A Shade of Vampire 79: A Game of Death

by Forrest, Bella

  I froze, realizing that this could very well be my last moment of consciousness, as lousy as it was. Terror similar to that which I’d experienced upon nearly being eaten by a ghoul came back to wash over me in icy waves, and I took several steps back.

  No matter what I did or said now, even after I led them to Seeley, they were going to reap me. This was going to be the true end of me, and I had no idea what awaited on the other side. The fear of such a cosmic unknown made me shiver. The Reaper who’d suggested it in the first place took out his scythe.

  Nethissis

  “No, you should not reap me, because Seeley sent me,” I said, trying to get ahead of the impending problem. Not only was I not ready to leave, I wasn’t even sure I was supposed to, given the circumstances surrounding my death. On top of that, I had no intention of going anywhere, at least until I made sure Seeley was okay.

  The Reapers stared at me for a while, equal parts fascinated and concerned. Exhaling, I pointed out the obvious to get the awkwardness out of the way. “Yes, I know I’m naked. I died naked. Not my fault. Let’s move past this…”

  “Seeley sent you?” Rudolph asked, politely respecting my wish. “Where is he? Why didn’t he come here himself?”

  “Yeah… About that. He’s a bit tied up at the moment,” I managed, shaking like a seedling at the mercy of a raging wind.

  Dina cursed under her breath. “What the hell is that SOB up to? What do you mean he’s tied up?!”

  “He’s literally tied up,” I said. “At least one of the Aeternae here knows death magic. Seeley was trying to help me and—”

  “Which Aeternae knows death magic?” Rudolph asked, suddenly cold, looking like he was itching for a murder or ten.

  “Zoltan Shatal. The chief councilor of the empire,” I replied. “He used death magic to bind Seeley and took his scythe.”

  Dina stepped forward, scowling at me. “And when did that happen?”

  “Last night.”

  “No wonder he didn’t show up.” Another female Reaper sighed, hands deep in her pockets. Dina shushed her.

  “Quiet, Lisl,” she said, then looked at me. “When did you die?”

  “Last night,” I repeated, unwillingly. “Seeley jumped in to stop a ghoul from eating me, and—”

  “Are you friggin’ kidding me?!” Rudolph croaked, his expression now bordering on sheer befuddlement. I was taking them through the complete spectrum of emotions, judging by the looks on their faces. They clearly had not expected to come to something like this—and I had few answers to give them. “Ghouls, too? What the hell is going on here?!”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out, too,” I said, keeping a reasonable distance from them and their scythes.

  Lisl raised an eyebrow. “Then let’s get you reaped, so we can move on to all these other issues that are clearly plaguing Visio.”

  “We’ll have to tell the Time Master, too,” Bert added.

  “Let’s get to Seeley, first,” Rudolph advised.

  I cleared my throat, demanding their full attention. “You’re not reaping me.”

  All eight of them chuckled, as if I’d told a most hilarious joke. I wasn’t in the mood for any kind of humor, though, and it annoyed me that they found anything funny in all of this. I decided to stand my ground—what was the worst thing that could happen?

  “I find it interesting that a ghost is telling us what we will or will not do,” Dina replied as she took her scythe out. The glimmer of its silver blade sent shivers running through me like vivid droplets of ice, making my very essence run cold.

  “Well, first of all, I can take you to Seeley,” I said, holding my chin up. “Or you can spend the rest of the day looking for him, which, in turn, might get him into deeper trouble. The sooner we get him out of that cell, the better.” I paused, measuring each of them from head to toe. “Your choice.”

  Rudolph narrowed his galaxy eyes at me. “You said ‘first of all’. What’s second?”

  “Are you seriously listening to her?” Lisl murmured, slightly aghast.

  I stifled a smirk as Rudolph raised a hand to shush her again. It seemed like a pattern with Lisl. In this particular case, I welcomed it. “Second, my death was not natural. A ghoul killed me. It was not Zoltan’s intention, since he didn’t even realize I was there until that monster broke my neck, but… still, unnatural death. I think that should be considered before raising any of your scythes to me. You should at least discuss this with the big kahuna, Lady Death and whatnot.”

