Champion From Hell

Chapter 2: Rebirth

Everything had gone cold, Gabriel was dead, he knew he was, he was stabbed through the chest, he watched himself bleed, he should be dead, but this did not feel like death, there was no pain from his wound, there was no feeling of an afterlife, there was nothing like what he expected, he was on the ground by a dirt track, an open field road, he was back on the roads he'd been travelling on many years of his life of adventures. Instead of death, he had woken up as though nothing had changed, as he checked himself to see if he weren't dreaming, looking at his armour, his once black and solid shined plate had now been tainted into a black and crimson, where it was pierced was fixed, there were dents, but it was still armour, it was as though it had taken nothing but a gentle punch, light bumps, but no sign of a blade piercing straight through, there was no metalworker of any town who could fix tainted plate metal so cleanly. Beside him, a leather pack of belongings, a bedroll attached underneath, filled with everything he kept before his demise. This must be a dream, was the cave a dream? Was he dead? Gabriel was left alone at the side of a dirt path, with far too many questions, his sword was gone from it's sheathe, he had only his fists to defend himself.
As he stood, he felt a wave of fatigue set in throughout him, he felt heavy, exhausted, he didn't know if he'd be able to make it out of here by walking. Looking out at his surroundings, fields stretched as far as the eye could see, dirt tracks and tufts of grass decorated his path from his awakening point. He began to make an effort to move, he sluggishly pulled himself down the path, his head still hazy, he felt dizzy, the heat pressing against his skin. If this were the afterlife, Gabriel was in for a rough time. As the path continued on for miles before him, he stared off, focused and determined, each step felt like a herculean task as the cold hard metal dragged him down, the cold breeze of the air acting as his only solace from the burning sun. The uneven dirt seemed to move under his feet as he walked, the terrain only made his journey harder, his only hope was that over this small crest of the hill would be a quaint farmhouse with a helpful farming family, his determination engaged, he knew he could climb above what felt like mountain to him. Gabriel's belief brought him halfway up, till a rock fell loose under his foot, his balanced rocked him forward, slamming him jaw first into the dirt, but he remained determined, he clawed his way upward, every muscle was screaming in agony, he lodged his hands in clumps of the dry dirt, pulling himself upward, nearing the top, he surged some energy to drag himself to his feet, as he stood uneasily, he looked out, more fields lay ahead, the path diverted below to a fork in the road, one path winding through more fields and down to a large lake, flanked by snowcapped mountains, the other remained difficult terrain, but instead led into a deep Forrest, dark and hostile, where danger seemed to lurk behind every tree. The paths both seemed too far to follow through to civilisation, the windmills and houses in the area were all alive with workers, gathering crops and feeding their horses, as Gabriel stood watching them, he tried yelling for help, screaming for anyone, instead when he opened his mouth, a hoarse voice instead came uttered from his mouth, whispering in his place. From the sky behind him emerged a deep red light, engulfing the space above him, he leapt back with the little energy he had, almost falling down the hill below him, he snapped his body through instinct, readying himself to fight, pulling up his bloodied fists.
A garbled voice infected into his ears, muffling all the sounds he heard before, instead leaving haunting words talking to him.

"Welcome back Gabriel"

The voice seemed to switch between multiple people, with wildly varying tones and pitches.

"Death in battle, how very honourable, how you always planned I bet, as the noble hero in the history books? That's not how your story ends, you're still stuck here, which works out to be quite benifital for both of us."

"What do you mean? Who are you? Where am I?"

Gabriel kept his fists raised, staring confused in the dim light.