SOUL REAPERS

Ghost 1

Ghost had arrived in Posta an hour ago, finding hundreds of people flocking the streets after leaving work, waiting for public transportation to return home. He couldn't have them there with the future arrival of the revenant. So, he activated his Creator's Eye magic ability and released it over a one-mile radius. Everyone inside was subjected to his mental orders, instructing them to leave the area and not return until tomorrow morning, giving him time to deal with the monster.

Standing in the middle of the road, the moon spotlighted him like a musical conductor ready to entertain the masses. But he found no joy in his line of work. One mistake would cause thousands of deaths.

Focus. He took a deep breath.

The wind stopped gossiping. Silence grasped the empty streets with its invincible claws, heightening Ghost's senses. The salty air from the Indian Ocean filled downtown. A breeze brushed his exposed arms, making the hairs rise.

It will use the salty air to mask its scent.

Ghost checked his wristwatch. Any second now.

Soul reapers never knew how revenants moved between Limbo and the earth realm. But over the last three and a half decades, they used lightning, which led to the invention of the Rev-Det—a wristwatch that showed areas where revenants would likely appear.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! His wristwatch warned.

It's coming.

Two claps of thunder roared in the sky.

A big one.

Lightning struck thirty feet from where he stood, connecting the sky and ground and forming a silver portal. The portal began throbbing, sounding like a tribal war drum, demonstrating the high level of magic used to create it.

Whoever cast it must've been an omega-level sorcerer.

Four large hands with three sharp claws gripped the portal's edge and pushed it wide. Then two legs came out of the opening before the monster revealed itself.

Standing at twenty feet, the revenant had a tank-like body, a mouth the size of a small car, four basketball-size red and black eyes, and gray skin.

"It has four eyes." Ghost sighed in relief.

The revenant sniffed the air and turned in Ghost's direction. "A soul reaper." It smiled, revealing its shark-like teeth. "The Lords said your soul is sweeter than anything in all the realms." It licked its lips with its purple tongue, which had three beating hearts inside.

Now with calm nerves, Ghost extended his right arm to the side and opened his hand. "Come forth, Meretseger."

The birthmark on his wrist glowed before the scythe materialized on his palm. It had a snake-shaped, raven-black pole and a gold blade.

Soul reapers were sorcerers born with a scythe-shaped birthmark on their wrists, which acted as storage for the actual weapon. Each scythe was a manifestation of a deity who assisted their respective reapers in exchange for their souls upon their natural death. They'd sign a soul-binding contract to ensure neither backed out of the deal.

Meretseger, whose name meant "she who loves silence," was the guardian of the dead. She had the body of a cobra and the head of a woman. As a fiercely protective deity, she punished wrongdoers by striking them blind with her venom.

Unlike other deities, she hadn't signed a contract with Ghost.

"You can't sense it, can you?" Ghost told the revenant.

"Sense what?"

"Power beyond your imagination."

"You're not dressed like a meister or a captain." The revenant scoffed. "I'm not afraid of you."