《The Sanctuary of Dust》


 1. One-Eyed Girl

    Find the soul, collect the soul, guide the soul. Every day is so repetitive. Sorry to disappoint you, but the life of a Soul Collector is far from being anything special.


    What, were you expecting some sort of epic about the vicissitudes of the human life and the cruelty of nature? Pithy words of wisdom?


    Wait, let me start again.


    When I think about it, I guess all life is an epic. There is no way to know where the vicissitudes will take us. It seemed at times that I¡¯ve been nothing but a leaf caught in a strong wind. At other times, I felt as though I was the wind agitating the leaves.


    Collecting the soul of a dying human being is a delicate operation. Even though I have a list of souls I must collect, the list doesn¡¯t include any specific information about the person who¡¯s about to die, only clues that are written by the Seer. It is my responsibility to interpret these clues properly.


    One day, one of the clues was particularly obscure. Beside a general idea of the place in which to search, all I had to go by was the phrase ¡°a sense of familiarity.¡± Great. I cursed the Seer beneath my breath and entered an alleyway behind a decrepit building. Not clear how familiarity would come into play in such a place, but I hoped I would know when the moment came.


    The building had probably fallen victim to a fire at some point in its dark past. I found a hole in the brick wall, concealed by an old drape. I pushed it aside and went inside. Had I been mortal, the pungent smell of mould might have bothered me.


    A fire roared in a barrel in a corner. A small group of people were gathered around it. Probably asking for collective lung cancer. Luckily, there must have been enough holes in the building to air the place properly.


    I noticed a silhouette sitting underneath a barricaded window, in retreat from the group. It was a girl who looked like she could be a teenager. She kept her head downcast as I approached, a few locks of hair cascading from her hood.


    ¡°Are you here for me?¡± she whispered without looking up as I crouched in front of her.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m wondering.¡±


    Despite my disguise, some people gained awareness of my true identity when the end drew near. She might be the one. She wasn¡¯t too strong. Disease, addiction, getting into fights, the reasons were endless for someone to go so young. But where was the sense of familiarity?


    She finally looked up and gasped when she saw me. I peered closer into her face, and it was my turn to gasp. At first, it looked like a strange play of light and shadow, but then I realised that she was missing her right eye. An ugly scar went from her brow down to the top of her cheek. I almost fell back on my bum and regained my bearings just in time. Being a Soul Collector required a certain poise.


    She sighed and said, ¡°Sorry, I thought we¡¯d met before. You reminded me of someone.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°A friend. You look a bit like him. He had ginger hair and he was grumpy all the time.¡±


    Ginger? I guess she couldn¡¯t see that my hair was actually some shade of dark blonde in the obscurity. I wouldn¡¯t hold it against her.


    In any case, I had found it. Familiarity. Let¡¯s get started with the protocol, I thought.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Would you like to talk to him now?¡± Dying humans were allowed one last request, which I could fulfill provided it was within my power to do so.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I have the feeling I¡¯ll see him again soon.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡±


    As a Soul Collector, I had the ability to detach a soul from its body. When the individual is human, it is fairly easy to do so. However, the soul of an immortal, such as an angel or a demon, is so strongly attached to the body that it is almost impossible to detach it.


    While I usually took human form to travel around the human world, to perform my work, I had to change into what I called my funeral form. In that form, I looked a bit like that guy Anubis, the Egyptian god of death, with the jackal head and all, except I¡¯ve been told I¡¯m not as sexy. Ah, well. Can¡¯t please everyone.


    I lifted my bony fingers to the girl¡¯s face and grazed her skin with my long black nails. The soul left the body slowly, bit by bit, starting from the head and moving down to the feet. Once the separation process was over, the body became nothing but an empty shell and the soul, a separate entity that retained the characteristics of the human, only more ghostly¡­ I guess.


    The girl didn¡¯t seem impressed by any of it. Some people are, some aren¡¯t.


    Then, our environment changed. We left the decrepit building and appeared on the deserted banks of an ocean.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± she asked.


    ¡°You see this city?¡± I pointed to an island in the distance. Colourful lights emanated from its skyscrapers. It looked kind of nice in some ways, but it was rotten in many other ways.


    ¡°This is the Capital of Shadows. All souls come back here to be cleaned from their past lives before being reincarnated.¡±


    The girl looked at me like I was making up stuff. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be reborn¡­¡±


    Souls who¡¯d just had a harsh life usually said that. ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice. Don¡¯t worry. Soon, you¡¯ll forget everything about this life, so you won¡¯t really care.¡±


    A small boat approached and stopped by a wooden dock, close to were we stood. It was guided by the Ferryman, an old demon who¡¯d been here forever. He was covered by a black cloak from head to toe, so no one knew what he looked like. According to the rumours, he was actually really handsome. I preferred keeping those mental images out of my mind.


    ¡°Hey, Mr. Soul Collector. Come aboard,¡± the Ferryman called.


    I guided the soul on the dock and helped her board the boat. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked me as she sat down.


    I figured she had already started forgetting. Pretty fast. ¡°I¡¯m the Soul Collector¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I mean, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    My name? ¡°Names are meaningless here. Soon, you¡¯ll forget your own.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Alexandra. Who are you?¡±


    I gave a quick glance at the Ferryman, but he didn¡¯t seem to care about our exchange. I sighed. ¡°My name is Luca.¡±


    It was time to pay for the passage. In my funeral form, I had a bunch of coins tied to a string and looped around my neck. I tore off one coin and handed it to the Ferryman. He took it and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you coming with us?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    ¡°People say you¡¯ve been avoiding the Underworld.¡±


    ¡°People are dumb.¡± But maybe a bit right.


    Most souls don¡¯t need me to find their way to the Capital of Shadows. In many cases, when death is expected, souls gradually detach themselves from the body and reach the banks of the Underworld on their own. It used to be a custom for humans to place coins in the mouth of the departed to pay the Ferryman. If the person dies with anything valuable on them, such as expensive shoes, this also works as payment.


    However, in cases where the human died young, suffered a sudden death, or was completely destitute then, with the help of the Seer, I intervened to help them find their way back here.


    Before I had time to return to the human world, a tall, broad-shouldered man with short black hair emerged from the darkness. He was the Messenger, which means he spent his days traveling around, delivering¡­ messages, you know. He must have been waiting for me in ambush.


    ¡°Hey, Luca, I¡¯m glad I found you!¡± he said. It seemed urgent. I gave him a sidelong glare when he used my name, but otherwise I kept my eyes on the Ferryman and the soul sliding quietly on the sea.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    The cheerfulness in his tone faltered at my coldness. ¡°The Snow Raven asked for you.¡±


    He must have detected some reticence from me, because he felt the need to add, ¡°It¡¯s important.¡±


    I changed back into my favourite human form, the grumpy boy one. ¡°She probably has some dirty work she needs me to do. I¡¯d rather stay away.¡±


    The Messenger caught my arm as I turned to leave. Getting insolent, weren¡¯t we. ¡°Let me go.¡±


    ¡°I promised that I would convince you to go see her.¡±


    Stop making promises you can¡¯t keep, then. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go.¡±


    He sighed and I shook my arm free. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but gave up and instead said, ¡°Let me know if I can do anything to help you.¡±

 2. "Favours"

    Being bossed around was the thing I hated the most in the world. The Snow Raven, the leader of the Underworld, was already doing it often enough, I didn¡¯t need the Messenger on my case as well.


    I waited for the Ferryman to come back so he could give me a ride. The Capital was an old city striated with canals carrying with them the stench of the sea. I got off the boat on a small dock and dove right into the famous Ghost Market. It was called this way because most of the merchants, peddlers and clients were souls waiting to be reincarnated.


    The Capital of Shadows was this great hub where humans met demons for a short while. Walking around, buying, selling, making noise¡­ it passed the time and helped forget.


    I had accompanied a bunch of those human souls here, but after a few days they tended to forget me. A few recent arrivals greeted me as I passed by, so I nodded back.


    ¡°Hey, Mr. Soul Collector, how about a beautiful teacup?¡±


    An elderly woman called me from her stall, which was full of antique dishware. I tried to smile a bit because I had been told to be nicer. ¡°No thanks, you already sold me a teacup two days ago.¡±


    ¡°Take another one, so you can have tea with someone.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone to have tea with.¡±


    ¡°A nice boy like you? I don¡¯t believe it!¡±


    The old lady was quite pushy. It would be easier to just buy the teacup than to convince her I didn¡¯t want it. I was about to do so when, from the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a man in a black suit among the throngs of demons and souls. It was Castor, the Snow Raven¡¯s personal assistant. He often walked around the Ghost Market to check how things were going and report to his superior. I wondered if he¡¯d been sent to drag me to my meeting.


    I turned back to the old lady, reasoning that if I acted as though I hadn¡¯t seen Castor, he would return the favour and pretend he hadn¡¯t seen me either.


    ¡°How much for the teacup?¡±


    ¡°Just take it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too kind.¡±


    I glanced behind my shoulder to assess whether the road was clear. A yelp escaped me. Castor stood right there, his impeccable black silk necktie a few inches from my nose.


    ¡°Good evening, Soul Collector.¡±


    ¡°Oh, hey there.¡±


    He straightened the lapels of his suit and tried to intimidate me with his superiority complex. ¡°The Snow Raven is waiting for you. Didn¡¯t you get the message?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Messenger gave me the¡­ message.¡±


    ¡°Then hurry up. The Snow Raven is very busy and you shouldn¡¯t waste her time.¡±


    I grumbled a bit because I was still on the fence about going to the meeting. There seemed to be no way out of it, so I left the old lady with her teacup and I hurried to the Moonstone Palace, some ostentatious building with wings on each side that wrapped around an ostentatious public place, just a little farther along the shore.


    Inside, the marble tiles on the floor formed an intricate pattern of blue and nacre. At the end of the hall, a stairway curled up to the first floor. Here, it felt as though I had suddenly stepped very far away from all the excitement of the city. Everything became quiet.


    A servant approached me, informing me that the Snow Raven wasn¡¯t in her office at the moment. She led me to the back of the palace, into a vast garden in which the flowers and trees thrived regardless of the season. The Snow Raven was enjoying a quiet stroll in an alley of white flowers that seemed to shine with a light of their own. She paused and turned around as she became aware of our presence.


    The servant announced, ¡°Forgive me the intrusion, but the Soul Collector is here.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Thank you, you may leave us.¡±


    The Snow Raven was a tall woman dressed in a black, shimmery dress that trailed behind her without touching the ground. A long scarf was draped around her shoulders.


    She greeted me with a smile. I wasn¡¯t fooled by it, though. Everything about the Snow Raven was measured.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, Soul Collector.¡±


    I took a conciliatory approach. ¡°Sorry for not coming earlier.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I simply have a favour to ask.¡±


    I almost scoffed. There was never anything ¡°simple¡± about her ¡°favours.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    She resumed her walk and I followed her back toward the palace. ¡°The Seer will be replaced and we must find her successor.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    The Snow Raven¡¯s expression remained unreadable. It wasn¡¯t that I liked the Seer. Overall, I thought she was pretty rotten as a person. It¡¯s just that she¡¯d occupied her function for so long, I couldn¡¯t see why she needed to be replaced now. If an immortal occupies a function, they can remain there indefinitely, until there is an actual reason to replace them.


