Thanatos: Reaper of Souls

5. Requiem

After making sure that Kolru was as fine as he could be, I rummaged the apartment for a collar. It was on its usual hook: beside the door. I grabbed the thick leather and nudged the door with my shoulder. The vibration sent a spike of pain to my leg which made me wince. It quaked under the pressure before buckling and unhinging itself. 

Bright sunbeams poured through the caved wall where an apartment used to be. Now, only half a wall and splinters stood as a tribute. The broken city of Bellam was rich with life. Dragons, Hippogriffs and shadow demons bound from one corner of the sky to another as they roared to the golden sun.

Shapeshifters created a city sprawl on the ground and edges of dilapidated buildings. 

I limped along the crumbled hallway until I reached the staircase. Each step felt like my last as the concrete groaned with protest or buckled under my weight. Seven flights later, I stood on a busy street. Some patrons glanced my way and curled their lip in disgust. They made it their mission to recoil from just the sight of me or spit curses.

"Heathen!" Muriel, an old witch with a contorted spine flicked her wrist and spikes left her fingertips.

The spikes flew towards my face but fell with a whisk of my hand. 

Muriel spat at my feet and added another mini crater to the ground where her spit dissolved the concrete. 

"Bye, Muriel," I muttered and shouldered past the onlookers.

Every day was the same old thing. Why couldn't I have just died? Whoever saved me had a sick sense of humor and most definitely was not one of the city goers. 

Cold enveloped and body and stunk of fish and musk. I looked up to one of the apartments where a woman threw her dirty water on me. I stopped and glared at her.

"Sodomite!" 

I bared my fangs at her. The woman squealed and flung herself into the room where she continued her curses.

The cold soothed the cuts but when that infection sets in. . . 

I carried on limping through the busy streets of hypocrites until dozens of buildings became three and the bridge came into view. The seas spread underneath the mammoth structure with vast pastures spread on the other side. The hills rolled and climbed into barren mountains that broke the cloud barrier.

It was rumored that beyond the mountains laid an almost endless forest that leads to a city of luxury, untouched by the hand of the Red War but not everyone could access the city; only demigods, faeries, nymphs and rare beauties could afford such luxury. 

The familiar pang of jealousy and hurt stung my heart.

I deserve a place in that city!

I tore my gaze from the mountains and frowned. Where's Yylyla?

"Yylyla!" I yelled. 

The leather in my hand felt heavy, weighing me down like the pain in my chest. I shuffled along the bridge.

Did she fall off?

Maybe she went home.

Did she wander too far and got lost in the plains?

"Yylyla! Baby girl, where are you!" 

My heart rate sped up. My hands began to clam up. She's always here! Something crunched under my shoe and I looked down. A silent scream sat in the throat as I knelt down and rolled the button between my fingers.

Burns stained the white wood. It was barely warm.

"Yylyla-"

A heavy weight pushed me over onto the asphalt. The thing got off of me but its boot crushed my face against the ground. I tried moving but the action only infuriated whoever it was and it stomped on my head. I could hear my bones shattering under the weight and my brain curdling to mush. 

The weight moved but the sensation of a sledgehammer to the skull remained. I was airborne. Fiery eyes glared at me and a snarl of his lips. 

"Suprise motherfucker." He laughed.

The intensity of flames licking my skin engulfed me as I crumbled to the ground and a satanic laugh rung in my ears. 

I clawed at my face and retracted in horror. The skin peeled itself from my body, revealing boiling flesh and bones underneath. 

"Why aren't you dead yet!" He screamed and the bass in his voice rung my ears. Scavengers took flight from the bridge at the sound.

He wrapped my hair around his hand then slammed my face into the ground. The skin on my face stuck to the ground and as he pulled back, the skin stretch and popped. 

"Leave me alone!" I snarled and lashed at him. 

A claw hooked into his arm and he seethed. I could feel my tail coming out which lashed him in the leg and knocked him over. 

I didn't waste time looking at my attacker; I got the hell up and I began running. Fuck the pain, fuck the crushed bones and skinless face - I am not sticking around for that. I wiped the blood from my face and scratched myself. 

All of a sudden, an invisible source pushed me back to where I was trying to run from. We knocked into one another. He landed on me with a growl. 

"I'm tryin' to kill you and you just von't die!" He huffed and weakly clawed at my face. 

His flame-eyes cooled to an ice blue just as fierce as his glare. Black hair wisped into his face which he whipped away.

I'm so hard right now.

"Leave me alone! I don't even know you!" 

"I von't want to," He moaned then gripped my throat. "I vant to squeeze your neck till your head pops off!" 

His smile exposed dagger-like teeth. The man climbed off of me and began walking away. 

I am so confused. I remained on the asphalt staring up at the orange sky and squeezing the button in my fist. A weight collided into me and I choked on my thoughts.

"Fuck!" He hissed. "The Gods must hate me."

"Go away before I slit your throat!" I pushed him and retracted my hand.

The skin was healed. I fingered my face in amazement. I'm. . .healed?!

"I vould like to but I think we're stuck together. . ."