Page 8 of When Death Called Life Home (When Deities Awaken #1)

Chapter 8

Even Death Enjoys The Light

ASCIAN

T hey’d found her.

Ascian’s hand slipped from the stones surrounding the Central Portal, the lingering energy left over from who’d exited it sizzling against his own. He’d taken the detour to see if he could decipher which nymph opened it in the first place. He suspected one of the more powerful ones, but he really shouldn’t have been surprised to discover the same nymph’s energy from three years ago. Xylia.

He received word in the form of Suoh’s guardian that Osiris’ group found her. The cheetah delivered the short message on a sheet of paper ripped from a bound journal that it held within its mouth. Ascian wouldn’t be surprised if the feline made it soggy with drool on purpose. Every Reaper knew of Suoh’s loyalty to Osiris.

Alamea approached behind him, letting a hiss loose at Suoh’s guardian and moving between it and Ascian. He dragged a hand over her head before slipping it beneath her chin and scratching her favourite spot. She wouldn’t let him climb on her back had he not.

The others that accompanied him repeated his actions and climbed upon their own guardians; Maelo with her black-maned lion, Sohan with his stag, and Izel being pulled up behind Sohan. She hadn’t yet chosen her own guardian, nor had one chosen her. Izel never seemed worried, though, so everyone let her be. Sohan’s stag had grown soft towards her and allowed her to join him and Sohan when they needed a guardian to get anywhere in Elysia. With the Vitarce growing more ruthless in their attempts to send souls back to undead bodies, Ascian wondered whether he should command her to start searching.

He’d been born into the battle, as had Maelo, and he’d found Alamea as soon as he could walk. Most Reapers born after the war had started did the same. Nobody knew the exact date or event that started it, and no Reaper dared to question the Elders about it. The only thing Ascian knew for certain was that the Vitarce no longer wished for there to be an end to Life. Eternal living. The very thing that went against everything the Reapers believed in.

Suoh’s cheetah took off without a glance behind it, and the other three guardians followed with their riders clutching onto them tightly. Ascian needed to get to the others’ location quickly. Knowing Osiris, he likely already spouted threats to the nymph of the ways he’d cause pain if she didn’t start talking. The biggest problem with that was that they wouldn’t be empty threats. Osiris led that group and could control the situation and make decisions right up until the moment Ascian arrived.

His gaze latched onto the tip of the cheetah’s tail weaving through the shrubs and branches, listening to the thundering of the stag’s hooves and the lion’s large paws colliding with the ground. The distance shrunk quickly until the guardians burst into a small clearing. Osiris held Xylia against a giant tree trunk. A dead, hollow one, luckily. The man apparently remembered Ascian’s tip when it came to Nymphs and Dryads. Never give them access to living plant matter.

Ascian jumped off his guardian and approached them, well aware of Osiris’ muscle tics and reluctance to step back from the opportunity before him. Ascian’s increasing presence forced him back, giving the nymph her personal space back, and with it came a big breath that he saw mirrored within the plants.

“Hello Xylia,” Ascian hummed in his politest voice. “Out for a morning stroll?”

The nymph turned her attention to the reaper commander, tilting her chin up the slightest amount. “I wouldn’t think that’s surprising. Though, seeing Death out during sunlight hours is. That cave of yours getting a little … musty?”

An amused smile tugged at Ascian’s lips, his arms folding across his chest. “Even Death enjoys the light when spending too much time in the dark.”

“Hm.” The little noise came from Xylia’s nose more than her mouth. “Is there a reason your brutes stopped and cornered me against the dead? Or are they defying orders, yet again?”

“You’re very prickly this morning, little sapling. Not in the mood to chat?” His smile shifted into a grin, eyes narrowing with mischief sparkling like diamonds within them. “It’s been far too long since we previously have.”

Xylia watched him, her own gaze calculated. No way did she not already know why Osiris had stopped her. Ascian knew her to be highly intelligent, the fact she both played along with the conversation and still asked questions was proof of that. Even if her body language gave away her defensiveness.

“Three years is not long enough between chats , so just ask what you intend to.”

Ascian’s smile dropped, a sigh leaving him at the same time. Whatever playfulness that may have been edging forward slipped back into the dark depths of his mind. “If you insist. I’d like to know why you decided to open a portal without anyone’s permission.”

Xylia raised an eyebrow. “I had permission.”

“Ah, yes. Kallias.” Ascian dragged his tongue over his canines. “Let me rephrase that; without anyone important’s permission.”

Something in the nymph’s expression changed, a flower transforming into an unkempt, thorny vine. “Kallias is one of the only powerful Vitarces left. If he’s not important, I don’t know who would be.”

Delight washed through Ascian’s body, or perhaps satisfaction would be a better descriptor. While Reapers each manipulated energy in their own unique way — seven ways to be exact — Vitarce only manipulated one. Every single one of them carried the ability to manipulate organic matter, or as the general population in Elysia called them; Hearts. Healers . Bringers, Worshippers of Life.