    ¡°May I ask why the Seer will be replaced?¡±


    ¡°You may not.¡±


    This must have been the result of some political games between the Underworld and Heaven. Luckily, I was nothing but a pawn in this game, so it wasn¡¯t my job to worry about it.


    The Snow Raven went on about the favour. ¡°The Seer received clues that a worthy successor lived somewhere in the human world. Therefore, we need your help finding them there.¡±


    As a general rule, demons, angels and humans couldn¡¯t travel between worlds. Their soul wasn¡¯t adapted to the different environments and being in the wrong world created symptoms that could range from significant discomfort to intolerable pain. There were exceptions, however. I was one of them. As the Soul Collector, I was allowed to travel to both the human world and the Underworld. Another exception was the Messenger, who had access to all three worlds: the Underworld, the human world, and Heaven.


    Which compelled me to make the following point, ¡°Why not ask the Messenger?¡±


    ¡°The Messenger will be supervising you.¡±


    This assignment couldn¡¯t get any worse than this. I was slowly turning into the Seer¡¯s personal tool of doom. ¡°What if I refuse?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t force you, but the Light Stag might insist.¡±


    I shuddered at the mention of the ruler of Heaven. ¡°Alright then.¡±


    The Snow Raven smiled. ¡°Keep me updated on your progress.¡±


    Progress would happen after a good night¡¯s sleep. I thought I was already having a nightmare when I saw Castor walking toward us on the path. After a moment of shock, I reasoned that he must have been here to report to the Snow Raven. I headed back to the palace without paying attention to him.


    ¡°You forgot this,¡± Castor told me as I passed by him.


    He held out a small object. I squinted a bit and recognized the teacup the old lady showed me in the Ghost Market.


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡±


    ¡°Castor, are you making gifts to the Soul Collector?¡± the Snow Raven chimed in.


    ¡°No! No, no, no¡­¡± I protested, eager to rectify the facts.


    They just kept talking like I wasn¡¯t even there. ¡°The Soul Collector was doing some shopping before coming here. He forgot his purchase.¡±


    ¡°I see. I was wondering why you never give me anything.¡±


    ¡°You are my superior. People might find such a gesture inappropriate.¡±


    The Snow Raven smiled fondly at Castor, while I fondly considered punching him in the face.


    ¡°I¡¯m lucky to have such a scrupulous assistant,¡± she remarked.


    Castor handed me the teacup and I had no choice but to accept it.


    Even though I had my own apartment in the Capital of Shadows, I barely ever stayed there. A garbage bin in the human world was better than a mansion in the Underworld as far as I was concerned. However, it was already late after my meeting with the Snow Raven, so I decided to spend the rest of the night in the Underworld.


    The reflection of the stars flittered on the surface of the canal that ran along the sidewalk. I was so unused to being here that I almost missed the door to my place in the obscurity. All the old stone buildings looked the same. While I wondered which to choose, I heard footsteps on the cobblestones catching up with me.


    ¡°Hey, Luca! What are you doing here?¡±


    It was the Messenger, calling me by my name again. He never learned. ¡°I live here.¡± I mean, somewhere around here.


    He could doctor his expression into a light-hearted smile all he wanted, he still looked suspicious as hell. ¡°I know, but you haven¡¯t been here in a long time¡­¡±


    I had a look at the wooden doors lined up along the narrow sidewalk. There was one with a scratch on it that seemed familiar.


    ¡°You sound stressed out,¡± I told the Messenger, who was doubled over trying to catch his breath. ¡°Have you been working too hard?¡±


    He straightened up and laughed unconvincingly. ¡°What? No¡­¡±


    My key fit in the lock, so I figured I had chosen the right door. I went inside and took the stairs to the top floor, where my apartment was. The Messenger followed closely on my steps. Something was definitely wrong with that guy.


    ¡°Luca, wait, I thought it would be ok with you¡­¡±


    I decided I wasn¡¯t going to listen to him if he kept calling me that name. At the same moment, I turned the doorknob to my apartment and realised it was unlocked. I pushed the door and thought there had to be a mistake somewhere.


    The hallway gave directly on the living room. Last I remembered, I hadn¡¯t left anything lying around. Why, then, was there someone lying around on my couch this very moment?


    The girl noticed me standing there and looked up from the newspaper she was reading. ¡°Oh, hi Mr. Soul Collector!¡±


    The Messenger sighed behind me. I don¡¯t know what he sighed for. I was the one who should be sighing right now.

 3. Useless Clues

    All three of us remained silent for a moment. There was so much to explain, yet so little I wanted to hear. The Messenger took the risk of speaking first. ¡°I met Alexandra around the shore earlier¡­¡± he began.


    That idiot Messenger had decided to pick up the last soul I collected and invite her to stay at my place. Why? As though he¡¯d heard my question, he explained, ¡°The housing situation is a little difficult for new souls arriving in the Capital of Shadows right now¡­¡±


    ¡°Therefore, you decided to let this one live at my place?¡±


    ¡°She mentioned your name, so I thought you knew her somehow. Since you¡¯re almost never here anyway, I thought you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± That was funny, because something in his sheepish tone suggested he knew very well I would mind.


    I remained silent. Speechless. Dumbfounded. The one-eyed girl rose from the couch and walked up to me. She studied my face, the Messenger¡¯s, and then seemed to figure out that she might be better off leaving while I blew off some steam. ¡°Thanks so much for letting me stay here! I guess I¡¯ll go for a walk.¡±


    ¡°See you later!¡± the Messenger said. That earned him an elbow in the ribs. My elbow. I can¡¯t say it was intentional, but I can¡¯t say it wasn¡¯t either.


    Once Alexandra was gone, he told me, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be long before she¡¯s ready for reincarnation.¡±


    I took off my shoes, crossed the living room and dropped myself where Alexandra had sat a moment ago. I needed to think for a minute. The messenger hovered in the hallway like he didn¡¯t know what to do with himself. ¡°You want to come in for a while?¡± I mumbled.


    His shoulders relaxed. ¡°What¡¯s that teacup?¡±


    I realised I was still holding the teacup. I set it on the low table in front of the couch. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ a teacup.¡±


    The old lady had forced me to buy one a couple of days ago. Now, I had two teacups. I guess it would be useful in case one broke.


    The Messenger waited carefully by the couch, probably in case I was going to punch him in the face for getting too close. That wasn¡¯t my intention, although it could have been. I gestured beside me and he sat down.


    ¡°How was your meeting with the Snow Raven?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Did you know the Seer will be replaced?¡±


    He shifted uncomfortably. ¡°Yeah, they asked me to help whoever will have to find the successor.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who they asked?¡±


    ¡°No, who?¡±


    He looked at me for a clue. I stared back. He couldn¡¯t possibly be this dense. ¡°Is it¡­ you?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    For some reason, he found the news deserved the most face-splitting grin he could manage. Was he having some kind of seizure?


    ¡°Why are you smiling? Are you sick?¡±


    He wiped it off. I always said that serving the Snow Raven could make you lose it a bit. The Messenger had it even worse because he also served the Light Stag, who was easily ten times as bad. Overall, he dealt with it pretty well, but he had his moments.


    ¡°So, the next Seer will be human?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Sounds like it.¡±


    ¡°Just like me, then.¡±


    I tended to forget the Messenger was human. He was some kind of special case.


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it nice though?¡± he added. ¡°We¡¯ll have a reason to spend more time in the human world.¡±


    His boundless optimism was at times inappropriate and inconsiderate of my boundless pessimism. I sulked for a few more seconds, at which point he rose and announced, ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go back to work before the Light Stag starts wondering what I¡¯m doing.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    He hesitated in the doorway. ¡°I¡¯ll try to find some other place for Alexandra to stay.¡±


    It sounded as though I was slowly turning into the bad guy. I waved my hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    Over the next few days, I spent so little time at my place anyway that I didn¡¯t have time to be bothered by Alexandra. My search for the Seer¡¯s successor took me in a rural area of the human world. I figured that if the successor had just been detected, they might still be a kid, so I naturally looked up the one elementary school of the village.


    The students were having recess when I arrived. I had a quick look as I walked around the school yard. A bunch of them played with a ball, others sat in a circle. Plotting the destruction of the world, no doubt.


    One little girl sat by herself against the brick wall, observing the others. She had long brown hair that cascaded from her hat. Despite her winter coat, she seemed to struggle to keep warm. She tucked her chin in her lonely scarf and held her lonely knees close to her chest. For some reason, a sense of kinship welled up inside, probably because I used to be a lonely kid myself.


    Something fluttered down beside me. A tall blue and silver bird with a tuft of dark feathers on its head started observing the schoolyard through the mesh fence. You might wonder what a great blue heron was doing so close to a populated area. Well, it wasn¡¯t any heron.


    We moved away from the fence, behind the wall of the school. There, hidden from sight, the bird gradually transformed. It grew taller and broader, its wings turned into arms, the claws into shoes and lastly, the feathers receded into the skin, leaving the Messenger where the heron stood seconds before. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± he said.


    Transforming was not a power granted to a Messenger, human or not. As far as I knew, he¡¯d always had this ability. How he¡¯d acquired it was a mystery to me. That said, it had its usefulness.


    When I thought about it, even in his human form, the Messenger looked a bit like a bird. ¡°I¡¯m looking for the successor,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Is it ok for you to lurk around elementary schools?¡±


    I didn¡¯t like his use of the word ¡°lurk.¡± We walked away, back toward the main road.


    ¡°Do you think she¡¯s here?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get any hunch from them, but I have a soul to collect around here soon, so I thought I might as well have a look.¡±


    The Messenger¡¯s smile became tense. The weather was a bit cool these days in the human world. His jacket might have been too light. ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course, why?¡±


    We paused at the end of the path and looked back at the schoolyard. ¡°What clue did the Seer give you to find the successor?¡±


    I knew it by heart at this point. I had read it and re-read it to try to extract as much information as I possibly could. It seemed the Seer had surpassed herself this time in giving me a completely useless clue. ¡°It says ¡®They will see right through you.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I see. It¡¯s a bit vague.¡±


    ¡°Not very helpful.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°What does that even mean? Is she going to see right through me like I¡¯m transparent? Or is she going to figure out something about me?¡±


    The Messenger chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the second option.¡±


    ¡°Well, I hope it¡¯s not too embarrassing.¡±


    The wind whipped my coat around me. Dark clouds covered the sky. It would rain soon.


    I was already getting sick of looking for that kid. This task was like searching for a needle in a haystack, but a needle that moves around and goes to school and then goes back home at the end of the day.


    ¡°Maybe you should turn into a kid so you¡¯ll be able to approach the others without arousing suspicions,¡± the Messenger suggested.


    That was a smart idea. As the Soul Collector, I had the ability to take whatever appearance I wanted in order to go unnoticed in the human world. I usually picked my favourite form, the grumpy guy you¡¯ve already met.


    I saw a problem though. ¡°Won¡¯t people wonder what a random kid is doing there all by himself?¡±


    ¡°I can be your father.¡±


    My expression was all the refusal he needed. ¡°Maybe not,¡± he laughed.


