The next thing I felt was searing pain. I fought to open my eyes. My head was low, my body slumped and a throbbing pain was in my chest. I struggled to focus and could just make out another person standing in front of me. But something was off… before I could wrestle with the fact I was no longer alone I realised what was causing the pain. Embedded in my heart was a sharp stone that the person in front of me held in their hand. Besides the stone I saw no clothing or particular indicator and as soon as the vision had come it vanished. 

In a blink, I was suddenly rolling my eyes open, waking in a hospital bed. I tried to once again take in my surroundings but all I could see was that my hands had withered. My body was unbearably heavy and once more there was a sharp pain in my chest. This time followed by a shooting pain in my left arm before once more the inky black claimed me once again. 

Once more I awoke in a bed. This time my body was small and weak. My lungs fought for air but gasped at nothing. A child fighting to breathe. 

Heat. Unbearable heat. Unlike previously I did not struggle to open my eyes for there were no eyelids to open. My hands were nailed to a thick trunk while the flames engulfed me. Never before had I experienced such pain or seen such horror. Even after my eyes themselves melted I could still see the dancing lights of the fire. 

The cycle repeated more times than I could count or track but throughout the time I experienced so much pain. So many deaths. My existence seemed to only now consist of the final moments of others’ lives. More accurately the final moments after someone perished. For a brief second, I lived out their pain and torment unable to act or comprehend. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of karmic justice. This was surely nothing more than a drop in the ocean compared to the anguish I must have caused in the pursuit of my arrogance and selfishness. But I had survived for millennia alone, I would survive this. With each death grew my resolve. 

Once more I gasped for air, only to inhale cold murky water. I tried to fight the current but my body this time was that of just a toddler. Poor soul. The waves battered my fragile form, the frozen water sapped what little strength my muscles had and my lungs had all but emptied of air. I could feel my eyes beginning to bulge from the pressure and lack of oxygen. They say oxygen deprivation can induce a form of delirium and for a moment it was as if my numb being were being dragged by the small dress it wore. Once more the darkness took me. 

I woke, coughing up water on a muddy bank, my tiny form cold as ice. I… hadn’t perished?