by Ali Winters
The group of reapers stood as one, a watch appearing in each hand. Turning, they left to find their collective mark. Camira waited in the back of the room as the others filed past her. As the last one went through the stone archway, she turned to join them.
“Camira, I would like to speak to you a moment,” Silas said.
She halted and turned to face him.
“Camira,” he started, “I am counting on you to make sure it goes smoothly. You know Nivian better than anyone else. Find her, and you will find the hunter.”
Camira nodded in acceptance and spun on her heel. She wondered what happened to Nivian. She used to be one of the best reapers, but ever since she met the damned hunter she broke rules, disobeyed orders, and put them at risk through every one of her actions. Maybe the mark threatened her. Though admittedly Camira couldn’t think of anything the hunter could use as leverage. Reapers didn’t have anything they cared about, except keeping the balance.
Kain
Kain huddled over a small pile of twigs and branches. “I wish I had some kind of lighter with me,” he grumbled as he rubbed two sticks together, with no luck. He growled in frustration and threw the sticks into the pile.
“Where are we? It’s freezing here.” He shivered and rubbed his arms for warmth. His thin tee shirt was not holding up to the lack of heat. At least, he thought, there isn’t any wind. “You couldn’t have told me to grab something warmer?”
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I didn’t think about it. Reapers aren’t affected by temperature.” She knelt down to sit across from him.
Taking a deep breath, Kain had to remind himself that Nivian was trying to help. Getting angry with her because he was cold and exhausted wasn’t going to improve his situation.
“So, where are we anyway?”
“We are in the Forests of Ari.” She looked around and admired the beauty of their surroundings. The deep purple trees contrasted against the reds of mosses growing up the trunks.
“Oh,” he said lamely, as if the name of the forest would mean anything to him. “I feel like we have been here for hours. Why hasn’t the sun risen yet?”
“Time doesn’t exist here.” She tilted her face up to the unmoving lavender clouds that streaked across the sky visible through a break in the canopy above. “Time does not exist for us. It is always the moment just before dawn.”
“I see,” he said, not actually seeing. Kain wondered how time couldn’t exist while movement was possible—but then stopped before he got a headache. “Do you know how to start a fire?” Picking up the two sticks he’d used before and tried again.
“No,” she muttered, slumping her shoulders.
“I guess that makes sense. Not ever needing to adjust the temperature around you must be nice.” Kain said.
“I can get you something. It will be risky. If any reapers find me, they will follow me back here.”
“Why don’t you try?” he snapped venomously. He knew it wasn’t her fault, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he would last. “I’ll freeze to death anyway if you don’t, and all of this will be pointless.” He waved his arms around.
Nivian looked down at her hands, nodded and stood to leave.
She was hurt. He could see it written all over her face. Kain cursed himself. Rising, he grabbed her wrist as she placed the hood over her head and pulled her into him. “I’m sorry, Nivian. I’m just irritable because I’m cold, tired, and getting hungry.”
“It’s all right, Kain. I understand.” She murmured. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Well. Isn’t this cozy.” Nivian and Kain froze at the unexpected dry voice. Caspian walked out from behind a tree. The look on his face made it clear he wasn’t happy to see her in Kain’s arms.
Nivian let out a sigh of relief and placed her hand over her heart. “Caspian! I’m so glad you’re here!” She ran over to him, pulled him out of the shadows, and over to their small camp.
Narrowing his eyes at Kain, Caspian asked, “How on earth did you manage to get a hunter to Mophar without killing him?”
“I transported him with me.” she looked back at Caspian. “It was difficult, and there were a few side effects, but it wasn’t too hard.”
“Nivi, I do not think you understand.” Caspian spoke carefully as he looked at Kain with interest. “No mortal can pass over into Mophar alive, and while hunters live longer, they are still mortal.”
Nivian’s face dropped, a gasp escaping her. Slowly, she turned her head to Kain, who had knelt back down, and tried again, to start a fire. “Did I kill him by bringing him here?” she whispered.
Kain’s hands froze in their movements.
Caspian stood close to her and leaned in. “He wouldn’t be moving if he were dead. Unless you found a way to create the world’s first zombie.”
Nivian snorted and rolled her eyes. “Caspian, please. Don’t be ridiculous. There are no such things as zombies.”
“Seriously, can one of you do something to help?” Kain snapped. An explosion shot out in front of him and threw him on his back. With soot smeared all over his face, he stared wordlessly up at the two reapers across from him then back down at the fire now burning his pile of tinder. Caspian stared wide-eyed at the hunter. White crystal shards scattered on the ground.
“Kain!” Nivian cried and ran over to him. Her hands grabbed his head and swiveled it roughly as she checked for injuries. “Are you okay? What was that?” She wiped his face off with the corner of her cape, missing the look of utter hatred Caspian threw Kain.
“I—I’m fine,” Kain mumbled, roughly pushing her hands away.
“How did you do that, Kain?” Nivian asked, still trying to examine him.
“I don’t know. That’s never happened before. I trained before, but that was light energy. I don’t know where this came from.” He looked up from the fire and glared at Caspian. “Maybe your friend did it,” he bit out and stood up, dusting himself off.