  It was difficult to keep my cool, but it worked. Dina put her scythe away, her shoulders dropping, as Rudolph nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Not that we like it, but I don’t see the harm in you assisting us, at least until we get to Seeley.”

  “Then can we reap her?” Bert asked, eyeing me nervously.

  “What’s the rush? It’s not like I’m hurting anybody,” I grumbled, crossing my arms.

  “We’ll see when we get there,” Rudolph replied. “Let’s free Seeley first and figure out exactly what’s going on here.”

  I motioned for them to follow me, thankful to have bought myself at least a few more minutes. Maybe luck would be on my side later on, as well. I needed to make a case for my resurrection. It was possible. Seeley could get the authority from Taeral and Thieron, much like he’d done for the five million fae. It was a sliver of hope that I refused to relinquish.

  “Where is Zoltan now?” Rudolph asked as I guided them out of the library and toward the lower levels of the palace.

  “I don’t know. Probably pretending everything’s okay,” I said. “He’ll be back at some point today, which is why we need to get Seeley out of there soon.”

  “Is he okay?” Lisl asked, her voice softer than before. I had a feeling she liked Seely, and that… irked me just a little bit. This wasn’t the time or the place to experience such a troubling pang in the pit of my stomach, but I couldn’t help it.

  I nodded, looking straight ahead at the end of the hallway. That was our shortest route to Seeley’s cell. “He’s bound by death magic, but he’s all right.”

  “Anyone else involved, besides that Zoltan?” Rudolph replied.

  We went through several doors and down the stairs. I momentarily reveled in my newfound ability to disregard solid matter at my choosing. It was actually kind of fun—an unexpected perk to an otherwise gut-wrenching condition which I hoped to fix without having to give up on life.

  “He’s got guards down there. Black armor. Not many, from what I’ve seen, and not as skilled with death magic as Zoltan is,” I said. “They come and go in shifts, checking the corridors. It’s a maze down here.”

  Gliding down the spiraling stone steps, I felt colder than usual. Maybe it had something to do with the underground atmosphere, but I didn’t like it. The lights were dim, barely flickering on the wall-mounted torches, casting shadows that danced across every inch of amber-lit limestone.

  The entire picture chilled me to my spiritual bones.

  “Zoltan also has a Reaper scythe,” I remembered. Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed the Reapers’ startled grimaces. The more I told them, the more troubled they got, and for good reason.

  “One of us should definitely reach out to the Time Master now, before we even get to Seeley,” Lisl suggested. “This isn’t right. Rudolph?”

  He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m on it.”

  A spine-tingling growl erupted as soon as we set foot in the main corridor. It came out of nowhere—this massive, bulky, shimmering shadow. Rudolph screamed. I gasped and jumped to the side, just in time to see the carnage unfold.

  The ghoul took Rudolph down first, biting so hard that the Reaper literally passed out, his wounds black and strange. The others took their scythes out, but the ghoul was incredibly fast. Much faster than they were, and that scared me beyond belief.

  “Take it out!” Bert shouted.

  Lisl tried, but the ghoul tore into her, then moved on to Dina. Others tried to cut him
, but the fiend kept vanishing and reappearing in and around the Reaper cluster. It clawed and bit its way through. I screamed, as did Dina when she fell.

  “What the hell?!” one of the Reapers managed. A moment later, the ghoul appeared behind him and rammed its fangs into the back of his neck, and I heard his spine crack under the ferocious pressure.

  Backing away, I covered my mouth, overcome with uncontrollable tremors, as the ghoul took the Reapers down, one by one. They couldn’t move fast enough. They missed it with their scythes, which eventually ended up on the cold, wet floor, along with their bodies.

  None were dead; I knew they would turn to silvery dust when they died. Besides, a ghoul couldn’t kill a Reaper. But it could obviously cripple eight of them in the blink of an eye, leaving me defenseless and overcome with a paralyzing mixture of horror and dismay. They were my only chance at getting Seeley out of the cell.

  Once the last of the Reapers fell, the ghoul roared with such pathos that it echoed through the entire maze. Soon, black guards rumbled in, all of them carrying scythes. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it did make sense for these bastards to have Reaper blades, since they were frequently dealing with ghouls.

