I shouldered my pack, my eyes droopy with sleep. When Master said we were heading out early, he sure meant early.

"There's a man dying of G pòsuì jī a few towns away," the Grim Reaper explained as he locked up the mansion. "Not to mention a lot of angels are surrounding him, so we get two in one."

My face was too groggy to smile, but inside I howled like a dog. Angels were so valuable, and legend said if you got one of their feathers it gave you eternal life! What would it be like, to run one of my carved metal blades over one's pure throat?

A pure creature... like Wren said I was. I scowled and shook my head vigorously. Once I served under the Grim Reaper, my pureness extinguished like a small fire.

Master gave me a warning glance as we ventured down the trail. He must've noticed my attitude change. "I've killed many angels for the devil, girl, and it's very tricky work. You won't get your hands on them yet, but maybe in a few years when you're more experienced."

I groaned and tossed my head back. "But why?" I whined.

"Don't whine like that. My servants don't whine." He slapped me across the cheek, which made me hiss in pain. It started to throb in tandem with my heartbeat.

"Yes, Master," I grunted out. More experienced? I can control a man's limbs, make him go crazy, and kill him! I'm totally experienced!

"Focus, Zoe!" he snapped before continuing. "The dying man is in Onaip, so we have to cross the Honeycide city. Know how far that is?"

"Pretty far," I muttered. My stomach was already growling for breakfast. Hopefully we could settle down in Honeycide for a while, maybe rent a hotel. The city was famous for its honey, as explained by its name. I lived on the other side of the mountain range that separated the countries, in a state called Saereth. Saereth was well-known for its huge population of mages, so I spent all my life there before crossing the mountains and visiting Navanhilla, the Moon Goddess's favorite state.

Perhaps I could finally taste the honey for myself.

"Correct. You need to toughen your feet up, so we'll be walking almost all day without any stops." I gritted my teeth but said nothing as our feet thumped on the dirt roads.

"What will happen when the villagers see you, Master?" I inquired as the rest of the town came into view. Horses whinnied, and their hooves pounded the ground like a symphony of drums. Villagers ran back and forth, carrying baskets and pouches filled with koses. The Grim Reaper tore this land apart, took mothers from their children, and ravaged the place in a murderous spree. I didn't think he would be a welcome guest.

"They don't, child. I'm invisible. That's why they didn't expect my beautiful fever to be such a tragedy." He grinned to himself and tapped his scythe against the ground. My stomach coiled at the thought of so much death and destruction, and I almost vomited right there. I swallowed it back, my eyes burning, and kept walking with him through the streets.

"Hey, you! Pretty girl!" a man with an unruly beard shouted at me. He pointed to his gleaming collection of jewelry. "I bet you have a man at home who'll appreciate these beauties on ya. Whaddya say?"

"Keep walking," Master snarled, but I stopped by anyway.

I didn't have a man, at least not one romantically, but this old geezer probably struggled everyday to keep his family alive. "They do look beautiful, sir," I agreed respectfully, and slapped ten koses on the table. "I'd like the rainbow peacock one, please."

He grinned widely, showing yellow and cracked teeth, before dumping the necklace in my hand. "Thank you, thank you."

Reaper eyed me as I came back and cinched the necklace around my throat. "Peacock, eh?" he mumbled. "Symbolizes guidance and protection, you know. Still clinging to your Moon Goddess?"

I once saw a painting of her, lounging beside a riverbed with paper-white skin, wavy black hair, and a stunning white dress. I felt closer to her than ever in that moment, with her captivating eyes freezing me in place. It was like she was watching me, farther away than the painting in front of me. It kept coming back to me every day, but why? I didn't follow her anymore—I couldn't.

"No," I lied. "I just wanted to be kind to the guy. Is that a problem?"

"Yeah, it's a problem! Grim Reapers aren't nice, Zoe, and if you're going to become the next one I need to wean that out of you," he ranted.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's hope that day comes soon."

Master sighed and slid a hand down his face. "I had your attitude when I was younger, but when I'm the one who has to deal with it, it sure is annoying."

"My friends loved it," I commented.

"Well, I'm not your friend, am I?" he retorted. "Now, be quiet so I can concentrate. I need to store up energy so I can kill those angels."

I saluted him and trekked through the town in Navanhilla, my feet already aching.

💀💀💀

I flopped down in the shade of a tree and rubbed my sore legs. "Are you trying to kill me? I fell down, like, twenty times and you didn't even look back!"

"I told you that we would be walking all day," he fired.

I shaded my eyes and glared up at him, my heart pumping white-hot anger through my body. "We couldn't have gotten horses or anything?" Once I started I couldn't stop the torrent of words dammed up in my head.

"It would've been odd, seeing a horse with no rider," he pointed out.

"You could've ridden on mi—You know what, I don't care anymore," I huffed. "Can we spend the night here?"

