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I stood on the plateau with Leviathan towering over my shoulder. Reapers were in animated arguments, their voices rising and falling with each rebuttal. They knew the torch had passed and phrases like ‘too young’ and ‘not our leader’ and the most damning of them all—‘it’s his fault’. The chaos below halted the minute one reaper turned in our direction, swatting the reaper next to him and pointing at the plateau.
In a matter of minutes, the multitudes were silent and staring at me.
One of the reapers, swatted another and said, “I told you he had Leviathan on his side.”
I smiled in recognition. “Hey, Danny, how are you?”
“He’s fine,” another familiar voice piped in and stepped forward. I met Ben’s gaze and gave a nod. I scanned the rest of the crowd and my smile faded.
“Where’s my mother?”
Silence.
“They took her,” A deep voice penetrated the silence and I turned toward Lazarus’s voice. The thrill of seeing my old friend was tempered by the news.
“Is she... okay?” I asked.
Lazarus stepped between Ben and Danny and shook his head. “They were not pleased.”
“What does that mean?”
Leviathan’s tail wrapped around my waist in a way that made me shudder. It was almost like a hug of sympathy and I looked over my shoulder at him.
“She is now with your father,” Leviathan’s voice blanketed the crowd.
Loss rolled over me and I now understood the tail. Leviathan was the only reason I still stood on my feet. Without him, I’d be on my knees and that wasn’t a good idea with the hostile atmosphere.
Leviathan leaned close. “There is no time for grief right now, my friend,” he whispered in my ear.
Ben and Danny climbed up to the plateau and stepped to either side of me like they had done in Purgatory years ago. Lazarus hesitated and then joined us. My allies and my only remaining friends.
A rumble passed over the crowd and I gave Leviathan a nod. His tail unwrapped and I stepped forward. Whether I was ready for it or not, I had the responsibility to step into my father’s shoes and rule this realm.
“We’ve got a problem,” I started and the rumble of derision grew among the reapers. I held up my hand. “I’m young. I get it. This wasn’t something I wanted either, but it is what it is, so, we’re going to have to roll with it, okay?”
The grumbling continued.
“Look, we’ve got demons out there, wreaking havoc and if we don’t get them back to hell where they belong, the angels will come.”
Blank stares fell on me and I realized, they didn’t care.
“What don’t I know,” I said over my shoulder and glanced at Ben.
“We are released from service when life is wiped off the planet.”
I stared at him and then turned back to the masses, unsure of how to play this. “I’ll make a deal with you. If we can get the demons back and the hole that they crawled out of closed before the angels intervene, I will release you from service.”
The silence that followed gripped me along with the gasps of the reapers standing with me.
“You can’t...” Ben started and I glared at him, willing his silence.
“He set me free,” Leviathan announced from over my shoulder.
His attestation impacted the crowd in a way I wished I had command over. A hush filled the realm and then the front row of reapers took a knee, bowing. The rest followed suit.
“What the...” I glanced toward Ben and Lazarus and they had dropped to their knee as well.
“Are you out of your mind, boy?” The shrill voice of Fate shattered the revered silence and heads snapped up to watch the spectacle.
Fate strode across the plateau, her blood red dress streamed behind her like a trail of fire. Her platinum hair bounced with each step and she held the mystical book of names to her bosom. I kept my back straight. In this space, she didn’t have any power and gone were the days she towered over me, forcing her will down my throat.
“I’m giving them the choice. They have just as much right to free will as we have,” I said, leveling a glare meant to chill.
“There is no free will, besides, they are death’s slaves, meant to do our bidding.” She waved at the masses and a rumble of dissent rippled through the crowd.
“Bullshit!” I stepped closer invading her space and staring down into her angry upturned face. “They used to be human, just like you and me. They deserve to have the choice.”
“You cannot do that!”
“Yes, I can,” I said. “I want a legion that chooses to follow me. Not slaves that have to.”
“Naive fool,” she muttered.
