Reapers

Jason is a reaper--a bounty hunter working for the Greek titan, Cronus. Ever since he was 17, Cronus has imbued him with special powers: he can summon weapons, walk on two planes of existence, and shoot hellfire blasts from his hands, and that's not even

REAPERS

 

 

            “Let it go, Jason,” I heard the Titan’s voice in my mind and ignored him, summoning my scythe to my hand. Once I felt the cool metal on my fingertips I grasped the weapon with both hands and slashed it into a downward arc. The curved blade pierced the old man’s flesh and I grinned and ripped the scythe away, laughing maniacally when I felt his life force pour out of him.

 

            “Jason!” Cronus roared.

 

            “Shut up,” I said, and then quipped, “Why don’t you go devour some babies?”

 

            “Why you insolent—”

 

            I blocked him out of my mind before the Titan could say anything more. Score one for mortal servant, zip for immortal baby-eater. I chuckled to myself and banished my scythe to its spectral plane of existence.

 

            The scent of blood mixed with freshly cut grass clogged my nostrils as my mind returned to the day I met Cronus.

 

 

I was only seventeen, then, and completely avid about the Greeks and their myths and legends. Cronus was a Titan, according to the Greek mythology, who ate his children because he was afraid they would try to usurp him. He murdered and ate every last one of his godly children, save for Zeus, because Cronus’s wife interfered with that one and hid the god. Zeus grew to his full strength and a battle ensued between the Titan and the God of Lightning. Eventually the battle ended and Zeus came out the victor. That was the end of the mythology and Zeus became the head god or whatever. At any rate, Cronus returned, a weakling spirit in form, and started devouring souls to regain power. The Titan tried to eat me. Of course, there was no way in hell that I was letting him get away with that crap.  I refused to be gobbled up by some washed-out Titan. Instead, the Titan did the next best thing on his list and forced me into servitude. Naturally, I remained a human, but Cronus decided to give me a little gift—power. He infused me with some weird spell or something. So now I could see spirits, ghosts, and a whole bunch of other unnatural things. I could summon up weapons with a mere thought, cast spells, and slip into the ethereal realm of spirits.

 

            For a time, I put up with Cronus’s demands, capturing and harvesting souls in his name. I even prayed for the guy, but that ended after a day or two. And then the Titan demanded something I couldn’t give him—my girlfriend’s soul. I know Cronus was technically my employer of sorts—not that I get paid or anything—but shredding my girlfriend to pieces with a scythe wasn’t exactly high on my to-do list. I disobeyed. The Titan threatened to destroy me, or eat me, or whatever, but it wasn’t in his power. We both know that no matter what tactic he used, no matter how hard the Titan tried to, he couldn’t devour my soul. Cronus, once again taking matters into his own hands, took my girlfriend from me and imprisoned her…in Hades.

 

            I rebelled as soon as I realized the Titan had betrayed me. I went on a rampage, capturing more souls, but hiding them in the ethereal realm that Cronus couldn’t get to. Cronus flipped, and then he targeted my grandfather. I expected that Cronus would take him and imprison him as well, but he surprised me. He offered my grandfather something better than what he had offered me—immortality, but only if he promised to kill me first. I burst into the house right before my grandfather accepted the deal, and I scythed him. I peeled his soul away and flung it so far into Hades that I didn’t think anyone would be able to find it, Titan or otherwise. Killing my grandfather was a mistake and Cronus was even more pissed off than before. I was waging a war here, mortal reaper against immortal Titan.

 

            Soon after the death of my grandfather took place, Cronus returned to Hades. Months passed without a word from the Titan. He didn’t invade my mind, or make threats, or even ask me to harvest souls for him. I did an extensive amount of reaping, still rebelling against him for locking up my girlfriend in Hades.

 

            While the Titan was handling things in Hades, I made arrangements to contact Zeus. The God of Lightning had defeated Cronus last time, so I figured that I could ask for assistance. Try as I might to make contact with the god, he didn’t answer, and why should he? I was going around collecting souls like trophies for his father!

 

 

            Something rammed into me, muddling my thoughts, and I was flung to the ground. I sprang to my feet and spun, ungracefully, out of the way of another charge. Cronus was standing in front of me, bloody murder written all over his face, and wielding a scythe.

 

            “You insolent human,” Cronus screamed. “I have given you tremendous power, and you use it to defy me?”

 

            “I was fine with harvesting your precious little souls until you confined my girlfriend in Hades!”

