The darkness was all-encompassing.
It was void of any kind of perception or feeling. Void of the subtle touch of the air, or the invigorating feeling of breathing.
Empty of any kind of light, or sight, or smell or noise.
Simple nothingness.
No kind of orientation, sense of direction, or sense of self, for that matter, would be possible in this... Place.
Lost in that never-ending abyss, floating in nothing, and everything; with an existence more questionable than when it was alive.
At least then it was breathing.
That's where the tiny goblin found itself.
Well, it couldn't find itself; that's why it was struggling.
It wasn't even struggling, it was barely conscious.
Or was it?
Who knows...? All it knows is darkness.
*Thump*
A sound, as if a mighty war drum, beat to eternity.
*Thump* *Thump*
This time it sounded more like the heartbeat of a colossus.
*Thump* *Thump*
The sound gave life to the abyss. It gave direction in oblivion. It gave hope in despair. It gave something to nothing.
*Thump* *Thump*
"Ah, my eyes!"
The tiny, green abomination screamed.
At some point, a brilliant, majestic light illuminated the abyss.
To someone shrouded in never-ending darkness, it was blinding to say the least.
The light slowly reflected off the surroundings, revealing the space around the goblin.
But, it still couldn't see it.
It screamed and screamed until it realized that the pain was never there.
How could one feel pain in death?
"Why the hell was I screaming?"
It thought, disoriented.
It slowly opened its tightly shut eyes.
They were blue, the blue of the stormy sea, or the blue of the tallest sky. The blue that mesmerized the one seeing it, making him feel as if he was staring into the night sky.
Unfortunately, the face upon which they were plastered was far from being pleasing to the eye.
A nose as big as a potato, ears long and pointy, with freckles all over the place. Features too large for the face they rested on and a head too large for the body upon which it grew out of.
A head as bald and shiny as the moon, and skin the colour of a forest.
'Ugly monstrosity' was a compliment for such a creature.
It stood up groggily, holding its head with its long-nailed, filthy hand.
It took a look around it.
It found a wide corridor. One with an incalculable number of doors, that formed a weird lattice.
The walls weren't straight but twisting around a central axis, leaving the corridor without a roof or a floor, but instead a one-sided, twisted construct.
The only reason it was visible was the cascading light behind the goblin.
The walls had a caro pattern, seamlessly changing between dirt yellow and black.
Whether the colour had any meaning was quite unimportant given the rest of the information appearing in front of the goblin's eyes.
Every door had a different shape and size, others looked like they were made of dark wood, while others looked like vault doors. Every door was unique.
The goblin was unsure of its next move.
It was unsure of many things, really.
Being alive or dead was its main concern, as at the moment, it was more than debatable.
It slowly turned around to look at the light that shone inside the lattice.
It was blinding.
It abruptly turned back, shielding its poor eyes.
Shaking its ugly head, it looked at the lattice once more.
"Let's inspect." It thought.
It briskly walked to the lattice, heading towards the closest door.
With every step, it confirmed what it already knew.
It felt nothing. Empty. Void.
No feeling of its feet touching solid ground, no feeling of air entering its lungs. No feeling of breathing, smelling, or hearing.
Hell, it was questioning its vision as well, given what it was seeing.
After a few quick steps, it arrived in front of the door. Quite modern-looking, it seemed as if it was made of mahogany wood. It had a simple Georgian Style, comprising multiple rectangular shapes.
The goblin's green, filthy hand stretched from its side to feel the wooden door. Its eyes unreadable, like those of a dead fish.
It didn't feel anything. The void was still there, unrelenting, reminding it of the stasis it was in. It slightly closed its hand, scratching the surface of the wood with its dirty nails, leaving no mark.
"What is happening to me...?"
It thought, despairing for the first time since it found itself in the darkness, that was darkness no more. Its expression twisted in a grimace of anger and desperation, just for a fleeting second, before it turned deadpan once again.
Its hand slowly moved downwards, clutching the gold-plated doorknob, ready to open the door. Before it did, though, it turned around one last time, to look at the blinding light, barely able to keep its eyes open due to its intensity. It felt a strange kind of attraction to it, as if it was meant to follow the light, and not open the door, but then the attraction would fade, just a split second later, leaving him as confused as he was void.
