Prologue ~ A Hike in the Woods

A lone man walks down a hiking trail in the woods to find his assignment.

It was a beautiful October evening in the peaceful town of Scarlettville. The sun was slowly setting behind the western mountains and the dark horizon was creeping up over the glistening ocean.

A lone man walked down a small hiking trail on the outskirts of town that lead up into a valley. He admired the calm quietness of nature, the colourful leaves falling to the ground, and the occasional chipmunk that would scurry across the trail in front of him.

The sun had finally disappeared behind the mountain, alerting the man that the day didn't have much daylight left. After a few more minutes of following the trail, he suddenly wandered off of the path to his right and headed into the forest. The man then came to a small cliff side and looked over the edge, seeing at the bottom what he came to find. Eventually finding a small slope to make his way down, the man reached the bottom of the cliffside and approached his target.

The corpse of a bruised and bloody man who had fallen to his death.

The man knelt beside the body and looked over it. He was used to sights like this, yet that never stopped him from feeling depressed that someone's life had to come to a tragic end. After letting out a big sigh, the man then reached out and hovered his hand above the chest of the body. He then closed his eyes and concentrated really hard, focusing only on his hand and the corpse.

Suddenly a bright pale blue glow emitted from the body's chest, slowly followed by a bright blue sphere moving upwards and hovering between the body and the man's hand. The man opened his eyes and examined the sphere, letting out a faint smile.

"Looks like you've had quite the fall." the man said. "It's okay now. It's all over."

He turned over his hand and the orb of light instinctively turned with it, resting in his palm. The man then reached into one of the pockets of his black hoodie and pulled out a small wooden chest. He then opened the chest and gently placed the orb inside, letting out a smile of relief.

"There you go, Lil' guy. You're safe now," he said. "I know you may be a bit scared and confused as to what's going on, but it's okay. You'll get some answers shortly."

After standing back up, the man took a final glance into the chest and admired the small ball of light before closing it.

"I should probably introduce myself." he said.

"The name's James Thanatos. I'm your personal Grim Reaper."

Author's Note

I'm fairly new to writing and I don't have much writing experience so any feedback and criticism is appreciated!