A Raven in the Hand

CHAPTER 5

Kayla stood still, Reaper fluffed up his feathers in s futile attempt to look bigger. The monster before them was much larger than Reaper could ever dream of being. He stood there in silence in front of her, looking with unrevealing green eyes, making her feel as if she was being examined.

The Undertaker was amused, even though his face showed no hint of it. He had never encountered one of her kind before, he had often heard of them but had thought they had been wiped out by the early colonists when they first arrived here. He had never given their kind a second look, their powers were far below his or his brother's. They had more power in one finger than a Covent of witches. Yet, there was one of them now, invading his privacy. She apparently didn't know what she was dealing with.

"Why are you here?" He demanded in a tone that sent chills up her spine.

"I…" She swallowed hard and stood straight up, "I know you're not of this world…"

"But you do not know what I am?" there was a smile as he spoke.

"I'll find out and then I'll send you back to the after world…"

Lightning flashed, making Kayla jump in fright. She thought she had more time, to find out what he was, before this meeting. She was going to be at his mercy, but not without a fight.

"Girl, you don't have enough power to stop me if I felt like doing something." He chuckled, she was young, he was eternal.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, a spell was preparing in her mind.

"Finding out why you broke into my dressing room and the general Manager's room. Your magic leave a residual trace, easily traceable, at least for my kind."

Her face grew angry, "No! Not that! Why you are on earth instead of passing on…"

The Deadman took a step back, "Whoa! You think I'm a spirit? Waiting to go off into the light, maybe a lost soul wanting to rest in peace?" Now he was laughing, "Ha! You don't know much about the Astral world, do you?"

Kayla began to feel less afraid, and more confused, "I know a lot!"

"Not about Reapers, do you?"

She stood frozen, and definitely confused, "Reapers? As in, Grim Reapers?"

"That would be our kind."

She thought for a moment, there was not much information on Reapers, they were never seen by the naked eye. Only those with incredible second sight could see a reaper, but they were never described as the one standing before her.

The old books described Reapers as skeletal beings dressed in black hooded robes carrying their scythes and ridding on black massive shires. There was no mention of large, powerful muscles, long almost back wavy hair, and that chiselled face and deep green eyes that seemed to try to read her soul.

"You don't look like a Reaper." She commented.

"I am." He was still intimidating to her, even though his face had soften a little.

"But you still didn't answer my question, what are you doing here on earth?"

"That is none of your business." He grinned, sending another chill up her spine.

"Your presence here is wrong, you have to go back to the other world…"

He laughed a bone chilling and haunting laugh, "We travel where we please, what business is that of yours? We Reapers have been coming to this world and travel back to the other since the dawn of time. You cannot stop us, but then again, your people never had a reason to."

Now Kayla was really puzzled, "You know what I am?"

The Deadman casually leaned against a large monument with an enormous statue of Christ upon it, "I have known of witches forever. But this is the first time I had ever met a real witch before. Tell me, what is your element?"

"Element?" How much did he know?

"I know that every true witch is born with the ability to control and create an element, what is your element?"

"I…I can actually sometimes control all four…" She stopped herself from revealing too much.

Somehow he had made her comfortable around him, as before she was nervous and cautious. She had almost told him that she could only control them, not create them as well. That would have confirmed to him that she was weak, a mistake she couldn't afford with him. She was still unsure what she had heard from him was true. She had never read or heard of a Reaper in the flesh, but then again, that doesn't mean that it wasn't true.

Her searches in other countries was actually a mission to discover old magical tomes, artefacts and power that had been lost for centuries. The more knowledge she gained for her Covent, the more power that grew from it.

The Undertaker smiled at her, "A true child of the Goddess, I am surely impressed now."

That startled her, "How do you know about the Goddess?"

He stood up from the stone, "The Goddess and God of Pagan songs, the holy mother moon and father sun? Tell me, do they still chant the names of Isis and Pan as their names? I understand that the names can change from Covent to Covent."

"We use those names…" She whispered, "…my Covent still does…"

He took a few steps towards her and touched her face with his hand. His skin was like ice, sending more chills through her body. She was frightened at first, stories of Reapers mentioned that a Reaper's touch would instantly kill you, but she was still alive.

He pulled her face up and looked deeply in her eyes, it seemed that she couldn't pull her eyes away from his. She knew instantly he had a spell over her, he was looking, probing her mind she guessed.

He pulled her even closer, she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet. She could feel his clod breath on her face, his eyes looked deep into hers, a haunting feeling came over her. She was truly looking at Death in his eyes, she didn't know what to do.

"Do not be afraid, little one…" He whispered, "I have no reason to hurt you. I know all a bout you, your Covent, your Holy mother Priestess, I have been there, when their chanted their names around a fire so large that the Gods could see in the heavens. I have watched them dance their sacred dances around their sacred flames in the light of the full moon. Yes…I have seen them hunted in the name of the horned god and pray to the silver moon when children where birthed. I know the Wicca way, as you call it now."

He released her face, she hadn't noticed that her body never left the ground and lost balance. With lightning speed he caught her back into his embrace, this time he had his arms around her as she looked back into those haunting green voids again.

"Wise woman…" He whispered, "…that is what you would have been called back then…the speaker of the Gods…"

"What are you…?" She whispered back to him, stunned at his touch, or more so for her unwillingness to free herself of his cold embrace.

"Death…I am Death…"

To be continued……