    I let out a relieved sigh. ¡°You¡¯re too young to be a father.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that young anymore.¡±


    I looked up at his profile. His brown skin was still smooth and his short hair was completely black. However, was it just me, or it seemed his face had grown more chiseled? Suddenly, I realised he¡¯d grown taller than last time I had a chance to observe him. Was it true that time passed differently for humans and immortals?


    A ball shot over the fence of the schoolyard. I observed it soar through the sky. Maybe there was no Seer among these kids, but there was definitely a future soccer player. A boy ran after it.


    The Messenger returned my gaze. ¡°You have a soul to collect?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Someone is about to die, then?¡±


    I nodded again. Humans dying wasn¡¯t a pleasant thing to think about for other humans. Even for myself, whose job it was to collect the souls of dying humans, some days were harder than others.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can do about it,¡± I said.


    We heard tires screeching from the road, followed by a dull thump. The Messenger stepped in the direction of the noise, but stopped himself and looked at me uncomfortably.


    ¡°Maybe you better leave,¡± I said. If this human was meant to live, he would live. If he was meant to die, he would die. In case it turned out to be the latter scenario, it was better for the Messenger to stay away. Humans tend to feel sorry for other humans, especially children.


    The Messenger heeded my advice and I approached the scene of the accident. My last soul collection of the day was also a mystery. Here was the useless waste of words the Seer called a clue: ¡°the sky fell on him.¡±


    What if the ball had hit the boy on the head right before the accident? Could the ball stand for the sky? Sometimes, I had to think quite far out of the box to understand these things. Even though I thought an explanation fit, if it didn¡¯t actually click, I had to keep searching. It seemed I would have to investigate further for this one.

 4. The Thunderstorm

    A thunderstorm broke out shortly after an ambulance carried the boy to the closest hospital, twenty minutes from his village. Luckily for him, he had suffered relatively minor injuries and his condition was stable. He slept under the supervision of his friends: three boys, each around eleven years old, and a little girl.


    His parents had momentarily stepped out to go buy food at the cafeteria. When they¡¯d heard that their son would spend the night at the hospital, they had brought in a few items for him, such as a laptop and some clothes. He was also covered in an extra blanket that had a stars-and-planets pattern on it.


    The little girl kept swinging her feet under her chair anxiously. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Victor, I wasn¡¯t quick enough,¡± she whispered to her brother sitting beside her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, Anna,¡± he whispered back.


    ¡°The spirits told me he was in danger, but I didn¡¯t understand fast enough.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut up.¡±


    A moment of silence passed after this piece of brother-and-sisterly dialogue. A flash of lightning filled the room, followed by a peal of thunder. Another one of the boys then said, ¡°The doctors say he won¡¯t be able to play for months.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s lucky just to be alive,¡± Victor retorted.


    The door to the room opened. All four children looked over, expecting their friend¡¯s parents to have returned from their trip to the cafeteria. However, a man in a white coat strode in instead. He was tall, with dark, curly hair and glasses perched on his nose. ¡°Hello, I¡¯d like to have a look at your friend. Could you leave a moment?¡±


    The boys and the girl concerted each other silently and finally obeyed the doctor. Anna threw back a few cautious looks at theman until her brother became impatient and pulled her out of the room.


    The little group waited just outside the door. Even though they wanted to stick around for their friend, they were starting to get restless. Anna especially had trouble staying still.


    ¡°Anna, stop moving,¡± Victor ordered.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this man?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s the doctor.¡±


    ¡°But there were other doctors before.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they need to check on him again.¡±


    The ringing of Victor¡¯s phone prevented Anna from retorting.After a short conversation, he announced that his and Anna¡¯s mother waited in the lobby and that she would give everybody a lift back home. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said.


    Anna lagged behind the group as they headed downstairs. When her brother got in the elevator with the other boys, she remained in the hallway.


    ¡°Anna, get in here,¡± Victor ordered.


    ¡°But¡­ Matt?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll come back tomorrow.¡±


    Anna had other projects in mind, however. She ran off back where they¡¯d come from just as the elevator doors closed on the boys. Victor scrambled to open them again but it was too late to go after his sister.


    Anna returned to Matt¡¯s room. She barged in on the doctor peering over him. ¡°Leave him!¡±she shouted.


    Up to this point, the doctor had been absorbed in his observation of the patient. The blanket seemed of particular interest to him. He jumped back at the intrusion with a jolt that upset his glasses. ¡°What? I¡¯m just making sure he¡¯s¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence because Victor rushed in after his sister. ¡°Anna! That¡¯s the doctor!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a doctor!¡± Anna retorted.


    He grabbed her wrist, but she pulled back. The doctor approached the two children and kneeled down in front of the little girl. ¡°Anna?¡± he asked to confirm her name.


    She scowled at him. The doctor scowled back, but then seemed to remember he was the adult and adopted a gentler expression. ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m not a doctor?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re not!¡±


    Victor let out an angry sigh. ¡°Anna, stop saying weird things!¡±


    He pulled harder on Anna¡¯s arm. Then, the sound of hurried footsteps emerged from the corridor. The doctor stopped to listen. Concerned words reached the room, such as ¡°biking in the storm¡± and ¡°struck by lightning.¡±


    The doctor rushed out. Once he was gone, Victor let out a few heartfelt reproaches, but Anna was too relieved too mind.


    ***


    No one had ever blown my cover before. Had I become careless? Juggling too many tasks at once definitely wasn¡¯t my strong point. And then, I remembered¡­


    They will see right through you.


    Anna¡­ Was she the one? While I was investigating the injured boy, she¡¯d figured out I wasn¡¯t a real doctor.


    It was the blanket with the stars-and-planets pattern that threw me off. When I saw it, I thought that this was what the clue referred to, that the blanket represented the sky. However, Anna had been right, her friend wasn¡¯t the one.


    Later on, I went through the emergencies and found some guy who had just been struck by lightning. He was in a critical state and everything clicked. The sky had, so to speak, fallen on him during the storm.


    The fact that I had almost collected the wrong soul concerned me. I would have to be more careful in the future. That said, it had at least allowed me to findthe Seer¡¯s successor.


    I hurried to the Moonstone Palace right after dropping off my last soul on the shore, praying that the Messenger wouldn¡¯t let this one stay at my place as well.


    I met the Snow Raven in her study, which was as ostentatious as the rest of the palace. Her desk stood in front of a huge window made of stained glass. Bookshelves filled with books were scattered around the place. I¡¯m sure she hadn¡¯t read even one percent of those books. They looked good, though.


    Once I had reported my findings, she leaned slightly over her desk and asked, ¡°Were you able to sense her power?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t detect anything until I was very close to her. She¡¯s clearly been using it, probably without realising.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still very young, it¡¯ll grow with time. Are those around her aware of this power?¡±


    I remembered the comment from her brother. He¡¯d asked her to stop saying ¡°weird things.¡± I also remembered that she was the one sitting alone during recess. ¡°Yes, to some extent. She seems isolated from other children.¡±


    The Snow Raven exchanged a glance with Castor, who until now had done a good job of blending in with the wall. He walked toward me and handed me a small velvet pouch. Inside, I found a tiny silver bracelet.


    The Snow Raven explained, ¡°This is a concealer. Give it to her so that her powers remain undetectable until she is old enough to become the new Seer.¡±


    ¡°Why should we conceal her powers?¡±


    ¡°Seers are precious individuals. Don¡¯t you think it would be an asset to have one on your side?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure what she was getting at. I agreed that having the Seer on your side would automatically give you a tremendous advantage over any sort of enemies or rivals. I mean, what with them seeing the future and revealing all sorts of truths you¡¯d rather keep for yourself. However, the Seers have traditionally been impartial, regardless of whether they were born as humans, angels or demons. The current one lived in a floating tower between Heaven and the Underworld, secluded from the rest of the world.


    I glanced at Castor to see if he understood what the Snow Raven meant, but he was useless as ever.


    ¡°Why would the Seer take a side?¡±


    ¡°At such a young age, it would be easy to influence her.¡±


    There must have been some issue going on of which I wasn¡¯t aware. I saw no point in asking any further questions. If the Snow Raven had wanted me to understand, she would have said it clearly.


    I shrugged and put the velvet pouch in my coat pocket. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll be going then.¡±


    ¡°Castor, show him out.¡±


    Strange request. I knew the way out very well, especially since I liked it a lot better than the way in. Anyway, I let Castor lead me past the door of the study. As we were going down the big stairwell, I said, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    He threw a few wary looks around us. Then, he said, ¡°There has been some unrest in Heaven. It was the Light Stag who initially brought up the idea of replacing the Seer. He was quite insistent.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t surprising, coming from the Light Stag. I had no doubt he¡¯d pressured the Snow Raven until she had no choice but to either agree or start a war with Heaven. ¡°His plan is to have the new Seer under his control?¡±


    ¡°The Snow Raven didn¡¯t say as much.¡± Castor tried hard to remain evasive, but there¡¯s just so much someone can convey with meaningful glances and suggestive eyebrow choreography. He lowered his voice and added, ¡°There have been signs that the Light Stag is trying to increase his control over the three worlds. Keeping the future Seer anonymous until they are old enough to work was a condition on which the Snow Raven insisted. However¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no promise that the Light Stag won¡¯t try to find her anyway.¡±


    Castor observed a pause before adding, ¡°Therefore, you understand the importance of preserving the anonymity of the future Seer. Make sure nothing happens to her.¡±


    We¡¯d reached the entrance of the palace. Castor didn¡¯t say anything else, so I thought he¡¯d fallen asleep or something.


    I stepped away. ¡°Alright, see you.¡±


    ¡°Soul Collector¡­¡±


    He came closer again and whispered, ¡°Are you aware that the Light Stag is suspicious of you? During his last conversation with the Snow Raven, he soundedworried that you are somehow plotting against him.¡±


    Castor put it mildly. The Light Stag hated my guts. ¡°He¡¯s just a paranoid old fart.¡±


    ¡°You should be careful. Make sure you are above suspicion.¡±


    I could try to be above suspicion as much as I wanted, those who hated me would always find ways to blame me for something. Meanwhile, I needed to get back to the human world to deliver the concealer. With a bit of luck, I might be able to catch some sleep afterward.

 5. Hidden

    I returned to the human world immediately to find Anna. Her family lived several kilometers away from the town centre. I passed a few farmlands; the houses became few and far between, until finally I found the one to which the girl had returned after her trip to the hospital.


    The house was modest, but it had a vast yard that gave on a forest at the back. Luckily for me, the rain had stopped. I waited, sitting on a high branch in a tree, as the household grew quieter and quieter. The Messenger joined me soon after the last window became dark.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to meet her tonight?¡± he asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡±


    I hated being monitored in this way. However, with angels being suspicious freaks of nature, it couldn¡¯t be helped.


    ¡°How are you going to do that?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a hidden room in this house. The attic.¡±


    ¡°What attic?¡±


    In the human world, some places are ¡°hidden.¡± They slip away from attention and aren¡¯t noticed unless we know they are there. It is said that they were created by humans to escape the persecution of angels.


    In this case, I noticed that the attic was completely neglected, but I couldn¡¯t find anytracesof mice or spiders. It wasn¡¯t used as storage, yet the garage overflowed with clutter. This room was ignored, unnoticed. Living beings looked at it without seeing it.


