That somehow seemed to reassure Bym, and we followed them farther away from the other Reapers. We passed a tall and thick cluster of red, jagged rocks, until no one else was in sight. I nearly screamed when a small ghoulish-looking creature emerged from behind one of the stones.
Taeral squeezed my arm in a bid to reassure me, and I held my breath.
Bym was downright confused, not that I could blame him. “What’s happening?”
“But I can judge you, and I can also feed a friend while I’m at it,” Sidyan replied, and pushed Bym forward. The spirit stumbled and fell, whimpering.
The ghoulish creature was half my size, with more humanoid features than most of its kind. Most of the hair had fallen, but what was left was long and black and silky. There were feminine lines blurred by the almost-transparent skin, muscles still twitching and vessels still filled with flowing red blood. “What the hell is that?” I asked.
“It’s a ghoul,” Taeral said. “Though unlike anything I’ve seen before. To be fair, I’ve only seen the meat-eaters from Herbert’s crew… I think this one might be an original ghoul, like the ones from Nevertide. But it’s pretty small.”
“No… Stay away from me!” Bym screamed, but to no avail. The ghoul pounced and tore him apart, eating every thread of his soul, its skin glimmering with delight. Its eyes were wide and not all black. I could still see the irises, in which galaxies still shone, much like the Reapers’.
Sidyan didn’t say a word. He just stood there and watched Bym get eaten, until there was nothing left, except for a very contented, purring little ghoul. He seemed satisfied with the outcome, while I struggled to make sense of everything I had just witnessed.
I remembered there were some pretty strict rules about this. On one hand, I honestly didn’t mind watching that monster get eaten by another monster, but, at the same time, I wondered… wasn’t this “illegal” in the world of Reapers?
“It’s showtime,” Taeral muttered, then whispered briefly against Thieron’s blade, revealing us both. “Sidyan! It’s been a while, buddy!”
The Reaper froze, his galaxy eyes wide and filled with horror. The ghoul was equally frightened. It scampered backward and hid behind his long tunic. There was nothing about its behavior to suggest aggression. It was weird, especially when I compared the creature to others of its kind.
“Taeral,” Sidyan managed. “You… What are you doing here? What’s the swamp witch doing here?!”
I figured he knew us without ever having actually met us. The Reaper network of information was wide and practically endless. It didn’t exactly come as a surprise that Sidyan had been so quick to recognize us. But everything about this particular moment was intriguing. We’d caught him doing something terrible, according to the laws of Reapers.
“I figured if I showed my friend what you’ve been up to, she’d have a better understanding of why I’m so sure you’re going to help us,” Taeral said, grinning like the devil. “By the way, feeding a soul to a ghoul. What sort of punishment does that carry?”
Sidyan’s pale face turned red with anger, but he put his scythe away, his hands then balling into tight fists—so tight that the knuckles turned white. The ghoul eyed us warily, after having found a mild sense of safety behind him.
“Don’t worry, Lumi,” Taeral continued when Sidyan didn’t reply. “He cannot hurt us. I’m Death’s protégé. He wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t, period,” Sidyan hissed. “I can explain this.”
“I’m sure you can, especially since it’s not the first time I’ve seen you do it,” Taeral said. It caught Sidyan’s attention.
“You’ve been following me?”
“Sort of. Gotta thank Thieron for its stealth capabilities. I thought I might learn a few more Reaper tricks from you,” Taeral replied. “But then I saw you feeding a murderous incubus to your pet ghoul earlier this year, and I figured I could learn more about you instead. Lo and behold, we stand here today, about to make a deal.”
Sidyan froze, his brows drawn into a deep frown. I realized then exactly how I was going to reach Visio without anyone knowing. I was going to ride the cosmic wings of a Reaper who would have no choice but to help us, since Taeral was about to blackmail him regarding his ghoul.
“Who is the creature?” I asked, nodding at it.
“Her name is Maya,” Sidyan retorted. “And none of this is her fault!”
Taeral cocked his head to the side. “She ate a soul to become this, didn’t she? Is she an original ghoul? Pre-meat-eating stage?”
“She died young, and she had been tapped to become a Reaper. And yes, she’s an original ghoul, though obviously tiny, given the young age at which she passed.” Sidyan sighed. “She didn’t fully understand what it was all about at the time. I took her under my tutelage. I tried… I tried to help her, but she strayed. She got in with the wrong crowd.”
“Other ghouls?” I replied.
Sidyan nodded briefly. “By the time I found her again, she was all alone and nearly torn to shreds. They fooled her into eating a soul, and then they made fun of her. They bullied her. They treated her like garbage, and she nearly got herself killed by another Reaper. I’ve been keeping her close since. Once a year or so, though sometimes sooner, I find her a soul to eat. She’s young as a ghoul, so she’s got an appetite. But I never feed her an innocent. She only eats murderers.”
The way Maya had been turned reminded me of Herbert. I had a feeling that a lot of these ghouls ended up in such predicaments by trusting the wrong people. I crossed my arms. “So you’re judging people, then. Like you said to Bym earlier. Do you think that’s fair?”
“It’s not. But it’s the best I can do to keep Maya safe. She’s a good soul. She just fell in with the wrong crowd. She didn’t even belong as a Reaper… far too young to be able to embrace a near-eternity helping others cross over. What happened to her wasn’t fair. And here we are, trying our best to stay out of everyone’s way.”
“Won’t anyone notice Bym’s gone?” Taeral asked.
Maya stared at me, curiosity glimmering in her dark eyes. