Death's Hunt

Chapter 11

“Come on! We’re going to be late!” Anga shouted through her mask.
“You know if we keep moving at this speed, we’re going to be early!” I yelled back as I tried to keep up with her. “How is a death of her stature able to run that fast?” I wondered. I could have easily just flown, but there was no way I could carry Anga, Chiyoko and Vlagor while flying. And I certainly was not going to give them the chance of getting that idea, so instead, I just kept running after them.
Finally, after a little over a month of preparation, the Soul Hunt was about to begin. “Once this event is over, I will finally be able to have my life go back to the way it was,” I thought to myself. “However, with everything that’s been happening recently, can things ever really go back to the way they were?”
“Are you being slow on purpose?!?” Anga screamed as I was snapped out of my thoughts. I hadn’t realized that I had actually stopped walking, so I ran to catch up with my team. As I got closer to Chiyoko, I could hear her mumble something.
“Chiyoko?” She jumped in surprise at my voice. Clearly, she also was deep in her own thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“Well… um… well… um…”
I sighed and ruffled her hair. “It’s okay Chiyoko. I know you can do this.”
“Well, I… I just don’t know if I can,” she admitted.
“Don’t worry. This is what we’ve been training for. I believe in you.”
Chiyoko gave me a small smile before Anga’s screeching brought us back to the moment, “Come on! Hurry! We’re almost there!” If I still had pupils, I would have rolled my eyes at that moment.
Once we finally caught up to Anga who was standing in a dusty fog-covered clearing with a massive dead tree at its centre, I noticed a few odd things, specifically a crudely made stage placed at the north end of the area. There were a few other deaths running around, carrying building supplies such as planks and tools. Then I noticed the one responsible for the Soul Hunt: Alger.
Some time between the late 1990s and early 2000s, Alger appeared on the scene as a new death. Everything was normal at first, but a year later, he decided this job was too “boring”. So to “liven things up” he decided it would be a good idea for deaths to compete with each other in some kind of game. Now I was positive it would never catch on, but apparently I had underestimated the competitiveness of some deaths. And eventually, one thing led to another, and here I am.
Alger was standing on the stage, barking out orders, and pointing everywhere. It was clear he was as disorganized as the deaths he was directing. Really, it was so chaotic they could have been doing a dance number for all I knew. I didn’t want him to notice me or Chiyoko, so I attempted to get both of us away from this mess. But, of course, just as luck would have it, Alger happened to turn around and see us.
“Aha! I see you have arrived!” I froze while cringing at the sound of his irritating voice.
“Of course we have! Did you expect us to bail out at the last second?” Anga yelled over the racket of tools clanking and wood thumping.
“Good, good. And I also see that you’ve brought what will most certainly be our two star-performers,” he excitedly cheered while hopping off the stage.
“And who are those two?” Vlagor asked while scratching his beard. Almost instantly, Anga put her hand over his mouth.
“Ah Vlagor! You’re such a kidder!” Even through her mask, I could tell that she was gritting her teeth. It was very clear that she didn’t want to provide Alger with any reason to possibly get us disqualified, even though she was overreacting in this case. I could hear Alger’s footsteps approaching me and Chiyoko.
“Alger, leave us alone,” I warned him.
“Come on, I just want to talk to you,” he replied cajolingly.
“Alger, right now is not the time.”
“Come on Kakrix. You know that you and that little friend of yours are the true stars.”
“And what about Anga and Vlagor? They’re a part of this team. Anyway, it’s Anga who wants the spotlight, so leave me and Chiyoko alone.”
“Whoa! Wait, wait, wait, wait… You’re telling me that little girl has yet to change her name?!” My eyes glowed red as I turned around to face him.
“And what’s so wrong with that?” I hissed. Alger took a few steps back before he continued speaking.
“Well, Kakrix, it’s just that…. Well… you know… All deaths change their names once they well… become a death.”
“If Chiyoko wants to keep her mortal name, then I don’t see a problem with that.” Alger was about to say something when we all heard a loud crash coming from behind the stage.
“It seems like we will have to continue this conversation later,” Alger stated before running off to see what had happened.
“All right Chiyoko, let’s go,” I mumbled as we walked away. I started noticing other deaths arriving. I was honestly surprised at the amount. “It seems like Alger will have a bit of fun this time,” I grumbled.
“Kakrix?” I looked down at Chiyoko, quickly changing my expression so I wouldn’t worry her.
“Yes Chiyoko, what is it?” I gently asked.
“Do I have to change my name?” I stopped in my tracks as my eyes widened at that question.
“Chiyoko, why would you…”
“I mean, if everyone else does it, should I?” I sighed and kneeled to her level, the trees towering above us.
“Chiyoko, forget about what Alger said. He doesn’t understand.”
“But, if everyone else…”
“Chiyoko, listen to me. As far as I’m concerned, you can keep your name or change it. It doesn’t matter to me.” Chiyoko and I stood under the dead trees for a minute. It was funny how this dimension always looked the same. For as long as I’ve been a death, it has always been a forest of dead trees covered in black fog. I then felt Chiyoko tug on my trench coat.
“Kakrix? I…” she paused and looked down.
“Take your time,” I said patiently.
“I want a new name,” she announced.
“Well, is there any specific name you want?” Chiyoko thought for some time before finally saying something.
“Chinoka. That’s going to be my name.”
“It’s a nice one. A very good choice.”
“Kakrix, I have two questions for you.”
“What are they?”
“Could you please keep calling me Chiyoko? I don’t think I’m completely ready to let it go.”
“Of course. And what is your second question?”
“Well, I know you don’t like talking about your life, but can you at least tell me your real name?” I was speechless. I mean what was there for me to say. Part of me wanted to yell at her for asking such a thing, but my other side told me to say it. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you or anything like that!” Chiyoko or perhaps Chinoka stammered out while looking at me with some fear in her eyes.
“No, no, no. It’s all right. I was just surprised,” I quickly explained. Suddenly, there was some shouting heard from the clearing. “Come on Chiyoko, we better go see what is happening.”
“R… Right…”
As we rushed into the clearing, I saw two deaths glaring at each other while a crowd surrounded them.
“What’s happening? What’s going on?” Chiyoko shouted as she tried to see over the hoard.
“I can’t get a clear view! Hold on!” I grabbed Chiyoko and flew up into the air. There were a few other flying deaths but no where near as many as on the ground giving me a good vantage point. My eyes then widened to see who was at the centre of the circle: Anga and Sheri. I quickly flew down with Chiyoko near the edge of the inner circle.
“You stay right here. I will go take care of it.” Before she could answer, I ran into the centre of the circle and pushed the rivals apart. “What are you doing!!!” I screamed as my jet-black wings extended to their maximum width. My blood red eyes glowed with the ferocity of a volcano as I glared at the two of them.
“Get out of here Kakrix! This is my fight!” Anga yelled as she tried to get past me.
“Oh please! You couldn’t even fight something as small as a flea and win,” Sheri mocked.
“You want to test out that theory?! Because I’m willing to give you a beat down!”
“BACK OFF both of you! Now I’ll ask this one more time – What is going on?!?” I yelled.
“I was just telling her the truth,” Sheri said dramatically.
“Your truth is as false as your hair colour,” Anga retorted.
“How dare you? I’ll have you know that I never once in my life put a single chemical in my hair. Anyway, if I wasn’t naturally blond, my real hair colour would have shown in this form.”
“Oh what? You mean that disgusting excuse for a spider?”
“Why you!”
Knowing that this would inevitably become a physical fight, I forced them back with my wings. “I swear if any of you…” Before I could even finish my sentence, Anga started screaming.
“You know what Sheri, why am I even bothering with you? Everyone knows I have the best business. And I’ll prove that I’m better than you at this Soul Hunt. I will destroy you!”
“Then why don’t we make this more interesting?” Sheri taunted.
“Oh yes? And how’s that?”
“How about a little wager? Your bar against my restaurant. If you win, I’ll close up shop, but when I win, you’ll have to close your bar for good.”
Everyone, including myself, was surprised by this. “Is Sheri crazy? There’s no way Anga would ever put her bar at risk!”
“Bring it on!” Anga screamed at the top of her lungs. I looked at her in complete astonishment.
“Anga! What are you…” Sheri giggled from behind me.
“Then may the better death win,” she said as she scuttled away.
I then looked at Anga. I could see that she had just realized what she had done.
“What… why…. What… why did I…” she stammered.
“Well, it seems like this year’s Soul Hunt has just gotten even more interesting,” Alger announced from the stage. “It will be intriguing to see which team truly comes out on top. Of course, none of that will matter if someone else’s team wins. But who cares! I know all of you are getting antsy about starting these games. So, to get things moving, you can all just go over to that desk over there with the pile of papers. On it will be the place, time and events in order.” He then clapped his hands while jumping in place like some kind of kid. “Oooh! I can’t wait!”
“Strange death,” Vlagor mentioned as both he and Chiyoko joined us.
“Anga! Are you insane?” I exclaimed.
“I wasn’t thinking!” she said in a panicked tone.
“Clearly you weren’t!” I shouted.
I then noticed Vlagor’s face contort into a different expression as he realized how the situation could affect him. “You both put my hangout spot at risk!” he suddenly blared out while swinging his arms around.
“Hangout spot! My bar is… is in danger of being taken over by… by that psycho!!”
I sighed in frustration. If Anga lost the bet, that would mean I wasted my time preparing for this event and my deal with her would be nullified, meaning I wouldn’t get anything in return. Well, I guess, this isn’t 100% true…
I put a hand on Anga’s shoulder and said, “All right everyone! Listen up! Clearly the stakes have been raised. This isn’t just some fun competition – not like I was having fun in the first place – This is a challenge we must win. We’re going to need to pull everything we’ve got and with all of our abilities, I’m sure we can win this!”
“And I thought you didn’t care about this game?” Anga mumbled with some despair.
“I still don’t care about the Soul Hunt. But there is no way I’m bringing my souls to Sheri.”
Anga was quiet for some time, before finally exclaiming, “Well then what are we standing around for? Let’s go save my bar!!” She then ran off with Vlagor in hot pursuit.
“That was very nice of you Kakrix,” Chiyoko said while smiling.
“Arrok,” I stated. Chiyoko looked up at me confused. “You asked for my name earlier. There you have it,” I explained as I turned around and followed my teammates.