 

            The Titan howled and lunged at me with the blade. I leaned to the right, falling into a sideways roll to avoid being stabbed. I was too tired to call for my own scythe, so I raised my hand and let loose a flare of hellfire energy. The scarlet beams lanced from my palm and hit the Titan in the midsection, doubling him over. He dropped the scythe and I dove for it before the Titan could recover from my spell.

 

            I grasped the weapon and whirled around to attack, only to meet Cronus’s stinging backhand. The strike was so forceful that I was lifted into the air and hurtled into a nearby tree. My back hit the tree trunk hard and I released a painful gasp as the Titan’s huge hand wrapped around my throat.

 

            “This is what happens when you betray me,” he snapped, applying pressure to my throat. I tried to breathe, but I only managed to wheeze and sputter. I flailed my legs, but even if I landed a kick the Titan wouldn’t be seriously injured. It was too hard to concentrate, so casting spells was out of the question. I was going to die.

 

            A droplet of rain landed on my face. Cronus was staring at me and then he looked up. The sky was darkening, going from cloudy to a dark shade of gray. Rain was falling hard and pelting our faces. I shivered and Cronus started to let out a challenging howl to the darkening sky.

 

            “Once I’m done with the boy, you and I will finish our battle at last!” Cronus yelled. For a moment I wondered what the hell the Titan was ranting about and then I realized what the sudden alteration in weather meant: Zeus was interfering. Lightning flashed, making me dazed for a moment. Cronus’s chokehold had slackened so I clasped my hands together like a club, and slammed down on his elbow, letting loose another ray of hellfire. I slid to the ground and scrambled out of the way, not even bothering to collect the scythe in my haste.

 

            Cronus swiveled his head toward me and lumbered forward, summoning the fallen scythe to his hand. He raised the weapon over his head, preparing to cleave me in half. An inferno of lightning careened from the skies and slashed the Titan like a blazing sword. Cronus screamed as the arcs of lightning crashed into him one at a time. He incinerated, along with the scythe, and vanished into oblivion. The sight was macabre, and I can’t believe I had the guts to sit there and watch the events unfold. I could hardly move anyway; I was sure the Titan had cracked a rib while giving me a beating.

 

            Someone was standing in front of me now. Not Cronus, but someone else. He held a magnificent-looking staff in one hand and his other hand sizzled with blue energy. “It was unwise to make dealings with a Titan,” he said. His voice was loud and commanding, just as I expected him to be.

 

            “It wasn’t exactly my fault,” I said. It was a poor defense at best and my voice sounded nowhere near as confident as the god’s did. I explained my resilience to him and what had taken place while I was Cronus’s bounty hunter. “Even if Cronus is destroyed,” I added, “my girlfriend is still being held captive in Hades. I need to save her.”

 

            Zeus nodded in response. “Yes, a mortal wouldn’t find those living conditions very suitable,” he said gravely. “I will open a gateway into Hades.”

 

            “What about my powers?”

 

            The god frowned. “While it is dangerous for a mortal to have such power, you have done well in not letting that power consume you. You may keep the gifts that my father has given you. But if you step one toe out of line, I will strip your powers away.”

 

            I nodded. “Will this gateway of yours stay open while I’m in Hades?”

 

            “No. Time works differently in the realms.”

 

            “How will I get out of there, then,” I asked, afraid of Zeus’s answer.

 

            “I don’t know. Your power allows you to slip between two realms, yet Hades isn’t one of them, is it?”

 

            “I can only go to the realm of spirits and back,” I told him.

 

            “You’ll find a way out,” Zeus assured me and made a gesture with his staff. An air current ripped past me and I could feel heat against my back. He had opened the door to Hades. I frowned and glanced at the god.

 

            “Come with me,” I pleaded. I’ll admit that I was freaked out; dealing with Cronus had been a piece of cake, but Zeus expected me to just walk into Hades alone.

 

            “I can’t come with you.” Then he shoved me into the gateway. Before I knew it, I was plummeting down an endless abyss.

 

 

            “Kat?” my voice sounded hoarse, even to my ears. The girl looked up at me, brushed a strand of brown hair from her eyes and smiled.

 

            “It’s about time you came and got me,” she said. Her smile grew even wider. I shuttered; what was wrong with her? What had Cronus done to her? Then I felt it. Power rolled off her. She was like a brewing storm. Cronus had changed her….made her into a reaper, like me. This wasn’t good. Before I knew it, a lance of hellfire shot straight out of her palm and smacked into my chest. I was thrown backward, crashing into the wall. Damn, hellfire hurts.

