Page 71 of Dante's Circle Reborn

REAPER’S SONG

ChapterOne

They said that death came in many forms.

Grieving came in just as many, and those who were left behind after death took, reaped, slayed. They were the ones who proved what death could be.

Not that he had ever truly understood what that meant.

After all, he was no one of consequence.

Death came as a shrouded figure, as one who slowly sucked your soul through the hole where your heart once was and never let go. Death came for those who waited, and it came out of nowhere.

Death could steal your life, but it could also end your pain. Death could be quick, or could come with a vengeance, slowly, inching away life, moment by moment. Time after time.

Death changed with each passing day. And as he found out, it had a face and a name.

The reapers were death. The ones who took souls and ended lives. They weren’t few, they were legion. They were of the past, the present, and the future.

Reapers were of the paranormal,forthe paranormal.

Reapers had once been paranormals themselves, after all.

He did not remember his name, did not remember his face or his soul. He didn’t remember what type of paranormal he once was, or if that was even important.

All that he remembered was sliding into shadow, turning to dust, and waking up with no essence.

The others near him spoke in hushed tones or ignored one another, all waiting for their names, for their purpose. But he didn’t know what he was waiting for. Or if he would ever be ready for what came.

“It is time,” a disembodied voice said from above. The man with no name frowned and looked up into the dark clouds.

His eyes began to focus, and he started to see shapes. Silhouettes of other men and women surrounding him. Suddenly, he knew he wasn’t alone.

He just didn’t know who these people were. Let alone who they had been or what their purpose was. He only knew the name Reaper, and that should have been important enough. But was it?

“I am Reaper. The one named Reaper, the one who will always be named such. You are reapers, my progeny.”

The man with no name frowned, wondering how he had been chosen. Why was he progeny when he felt as if he had been something more before. Yet maybe he was wrong. He didn’t know this life, didn’t know these shadows.

“The reapers are the ones who are just, who are death. My progeny takes the forms of who they once were, only in shadow. They are no longer light, no longer dark. They are nothing but smoke and myth.”

The man with no name didn’t like that. He had been someone once. Hadn’t he? Images of fire and pain and a smile that made no sense filled him, and he wondered why those things seemed so important. Why was he so confused?

“My reapers find those who are near death, even if they don’t realize they are such. They take their souls and usher them to the next phase.”

“Whatisthe next phase?” a voice asked from beside him, and the man with no name tilted his head.

“It is not for us to know or say. We are merely the travelers, the shadow-bearers.”

“I don’t understand,” another voice said, and the man with no name agreed.

“We are of shadow, we are reapers.” The leader paused. “We now have a voice in the Collective, the Conclave. But they do not know who we are, nor do they need to know.”

The man with no name wondered what the Conclave was and why it was important. And why his head hurt thinking about it. Had the man he was before known of the Conclave? Or understood what any of this could be? He wanted answers, but trying to find them seemed like it would take so much, things he didn’t have.

“You are reapers. We do not know what happens after we reap a soul, only that it is taken to the next phase. It is not for us to know more than that. But itisfor us to find. I amtheReaper, you are reapers. There are others like me, with other designations, those who help with your paths and your training. They help decide who will be next, and what cords must be cut. You are the reapers, and you will aid in bringing about the next phase of life, death, and existence.”

The man with no name frowned but followed along. It seemed like this was important, but all he could do was wonder where he had been all this time, andwhohe had been. He didn’t like not knowing, but from what Reaper said, it was not his choice. He was not supposed to know.

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