    I had no idea why there was a hidden attic in such a place. It was possible that the house had been constructed on an old hidden site and that part of it had become hidden in turn.


    ¡°I can¡¯t see it,¡± the Messenger said.


    ¡°If you focus on the space just above the bedroom windows, you¡¯ll start noticing a weird gapunder the roof. Then, you¡¯ll see a third window, a bit higher than the others.¡±


    He finally clicked, ¡°I see it now. You¡¯re lucky you found it.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been here for a couple of hours and I thought something was off. That''s where I''ll meet the successor. No one will find us there.¡±


    I just needed to wait a little longer to make sure everyone would be asleep.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I enjoy being in the human world.¡±


    Despite the circumstances,I agreed it was a nice time of the year to be here. The leaves had turned to red recently but the nights weren¡¯t too cold yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s already autumn. Are you going to migrate soon?¡±


    ¡°Migrate?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,withthe herons.¡±


    The Messenger was half-human, half-heron. Every autumn, he migrated south with his flock.


    He chuckled awkwardly. ¡°I haven¡¯t migrated ever since I became the Messenger.¡±


    ¡°That was¡­ fifteen years ago¡­ How come I didn¡¯t notice?¡±


    He let a moment elapse. I¡¯m sure we both thought the same thing. He decided to have a go at saying it out loud. ¡°I guess we grew apart.¡±


    An uncomfortable silence passed. He cleared his throat. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go¡­ The Light Stag wants me to report before he retires for the night.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Better go.¡±


    ¡°See you.¡±


    He turned into a heron and flew off.


    You may have noticed some tension between the Messenger and myself. It wasn¡¯t that I hated his guts, but I didn¡¯t trust him either. It¡¯s a long story and I don¡¯t feel like telling you about it.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I really don¡¯t think you want to hear it anyway.


    Ah, ok. Whatever. But be careful: I¡¯m kind of a taboo subject around here, so you¡¯ll have to keep it all to yourself.


    Because travelling between worlds is problematic for most individuals, relationships between angels, demons and humans are rarely an option.However, angels are so anxious to preserve the purity of their soul that they consider such relationshipsa crime. Funnily enough, since these narcissistic assholes also believe they can do no wrong, it¡¯s actually more common than you might think.


    Anyway. My mother was human, whereas my father was one of the higher-ups in Heaven at the time. When I was born,thisillicitrelationship suddenlybecame too troublesome formy father''s taste. Indeed, had it beendiscovered, it wouldhave automatically ruined his ambitions.


    Therefore, he started sending assassins after us. My mother ran away with me and we ended up in a shack by a river. You now know about ¡°hidden places.¡± Well, it turns out thata small area of the forest in which we escaped was hidden. I still have no idea how my mother found it. If anyone helped us, she never told me.


    We spent years there, isolated, surviving on whatever we picked from the forest, caught in the river, and grew on such a limited plot of land. My mother sometimes had to leave our hidden place to make up for what we lacked, such as medications. One day when I was ten, she left to go get something in the nearest village,and she never came back.


    My mother had always insisted that, whatever happened, I should absolutely never leave our hidden place. For that reason, I remained in the forest and just hoped that she would come back.


    My favourite fishing spot was a huge rock that hung like a platform overlooking the river. For several days after my mother¡¯s disappearance, all I could do was sit there, thinking that I should go look for her despite her warning. I had to at least try. The alternative was to spend the rest of my life alone in the forest.


    One morning, while I waited for my first catch of the day, I kept a wary eye on a tall bird wading in the river near the opposite banks. Birds were rare around here. Fish naturally followed the course of the river, but other animals tended to ignore our hidden place.


    I was gradually getting frustrated by my lack of success. I glared at the bird and said, ¡°Hey! I was here first. Stop eating all the fish!¡±


    The blue and silver bird had been here for about a week and seemed to have chosen this spot as its new home. I decided I might be better off picking mushroom instead, when I detected something shiny in the bush not too far behind the bird.


    I had heard about hunters and guns before, even though I had never seen any. I took a rock and threw it in the river, right next to the bird, to make it move out of the way. It flinched, and just at that moment, a gunshot resounded.


    I came down from the rock and ran in the river as fast as I could on the slippery rocks. ¡°Go away! You can¡¯t hunt here!¡± I yelled at whoever had fired.


    There was a moment during which I thought I heard someone or something running in the forest. Then, everything grew quiet again.


    The bird stood there without moving. It held one of its legs above water and I realised the bullet must have grazed it.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked.


    The heron flew away and I didn¡¯t see it for a few days after that. I thought that it had been scared away for good. It made me feel strangely sad.


    Then, one morning several days later, while I was fishing on my big rock, I heard a flutter behind me, just before a voice said, ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡±


    In one movement, I sprung up and smacked the intruder with my fishing rod. He hit the ground and I kept my weapon pointed at him. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    He must have been about my age. His skin and hair were darker than mine. If I had been more observant, I might have noticed the scratch on his ankle that was just like the heron¡¯s. Back then, however, I focused on the two big brown eyes that seemed to wonder why I was so unfriendly.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I live close by. I just came for a walk.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Karim¡­ and you?¡±


    ¡°L¡­ Luca.¡±


    He pushed away my fishing rod and sat up. I took a few careful steps back to keep a safe distance.


    ¡°Are you alone, Luca?¡±


    He smiled as though this was just a normal encounter. My guard slowly fell. My mother had warned me about angels and assassins, not about kids my age. He had nothing on him besides a pair of worn-out pants and a shirt. He wasn''t even wearing shoes.


    ¡°I¡¯m not alone. My mom will be back any second now.¡±


    ¡°Really? Where did she go?¡±


    I shrugged. It wasn¡¯t the right moment, but my eyes started stinging.


    ¡°How long have you been alone here?¡±


    I shrugged again. ¡°You should go away.¡±


    Karim got up and looked around him, ignoring my order. ¡°You¡¯re alone, then?¡±


    ¡°Not completely, there was a heron hanging around.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it ate all the fish for a while.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    I wiped my eyes with my hand. You know you¡¯re lonely when the birds count as company. ¡°It got scared away by some hunters. I hope it comes back.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s the only company I¡¯ve had since my mom¡¯s been gone¡­ and it¡¯s not like it can help having to eat.¡±


    Karim found this very reasonable. He beamed at me and said, ¡°You know what? What if I come back every once in a while? We could play together!¡±


    This went against everything my mother had instructed me. These kinds of decisions are hard to make though when you¡¯re a kid and you¡¯re afraid you might spend your whole life all alone.


    ¡°Do you like fishing?¡± Karim asked, ¡°I¡¯m good at fishing!¡±


    A fishing partner would be nice. My resolve collapsed. ¡°Ok, but if you tell anyone about me, I¡¯ll have to kill you.¡±


    He gulped. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    His shocked expression triggered something in me that started out as a chortle and evolved into a full-blown burst of laughter. ¡°You should see your face!¡±


    His smile made a relieved comeback. ¡°So, I can come back tomorrow?¡±


    It¡¯s funny how complicated things often begin in such a simple manner.

 6. The Concealer

    Anna often had a hard time sleeping. She tended to be kept awake by all sorts of things that ran through her mind.Every once in a while, shewould start talking with these things out loud and then a bang on the wall would remind her that her brother in the next room didn¡¯t appreciate her quirks.


    That night, however, she fell asleep quickly. It was too bad then that she was awoken just a couple of hours later by a rattling in her bedroom. Her eyes cracked open and she found herself face to face with some strange animal observing her intently.


    Anna backed away with a start.The animal looked like something between a fox and a wolf. Maybe a coyote or a jackal, although these species didn¡¯t live in her part of the world. What was this one doing in her bedroom?


    ¡°Hey, are you a dog?¡± she asked.


    Initiatingconversation with a predator isn¡¯t the most intuitive response. Screaming and scrambling away is what generally comes to mind. However, at that point Anna wasn¡¯t sure yet whether this was actually a wild animal, or another one of her visions. What¡¯s more, this ¡°dog¡± didn¡¯t seem wild at all. It scratched the bed cover as though it was trying to tellher to come with him.


    Once it had her attention,the animal went tothe bedroom door and waited there, casting a few glances back to check if Anna hadgot the gist. ¡°I can¡¯t let you in the house,¡± she whispered. ¡°You¡¯ll wake up everybody.¡±


    The door was already cracked open. The animal pushed it with its snout and was off. Anna ran after it into the dark corridor, calling it quietly back to her with no success. To her relief, it didn¡¯t go very far. The dog stopped in front of the wall, just opposite Victor¡¯s bedroom. Anna looked around and couldn¡¯t find what was of interest in this particular spot. Then, the animal started scratching at the wall and Anna noticed something for the first time.


    ¡°Why is there a door here?¡±


    The dog kept at it until she opened, revealing a flight of stairs. It rushed to the unknown upper floor, while Anna hesitated to follow it any further. She¡¯d never been there before, and as far as she knew, neither had anyone else in her family.


    Soon, curiosity got the better of her and she carefully went up the eight steps that led to an attic. A small window illuminated the beams that ran along the ceiling with the faint moonlight. Just in front of it, the strange dog sat and waited for her.


    Wreaths of blue smoke suddenly started curling around the animal, who grew taller and taller as the legs turned into human legs and arms and the pointy ears receded into the head. At the end of the process, the animal was gone and all that was left in its place was some boy wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.


    ¡°Anna, wait,¡± the boy said when the little girl seemed about to run back down the stairs.


    ¡°W¡­ who are you?¡±


    The boy hesitated a moment. ¡°My name is Luca... But you must keep this, and everything I¡¯m about to say, to yourself. Do you understand? If anyone learns about this, if you tell anyone about this, then bad things will happen. You must keep it a secret.¡±


    The little girl froze in fear. It wasn¡¯t that Luca was particularly scary, but even her weirdest visions had never reached such a level of weirdness.


    ¡°Anna, do you understand?¡± he insisted.


    ¡°Y¡­ yes.¡±


    Luca sighed and scratched his head. ¡°You can see and hear things that other people can¡¯t. You have probably already noticed... What you see are the souls of the living and the departed, and the spirit of everything that exists. They like you because you can understand them, you listen to them. They tell you about... the true state of things. What will happen, what has already happened. That is why you will become the next Seer.¡±Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a Seer, I want to be a vet,¡± Anna interjected.


    Luca clearly hadn¡¯t planned for this. ¡°I mean¡­ I guess¡­ You still have a few years to go, so don¡¯t worry too much about it. For now, just make sure you wear this at all times.¡±


    He took a small velvet pouch out of his jeans pocket and extracted a silver bracelet from it. He then kneeled down and gestured for Anna to come closer. She took a few wary steps until she was close enough to see what Luca had in his hands.


