“Welcome, my beloved Dainians!” Shezin said, his voice booming across the entire city. “You honor me with your presence. You bless me with your love. You save me with your kindness.”
“And you protect us!” the crowd shouted in unison.
Shezin smiled. His hair, long and the color of summer grain, flowed down his back. His green eyes scanned the crowd for a while, while the priestesses sang a song about his grace and miracles, their voices rivaling the trills of nightingales. His face was wondrously symmetrical, every line drawn to entice. To seduce. Indeed, no wonder Death herself had fallen for him. Even I had trouble looking away from the guy. For a moment, I wondered what an entire species like Shezin must’ve been like. What a shame they’d perished.
His gaze settled on us, and the recognition was almost immediate. It was written all over his face that he knew exactly what Unending was. It didn’t matter that we’d been nearly drowned in a crowd of tall Dainians—not to him, anyway. “He might’ve sensed me,” Unending whispered. “Or my scythe. Or the presence of death, in general.”
“Even so, that’s very good eyesight,” I muttered. “Maybe he’s got some magic lenses on his eyes or something.”
“Maybe.”
Instinctively, Shezin’s hand moved behind his back, where he probably had his scythe. I had so many questions for this guy, but it was obvious that Death had been lying to us. His knowledge of death magic, based on the miracles alone, proved that they had absolutely met, and that he’d meant something to her. Death had imparted some precious words and sub-words to Shezin, and we had to figure out why.
Most importantly, we had to understand why she’d denied knowing anything about him, yet still urged us to look into him.
“Oh, he’s coming down the steps,” Embry mumbled. “That’s rare…”
The priestesses continued with their song, and many in the crowd hummed along, but every eye was fixed on Shezin as he slowly descended toward us, one hand calmly behind his back as he kept smiling. The strain on his face was impossible to ignore, however.
“Worry not, we’re not here as hostiles,” Unending said, slowly but loud enough for Shezin to hear. It made Embry giggle.
“Why would you wish to hurt him, anyway? He’s untouchable. That’s nonsense,” she replied, then fawned over Shezin. “Your Holiness… It is a blessing to see you, as always.” She bowed before him, and the others around us followed suit. Only Unending and I refrained, but Shezin didn’t seem to mind. He got the pleasantries out of the way first.
“Rest easy, my child,” he told Embry. “We shall have a beautiful night.”
“A beautiful night, indeed,” one of the Dainians behind me said.
“I’m the Unending, the first Reaper of Death,” my wife said, taking the lead. She had plenty of questions of her own, though we both knew this wasn’t the right time to ask them. Anunit had given us three days, so we would have other opportunities to drill this guy without riling up the Dainians in the process. This situation required a degree of delicacy and diplomacy.
“And I am Tristan. Vampire of The Shade. Her husband,” I added.
My title surprised Shezin. “That is impressive. It’s an honor to meet you. It has been a while since I’ve seen a Reaper in these parts.”
“Why is that, if you don’t mind me asking?” Unending replied.
“Well, when I last saw Death, she promised I’d have this world in my care. I didn’t have to be an actual Reaper to do the reaping,” Shezin said, his voice echoing in my head, as well as Unending’s. He was speaking to us telepathically, so the others wouldn’t hear—so the others wouldn’t question his godly status. “I’ve sent every soul of Dain into the afterlife, and the rest of Reaper society doesn’t know about me. I’ve made sure to keep this world concealed from Reapers, and none have stumbled upon it until now.” So, he hadn’t met Anunit. She must’ve observed him without his knowledge. He stopped and laughed lightly. “My, you two get straight down to business. I haven’t even introduced myself yet.”
“We know who you are,” Unending shot back, her tone clipped. The Dainians were speechless, torn between the priestesses’ lovely melodies and our strange conversation. None of them dared to speak. None seemed to wonder why Shezin’s lips didn’t move.
“He’s speaking with his mind. Not all his words are for us…” Embry whispered, utterly fascinated.
“Do you really know who I am?” Shezin asked telepathically. “Perhaps it’s best if I introduce myself anyway. I am Shezin. Once a Sathirian of Sathis, now the god of Dain.”
Unending gave me a brief glance. “I think Sathis was his homeworld.” We continued the conversation with our minds, since it wasn’t the right time to oust the guy as a fraud to his people. If this was how he chose to conduct himself during our first encounter, so be it. We’d figure him out soon enough.
“Indeed, it was. When Death came to reap me, Sathis was gradually dying. We didn’t know it yet, but the atmosphere was withering away, causing all sorts of illnesses. It was only a matter of time before they would become extinct. I was fortunate to have found love in the arms of Death…” He paused to look around. “I must ask before continuing—what brings you to this realm, Tristan and Unending?”
“You,” my wife replied, wearing a flat smile. “You’ve caught our attention.”
“I’m surprised you even know about me. Like I said, Dain should be concealed to Reapers.”
“It may be. But I’m a First Tenner, and Tristan is of the living. We found our way to this place, as you can see,” Unending said without going into details, though this revelation of Shezin’s did make me wonder how Anunit had found Dain. Had she literally stumbled upon it by accident? It wasn’t that insane if I thought about it. From Shezin’s words, a Reaper could come by, but what Reaper wandered through these unknown parts of the universe? Most of them stuck to their routines and the worlds in their care, with no reason to ever get to this solar system. Except for Anunit, I realized, who was hiding from the entire Reaper society. It made sense.
“I do see, yes,” Shezin replied.
His presence didn’t strike me as impressive. In my mind, he was but a man who’d gotten some incredible privileges. A well-spoken fraud. His godly attire and his so-called miracles did not impress me, so I couldn’t bring myself to stand in awe of him like the Dainians. He seemed to pick up on my skepticism. “You don’t like me much,” he said. “That’s okay. I don’t expect you or Unending to understand my work here.”
“I look forward to you helping us understand,” Unending said.
He sighed, but his expression seemed peaceful and kind. “It will be my pleasure, though not right now. As you can see, the Dainians are waiting. Our sermon and celebration of the new year must continue. Please, stay as my guests. You are welcome to participate, if you wish.”
“Thank you,” I replied, nodding once out of politeness.
“I do look forward to speaking to you both soon. I’d love to know what Death has been up to lately,” Shezin said as he turned around and walked back up the fifty steps, rejoining his priestesses just as their last song ended. Facing the crowd once more, he raised his hands and laughed, speaking loudly once more. “What a wonderful sight I see!”