Page 51 of Destined to the Reaper

“Normally, as soon as we receive the call, we can directly teleport to the location of ouralmathar. Unfortunately, certain places present an obstacle that requires us to appear a bit farther away, as is the case with the Hemdell Crypt. The place is cursed. Too much magic prevents us from appearing inside. The closest we can appear is right outside the entrance in the burial grounds.”

“That’s why after we bonded you had to fly outside instead of just teleporting out?” Kali asked.

I smiled. “Correct. So that’s what I did. I appeared outside the crypt and flew all the way down to the sacrificial chamber. By the time I arrived, myalmatharwas screaming while Cornelius was severing his limbs, cauterizing them as he went to keep him from bleeding to death. Grizelle was feeding on his life force and fear. Such cruelty infuriated me. A Grim should have been assigned to this man. They could have ended his pain immediately.”

“But as an Angel of Death, you were forced to let it follow its course until he died,” my bride said with empathy.

I nodded with a somber expression. “We’re usually not assigned gruesome deaths. I could see that his thread had shifted from the original path. But as per the covenant, I couldnot end his life until his fate was 100% sealed. In this instance, Cornelius wasn’t just sacrificing the human, he was turning him into a sentient construct. Therefore, there was still a slim possibility that thealmatharwould survive the ritual. The only thing I could do was to sever the soul from his body to end his pain.”

“Wait, I’m confused. Wouldn’t that kill him?”

I shook my head. “The soul can remain inside a body without being directly connected to it for a maximum of twenty-four hours. During that time, while that soul still animates that body, it will not feel any of the pain that vessel endures. It is something we often do for extremely sick people in the last few hours of their lives. That’s why you will sometimes hear of terminally ill patients who suddenly regain their lucidity and almost seem normal, hours before their passing.”

“Oh wow! I didn’t realize that,” Kali said, impressed. “But how did Cornelius use that kindness against you?”

“He had already set up a ritual meant to trigger the moment I performed that specific act,” I said, the old anger swelling again inside me. “To sever the link, we only use the tip of our scythe on the thin thread which connects to the spine right below the skull. It is a very precise procedure which requires great care. But the moment my scythe touched myalmathar’ssoul, it felt as if I had been struck by lightning with such strength that I instinctively yanked my hand back. Unfortunately, with that gesture, I ended up involuntarily severing his head, killing him instantly.”

“No!” Kali breathed out, before pressing her fingers over her mouth with a horrified expression.

“The worst pain I’d ever felt struck me to my knees. Remember the wounds I sustained for killing the Skarachs that attacked you in the crypt? The ones I received for killing that man before his time—a man whose thread still indicatedhe might survive—was a hundred times worse. Before I could recover, Grizelle swooped in and sucked me dry.”

“By the Gods, you never stood a chance,” Kali said, compassion and anger on my behalf filling her voice.

“None, and it was my own fault,” I concurred with a dejected expression.

She recoiled. “How was that your fault? You were trapped!”

“I was,” I conceded. “However, I felt something was off the moment I stepped onto the island. But that entire place is permeated with so much evil that I didn’t really spare it much thought. Since Cornelius was performing a ritual right there on myalmathar, I just assumed what I felt was directed at him. But it was aimed at me.”

“You still had no reason to suspect a trap. Who in their right mind would have expected a human to be so crazy as to go after a Reaper?” she challenged, as if I’d said something silly.

“Fair. But I should have listened to my instincts when they told me something was amiss. But Cornelius perfectly planned this whole thing. As is often the case with dark blood magic, a human sacrifice was required. For this specific one, it needed to be performed by an Angel. Therefore, he found a clever way to get me to do just that as I never would have consented to it otherwise.”

Kali uttered a series of swear words under her breath. The self-righteous anger she felt on my behalf touched me deeply.

“So between the punishment of the covenant, and Grizelle leeching me, Cornelius was able to easily take my scythe from me and perform the binding ritual. And so, for the past five hundred years, I’ve been helplessly watching his power grow as he used me. The most painful part was watching him use my powers to doom my own brother and steal his tail,” I said bitterly.

“Asheron?” she asked with sudden understanding.

I nodded.

“My brother was obsessed with him,” Kali said with a dejected expression. “During his apprenticeship with Cornelius, he kept talking about the Wraith. The fool thought he would be the one to find the way to ensnare him for Cornelius.”

I bit back the urge to say that Jasper had always been an idiot who greatly overestimated his abilities. But she didn’t need me to bring him down further. As Haroth said, her brother had suffered enough for his foolishness.

“I involuntarily caused so much suffering over the centuries. The way Cornelius used my powers allowed him to do things he never should have, and which increasingly affected the balance. To this day, I’m shocked that the Ancients didn’t get us both executed sooner.”

“You’re not going to die, Pharos,” Kali said with a conviction that took me aback. “You didn’t survive this long and get this far only to fail now. Cornelius is going to pay for all the wrong he has done.”

“This last part, I take great comfort in knowing it is now nearly inevitable,” I said softly. “But the ultimate outcome for me isn’t guaranteed. Still, whatever happens, I’m just grateful that I met you and got to spend these moments with you.”

“And I feel the same about you. Tomorrow, Cornelius will proceed with his plan to bind you and Charon. We need to go there as soon as possible to stop him before he can get too far setting up his ritual,” she said.

“Kali,” I said in a chastising tone. “You know that—”

“Stop, Pharos. I know what you’re going to say,” she interrupted in a gentle but firm tone. “Look, I’m scared. Actually, terrified would be a more appropriate word. I’ve seen what happens to people who allow their souls to be taken over or stolen. I’ve spent the past few years watching my brother gradually degrade. He suffers, trapped in a decaying body, hismind still there but mostly faded. Once we free him, he will be a mindless, wandering soul.”

“There are peaceful places in Erebus for souls such as his. Erebus is the region where we take ouralmatharsuntil Charon takes them to the region of the afterlife best suited for them. It isn’t limbo or purgatory. Haroth will make sure he’s taken to a good place. With time, Jasper might become whole again and even be reborn as a human. But if he doesn’t, he will never know pain or despair. He will be happy.”

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