“I beg your pardon, hunter?” Caspian raised an annoyed eyebrow, his mouth turning up into a sneer.
“I don’t think so,” Nivian interrupted. “That’s not the kind of power reapers have. That was light energy.”
“She is correct. It was a hunter’s power—stronger and more concentrated than I have ever seen. I have never witnessed it used in such a way before.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and turned to Caspian, her face paled. “How… did you find us?” She scanned the forest.
“I stopped by your place, and when I did not feel your presence anywhere in the earthly realm, I knew this was the only other place you would go. Do not worry,” he said. “No one else knows that you are here.”
“How would you know I would pick this place? I’ve never spent any time here.”
“Not in this lifetime you haven’t,” Caspian added softly. “But you used to love the forest. It is where we met.”
“Oh…” was all she could say. Nivian gazed absentmindedly into the fire as the flames lick the air.
Caspian walked over to Kain. “There is something different about those powers. It was much too powerful. How did you create those crystals?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kain looked down at Nivian.
“Nivi,” Caspian said. Bending down, he placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie.
“What did you mean by ‘not in this lifetime’? How many lives do reapers have?” Kain asked, trying to put the pieces together.
“Only one,” Caspian answered.
“Kain?” Nivian whispered. “How did you do that?”
Kain hesitated for a moment before admitting, “I don’t know, I don’t know how any of this works. Maybe it’s because my mother was a reaper. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Nivian and Caspian looked over at him in disbelief. Her lips parted, and his eyes narrowed in distrust.
“Reapers don’t breed,” Caspian corrected.
“My mother was captured by Yeva and her hunter
s sometime before the war. Yeva managed to take her powers and turn her into a mortal. My father watched over her, and they fell in love. He never thought it was possible for them to have children, and it wasn’t… until they had me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nivian demanded, a scowl on her lips.
“Why didn’t you tell me you used to be a hunter? I didn’t have a choice in the matter, but you turned your back on us!” Kain snapped, knowing the accusation would hurt. They were both guilty of keeping things from the other, but he was angry, cold, exhausted and to top it off, now he was hungry.
“I didn’t have a choice in the matter either, Kain. Silas forced it on me. How could I tell you something I didn't even remember? I don’t remember anything from before I died!” Her eyes stung with unshed tears threatening to spill over. She blinked them back, refusing to show any kind of weakness. “I am a reaper now, but I am not a traitor!”
“That is enough,” Caspian stepped between them, forcing them to step back. “Keep yelling like that and you will both attract every reaper to this spot.”
Kain shoved Caspian’s hand off his chest.
A loud crack sounded in the distance, silencing the argument. The three turned, searching the area for the source of the sound. The ground rumbled beneath their feet, quiet at first, steadily grew louder as it surrounded them. The earth shifted. Trees fell in the distance, crashing down as the shaking became more violent.
“Did they find us?” Nivian asked. Her legs threatened to buckle from underneath her. She looked to Caspian for an answer. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, shielding her from any flying debris. Gripping his cloak in her fists, she buried her face in his chest. A tree cracked, splintering as it hit the ground. A shower of branches and splinters rained down around them.
“I don’t think so,” Caspian responded. “No reaper would make such a spectacle. It must be the balance shifting. The veil between realms is growing weaker. It is the first stages of the shift.” He let go of his hold on Nivian, keeping an arm firmly around her shoulders.
The shaking slowed to a dull rumble then settled into stillness. Kain glared at Caspian, who met his gaze with narrowed eyes. Caspian tightened his arm possessively around Nivian and led her over to the fire, holding her hand as she sat down. Never once taking his eyes off Kain.
Nivian looked up at the two men staring intently at each other. “Would you two stop gazing at each other and sit down already? We need to figure out what to do.” She rolled her eyes in irritation.
Kain broke eye contact with the other reaper and sat, crossing his legs. He was focusing on small things, and he needed to concentrate on the problem at hand. Living and saving the world would come first. After they'd gotten out alive, then he could act how he felt. Caspian cleared his throat and sat down on opposite side of the fire with Nivian between them.
The silence was thick with tension. Kain watched Nivian through the flickering flames as she chewed her bottom lip. He noticed she had been doing that a lot and wondered if it was something she always did or if it was because of recent events. He didn’t know what it was about her, but she called to him. He wanted her.
“Why did you become a reaper, Nivian? No hunter would choose that path. Why did you?” Kain’s voice was low, almost wounded.
“Kain, I already told you I don’t remember.” Nivian hung her head. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “This whole thing makes me feel like a traitor to both hunters and reapers, and I didn’t have a choice in any of it.”
“It was not your fault, Nivi,” Caspian said. “Do not let this hunter make you feel bad about a choice you were never given.”
“What would you know about it, reaper?” Kain shouted, snapping his head around to face Caspian.
“I know because I was the reaper who took her life,” Caspian admitted, his eyes never leaving the silhouette of her face.