  “Take their weapons!” One of them barked the order, and the other six collected the scythes and put rune-cuffs on the Reapers’ wrists.

  “Attaboy, Lucius.” Another black guard chuckled as he sneered at the ghoul.

  But the creature didn’t care much for compliments. Its big, black, beady eyes were set on me, now. The black guards couldn’t see me, but it could. Drool strings hung from its loose jaw as it bared its fangs, showing me how hungry it was, how badly it wanted to gobble me up.

  Without a moment left to even think about a way out of this, I bolted down the hallway.

  “Hey, where’s Lucius going?” the first guard asked, his voice fading behind me.

  “He must’ve spotted that witch’s spirit,” another replied, nonchalantly.

  As if I were a house mouse they had all looked forward to getting rid of—thank the stars for the ghoul hound, right? The bastards…

  I ran as fast as I could, with the ghoul galloping on all fours and snarling after me. Lights flashed past, and I decided that I would not go down like this. I’d escaped a ghoul’s clutches before, and I could do it again.

  Whatever was going on here, it was swelling and festering and swallowing more Reapers as they came along. How many more would this underground maze take before Death sent a whole army down here to put these wretched fiends out of their misery? I’d have to survive in order to find out.

  So I ran. I kept running.

  Maybe I’d survive another ghoul attack. Maybe I wouldn’t forever-die in here.

  Maybe not today.

  Lumi

  Taeral and I went into one of the secret chambers of the Fire Star’s palace, leaving Eira to finish the letters. Once we got in, Taeral locked the door and took out Thieron, which he’d learned to conceal by using a little bit of death magic, as far as I could tell. It was a big weapon and not easy to keep hidden, and yet that was exactly what Taeral had accomplished.

  Taking it out and revealing it looked like a sleight-of-hand trick. I couldn’t help but smile. “I see you’ve picked up more than a couple of Reaper tricks.”

  Taeral chuckled. “I’ve had time to practice. To eavesdrop on the right people,” he replied. “They all do this, otherwise the scythes would poke out of wherever they’re holding them. It’s a sort of synergy between one’s body, regardless of its form, and the scythe. It can vanish and yet stay on me, at all times. It took me a while to figure it out and lots of practice. Hell, I nearly stabbed myself a couple of times.”

  “It’s as beautiful as I remembered it,” I whispered, admiring the long handle made of stone-dragon bone, with its carved runes; the long and arched blade that seemed to whisper in contact with the air around it; and the black iridescent sphere mounted on it, slowly revolving as it held Death’s purest power. Eirexis, the handle and bearer of knowledge. Zetos, the blade and taker of life. Phyla, the gemstone and giver of life. What an exquisite piece of primordial energy, materialized into one of the most volatile and most powerful weapons in existence and beyond.

  “I’m learning more and more about it,” Taeral said. “Death insists that I don’t fiddle with it, but sometimes I feel like it wants me to use it, if that makes sense. I never push it, though. Everything I can do with Thieron, everything I have learned, it’s only because the scythe has allowed it. I’m sure of it.”

  “You’re a most fortunate soul to be its keeper, then,” I replied. “Now, tell me, what are we doing? Where are we going?”

  “Lumi, my dear, I’m taking you on a Reaper-like trip,” Taeral declared, beaming with the enthusiasm of a young boy about to jump from great heights into the ocean. There was a devilish glow in his amber eyes, and it almost made my heart sing. His eagerness was downright infectious.

  Staring at Thieron, I exhaled sharply. “Okay. Treading worlds, then?”

  “Indeed. You might want to hold on to me,” Taeral said.

  Hooking my arm around his, I braced myself for whatever such a journey might entail. We’d only done it once with Phantom, and I was already getting dizzy from remembering the sensations such a voyage had left me with. Taeral was nowhere near as experienced as any of the First Ten, so I assumed things might get bumpy.

  He brought Thieron’s blade up to his lips and whispered a word into it. I didn’t recognize it, but it was old-timey death magic, which once again left me in awe of how resourceful the Fire Star prince and future Reaper truly was.

