d always thought there was something that came after.

He was pleased to discover that there was indeed something.

He was less pleased to discover that the something involved waiting in a line. A very, very long line. To make matters worse, he had absolutely no idea what he was waiting for. There hadn’t been any introduction. He even would have settled for an onboarding video.

Instead, he found himself standing behind another man, as naked as the day he was born, slowly wandering toward something. There was nothing around them but more lines of people, winding through empty space and standing on faint, translucent paths of energy. Time passed – at least, Noah felt like time was passing. He didn’t have any way to tell for sure.

Several times, he thought about talking to someone. Each time, he decided against it. It just didn’t feel right. Perhaps that came with being dead. It did give him a little time to self-reflect, though.

Unfortunately, what he reflected on didn’t make him feel particularly great. He would have loved to arrive at the afterlife – whatever it was – with a little bit more to be proud of. Thousands of successful students, or perhaps a loving wife and kids.

He hadn’t quite made it that far. Noah had a grand total of four years of teaching under his belt, along with a useless university degree that had barely gotten him the job – the same job that had forced his fellow teachers to give up their sick days so he could afford the hospital bills.

God – Gods, however many or whatever type there are, I hope those kids have a good start to their life. They deserve it.

The line inched along. Time stretched. It passed, but by how much Noah was unsure. He just stood, occasionally taking a step whenever the soul in front of him moved.

The world changed.

Noah wasn’t sure exactly when it had happened. But, one moment he was standing in line floating in infinite nothingness, and the next his feet were on solid ground. The lines all converged on a single point, where a tall woman towered above them all. Behind her was a huge lake full of glimmering silver water.

Unlike everyone else, she wore clothes. Beautiful silk hung from her body and danced around her like streamers, but nothing on or beside her could compare to the woman herself. She was perfect to such a degree that the only emotion that Noah felt was fear. Without a doubt, she was not human.

One by one, the people in the lines stepped up to her. They paused for a minute, as if in silent conversation. Then they continued, walking into the lake dipping their hands into it. They raised the silver liquid to their lips and vanished, transforming into streaks of white light.

The line continued on. Before Noah could even truly process it, he was standing before the beautiful woman. Time froze around him as they locked eyes.

“Noah Vines,” she said, as if reading from some invisible prompt. “Died at the age of twenty-six. You were an influential figure for eighty four of your pupils. Many prayers have been sent up for you. A life well lived.”

“I – are you god?” Noah asked, speaking for the first time since he’d died and instantly cursing himself for it.

“I am Renewal, one of the many goddesses of Reincarnation,” she replied, looking slightly bored at the question. “You have been chosen to be reincarnated in a higher plane. Drink from this well of the Waters of Life and, in losing the memories of your current life, continue unto your next. A suitable body will soon be born for you.”

“Wait, I won’t remember anything? Nothing at all?”

Renewal opened her mouth to respond. Then time snapped back into motion. Thousands of streaks of black light carved through the nothingness like a shower of falling stars. Noah stared up at them in awe, his mouth hanging askew.

The first star hit, falling into a line of people just a short distance away from Noah. It obliterated them and smashed through the floor, sending huge chunks of it spiraling away into nothingness.

A massive rumble shook the ground as more of the stars fell, each one tearing the serene scene into smithereens. Renewal raised her hands. A beautiful pink flower bloomed in the air before her, moments before a lance of black energy slammed into it.

It crushed the flower and narrowly missed Renewal as she spun out of the way. More of the stars continued to rain down all around Noah, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. All he could do was watch as they tore through the other souls surrounding him, ripping them to shreds or sending them plummeting into nothingness.

A deep, grating howl echoed through the air. Renewal staggered as a jagged black spear erupted from her shoulder. Cracks formed in the air around her and a gurgling mass seeped out from within it, pouring onto the ground like sludge.

Screaming faces rose up within it, as if they were straining to escape the bubbling goop. It rose up, forming into the blobby shape of a man. He ripped the spear free of Renewal.

“I finally found you, Renewal,” the man said, his whispery voice laden with a mocking tone. “My beautiful flower.”

Renewal’s face didn’t budge. She thrust a hand toward the man. A beam of brilliant energy erupted from her palm, searing into him. A thousand voices screamed in pain and he clutched his chest. Black liquid poured down his body and into the pool of silver water, tainting it.

Another falling star slammed into the ground just beside Noah, snapping him out of his reverie. There wasn’t a single other soul left that he could see. He’d been so close to Renewal and the terrifying man that he’d been spared from the destruction so far, but it didn’t take a genius to tell that sticking around for a battle between gods was a terrible idea.

His eyes latched onto the Waters of Life. He glanced up at the two, but neither of them were paying attention. Noah scrambled to his feet and threw himself forward. The man turned, and for a single instant, he locked eyes with Noah.

Then Noah plunged into the silver pool. He drank without waiting to see what would happen. It poured into his throat, sweet and syrupy. A sense of peace enveloped Noah, cradling him in its comfort.