    ¡°This is for you,¡± Luca explained. ¡°It¡¯s a concealer. That way, the spirits won¡¯t bother you too much.¡±


    ¡°But I like talking with them.¡±


    ¡°Now yes, but soon you will become very popular and they¡¯ll all want to be with you. The bracelet will hide your power, so they won¡¯t recognise you.¡±


    ¡°Like Cinderella!¡±


    Luca gave her a puzzled look. Anna felt the need to explain her point. ¡°When Cinderella went to the ball, no one knew it was her!¡±


    "Sure, why not.¡±


    He fastened the clasp of the bracelet around Anna¡¯s wrist. She observed it a moment and seemed satisfied with it. ¡°You know, maybe I can be a vet and a deer?¡±


    ¡°A Seer? Yeah, we¡¯ll see. I have to go now. Just remember to wear the bracelet at all times and don¡¯t talk about any of this.¡±


    Luca walked toward the window. He opened it and sat on the windowsill with his legs dangling outside.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be back?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll watch over you. If there is anything, I¡¯ll be there. Go back to bed now.¡±


    He let himself fall down and disappeared into the night. Anna went up to the windowsill and waved her hand. ¡°Bye bye, mister Luca!¡± she whispered.


    ***


    I prided myself on a job well done as I headed back to my place in the Underworld. I had been expecting some screaming and crying, because what else can you expect from a seven-year-old kid. On the whole, I was happy with the way things turned out. The only aspect that filled me with dread was the thought that I would be stuck checking on Anna until she became the Seer.


    Finding the door to my place unlocked was a grim reminder that some strange soul lurked in there. Indeed, Alexandra lay on the couch, reading a book she must have found somewhere in the Ghost Market, given that I didn¡¯t own any.


    I meant to drop dead on the couch, but because she took up most of the place, all I could do was squeeze in between her feet and the armrest. When she finally deigned look up from her book, I noticed she wore a black eyepatch that covered her right eye socket. ¡°Where were you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    ¡°Did you go¡­¡± she paused and lowered her voice, ¡°look for the Seer¡¯s successor?¡±


    Her question took me by surprise. I ended up stuttering like a rubber ball falling down the stairs. ¡°What? No! Wait, how¡­ when¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a rumour circulating in the Capital of Shadows. I heard that they are looking for the next Seer.¡±


    What was the point of top secret information if nothing could be kept secret in this hen pen anyway? The Ferryman must have beengossiping around, as usual.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t listen to rumours.¡±


    ¡°What else do you expect me to do, Mr. Grumpy? I¡¯m alone here all day.¡±


    One day, I¡¯d like to see the Messenger let a random person stay at his own place for an indefinite amount of time. Then, he might understand the sort moral anguish he¡¯d forced on me. It had been a couple of weeks already and Alexandra showed so sign that she was getting ready for reincarnation.


    I tried to bring up the subject as innocently as I could. ¡°So¡­ How¡¯s the memory going? Have you started forgetting yet?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± she said, smiling like she was so proud of herself. ¡°Today, I forgot that my birthday was on May 17 and that my favourite colour is red.¡±


    I stared at her. She must have been kidding me. ¡°You didn¡¯t forget at all, then.¡±


    ¡°I guess I forgot that I forgot.¡±


    Right. I better go to bed before I lost my patience. As I got up, I mumbled, ¡°What¡¯s with the eyepatch anyway?¡±


    She pointed to it. ¡°This? I think it looks better this way.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°You never worried about it while you were alive.¡±


    ¡°I had other things to worry about.¡±


    Great, I felt bad now for not being nicer to a poor soul with a sad past life. It wasn¡¯t my place to ask about it, so I went to my bedroom.


    Karma must havewantedto punish me for waking up little kids in the middle of the night. I saythis because, the same night, while I was sleeping in my bed, I was suddenly woken up by a terrible noise. Before I even had the time to get up and hide in my closet, a group of five or six individuals barged in and circled my bed.


    I sat up and all I could mumble was a heartfelt, ¡°What the¡­¡±


    They wore some kind of bulky hazmat suits that covered them from head to toe, which gave me a really bad feeling. Who would need such protection in here? I could already guess, and I didn¡¯t like it. My heart beat so hard that I thought it might break a few ribs while trying to break free from my chest. I really didn¡¯t like this.


    A booming voice resonated from one of the suits. ¡°Luca, we were sent by the Light Stag. You must come with us.¡±


    Angels. They were angels. The one closest to me handcuffedmy wrists and another one yanked me out of bed. I stumbled on the cold floor as they pulled me out of the bedroom.


    ¡°Wait, where are we going?¡±


    ¡°We are taking you to the Light Stag. In Heaven.¡±


    Fear turned into panic. They had to be kidding.

 7. The Suspended Hall

    A carriage pulled by a bunch of white geese waited for us downstairs. It bore the coat of arms of the Light Stag¡¯s clan, which marked it as the official transportation of the ruler of Heaven. This wasn¡¯t some practical joke, then.


    They pushed me inside and forced me to sit on the cushioned bench while four angels took place in front and on either side of me. Soon, there was a jolt and we took off in a flurry of white feathers. I had another go at reasoning with my captors. ¡°You can¡¯t bring me to Heaven without protection.¡±


    The angel to my right said, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take too long, provided you cooperate.¡±


    I don¡¯t know what prevented them from at least bringing me my own protective suit. ¡°Does the Snow Raven know about this?¡±


    ¡°Please, stay quiet.¡±


    As I thought, the Snow Raven couldn¡¯t possibly be aware of what was going on. She wouldn¡¯t have allowed it. This was a power move the Light Stag was pulling.


    Even though the curtains were drawn across the windows of the carriage, I knew we were getting closer and closer to Heaven because my body was starting to react to the change in the atmosphere. The levels of purity were too high for a demon¡¯s soul. I had been using my favourite human form while I slept, but I was no longer able to maintain it and my short, light hairbecame dark and grew longer and longer until black strands fell past my shoulders. My nails turned into claws. My blood felt like it was about to boil; my skinwas too pale to look normal and it cracked in places.


    We touched down at the Diamond Peak Tower. The angels extracted me from the carriage despite my struggling and no amount of protest convinced them to bring me back to the Underworld.


    Not many demons had the chance to ever visit the Suspended Hall at the top of the Tower. A golden throne stood at the far end of the vast room, underneath a crystal dome through which the stars were visible at all time of the day. It was like standing suspended in the sky, hence the name. However, I was in too much pain to fully appreciate the experience and I would have gladly given this opportunity to someone else.


    The angels dragged me across the purple carpet and forced me to kneel at the bottom of the steps that led up to the throne. My hands were still shackled behind my back and I could barely keep myself from falling flat on my face.


    A mellifluous voice filled the entire hall. ¡°Soul Collector, how are you?¡±


    The ruler of Heaven had such a twisted sense of humour. I lifted my head to watch him sitting on his throne. In appearance, he was the Snow Raven¡¯s complete opposite: his hair was white, almost shimmery, his skin was pale and his eyes were a piercing kind of steel blue. I knew they were also opposite in personality. Whereas the Snow Raven was always collected and silently scheming, the Light Stag was given to outbursts of anger.


    ¡°You, asshole¡­¡± I growled, ¡°I¡¯m a demon! Why did you bring me here?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be ignorant.¡±


    Whatever went on in the mind of that paranoid old fart, it didn¡¯t bode well for me. The angels who had brought me here stood in two rows along the carpet, keeping me in the middle. A servant entered the hall and announced, ¡°The Snow Raven is calling.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡±


    The servant carried a small box from which a beam of light emanated. He set it on the floor, at the bottom of the steps, and a see-through hologram of the Snow Raven appeared. She greeted the Light Stag unceremoniously. ¡°I was told there was an emergency.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Thank you for responding to my request.¡±


    The Snow Raven scanned the room. She observed me a moment with a frown before recognising me. I bet I didn¡¯t look like my usual self. ¡°What is the Soul Collector doing here?¡±


    ¡°This matter concerns him directly.¡±


    To my relief, the Snow Raven expressed a measured amount of indignation. ¡°Release him immediately.¡±


    ¡°Before making a judgement, don¡¯t you want to hear what happened?¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    She kept her eyes on me. I¡¯m sure she was assessing how long I would still hold on, and whether it would be faster to entertain him. I hoped she knew what she was doing, because it was getting hard to breathe on my end. ¡°What is this emergency?¡±


    Even though headdressed the Snow Raven, the Light Stag looked at me as he said, ¡°You remember we¡¯ve talked about finding a replacement for the Soul Collector?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I immediately regretted my reaction when a sharp pain shot through my skull. Beads of sweat slid down my forehead. As expected, the Light Stag had been scheming to get rid of me.


    ¡°I remember we discussed the idea," the Snow Raven said, "but we didn¡¯t reach a consensus. Anyway, there is no one suitable at the moment to replace the Soul Collector.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Since that incompetent Seer couldn¡¯t find one, I decided that we should make one. I asked Azrael for her help and she¡¯s been working on what she called a ¡®golem,¡¯ a creature that will be able to fill the Soul Collector¡¯s position.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t believe it! People casually called Azrael a ¡°witch,¡± but she was more a mix between an engineer, an alchemist and a doctor. She was one of the oldest demons to have ever existed and despite living in the Underworld, she sometimes took commissions from Heaven. I had never heard of a ¡°golem¡± before, I had no idea what kind of power it possessed, and I didn¡¯t like thinking that one could replace me.


    The Snow Raven seemed to share my feelings. They boiled under the surface for a fleeting moment and she got the better of them. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Azrael just alerted the authorities. Apparently, the golem disappeared. This is obviously a serious threat to our security. I wanted to waste no time in arresting the suspects.¡±


    That lunatic bastard, he thought I was the one who had stolen his stupid golem! I let him know what I thought of his deductive reasoning skills even though it brought tears of pain to my eyes. ¡°You, old freak! I had no idea about your filthy plan, howcan I be responsible for the disappearance of something I didn¡¯t even know existed?¡±


    ¡°Soul Collector, take it easy,¡± the Snow Raven admonished. ¡°The sooner this is over, the better¡± She then addressed the Light Stag again, ¡°Do you have any idea of how this happened?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, but the Soul Collector is the main suspect and Iwantmy agents to keep a close watch on him in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°You realise that I didn¡¯t know about the golem myself. How do you suppose he would have figured out about it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he has his ways. I heard he is barely ever seen in the Underworld, who knows how he spends his time? I can¡¯t think of anyone else who would have an interest in messing up with my plan.¡±


    The Snow Raven lost patience, which I was happy about because I was at the end of my rope here. ¡°Your actions are unworthy of your position as the ruler of Heaven!¡±


    The Light Stag exploded. ¡°This wretch was suspicious from the day you allowed him to become the Soul Collector!¡±


    His words resonated in the hall a moment and left us all stunned. As the echo died down, muffled footsteps strode on the purple carpet. Someone had entered the hall and everyone in the room turned toward the newcomer. Everyone except me, because I was too busy being bent over in pain.


    ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of an important meeting,¡± The Light Stag said with an annoyed sigh.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to intrude, I just returned from Azrael¡¯s laboratory with information that I thought might be of interest. Good evening, Snow Raven.¡±


    Dammit, it was that idiot Messenger! What was he doing here at such a time? I saw his shoes stop beside me from the corner of my eyes. At least, he had the presence of mind to ignore me.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the Light Stag asked half-heartedly. He clearly would have preferred to keep going with his baseless accusations.


    The Messenger climbed up the few steps to the throne. I heard a ruffling sound, as though someone was taking out sheets of paper from an envelope and leafing through them. I glanced up and caught the eye of the Messenger for one split-second.


    He summarized the situation, ¡°These pictures were taken at the crime scene. As you know, Azrael works in a maximum-security laboratory, situated in the middle of seven layers of locked gates. If any of the gates had been forced just before the golem¡¯s disappearance, it would have set off an alarm and immediately locked the intruder on the spot.