"Of course not!" Master exclaimed. "We have to reach the man in the night. He doesn't have much time left, and night is when I'm strongest. You don't want those pesky angels getting the upper hand of me, right?"

I crossed my arms and glared daggers at him. He knew my response even without me saying it.

"Anyway, rest up while you can. Tonight is gonna be the first time you see me in action." He rubbed his hands together and glanced at the setting sun. In my clan, I got so excited when sunsets happened, because it would mean the Moon Goddess would soon be waking and blessing us with her white creation.

I rested my head against the bark and closed my eyes. My pulse drummed in my ears, and sweat stuck my shirt to my back. If only I could just sleep through the night, without any dreams disturbing my sleep...

I dozed off, but it only felt like a few seconds before my master kicked me. "Wake up, servant. It's time," he reported.

Luckily, Onaip was only a road away from Honeycide, while Moonalila felt like an eternity away. I stumbled into the sleepy town with the Grim Reaper drifting along in front of me. Elegant houses bordered the cobblestone streets, with a fancy bank, hospital, and restaurants dotted in between. Only a few kids were playing out this late, jumping and kicking a ball between them.

Once they saw us, or rather me, they stopped and stared. I guess they didn't recognize me, and were wondering what a stranger was doing in their village.

I smiled and waved, and they continued their game. Innocents, so easily willing to look away from what we're about to do.

The Grim Reaper cradled his scythe in his arms as we entered the hospital. Nobody was around, so everyone was probably tending to the patients. I dropped to my knees and elbowed my way to the room while Death floated silently along. Even though my arms burned from the exertion, at least I didn't have to use my legs.

He even had the nerve to ghost through a door, while I had to carefully open it without a sound. "When are you going to turn me into a phantom, Mr. Invisible?" I muttered after I closed it.

He put a finger to his lips and gestured to the man laying in the bed. He was corpse-white, already slipping into the afterlife. G pòsuì jī definitely didn't hold back on this poor man. His ribs even poked out of the hospital gown, broken and bleeding. I bit my lip to hold back a disgusted moan. The disease was rare, but never left anyone alive.

As I looked up, shimmering forms suddenly appeared around the man. Were they always there, or did I just not notice? They had their hands clasped and heads bowed, lips moving in prayer. Wings full of magical feathers fluttered in an invisible breeze. I gasped in a breath, but they didn't look up from the half-dead man.

Master drew his scythe and grinned. "More lovely angels for me to kill," he declared.

At once, their heads flew up. "Satan!" one hissed, and proceeded to thrust out her hands.

He lurked to the middle of the room and lifted his weapon up high. "You wish. However, I'm only his servant, and so will the next millions of Grim Reapers."

The rest of the angels lifted their hands, eyes narrowed in concentration. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of them. They were... they were the most beautiful things I ever saw...

An angel glanced to me, and his full lips pursed disapprovingly. "Why did you choose the unholy path, young Zoe?" he asked.

I struggled to breathe, my lungs burning for air. "I-I..." I stuttered, but then let my sentence trail off. "You're an angel. Shouldn't you know?"

"Only God is omnipotent. We are only there to help him," he answered, then shot a blinding flash of light at Reaper. My vision blurred, and sparks of different colors flashed in my eyes.

The rest shot their own bolts of light at him, and he growled and deflected them with his scythe.

Let's hope he falls at their hands, my dear, said the same feminine voice that told me the chilling message last night. My hands clenched as her words repeated in my head.

Your master is going to slaughter a lot more people soon, Zoe, and you're the only one who can stop him.

 Stop talking to me! You don't know what you're saying! I shot at the voice, but it didn't answer. Instead, others jumped in.

Look at him! Killing the helpers of our savior!

I hope he wins. This girl knows nothing about being a Grim Reaper!

A woman snapped out her glimmering wings and flew up to the ceiling. A big ball of light sparked and grew in her protective cage of hands, and two more came up and circled her.

"Sophia is going to blast him back to where he came from! You three attack!" the man that talked to me before hollered.

Master swung his scythe, but the angels scattered before it hit them. A woman lifted her arms, and her wings started falling apart in clouds of feathers. Before they hit the ground, they sharpened into points and sped towards him.

"Worthy opponents!" Reaper called, and suddenly his cloak collapsed to the ground, with the man nowhere in sight. The feathers poked and slid under the cloak, trying to find their enemy, but it's like he vanished into thin air.

I gulped and gnawed on my lip. Where was he? What if the angels turned on me? My heart used to race at the thought of fighting them, but how could I win a six-versus-one?

The cloak suddenly lifted into the air and threw itself onto the angel, wrapping around her limbs and stuffing into her mouth. It smashed her to the ground, but she could only scream as the cloak tightened around her body, threatening to crush the life out of her.