It lowered its gaze and turned back towards the door. Its expression once more deadpan, void of any emotion. It slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. It screeched and squeaked as if it were centuries old, rusted and moldy. When it opened fully, all the goblin could see was darkness once more.
It grimaced once again, worried that its endeavours were pointless, that it might really be dead. But it found the strength to take a step inside. Then another, and one more, until it was devoured by the darkness surrounding it. It turned around to check that the door was still there, only to find more darkness. The entrance had disappeared. It panicked thinking it had screwed itself. It had finally escaped the void only to plunge into it once again, only this time out of its own volition. Fear, anger, and despair came and left as the void fed on the emotions when suddenly-
*Thump, Thump*
That noise again. The noise of-
*Thump, Thump*
A war drum.
*Thump, Thump*
The goblin's eyes went wide in surprise.
*Thump, Thump*
A blinding, incandescent, crimson light chased away the darkness.
*Thump-*
Before the second beat resounded through the darkness, the goblin saw its surroundings accelerate and stretch, as if it were moving with great speed. Its expression filled with disbelief and fear of the unknown, disappeared into the light.
The surroundings suddenly brightened, revealing to the goblin that it was inside a cave. The ceiling was filled with stalactites, forming a natural stone forest.
Infant cries replaced the sound of the war drum, as two burly, green-skinned hands appeared in the goblin's field of view. It felt them grab hold of its abdomen, lifting it off the ground. The scenery changed, in front of the goblin now the face of an elderly goblin, with withered green skin, and white hair. Its nose was a size too large to ruin the symmetry of its face. It had sharp and pointy ears coming out of its shoulder-length, white hair, and two yellow fangs protruding out of its lower lip.
"Kar Vah Ti Kote!"
The elder opened its mouth to pronounce the tiny goblin's birth.
"What the fu-!" Once the goblin realized its predicament, it was stupefied.
"Reincarnation? Really?! I guess that's one mystery solved. Those pagans were right!" It thought, remembering the cult preaching the truth of death during its past life.
"Hmm? This one isn't crying. Are you sure it's alive, shaman?" The elderly goblin, turned to another creature that was by his side. It had similar features, only older and more prideful. It wore some kind of ceremonial garment, a mix of bones and animal skin, while a majestic, feathered headdress adorned its head.
"Unmistakably, my liege. Its life-force is strong and vibrant." The shaman replied, looking a little insulted at being questioned, even if it was his boss doing it.
The elderly man took another look at Kote, who remained silent, looking at him with a deadpan expression.
"Indeed, it seems alive. Well, who knows, maybe it's too weak to cry. If that's the case, feed it to the wolves, we have no need for a useless burden!" The elderly man replied, indignant.
The man lowered the goblin to the ground and placed it close to its brethren that were born before him. Kote took a quick glance around him and saw other goblin infants rolling on the ground around him. His eyes finally landed upon the woman who had birthed him. He was stunned.
Her skin wasn't green. Her ears weren't pointy and her nose was petite and symmetrical.
She wasn't a goblin but a human.
The woman's skin was cut, bruised and battered. Bodily fluids, blood and excrements covered the floor of the cave as a result of the birth. She was soaked in sweat, her hair oily and split, covering most of her face. It was blonde, the colour of sunflowers. The woman managed to slightly lift her head, and look at the tiny infant that was staring at her.
What Kote saw in her eyes made his stomach churn. They were dead, like his were until a minute ago. Like those of a dead fish, of someone who's life had ended before they're heart had stopped.
Kote stared at the woman, his eyes unblinking. That look, the silent plea of a quick death, it made something inside him snap. Like a string, too stretched to remain whole. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and foam appeared on the corners of his mouth as he started seizing uncontrollably, his body convulsing.
The woman's eyes remained dead, uncaring and unbothered, as if she were blind. The only giveaway that she could still see was a silent tear that rolled down the side of her cheek. Her thoughts, unknown, if any.