    ¡°However, there was no sign of trespassing. The only alert was noted by Azrael, when she realised that the sensors had stopped recording vital signs from the golem.¡±


    ¡°Must I understand that the person who stole the golem had access to the laboratory? But no one beside Azrael can enter this place,¡± the Light Stag muttered. ¡°Someone must have figured out how to unlock the gates.¡±


    The Messenger cleared his throat. ¡°That is indeed one possibility. Azrael mentioned that if anyone was able to figure out how to enter the laboratory without her help, they must have had both tremendous powers and a very keen intelligence.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The disappointment behind those last two words sounded like an insult intended for me.


    ¡°Azrael did mention that the golem may have learned how she got in and out of the laboratory by observing her. It could have wandered out without any malicious intention.¡±


    The Snow Raven jumped in, ¡°It seems you have no reason to suspect the Soul Collector anymore. How about we continue this meeting in private and release him?¡±


    At last, I thought. Every second stretched into an eternity until the Light Stag reluctantly uttered his next order, ¡°Take him back to the Underworld.


    ¡°Please, allow me,¡± the Messenger said. ¡°No need to bother your agents. I can accompany the Soul Collector myself.¡±


    He came down the steps and helped me get to my feet. I don¡¯t like admitting it, but I was so disoriented, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to leave the hall on my own, even though the exit was in a straight line behind me. An angel removed my handcuffs and they escorted us back to the goose carriage, where I was finally left alone with the Messenger.

 8. Conspiracy

    As soon as we started on our way back to the Underworld, breathing became easier. The Messenger sat in front of me, but he kept his gaze politely out of the window while I recovered. Eventually, the long strands of hair that hung past my shoulders disappeared, and my claws retreated into their nail bed. Once my skin appeared human and the cuts on my arms started healing, I commented, ¡°Right on time.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t dumb enough to think that he had strolled into the Suspended Hall by coincidence just as I was turning into a puddle on the carpet. The Messenger gave me asympatheticsmile. ¡°Castor contacted me while I was speaking with the investigators. I figured it was time to bring some fresh news to Heaven.¡±


    ¡°Did you know Azrael was working on a replacement?¡±


    ¡°I just heard about it.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is a golem anyway?¡±


    The Messenger shrugged. ¡°From what I heard, it sounds like a doll that possesses some form of conscience.¡±


    Well, that thing was now running around in nature, doing god knows what. I wondered whether the Light Stag would still try to find it to replace me, or if he was going to change plan. I let my forehead rest against the window. ¡°It''s just a question of time until the Light Stag comes up with another plan to get rid of me.¡±


    The Messenger frowned like he didn¡¯t know where I was getting at. I finished my thought, ¡°If you¡¯re not careful, you might end up in trouble too.¡±


    He shook his head dismissively. ¡°The Snow Raven won¡¯t let it happen.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s just so much she can do against Heaven. Anyway, what I mean is, next time, don¡¯t get involved.¡±


    It was hard for me to say that, because just thinking about spending one more minute in the Suspended Hall made me want to throw up. The Messenger smiled in a conciliatory manner, but I knew it was just a fa?ade for his stubbornness, which often doubled up as idiocy.


    Up to now, the Messenger had done a good job of staying in everybody¡¯s good grace. He was eager to please, got the job done and was careful with his words. He had no choice because, as someone who worked for both Heaven and the Underworld,demons and angelsscrutinized his every move to see whether he favoured one side over the other. If the Light Stag realised he was secretly helping me, then the Messenger would get dragged in this mess as well.


    He got out of the carriage first once we reached my apartment and he extended a hand to help me step down. My legs felt a little shaky so I was going to swallow my pride and just grab his forearm for stability. At that moment, the front door opened and Alexandra came running out. ¡°Luca! What happened?¡±


    Ah, crap. Not now. I flitted the Messenger away and ignored Alexandra. I just wanted to go to bed. It was still night and with a bit of luck, I might catch a few hours of sleep before the morning. The first step already felt like a bad idea. On the second one, my vision blurred.


    ¡°Luca!¡±


    On the third one, my body gave up and I lost consciousness before I hit the ground.


    I woke up to a torrent of light pouring in through a crack between the curtains. The soft surface of my bed did little to appease the pain in my bones. It was still better than lying down in the street, I guess.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    I discerned someone standing by the window. I recognised Alexandra just in time to repress an undignified scream of terror. I still screamed inside, though. She probably heard me somehow, because she turned around. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I let her interpret that whichever way she wanted. I wasn¡¯t sure myself.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°The Light Stag thinks I stole something.¡±


    ¡°Stole what?¡±


    ¡°My replacement.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    I rolled on my side to tune Alexandra out. She shouldn¡¯t be asking so many questions while I was still convalescing. ¡°The Light Stag made some sort of creature to replace me.¡±


    ¡°A creature to become the new Soul Collector? What about you?¡±


    I shrugged in the pillow. I should be careful not to say anything confidential or she would leak it all during one of her gossiping sprees around the Capital. ¡°I guess that¡¯s part of his plan to force me to retire. When a demon is replaced, their soul is cleaned and then sent back for reincarnation, just like humans.¡±


    ¡°So, that¡¯s basically an assassination plan?¡±


    I pressed the pillow over my head to block out all the noise she made. Yes, I guess if you squinted hard enough, you could call it an assassination, although in the Light Stag¡¯s psychopathic mind, it probably sounded more like a strategic reorganization of personnel.


    There was a knock at the door. Two distinct impacts, just loud enough to be heard in the bedroom. My intuition told me that it must be Castor. He was such an efficient knocker. ¡°Can you answer the door please?¡± I mumbled to Alexandra.


    She took a deep breath. ¡°Come in!¡± she yelled at the top of her lungs.


    If she was going to stay here any longer, we needed to have a serious talk.


    Anyway, as expected, we met Castor in my hallway. He carried a bunch of flowers that he gave me as he entered. We waited for a bit and once it became clear I wasn¡¯t going to invite him to come in and sit down, he said, ¡°The Snow Raven is deeply sorry for what happened last night.¡±


    The flowers looked like something that had been picked from her garden. What an honour. ¡°Well, she better be,¡± I answered.


    He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and noticed Alexandra, who stood close by, trying to intercept scraps of classified information. ¡°Good morning, Alexandra.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Castor,¡± she replied. Alexandra had really been all over the place in her quest for gossip. She¡¯d even made friends with Castor, apparently. She was bound to be disappointed with this one. People around the Capital typically called him the Ice Cube because he was so stingy with information.


    I mean, they didn¡¯t actually call him that, but they could have.


    ¡°Is the current housing arrangement to your satisfaction?¡± he asked Alexandra. ¡°We can help you find something else if the Soul Collector is bothering you.¡±


    I cleared my throat loudly to remind them that I was there, listening to every word. That was pointless. Alexandra just replied, ¡°Thanks, but that¡¯s fine. He¡¯s almost never here.¡±


    I waited in vain for Castor to ask me what I thought of this housing arrangement. Oh, well. Let¡¯s get to the main point. ¡°The Light Stag and the Snow Raven have been talking about replacing me?¡±


    ¡°Although it may seem that this is the case, I can assure you that the Snow Raven formally refused to replace you. We had no idea the Light Stag had commissioned Azrael for a golem with the objective of using it as a new Soul Collector.¡±


    ¡°So, what now? What if they find it? What if they can¡¯t find it?¡±


    ¡°I understand this situation is causing uncertainty on your side. However, for now, we must focus our efforts on finding the golem before it causes any harm.¡±


    Castor was in diplomatic mode. He completely obscured the possibility that there might be someone out there who had stolen the golem with the intention of using it for malicious purposes. I¡¯m sure the Snow Raven had spent most of the previous evening trying to reassure the Light Stag that no demon was out there to get him. If he started to suspect that someone in the Underworld wanted to overthrow him, there would be no end to our grief.


    I guess it made sense that the Light Stag suspected me. After all, I dreamed about his downfall on a daily basis. If there was a demon smart and brave enough to devise a plan to make my dream come true, I might want to have a chat with this demon and maybe even offer them a drink.


    As much as Castor wanted to pretend the Snow Raven had the situation under control, I knew there was no way this could be the case. Given the current circumstances, I was instructed to make sure the Seer¡¯s successor wouldn¡¯t be left without supervision for extended periods of time. Therefore, instead of taking the day off to rest my mangled body, I took the boat to the human world the same afternoon to go watch over Anna.

 9. Missing Souls

    The Ferryman¡¯s vessel glided quietly toward the port of the Capital of Shadows. As soon as he saw me waiting for him on the dock, he exclaimed, ¡°Soul Collector! What a relief!¡±


    He stopped beside a ladder that I used to go down into the little boat. ¡°Why are you relieved?¡±


    ¡°Your friend was looking for you last night. She said you were kidnapped.¡±


    It took me a good minute to realise that ¡°my friend¡± referred to Alexandra. ¡°She asked you for help?¡±


    ¡°No, she went to the old lady who sells antiques, who then told about half the Capital. Someone suggested you¡¯d been abducted by angels, so we all went to the Moonstone Palace to ask the Snow Raven to help you.¡±


    His hood hid all of his face, but I could imagine the proud grin pasted on it right at that moment. It was heart-warming to know that a bunch of demons had been looking for me the previous night. At the same time, it reflected the problematic speed at which gossip traveled around here. Definitely not something to be proud of.


    Once I reached the human world, I sat in the tree behind Anna¡¯s house and there, at last, with no one-eyed ghosts around to distract me, I had time to think. I wondered why someone would steal a golem. I¡¯m not an expert, but it seemed to me like a cumbersome thing to hide. And what would the thief use it for, collecting souls? It sounded unlikely anyone would do such a thing, so it might be that the golem had gotten loose on its own. Azrael was getting old after all, she might have forgotten to lock a door or something.


    In any case, how did this pose a threat to Anna? The Snow Raven probably thought that the hypothetical thief who had hypothetically stolen the golem might go after the Seer¡¯s heir next. No harm in being careful, I guess.


    I sighed and breathed in the night air. It was nice, compared to the stench of the Capital. A little shadow moving behind a window caught my attention. It exited through the door that gave onto the balcony and ran across the lawn. I was pretty sure it was Anna, all bundled up in her coat and scarf.


    She stopped under my tree and said, ¡°Is it you?¡±


    I guess my hideout wasn¡¯t as clever as I had thought initially. I whispered, ¡°Go back to bed!¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me. Now, go!¡±


    ¡°Can I sit with you?¡±


    This child posed a threat to my authority. I had to be assertive. ¡°No!¡±


    To my horror, she disregarded my command and started climbing up, branch by branch. After some perilous cracking and then some uncertain dangling by one arm, she reached my spot and sat beside me. She had scratches all over her hands, yet she smiled at me as though there was something to be happy about.