 

            Kat was hovering over me and she’d summoned some type of samurai-looking sword to her hand. I didn’t have the power to summon my scythe. Hell, I didn’t think I even wanted to. Kat lunged forward and I rolled out of the way. Her blade slammed into the wall, jarring her hand. She swore and turned to look at me, dark eyes blazing with fury. “Why won’t you fight,” she growled.

 

            “Kat, you’re my girlfriend,” I choked out.

 

            She laughed. It wasn’t the twinkling laugh I remembered from months ago. Rather it was a cold, penetrating laugh that iced my heart. “That part of my life is over, Jason,” she said, and then she was coming at me again. I ducked and evaded the sword strokes when I could, but I was still terribly exhausted from my brief spat with Cronus and I couldn’t keep dodging her forever. Kat lunged forward again and I spun away from the blade and swept her feet out from under her.

 

            Kat landed on her back with a thump. I moved to see if she was okay, but suddenly she was up again and I felt the cold, metallic touch of her sword against the hollow of my throat.

 

            “Stupid idiot,” Kat swore at me. “You always were so foolishly chivalrous,” she spat the last word venomously. “Return to your own plane of existence. It was idiotic of you to come here.”

 

            “I’m not leaving without you,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. “Cronus—”

 

            “Cronus is smart, but a fool if he thinks that you wouldn’t come for me. I knew you would come and try and take me back, rescue me, if you will. But I don’t need your help. Cronus made me a reaper for a reason. All the souls that you send down here to Hades, I’m kind of like…the warden.”

 

            “The warden,” I asked.

 

            “Yeah—I keep souls from escaping to your plane. Your duty is to send those souls here. All those souls you captured for Cronus? They were escaped souls. That’s why he made me a reaper. And you killed him.” Kat’s voice was cold.

 

            “Zeus killed him,” I corrected. Even if I wanted to kill Cronus—and I had wanted to—the Titan would have murdered me.

 

            “Zeus, that pitiful god, slew Cronus?” Kat laughed. “Man, talk about sins of the fathers.” A howl split the air. Kat tensed and I noticed that she had tightened her grip on her sword’s hilt. “You have to get out of here, Jason,” she said to me.

 

            “What? Why?”

 

            “That howling noise a few moments ago,” she said. “That was a warning signal; souls are trying to escape.”

 

            “But I can—”

 

            “Go, damn it!” she flourished her sword like a staff and I felt the tug of a gateway. As the gateway yanked me away I saw some sort of…demon leap at Kat. She slashed it with her sword, but I didn’t know if the attack did any damage because for a moment all I saw was darkness.

 

 

            “Did you find what you were looking for, Jason?” Zeus was waiting there calmly, sitting on the grass with his staff across his lap. His eyes were closed. I could smell the acrid sent of lightning from his fingertips, feel the sizzling energy all around the god.

 

            “Did you know that Kat was a reaper,” I asked. He didn’t even bother opening his eyes, but he had stopped meditating or whatever it was he had been doing.

 

            “I figured that Father had a few tricks up his sleeve,” Zeus replied simply.

 

            “You figured,” I growled out. “Kat’s trapped in Hades with a horde of demonic souls and you figured?”

 

            “Well why didn’t you help her?”

 

            “I—” I paused. Why hadn’t I helped Kat? I could have resisted the gateway’s pull easily enough, but I hadn’t even bothered. I let Kat take on all those demons by herself.

 

            Zeus stood, picked his staff up from the grass, and smiled at me. It was unnerving, to say the least. “Now you know. Kat needs to be in Hades to stop demonic souls from escaping. You need to be here, capturing them and sending them back to Hades so Kat can throw them in their prison.”

 

            “Will I see Kat again?”

 

            “I doubt it,” Zeus said. A flash of lightning blinded me momentarily. When spots stopped dancing in front of my face I realized that the god had vanished.

 

            Kat was in Hades, carrying her out her duties as a reaper. She needed me here, on my own plane, to carry out my obligation as well. Cronus selected us as reapers for a reason. If it meant separating Kat and me for the good of humanity, then fine, so be it.

            A screeching noise cut through the night air like a knife and I a winged shadow fell over me. I looked up, right into the eyes of a red-eyed demon. Well, that was different. Shouting out a battle cry, I summoned my scythe and flew up to meet it.