The stare down continued and I wasn’t going to be the one to break it. “What is it that you want?” I asked after a few seconds. I didn’t mean for it to come wrapped in an accusatory tone, but that’s the way it was delivered and she broke eye contact.
A shadow passed over her features and she glanced at her brothers before returning her gaze to mine.
“I’d like to be set free, too, but that isn’t going to happen. Ever.”
“Why not?” This time, my tone obeyed, softening enough to make her blink and step back.
“No one wants this job,” she muttered and her gaze dropped to the book. “People think I’m all powerful, but I just follow what’s scribed within this.” She raised the book. “You think you had free will? Ha! Nothing is chance. Everything is already written.”
My gaze dropped to the book and a flare of aggravation overwhelmed me. I wanted that stupid thing to burst into flames. A spark leapt from me, igniting the pages and Fate yelped, dropping the burning book. By the time it hit rock, the thing was fully engulfed.
“What have you done?” Fate screeched and started stomping on the flames.
I stared, dumbstruck until her dress caught fire and then I imagined a gigantic bucket of water dousing her and the book. The sizzle of water hitting flame filled the air. When the steam evaporated, Fate stood like a drowned damsel, her dress soaked and clinging to her and the blackened book now in her grasp.
I extended my upturned hand. “Give me the book,” I said.
“You’re just as much a slave to this as I am,” she said and her arms wrapped tighter around the damaged pages.
“What if I said you were free once this fight is over,” I said and her lips flattened into a tight line followed by a bitter laugh that filled the air.
“Fate has the same restrictions as Death. It is not a position that allows for a vacancy,” Ben said from behind me.
I dropped my hand and turned away, walking toward the eternal drop, mulling everything over. My mind wandered to the first time I met fate and my jaw tightened along with my hands. Her numerous threats raked over my skin and I sent a glare over my shoulder at Fate. If everything was written in the Book of Fates, she was issuing a bluff with every threat.
Fate shifted under my fury, dropping her gaze to the ground and then out over the silent crowd of reapers. A certainty scaled down my spine and I spun, crossing the distance with a few strides. I didn’t ask this time; instead, I ripped the book out of her hands and opened it.
Historical dates, including yesterday were filled out but anything beyond this moment remained blank. I watched as ancient script crawled across the page, listing the souls that needed collecting but nothing else beyond the names was scribed. This script was nothing like the pages I had been shown before and the scope of her ruse hit like a gale force wind.
I lifted my head and snapped the book closed.
“You can go. I will find a suitable replacement. One that doesn’t coerce those around her into believing false ideals aimed at making her more important than she really is. I hate that you used your position to manipulate me with empty threats.”
“You little shit...” she started.
“The future is not written,” I said, fanning the pages so the reapers in the crowd could see. I turned and my gaze landed on Lazarus. “Did you know?”
He shook his head and from the shock inscribed in his bony face, I believed him.
Ben and Danny held the same expression, and their eyes remained glued on their sister.
“What about you two?”
Their gazes switched to mine and they slowly shook their heads. The shock transitioned to the same anger running amuck in my system and I looked up at Leviathan.
“You hungry?”
He smiled and before I could give him the go ahead, his snout darted past me and the snap of his jaws echoed off the rocks. A swirl of red fabric trailed between his teeth as he raised his head. A thick silence descended and I stared as the silk fabric disappeared along with the rest of what was left of Fate.
Both Ben and Danny stood with their mouths hanging open staring at Leviathan and then their gazes shot to me. A pang of guilt bit at me and I dropped my gaze to the book in my hands. The weight of it seemed to increase tenfold and I wished it was a pocket e-reader instead of this ancient book. The physical properties morphed into something akin to an iPhone and I sighed, tucking it into my pocket, but that feeling of overwhelming weight still persisted.
This was another thing I’d have to revisit when everything was over, but for now I had to concentrate on the disaster waiting to happen. I had a matter of hours to round up the demons, otherwise I would be looking at the apocalypse.