Kain looked at Nivian, who continued to watch the fire unmoving, the flames reflecting in her clear eyes. “How can you associate with him after he took your life?”
“He wasn’t given a choice either, Kain.”
“It is true, I did not have a choice in the matter either,” Caspian added. “Though I did not know what Silas planned until after the fact. It always seemed strange to me that you didn’t put up a fight.”
Her head jerked up—that got her attention. “What do you mean, Caspian?”
“Silas came to you after he found out about us.” Caspian said.
Kain narrowed his eyes at the reaper, who watched him as he spoke.
“Silas tried to convince you to turn against the hunters. He warned you hunters were trying to create another imbalance. You would not listen. You told him the balance was fine. Furious over your refusal to heed his warning, he said if you did not join us he would send reapers after your family one by one until all you knew and loved were dead.”
“What?”
“It was an empty threat, though you did not know it at the time. Silas would never have gone that far. It would have created a much larger imbalance. The following night, when we met, I told you I had come because you were my mark. You did not put up a fight.” He paused and studied her face for a moment. “You knew how to swim, Nivian, yet you didn’t even try. You let yourself drown, but I did not understand why at the time. I am not proud of my actions, but I wanted to be the one who was there for you in your final moments as a mortal.”
“Nivian, you can’t fight on Silas’s side,” Kain insisted. “Caspian just admitted that you can’t trust Silas. He’s done nothing but manipulate you.”
“Kain, I don’t have a choice.”
“Why? Because Silas told you that you had to fight? You always have a choice, Nivi.”
“No,” Nivian’s jaw set in determination. “Silas may not be the most honest being ever to exist, but he wouldn’t do anything to harm the balance. That’s the only thing that’s ever mattered to him. I am a reaper, and it is my duty to protect it as well. Reapers are not free to choose as mortals are.”
“Kain,” Caspian started, “if you do not fight Nivian, you will spend the rest of your life running from every reaper. I can promise you that your death in their hands will be far worse than anything Nivian can grant you.”
“You are insane, if you think I’m going down without a fight. I might like her, but it doesn’t mean I’ll lay down and die to make her happy.”
“Fight her if you must. Just know that if you destroy her, I will come after you, and that too will be slow and painful.”
“Stop.” Her voice cut them off sharply. “This is getting us nowhere. We need to either find out what is really going on between Silas and Yeva or find a permanent place for Kain. So why don’t we let Kain rest for awhile so we can figure things out.”
Caspian inclined his head in agreement, drawing Nivian against him, so she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Fine,” Kain agreed. He was tired. And being forced to watch Caspian constantly dote on Nivian was getting on his last nerve.
Kain turned away, brushing twigs and other lumpy debris away from his spot. He lay down with his back to the fire and used his arm as a pillow. Closing his eyes, Kain focused on the crackling of the fire and somehow managed to drift off to sleep, while the two reapers watched over him.
Twenty-Seven
Kain
Kain woke to Nivian gently shaking him. She knelt down, her face inches from his. He opened his eyes briefly, then closed them again. She felt bad for waking him again. He’d only slept a few hours, but she couldn’t give him any more time. She touched his arm—his skin was cold since the fire had died. He reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, his body shivering from the cold.
“Kain,” Nivian whispered against his chest, “you need to wake up now.”
Kain grumbled, burrowing his face into her neck. Nivian wasn’t sure what to do. She needed to wake him up. Caspian would be back soon to get them, at least she hoped he would be.
The ground beneath them shuddered, before settling once again. Kain’s eyes shot open, and he was instantly wide-awake, releasing his grip on her. She pushed herself up to kneeling. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, resting his arms on his knees. Far in the distance another tree fell, crashing down.
“Where did your boyfriend go?” Kain asked grumpily, his mouth drawn in a tight line as he looked everywhere, except in her direction.
“Do you mean Caspian?” she asked, cocking her head to the side, not understanding his tone or meaning. “He went to find a more suitable place for us to hide you. He will be back soon to get us.”
Kain grumbled.
“What did you mean, ‘boyfriend’?” she asked, the tone of Kain’s voice made her hesitate, as though it implied more. She’d heard humans use that term before, but had assumed naturally that was what every relationship between men and women was called. Nivian picked a few stray leaves out of his hair.
“You know, a guy you care about.”
Nivian thought for a moment, and asked, “So, you are my boyfriend too?”
He turned his head to meet her eyes. “Uh,” he stumbled, “that’s not quite how it works.” Kain stood up, pulling Nivian up with him. “Nivian?” Kain took her hand and brought her closer to him. “What is Caspian to you?”
“He is a reaper. Like me.” She wasn’t sure if he was referring to the ‘boyfriend’ comment he’d made or if he was still half asleep. Reapers just were. They were death to the living.
He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into him by her waist, and leaned his forehead against hers. “Are you with him?”
Her brows furrowed in confusion. “No, I’m with you, Kain. He’s not here right now.” Why wasn’t he making any sense?
Kain smiled ruefully, slightly shaking his head. Gently, he brushed his knuckle over Nivian’s cheek. He moved in closer, and her eyelashes fluttered against his cheek.