    I reached over to remove a twig from her hair. If someone showed up at that moment, they would think I wasn¡¯t doing my job as a guardian properly. I had a quick look at her wrist to make sure she wore the bracelet. It seemed to be working, because I couldn¡¯t detect her power anymore. ¡°How come you¡¯re still up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I wanted to look at the stars. They¡¯re so pretty tonight!¡±


    I looked up at the clear night sky. Humans didn¡¯t know much about the other two worlds. The Snow Raven hadn¡¯t instructed me to do anything beside watching over Anna, but I thought that, if she was going to become the Seer one day, she might need to know about angels and demons. ¡°Did you know that when someone¡¯s soul is very pure, it becomes a star when they die?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Really? Like angels?¡±


    Oh, good. She already knew about angels. I thought over my stuff a bit. This discussion was already getting political. Maybe I should let the Messenger deal with her education. ¡°Well, mostly angels. In theory, demons and humans can also become stars, as long as they¡¯ve been very good in their lifetime... I¡¯ve never heard of that happening, though. Usually, demons and humans get reincarnated.¡±


    Anna stared at me with huge eyes as though this was the weirdest thing she¡¯d ever heard someone say, which it probably was. I think we tend to underestimate children¡¯s critical thinking abilities. ¡°That¡¯s so unfair!¡± she said.


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±


    Thankfully for me, the Messenger landed beside me on the branch at that moment andtook human form.


    ¡°Hi, Karim!¡± Anna exclaimed. She wasn''t surprised in the least to see a bird turn into some guy. It seemed they¡¯d had a chit-chat before.


    ¡°Hey there!¡± he replied.


    ¡°Mr. Luca was telling me about the stars!¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± The Messenger gave me an uncertain look.Ok, I recognize I may have strolled on a minefield.


    ¡°Karim, you¡¯re human, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, good job, Anna!¡±


    ¡°And Mr. Luca, he¡¯s a¡­¡±


    She scrutinized my face. I tried to scoot away, but the Messenger blocked my way. ¡°You¡¯re an angel!¡± Anna declared.


    ¡°Of course not!¡± I burst out, ¡°I¡¯m a demon!¡±


    Her words flicked a switch. It was too late to control my reaction once I realised I had gone overboard. The Messenger placed a hand on my arm to remind me to stay calm. Anna froze a moment and her eyes filled with tears. Crap.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s the next Seer after all!¡± the Messenger said to defuse the situation. He smiled and Anna¡¯s chin stopped trembling. ¡°Anna, what you just said about Luca being an angel, you should never repeat it to anyone.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    He frowned just a tiny bit and she stopped talking. How was he so good at getting people to listen to him?


    ¡°It¡¯s important. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, ok.¡±


    She dangled her feet for a bit and her face lit up again. ¡°Can I ask a question?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I answered.


    ¡°Sure,¡± the Messenger said at the same time.


    Anna ignored me and went ahead. ¡°Can humans and demons be friends?¡±


    I bet the Messenger made a mental note to be more cautious in the future about answering tricky questions from children. He glanced at me, but I didn¡¯t return his look. This one was his fault, he was on his own.


    ¡°I¡­ I guess it depends.¡±


    ¡°Depends on what?¡±


    All right, enough education for today. The Messenger scratched his head. ¡°It¡¯s really late. You should go to bed.¡±


    Anna grumbled a bit for good form. The Messenger insisted and she finally climbed down the tree. My heart skipped a beat at every branch. These tiny humans acted as though they were invincible.


    ¡°You can go, I¡¯ll keep watch.¡±


    I was pretty exhausted, so I didn¡¯t make the Messenger say it twice.


    Several days then passed without any other incident. Based on this introduction, you probably expect that something meaningful happened after those several days. Well, you¡¯re completely right.


    So, as I said, a while passed just as usual. I avoided getting kidnapped by angels, which did a lot to improve my overall mood. The Messenger followed the investigations concerning the lost golem and reported any progress to his bosses. Unfortunately, there was nothing much to report until something strange happened while I was collecting souls.


    One of the clues that day led me to the site of a car accident, on the highway. One car had crashed against a lamppost and another one ended up a bit farther on the grassy area that lined the side of the road. There were supposedly three souls to collect in total and the clue was ¡°all of them except the small one.¡±


    Maybe the Seer took pity on me for once and decided to give me an easy clue. I first went to the car that had crashed against the lamppost. There were two adults, one man and one woman, sitting in the front, both unconscious. Neither of them struck me as smaller than usual, so I figured I should collect both their souls. I changed into my funeral form and as I extended my hand toward the driver, I faced a very concerning problem.


    The driver had no soul. Even worse, the passenger didn¡¯t have a soul either. I felt a nervous tingle at the back of my neck, but I tried to keep my head clear. The second car was empty and I found its driver lying several meters away. He must have been ejected during the accident. To my relief, this one was still alive. He stirred as I approached and kneeled in front of him. He looked up at me and what he said puzzled me even more.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d let me live, but you came back,¡± he whispered.


    Came back? It was certain this was my first time here that day.

 10. A Greater Scheme

    He was the only one remaining, I couldn¡¯t find anyone else. Yet, according to the clue, there should be four individuals: a small one, and then three regular-sized ones. This guy looked pretty regular to me, so I was sure I needed to collect his soul as well. I didn¡¯t want to waste time getting the job done, because it¡¯s not a good thing too make people suffer too long. However, once I collected his soul, he would start forgetting and his memories would become unreliable. I needed to ask my question first.


    ¡°What did you see?¡±


    ¡°You were standing next to the car... and I saw their souls rise from their bodies... and they disappeared. I thought I was going to make it.¡±


    He spoke with difficulty, but his mind was still clear. Someone had been here before I arrived and that person had collected the soul of the other two victims. I already had my little idea of who that person could be.


    That said, as urgent as it was to find the missing souls, it would have to wait until I was done with the protocol for this guy. ¡°Is there anything you want to say?¡±


    He coughed quite a bit and started getting agitated. The victims who panicked were the worst. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened! I was driving safely. I was going to see my¡­ my girlfriend.¡±


    People have no trouble figuring out their priorities when they stand so close to death. The guy paused. He had just a few seconds left to make up for the rest of his life. ¡°I want to say¡­ I¡¯m sorry I won¡¯t get to¡­ I won¡¯t be there when¡­¡±


    ¡°Take your time.¡±


    The sound of an ambulance got nearer and nearer. It would make my job harder if I had to follow him to the hospital, but I couldn¡¯t rush him while he was saying his last wish. Maybe he could just hurry up a bit, though.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Pearl?¡± he asked suddenly.


    ¡°Pearl?¡±


    I got up to examine my surroundings once more. Something moved by the car. The doors hung open loosely and a small, white dog emerged from the back seat. Despite its limp, it did its best to run toward its owner.


    ¡°Will you tell her?¡± the driver said. ¡°That I love her?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ yes. Of course.¡±


    The tiny dog licked the man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Are you Pearl?¡± I thought out loud. Pearl, the small one. It was pointless to bring it up in the clue, I didn¡¯t collect the souls of animals anyway.


    I sighed. Everything started piling up all of a sudden.


    I showed up to the Moonstone Palace right after dropping my last soul in the Capital of Shadows. A servant tried to slow me down long enough so that she could announce my presence to the Snow Raven. In such a situation, I deemed there was no time for civilities. While the servant was too polite to tell me off, I wasn¡¯t too polite to barge in the Snow Raven¡¯s office without asking anyone¡¯s permission.


    The stained-glass window behind the huge desk cast puddles of coloured light on the Snow Raven and Castor. The latter made sure to let me know I intruded. ¡°Soul Collector, was there no servant to greet you at the door?¡±


    To be fair, there was never any sarcasm in Castor¡¯s words. He genuinely worried that the procedure hadn¡¯t been followed properly. He was the kind of guy to organize his sock drawer in alphabetical order of colour.


    Stepping into the Snow Raven¡¯s office always quieted down the turmoil of the outside world. The atmosphere subdued the harsh lights, softened the angles. I suspected she sprayed something in the air to drug her guests.


    ¡°There¡¯s been an incident,¡± I announced.


    ¡°An incident?¡±


    Castor assumed his position at the right of the desk, like a statue moving back to its socle. The Snow Raven sat back in her armchair and her attention shifted entirely on me. It intimidated me so much, I almost forgot the reason I had come here. ¡°Yes, I was at the scene of a car crash and two of the three souls I needed to collect were missing.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    She steepled her fingers pensively. I bet an executive headache would flare up a bit later, although she showed no signs of it. ¡°Do you have an idea of what happened?¡±


    ¡°The third victim said that he saw me collect the other two souls earlier. However, I swear I¡¯ve only been there once.¡±


    ¡°You were in your funeral form at that point?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, he wouldn¡¯t have confused you with another human, right? Castor, can you look through the history of souls that arrived today and see whether two of them might correspond to the missing ones?¡±


    It was possible they¡¯d found their way to the Underworld on their own. In that case, the Ferryman would have recorded their arrival. Castor immediately went to work on his tablet while the Snow Raven and I kept sifting through the issue. ¡°What do you think might have happened?¡± she asked me.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯re both thinking about the same thing right now.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind telling me this thing we¡¯re both thinking about?¡±


    She obviously could have done so herself, but she didn¡¯t want to be the one to indirectly criticize the Light Stag¡¯s idiocy.


    ¡°I think the most likely explanation is that the golem collected those two souls. After all, it was made for this purpose.¡±


    ¡°Why would it do such a thing?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Does it make sense that it would collect souls of its own accord? Is there a soul collecting instinct?¡±


    I thought about this. As far as I was concerned, left to my own devices, I wouldn¡¯t feel compelled to collect souls for my personal satisfaction. ¡°There isn¡¯t. Are you saying that someone else made it steal the souls?¡±


    ¡°Something to ponder.¡±


    Castor politely lowered his tablet and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as a signal that he was ready to speak. The Snow Raven nodded to grant him permission. He said with careful words, ¡°I couldn¡¯t find the missing souls in today''s history.¡±


    We exchanged meaningful glances. I think that, up to that point, the Snow Ravensuspected the golem thief wasan unknown rebel demon who wanted to make a statement. With this last incident, it became clearer that there might be a greater scheme at play.


    ¡°I will send investigators in the human world. Castor, make sure we have protective suits ready.¡±


    ¡°Yes, madam,¡± Castor answered.


    The Snow Raven returned to me. ¡°However, because the suits have their restrictions, we will need your help in this investigation.¡±


    I had been waiting for it. Logically, the problem rested on the Light Stag¡¯s shoulders, since he was the one who asked for a golem to be engineered in secret. When his plan blew up in his face, he made sure to shift the responsibilities to the Underworld and now, it was my problem.


    ¡°Yeah, sure. Can I ask something?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the Messenger could stop guarding the Seer¡¯s successor?¡±


    ¡°Can you explain yourself?¡±


    ¡°The situation suddenly turned out to be much more uncertain than expected. I think the guardian''s duty might be putting a human in undue danger.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be possible. The Light Stag required the Messenger to monitor this case.¡±


    She leaned forward on her desk and added with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he knows how to be careful.¡±


    Yeah, sure, I thought, he also knows how to act like an idiot.


    Once I had updated the Snow Raven about this depressing turn of affairs, I still had to finish up with my most recent task. I took the boat back to the banks of the Underworld, where Pearl waited for me. Souls are invisible to living humans in the human world. There are animals who can perceive them, though, and Pearl had insisted to followthesoul of her human. Of course, she couldn¡¯t cross to the Capital, because it would have been dangerous for her, so she waited there.


