by T Ariyanna
Hissing laughter sounded in his ear, and he whipped his head around to find the culprit. When he found it, he jerked back in revulsion.
A strange creature knelt in front of him, with green skin and half of a face. The other half was simply a blank slate, a clean piece of flesh that was twisted in on itself. A black forked tongue shot out between the monster's long teeth and licked along the sharp edge of a knife. A strange liquid came off the blade onto his tongue. It wasn't a single color, but two, fighting for dominance. There were small splotches of red in a translucent white, and the colors made the boy shiver, though he couldn't figure out why.
“What are you doing?” he asked calmly, looking down at his arm. The same liquid spilled from a long gash in his skin, and he thought he was going to be sick.
“Just finishing up,” the creature smirked. He dropped the knife with a clang to the ground and pressed his arm to the boy's. When he pulled away, the cut healed.
“That's enough. I want to talk to him now,” a voice boomed behind the creature. It flinched at the sound of it and slithered away.
The boy watched the figure approach slowly. “What do you remember?” the voice asked.
The boy wracked his brain for an answer. He found nothing in his mind, save for the image of his blood. “Nothing.” He felt wrong somehow, as though he shouldn't be so calm. He tried to work himself into a panic, to feel something, but without the pain, he simply couldn't care.
“Nothing? You're quite sure?” the voice asked again.
The boy nodded. “I've got nothing but black up here,” he said, pointing to his head. His hand was shackled to the wall behind him, and he eyed the cuff curiously. Fear. I think I should feel fear right now. He shook his hand in the cuff, waiting for the terror to set in, but it never came. He shrugged his shoulders and dropped his hand. Shock, he told himself, wisps of memory tugging at him from far away. I must be in shock, from whatever happened. What did happen?
“Good. Very good.” The voice broke through his thoughts, and the creature beside him hissed in pleasure. “A perfect Void child. No memories, no feelings. No likes or desires. But unfortunately, no fears either. Completely empty. Well, not any more. You've got something inside that we need. Don't worry, though, my little Void. We will fix that. Grite?”
The man ended in a word the boy didn't understand, but he came to realize it was the name of the creature, for the green beast lunged at him with knife in hand. The boy screamed as he was carved into pieces.
The man erupted into cackles, only pausing to say, “We've got a war to wage!”
Cyllorian and Kaitlyn attempt to bring Arion back to life in The Clockwork Heart: Of Magic, Book 2. To be the first to know when it releases, sign up for T. Ariyanna’s VIP List! You get a free book, Reaper, just for signing up!
Reaper by T. Ariyanna
There's something waiting in the dead of night...
Oliver is a reaper. A collector of souls, his job is to magically harvest the spirits of the dead, and store them until they can be effectively carried into the afterlife.
But the position isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's gory. Filthy. And more than a little dangerous. Oliver is ready to put in his two weeks, until his bitter partner claims Oliver's true love, Coron, as a target, swearing to make the end dark and agonizing. Oliver races to stop her, ready to face off against his old companion in an all-out war.
Will Oliver be able to save Coron? Or are both of them destined for a twisted, gritty fate?
About the Author
T. Ariyanna is an up and coming author who was enchanted into the world of writing during middle school. Addicted to reading, she found herself creating new worlds before she could even realize what was happening. She wrote her first full length novel over the course of high school. Her magical debut novel, The Mage’s Son, was created a few years later.
Ariyanna's specializations range from realistic fantasy to dystopian steampunk. Her hobbies include video games, stargazing, crafts, and cosplaying. She balances editing with her writing career, and lives in Michigan.
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