Page 72 of Dante's Circle Reborn

That didn’t make it any easier for him to understand, however.

“First, we, the Collective of Shadows, will find your names. You will be given a new identity. Soon, you will learn what it means to reap a soul, and what you must do to protect the sanctity of time, life, and death.”

“But didn’t I have another name before?” the man with no name asked, his voice hard as if strained from lack of use. In all honesty, it sounded like he had swallowed marbles, and he didn’t like it. In fact, it sounded as if it were nothing like what he had once been.

Only Reaper said that shouldn’t matter, right? So he wasn’t who he once was. Still, he wanted his old name.

Reaper shook his head. “You had a name once, but that man is gone. Dead. You died, just like the others. I reaped you,” Reaper said, looking directly at him. “I took your soul, and you were chosen for a new destiny. This is your new path. You will be known as Ashen. What once was, and what will now grow into what is.”

Ashen shook his head, not liking this new name. It was reminiscent of smoke, dust, and burned things.

He didn’t want to be associated with burned things. Imaginary flame danced along his skin, a memory of burnt flesh and screams. The end filled him, but then the memories were gone just as quickly as they came.

Yet he could still hear the screams. Not his own, but of those who watched.

Had he died in a fire?

Had others cared that he died?

Ashen didn’t know. But now, he had a name, a purpose.

And he would become a reaper.

Even if he still wondered who he had been before. Even as he tried to remember who had once cared enough about him to scream in agony.

Time passed,although Ashen didn’t know exactly how long. It seemed like a blink, and he had an eternity. Perhaps that’s what a reaper was. Maybe they lived outside of time.

He didn’t know. Apparently, it wasn’t his place to ask.

“A reaper does what its leaders tell them.” Ashen nodded as if he understood. He didn’t.

“You are to take the souls of those on your list and bring them to the next phase. You do not look at the next phase, you do not talk with anyone on the other side of the veil. They will not notice you. They will not speak to you. But you are supposed to take the souls of those you seek.”

“Are we killers?” Ashen asked, feeling as if that were a very important question. He had already died, although he didn’t know exactly how. Reaper wouldn’t tell him.

He didn’t want to be the cause of death. Didn’t want to cause pain. He didn’t want to even be near death.

Apparently, however, hewasdeath.

Reaper shook his head. “No, you are not killing them. Time has done that. You do not cause their pain, their strife. You are not the center of their demise, or the bearer of their grief. However, you are the holder of their soul. Death will come for them, and you will be there for their souls.”

“Am I not death itself?” Ashen asked, confused.

“You are death, but notDeath.”

Ashen really did not like Reaper’s rhymes and riddles. Only he didn’t have any say. Or any other reference. He was still learning his way. This new body of his. He knew it had to be a new one because the dreams he had when he was allowed to sleep had so much fire in them. The form he held now might be physical in a sense, but it wasn’t what he had been originally born with.

He didn’t remember his name, didn’t remember who he had been. The longer he stayed in this realm, this shadow realm of sorts, the more he was certain that he had once been a bear shifter.

He could sometimes sense the bear within him, wanting to get out. But he wasn’t that shifter anymore. His bear had died along with the man, but he missed him.

“Do reapers ever change into what they once were?” Ashen asked one day as they were training.

“Some do. Once they learn more about their new bodies. Others—most, in fact—aren’t able to do that.”

Reaper looked at him, frowning as he tilted his head.

“Do you know who you once were?”

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