Chapter 4: A HUNDRED DEATHS

Joda was floating in a dark place. He had no form, just his consciousness and there was no pain. Everything was peaceful. If this was where his brother was, then Jada was also free from all the troubles of the world. He would look for his brother after he was done resting.

How long Joda rested, he did not know. All he knew was that he was content and had no desire to leave the calm darkness. But that peace soon ended when after what felt like only a short time in the darkness, he was yanked forcefully out of the dark and his whole vision faded.

The next time Joda opened his eyes, he was bound to a long wooden pole with many people surrounding him. The people were speaking in a tongue he was unfamiliar with and they had weird skin tones. He looked down at his still bound form and his eyes widened as he saw his body.

By the gods, why was he in a woman's body? This couldn't be happening. He must be dreaming. Yes, he was still in that dark place and was asleep. He most definitely wasn't a woman the last time he checked. Also, he didn't do anything that would warrant him being tied to a stake. And why was he on a mountain of firewood?

His eyes fell on his chest where he now spotted two womanly breasts. That wasn't what had made him look down though. It was the hole in his cloth that was cached with blood as if...noo, had this body been dead before he had inherited it? What in Jimunk's name was going on here? Joda asked himself with no little surprise.

(From henceforth, * marks any language Joda doesn't understand.)

*Hey!, Look! The witch is still alive!* A man shouted from the crowd and the people below Joda started murmuring as they saw the person they had thought dead miraculously come back to life.

*How is that possible, I saw the priest strike her in the heart as custom demands we do a witch.* Another expressed her shock.

*Yes, that is most definitely the devil's work. It must be true what they say, she's the devil's whore* another man told his colleague.

The murmuring continued and was getting louder and louder. It was making the already uncomfortable Joda even more uncomfortable. What was going on with these pale-skinned people? What were they saying and why were they looking at him with such hate and disgust?

"Hey people, I don't know what is going on here but can you untie this ropes? they are a little too tight and very painful. You shouldn't be doing that to a beautiful woman." Joda requested from the crowd which gasped the moment they heard the bound woman start to speak.

*What a weird language. What language is that?* A woman asked her husband.

*That is the devil's tongue! she's chanting to the devil! She's going to curse us!* The man shouted in panic and picked up a large stone from beneath his feet. He threw the stone with all his might at Joda who got hit in the stomach as he was unable to dodge the incoming missile.

Soon all the people in the crowd were pelting him with stones and Joda, unable to move, except bow his head was getting hit on every part of his body. soon, he was bleeding from his mouth and nose.

"Please stop. I am a stranger on this land. What did I even do to you?" The prince in a woman's body asked. He wasn't scared of death but this particular activity was torturous.

*Somebody call the priest, she's still chanting!* A woman shouted.

*I'm here!* A large pot-bellied man in a clean white robe pushed his way out of the crowd.

*The priest is here! Kill the witch, your holiness. Kill her before she curses the children of God* someone pleaded from the crowd and soon, the chants of *kill her!* Was everywhere.

The priest made his way towards the bloody woman he had initially thought dead. 'great saints, she's back from hell' the priest thought In shock and fear. He stood still for a moment, contemplating what to do. after awhile, he made a choice. He had wanted to burn the woman after her death, but if she won't die from his blade, then he will just go ahead and set her ablaze.

The priest turned to the crowd with his arms outstretched and everyone fell silent. *This witch has returned from the fiery depths of hell after I ended her blasphemous life.* The priest started.

*She's a danger to the children of God and this village as a whole. Just like she killed her husband and two children in the name of healing, she would lay waste to this beautiful village as she exchanges our lives for more of hers. She needs to die, and the lord our master has shown me the way to cull her kind effectively.*

The priest paused and everyone looked on attentively. Waiting for the godly way to kill witches. *Death by fire is the only way to remove this evil from our midst!* The priest shouted and the crowd burst out in cheers.

Yes, they will burn the witch alive. They will burn her till her Bones turned to dust. They will like to see if she can come back from that. *Burn her! Burn the witch!* The crowd chanted and the priest complied.

Joda was watching all the commotion in growing apprehension. He could feel the people's blood-lust and even though he couldn't understand them, he didn't need a translator to know they were talking about his death.

When he saw the new man in the white clothing come toward him with a lighted stick of fire,Joda understood why the need for the firewood he was standing on.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Joda asked in a panicked tone but the man only hurried up his activity and Joda watched in horror as he lighted up the firewood he was standing on."hey, brother. This is crazy. Untie me!"

*Shut up!* Someone yelled and then the stones started coming again. Pain upon pain Prince Joda felt. As he got pelted by stones, the fire continued raging on until it was finally burning his flesh off him. The prince begged. He cried. He prayed as the burning smell of his flesh wafted into his nose. He screamed until his voice turned hoarse.

Death took a long time to come. By then, he was burnt beyond recognition as the men kept adding more fuel to the fire. When the familiar blackness finally came, Prince Joda embraced it like a long lost lover. He sighed as he found himself in the calm darkness. Fire sure was a tough way to go. He thought.

He closed his eyes, ready to rest when he felt the familiar pull again. 'what? so soon?' the prince asked himself as he felt his consciousness slipping. Once again, Joda was pulled into another body. This time, a male. And a warrior by the looks of it.

He hadn't even observed his surroundings which from the little he saw was probably a war ground when a curious-looking man in a helmet with a mask shaped like a demon and who was carrying a long slim sword slashed his neck from behind. This reincarnation had lasted shorter than all the others that were to follow.

Prince Joda had then been reincarnated again into a young girl and had Experienced abuse at the hands of some weird-looking warriors before he had been killed.

He had then been put into a young boy's body, just before the chained boy was thrown over a mountain. On his way to a painful death, Joda saw many other boys just like the one he was inhabiting. All of them in chains and following a group of well-dressed warriors. The boys were slaves.

The prince had been reincarnated into so many scenarios like the above examples that he had lost count. All his reincarnations also ended up with him dead. Try as he may. even when he had been reincarnated as an animal, his speed still couldn't save him from the blackness.

The prince now dreaded the blackness. It wasn't peaceful anymore. The place was hell. What did he do to suffer such torture? When his next death came, the prince was legit crying. Why couldn't he just rest? it was all he asked for.

When he found himself in the familiar dark space, Prince Joda steeled his resolve and waited for the pull that will take him into another body just on the verge of death.

There was nothing he could do but wait for the inevitable, but nothing happened. he waited and waited, still, nothing happened. Was he free? Was that torture over? Finally! He thought and made to close his eyes. He could now rest.

"I'm afraid you can't rest now, child." A voice Joda could understand perfectly pulled him out of his rest.

"Who are you?, what do you mean by I can't rest now?" The prince asked the voice in confusion.

"I have a mission for you, warrior. I made you experience the last moments of those people so you can grasp the seriousness of your mission." The voice divulged to the prince's anger.

"So that was you, that was not cool. I only wanted to rest, not die a hundred times!" Joda screamed.

"And rest, you shall. After you finish the mission I have for you. End the great war between the Vikings, Knights and Samurai's so that no more of what you experienced should continue. Save the world. Make it one, and you shall have all the rest you desire. Your time has come, warrior. Safe journey." The voice bade the prince farewell.

"Hey!, Don't leave. What do you mean by safe journey? I'm not going anywhere!" Prince Joda shouted but just then he felt the familiar pull of reincarnation and his vision started turning dark.

"Noo! Not again! I refuse to go back. Please!!!" Joda begged loudly but heard no response as the pull on his essence became stronger and his vision turned completely black. Prince Joda was getting reincarnated again, and he was dreading it.