I hid small knives in my sleeves and boots, like the Grim Reaper taught me to on day one, but did I need to use them? My hand strayed to my sleeve, but the angel dissolved in a cloud of stardust and feathers. The cloak, job finished, flew up into the air and back on its owner, who held a scythe to the man angel's throat.

"Sophia, now!" he croaked, and she tossed the ball to my master and spiraled to the ground.

His eyebrows arched and his mouth opened in surprise as the ball exploded, which sent glass shards everywhere and white light to cover the room in blinding colors.

I pressed my hands to my eyes, trying to rub out the stars in my vision, but I peeked in between my fingers as I heard bodies thump to the ground. Sophia scooted away from the cloaked figure, gasping and holding out a trembling hand.

"With the power of God, I will banish you back to where you came from!" she bravely called out, but Reaper rose and palmed his scythe again.

"Only the goddesses can do anything to me, dear Sophia, and I don't see any here," he sneered, and scraped the tip of his scythe against her throat.

Something gleamed in my peripheral vision, and I yelled to him, "Master, behind you!"

He whirled around and flipped his weapon backwards so quickly that it was a blur, and shunted the hilt in the man's stomach. A grunt escaped his lips, but he had the strength to shove a glowing star straight into his heart.

In the heat of battle, I started hyperventilating, my teeth breaking the skin of my lower lip. I needed to run, get out of here, get away as fast as I could, because these angels were surely going to kill me once they got rid of my master...

Blood dribbled out of his lips, and my attention snapped back to him. 

W-wait... what?!

He croaked as the angel drew away, hand steaming. His light probably gave the Grim Reaper a heart attack. Warm tears started spilling out of my eyes, so like the coffee my master made every morning...

"I never... I never told him I loved him..." I whispered as his body crashed to the ground. What was I going to do? My training wasn't up, and I wasn't gonna go crying to the regular Grim Reaper, who didn't have my master's famous disease in his belt.

I almost feel sorry for you.

Good riddance.

You're going to shame the devil, young lady! You don't even know the recipe of the disease!

One bolt of light, straight to the heart, killed him. Killed him! My pulse picked up a faster beat, and my hands whipped out with matching knives as I tackled the angel to the ground. "You godforsaken creature!" I screeched as I hacked at his body. His wings swept around him in a protective coat, but I sawed through the feathers, my eyes only seeing his precious, pure heart. "I'm gonna make you pay, you imbecile!"

"My, my, you love me. How touching. What did I say about interfering, Zoe? Angels are tricky, and I told you that earlier!"

My hands slowed, and I glanced back to see... Now, how was it possible...?

"M-master?"

He walked to me and bent down, and I leaned in to hear him whisper: "Perform your death curse on the man, and put his soul in this bag. I'll deal with the rest." He handed me a silk pouch and sliced the angel's wings so that they fell off.

"Don't you remember the legends, Zacharias? I have no heart!" he boasted.

Zacharias scrambled backwards and cast out a lightning bolt, but Master struck out with his scythe at the same time, so it came bounding back to strike into its caster's heart.

I turned away at the bloodcurdling scream, and I approached the man with the bag of souls trembling in my fingers.

"Halt! I order you to drop the bag!" An angel with flowing brown hair snatched the pouch out of my hands and hugged it tightly.

"Hey! Give it back!" I shouted, and lunged across the bed in an effort to grab it back. She tossed it up into the air, flew up towards it, and caught it just in time as she danced around the light fixtures.

I could do the spell without the bag, anyway. I tugged out a piece of the man's hair and lit a candle from my bag. I burned up the hair and blew out the flame, and mumbled the words, "For all of the dark and evil forces to hear, I put to rest a part of this man, and I ask you to finish it. Stop his heart, and plunge all of his thoughts into shadow. Welcome him into your dark arms, but give me the power to do so."

A black diamond-shaped piece landed in my hand, and I brushed the blanket aside to push it into his heart. The sick man let out a soft moan, but his eyes fluttered closed once the magic worked its wonders.

"No! You fiend!" The angel slammed me into the ground, but I smirked up at her face as the man's soul drifted out of his body.

"Too late." Her long, beautiful eyelashes rested against her high cheekbones, and my heart galloped at seeing an angel... My smirk fell, but when Master glanced over at me it lifted back up on my lips. Have to be strong... for him...

The man's soul still floated behind the angel, a peaceful mix of yellow and blue. A tinge of red colored the middle, the only secret to what he suffered. In the angel's distraction of grief I pushed her off me and snatched the bag back up.

Reaper already took care of the other angels, and I smiled as I laced the bag up, heavy with the soul inside. "Seems to me you were trickier than them."

He shrugged, and seeing him so nonchalant pricked a needle of wrongness in me. I frowned, but he waved it off and muttered, "Now, girl, don't dillydally! We have to get back to town before anyone sees you here!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the battle didn't shake him so much after all. As we slipped out of the hospital, the last angel didn't even try to stop us as she hugged the corpse, tears sliding down her face.