    Pearl didn¡¯t want to get up when I called her. I bet she wanted her human to come back and didn¡¯t know that the next time he would show up in the human world, it would be as someone completely different. Eventually, I just picked her up despite her whimpering. I guess Iunderstood why she wanted to stay there. At the same time, waiting indefinitely is not a life for any living thing.


    I made a promise to a dying human. As the Soul Collector, it was my duty to keep it. I¡¯ve been told that my favourite form looks grumpy all the time, so I figured it might not be the best one for my next task. Instead, I changed into a teenage girl who had short black hair and wore a soft blue duffel coat.


    The guy¡¯s girlfriend lived in an apartment in a neighbourhood that wasn¡¯t the wealthiest, but not the poorest either. I went up to her floor with Pearl in my arms. Footsteps approached the door at the sound of my knock, the chain lock scraped the wood as it was withdrawn and the door opened on a young woman. I kind of struggled to keep smiling. Demons don¡¯t generally feel sad for humans. Angels never feel sad for humans. But when you feel a bit human in your heart, the job gets difficult every once in a while.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the woman said. Her eyes were red and her voice sounded hoarse.


    ¡°You know this dog?¡± I handed Pearl over. The dog was all excited about seeing another human she knew. She started licking the woman¡¯s face as soon as she picked her up.


    ¡°Pearl! How did you¡­¡±


    ¡°She just saw yourboyfriend off.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    This was the tricky part. Telling what I had to tell without freaking out the person. ¡°Pearl saw where Ericis now. He¡¯s at peace, but he just wants you to know that he loves you.¡±


    ¡°Who the hell¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s sorry he won¡¯t be there to see you graduate.¡±


    Her eyes filled with tears. She wavered between suspicion, anger and wanting to believe me. ¡°How do you know?¡±


    I petted Pearl on the head and I decided to leave. My task was done. It might not have been the best way to convey the victim¡¯s last words, but then there rarely was a best way, beside the victim saying them directly. Sometimes, I wished someone had showed up to tell me my mother¡¯s last words. Maybe there had been no last words, or maybe the previous Soul Collector just hadn¡¯t been able to find me. I guess I¡¯ll never know.

 11. Cruelty

    The corridors were already empty when Victor came out of the classroom with his exam copy in his hands. He¡¯d flunked this one too and the teacher had asked him to stay a little after school to go over his problems.


    The sunlight had grown dim early, as it always did in the winter, and its weak rays painted soft shadows on the old floorboards. While his sister Anna travelled to and from school by bus, he generally rode his bike with his friends. This time, however, they had left before him, so he would be going home alone. It wasn¡¯t a problem in such a small village, where everybody knew everyone.


    A clanking noise caught his attention on the way to his locker. It came from the area reserved to the second grade classrooms, at the other end of the corridor. He went over to see what was going on and recognized three students from his grade, hard at work redecorating one of the lockers. Anna¡¯s locker. He approached and said, ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡±


    The three boys turned around and the shortest one of the group dropped a can of spray paint in his surprise. ¡°Crap, that¡¯s her brother!¡±


    ¡°You better clean it up!¡± Victor ordered. He glanced at the unflattering words painted in red on the locker. His stomach churned as he read them. There was no way he would let Anna see this tomorrow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell us what to do!¡± a dark-haired boy retorted. He looked like he was the boss. The third one, the tallest of the three, added, ¡°Yeah, just deal with it, your sister is not human!¡±


    Victor seethed with anger. He pushed the boys away from the locker and tried to wipe off the paint with his sleeve. The trio chuckled at his vain efforts. The boss came directly behind Victor to taunt him. ¡°She¡¯s always talking to herself! All the little kids are scared of her! Even the teachers are freaked out.¡±


    In one lightning-quick movement, Victor spun around and punched him in the face. The boy stumbled back, holding his cheek. Victor wasted no time in jumping on him and tackling him to the ground.


    ¡°Hey! He¡¯s gone crazy too!¡± the boss yelled while he struggled to free himself from Victor.


    The tall boy came to the rescue. He pinned Victor face-down on the floor while his friend recovered. ¡°Clean it up!¡± Victor insisted, ¡°or I¡¯ll tell the director you did it! You¡¯re already in trouble, this time you¡¯ll get suspended!¡±


    The boss grinned like a shark. He didn¡¯t seem bothered in the least by the threat. ¡°Let¡¯s go play some game.¡±


    The trio dragged Victor and his schoolbag to the banks of a small lake, a few minutes away from the school. Because of the recent drops in temperature, a layer of ice had formed on its surface. In the middle of winter, the villagers often enjoyed skating there. However, it was much too risky to do so early in the season, when the ice was still thin.


    While the two followers were busy taping Victor¡¯s hands behind his back, the boss explained his intentions. ¡°I bet you 20 piaels that Victor will make it halfway to the middle of the lake before the ice breaks.¡±


    The minions paused and observed each other a moment. The tall one, who¡¯d been holding the captive still, said, ¡°But, hum¡­ Josh, isn¡¯t it super dangerous?¡±


    The small one agreed. ¡°Yeah, I mean¡­¡±


    Victor growled, ¡°I¡¯m not doing this!¡±


    Josh took out his phone from his pocket. He looked through his files and then turned the screen toward Victor. ¡°If you don¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll let everybody in the school see this.¡±


    He played a video showing Anna standing in an isolated corner of the schoolyard. Even though she was alone, she seemed to be having a lively conversation with something only she could see. Victor gritted his teeth. It was exactly the kind of things he kept telling his sister she shouldn¡¯t do in public.


    ¡°So?¡± Josh prodded.


    Victor remained silent. The other two boys took the absence of protest as an assent. The tall one said tentatively, ¡°I guess¡­ I bet 20 piaels he makes it to the middle of the lake before it breaks.¡±


    The small one added, ¡°I bet the ice won¡¯t break at all.¡±


    Josh grabbed Victor by the arm and pulled him toward the lake. ¡°Walk!¡±


    The instruction made the task sound much simpler than it was in reality. Victor tested the ice with one foot, and then took his first step. The center of the lake was about seventy meters away from the banks. He was torn between crossing that distance as quickly as he could, just so he could be done with it, or as slowly as possible to avoid breaking the ice. He shivered. They hadn¡¯t let him pick his coat before they¡¯d left the school. His fingers were getting numb and the cold made it hard to think. He decided to go with the second strategy: careful and slow, testing the ice before committing each step.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    About a third of the way in, he became aware of the ice bending under his feet. He paused and looked back toward the bank only to find his three captors going through the stuff in his bag. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s mine!¡± he yelled at them.


    Josh waved him away. ¡°Keep going.¡±


    Victor resumed his walk, thinking of all the ways he would beat up the three assholes once he made it back. He was almost there. One more step and¡­


    Suddenly, an ominous pop resonated. Its echo bounced off the mountains around the lake. The ice cracked and Victor was swallowed up by the lake before he even realised what was happening.


    Back on the bank, a noise forced the three boys to lift their head from Victor¡¯s possessions. They noticed something strange; one second, Victor stood on the lake, the next, he was gone. What kind of disappearing act had he just pulled off?


    The small boy was the first one to voice their fear, ¡°G¡­ guys, I think he fell.¡±


    The tall one said, ¡°Crap! We need to call for help!¡±


    He took out his phone, only to have the boss slap it out of his hand. ¡°Are you dumb? We¡¯ll go to jail!¡±


    ¡°What? No, we won¡¯t¡­¡±


    Josh ignored the protests of his friends and got up. ¡°Leave his stuff here. You don¡¯t want to be found with it.¡±


    His two friends watched him walk away. The small one made a last attempt, ¡°But what about Victor?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine! Run!¡±


    They gave one last worried look at the quiet lake before running away with their leader.


    ***


    Over the next couple of weeks, the missing soul incident turned into an epidemic. Every other day, I would show up to a place indicated by the Seer, only to find an empty corpse with no trace of a soul left. It seemed the golem, or whoever controlled it, had gotten more careful because no one I managed to interrogate after the fiasco at the car crash scene mentioned its presence again.


    I spent one morning in the human world observing a bunch of demons as they investigated the scene of yet another missing soul. We were situated on a narrow country road running along a small lake. I recognized Anna¡¯s school close by. The area was mountainous and from my vantage point, I could also see the town center a little farther down.


    The protective suits from the Underworld looked a lot like old diving suits. They consisted of an unattractive overall topped with a round helmet that covered the whole head and neck. The two clunky cylinders of air each demon carried with the help of a harness barely allowed them to stay in the human world for one hour. Somehow, no demon had been able to come up with a better design. Probably due to a lack of budget or whatever.


    The body of the victim had already been taken away by the human authorities, so the investigators observed the surroundings for any clues that could suggest who or what had stolen the soul and where it might have come from. One of them came up to me on the side of the road. She told me, through a speaker situated on her helmet, ¡°There were two human witnesses, apart from the victim. The witnesses said that the victim fell in the lake after meeting face to face with someone that looked just like you¡­ or rather, you in your funeral form. You had nothing to do with this?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! That¡¯s completely unprofessional!¡±


    It was illegal to cause the death of a human, even if my hunch told me that they were slated to die seconds later. I had no idea why the golem would have done such a thing.


    ¡°Ok. We found evidence that there might have been a fourth human involved, although we couldn¡¯t track down their identity. Are you sure the soul that disappeared was the one you needed to collect?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not sure! Usually, I need to question them a bit before I know, but there was nothing left to question when I arrived.¡± I paused to take a deep breath because I realised I had been yelling the whole time. I resumed more calmly. ¡°Maybe you should go search for a second body or¡­¡±


    A cloud seemed to be passing. It cast its shadow directly over me. Somehow, I got the disquieting impression that it was zooming in on me. I looked up and met face to face with a full set of claws.


    I fell down on my bum with the distinct feeling that I had been caught in the middle of a pillow fight. I mean, I had never been in a pillow fight, but I imagined it would look like this. Feathers floated everywhere and I inhaled one or two. The investigator bent over to observe the projectile that hit me. ¡°Hey there, Mr. Messenger,¡± she said. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡±


    At that moment, I noticed the Messenger sitting beside me on the asphalt. He looked even more shifty than usual. ¡°Good morning! Sorry to interrupt, I have a message for the Soul Collector.¡±


    He sprang up to his feet, pulled me up and dragged me away from the group of investigators. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked.


    He stopped after we¡¯d passed a curve in the road, where a wall of rock hid us from the others. ¡°I just checked on her.¡±


    The Messenger obviously meant he¡¯d been to Anna¡¯s place. He said, ¡°Something happened to her brother yesterday evening. She and her father found him on the bank of the lake, completely drenched. Victor wouldn¡¯t talk about it, but I have the feeling he might be the fourth person you were just talking about. I¡¯m afraid that if the investigators start looking for him¡­¡±


    Then, they might get too close to Anna. ¡°You want me to lie and make it sound as though there was no fourth person?¡±


    Although he hadn¡¯t voiced this request, I understood where he was getting at. His cramped smile told me I had guessed right. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it lying¡­ You¡¯re only misleading a few people. For the greater good.¡±


    I sighed. He had a point. I would need to go question Anna afterward to learn more about whatever happened the previous evening. That whole mess was my problem now.