But, if Vitarce were dwindling, perhaps it wouldn’t be long before the Reapers didn’t need to worry about a battle on the soul fields every time they went to release souls. The desperate attempt of going to the human world worried him, though. “I would guess whoever had you risk opening a portal to Earth.”

Xylia’s lips thinned into a straight line, her eyes darting away from him and into the treetops above. Ascian stepped closer, arms dropping and sliding into the pockets of his pants. He tilted his head, watching her until she finally met his gaze. The second she did, she swallowed.

“Who was he looking for, Xylia?” She didn’t need to know he already knew who they’d retrieved, and a part of him hoped she kept her mouth shut.

“Nobody. He just wanted to have a human wrapped around his cock,” she shot back .

A chuckle left him at the crudeness. “You know, you would have gotten away with opening the portal had you not allowed a human girl to fall through a resulting crack.”

Xylia grew still. “What?”

Ascian hummed pleasantly. “Don’t worry about her, Maelo took an instant liking and begged me to spare her life.”

“I wouldn’t say begged, more so asked politely,” Maelo piped up from leaning against her guardian.

“You were very polite, weren’t you?” Ascian asked in reply without looking over at her. Xylia, however, kept flicking her eyes between the two of them.

“Extremely,” Maelo answered.

Ascian gave Xylia a feral grin. “Sweet Emilia is safe, but that could change if you don’t start answering my questions truthfully. Everyone in Elysia knows Kallias prefers a woman with more power. Now tell me who he went searching for on Earth.”

The nymph watched him, almost like she debated her words and how to phrase them. They could be tricky sometimes, the Nymphs, but for the most part when interacting with the Reapers they liked to lie. The kind of calculative stare Xylia currently wore made Ascian conscious of every movement he made and every word he spoke. It caused his thoughts to come more carefully, like she could read them on his face.

“If I told you anything, I’d be a dead nymph before I could finish my sentence,” she paused then added, “And you know that.”

He flexed his hands within the cover of his pants pockets. “What if I were to offer protection?”

Xylia scoffed, leaning back against the hollow trunk. “Are you that nervous about the Vitarce taking full control of the forest?”

“No,” Ascian answered instantly. He frowned slightly. “I thought Nymphs believed in a perfect natural balance?”

There was a slight pause before she replied. “We do.”

“Yet you side with the Vitarce?”

Xylia’s lips parted then closed, the action repeating a couple times before audible words were spoken. “We believe in life, not just a natural balance.”

Ascian nodded slowly before letting out a long breath. “Look, if you don’t tell me who or what Kallias was looking for on Earth, I’m going to have to send him a message myself. You don’t want that, do you?”

“Please yourself. I only fulfilled the request.”

Ascian wrapped his fingers around the staff of his scythe, detaching it from his back and pressing the point of the blade into Xylia’s chest. Her head instantly bent back, away from the rest of the curved blade. Ascian breathed in the fear-filled gasp as it left her lips. A bittersweet scent, one that could get overwhelming quickly.

“I’m so glad you agree.”

Her eyes widened as realisation settled into her skin, a protest edging her lips but Ascian already dragged the scythe down an inch and stole an essence of her soul. Not all of it, just enough that her life sat right within his grasp if he so needed to end it.

“You see, your thoughtless actions now require yourself and Kallias to stand before the Council and await their decision on punishments. You have a week to attend on your own volition, or we’ll be back to drag you there ourselves.”

The wound from the scythe began healing the moment he pulled it away, bottling the essence into a small glass jar before reattaching his weapon to his back. The glass jar placed within the material of his cloak. He remained in place until the wound fully healed, then stepped back.

“Give her a few bruises before she leaves, see if that’ll make her spit out any information,” Ascian commanded Osiris. “Not too much damage, though. I prefer not to piss off the forest creatures.”

“I’ll do enough to get the message across nice and clearly,” Osiris replied, scratching the skin of his chin through his beard as he stepped into the spot Ascian previously occupied. Ascian gripped his shoulder tightly before he could start.

“I mean it, Osiris. If I have pissed off creatures coming to me with threats, I’ll send all of them your way and I’ll let them know there’ll be no punishment for any damage done.”

Osiris nodded, shoving Ascian’s hand from his shoulder with a glare. “Got it.”

Ascian waited and watched for another couple seconds before he motioned for his own group to follow him. A shiver ran up his spine, his head swivelling towards rustling thick bushes. A pair of eyes met his, something flashing within them but they didn’t look away. His steps slowed ever so slightly and once again something flashed in her gaze. His own flickered to those around him before returning to hers and he gave the slightest nod. He knew why, even if he shoved that reason right down into the darkness of his mind where no one else could find it. Ascian cursed himself for it but he dragged his attention away from her and quickened his pace again.

Ten minutes into their retreat from the clearing, the screaming started. Only then did Ascian climb atop his guardian and let her increase their pace. He needed to check the field for lost souls, then check in on Mace. All while trying to forget that damned pair of beautiful blue eyes and the woman they belonged to.