  The runes on Eirexis lit up blue, shining like sapphires in the moonlight, as the world around us began to shimmer and ripple. Matter and space became soft and bendy, like delicate fabric, and we both stepped forward and through it.

  The secret chamber fizzled away like ink washed off the table with a jet of cold water. The blackness of cosmos took its place, and my knees got weak. A knot formed in my throat, as I was suddenly weightless and senseless, with no control over myself or anything around me. I had become a flicker, an insignificant blip in the endless net of time and space, as Taeral walked us through a plethora of galaxies.

  We were in the In-Between again. I recognized the stars, the reddish suns, the vibrant streams of pink and orange stardust. Glistening in the distance, with its fuchsia mists and giant sun, was Eritopia.

  “Are you okay?” Taeral asked as we kept walking, quite literally, through an invisible wormhole that cut through billions of light-years in a matter of minutes.

  “Mm-hm…” I breathed, trying to focus on the path ahead.

  Before us, a mysterious solar system became visible. A group of fifteen planets, all titans of the universe, bigger than anything I’d seen before. These behemoth marbles came in shades of ochre yellow and lilac, delicate blue and turquoise green. They orbited an equally enormous sun, a star so bright that I couldn’t even bear to look at it, directly, without my eyes stinging and hurting.

  “What is this?” I asked, barely feeling my own body at this point.

  “I don’t know what the system is called, but we’re going there,” he said, and I followed his gaze.

  The thirteenth planet was… off. It was a deep red with orange streaks and loose powder and stones all around it. A hole had recently been formed in its northern hemisphere, a bowl-shaped void from which phosphorescent lava seeped out in loose bubbles in the absence of gravity. The closer we got, the better I could see.

  The orange streaks were clouds scattering away, losing their structure. The planet had been hit by something massive, and there were still traces of the thing around it. Something large and black, judging by the obsidian shards that mingled with the rocks and the lava droplets. My stomach tightened as I tried to wrap my head around this catastrophe.

  “What happened here?” I whispered, feeling my eyes widen as we walked toward it.

  “This used to be called Akryos,” Taeral sai
d. “Up until a couple of days ago, it was a prosperous and peaceful world, with a species that cannot be found anywhere else in the In-Between. Some kind of Druid-related humanoids, though I know very little about them. Only what I’ve heard through the grapevine.”

  “The grapevine?”

  “Reaper radio,” Taeral replied. I looked at him, understandably confused. “Sometimes, if I focus on Eirexis hard enough, I can hear Reapers whispering, talking to one another. I can tap into their telepathic connections, though I have no control over who it is I’m listening to. I can’t even stay on for too long before my head starts to hurt, but I know something awful happened to Akryos. A massive asteroid, to be precise. And everything… everyone… they’re gone now. Dead.”

  “Oh, no… That’s awful.”

  “If there’s one thing I’ve understood better since I’ve been snooping on the Reapers, it’s the enormity and the complexity of the universe, of its dimensions… of the calculated rules that set it in motion. Worlds like Akryos perish every other day, and others are born elsewhere. It’s a constant cycle of sorts. It would take lifetimes just to fully grasp it all.”

  Once we reached the surface, I felt extremely hot. Taeral whispered something else into Thieron, then gently pressed the blade against my skin. In an instant, I felt much better. My skin was cool, and I could breathe, effortlessly, despite the absence of an atmosphere.

  “It destroyed everything,” I said, looking around.

  The entire crust had been cracked. Lava rivers burst from below, dripping upward and outward without any gravity. Whatever Thieron had done, it was keeping us alive and anchored to the ground, despite all the conditions that dictated against it.

  “They didn’t stand a chance,” Taeral said. “They saw it coming days ago, but they didn’t have the knowledge or the technology to evacuate. Millions of them.”

  We walked along a sharp ridge, and I did not let go of Taeral’s arm. He insisted on that, stating that I would immediately lose Thieron’s privileges if physical contact between us were to cease. Remnants of glorious cities were scattered all over, the entrails of iron and steel snaking around, unbound and broken. White-and-pink marble chunks littered the sweltering red desert that had swooped in and swallowed them all. Fractured towers and molten glass. Charred trees and blackened skeletons.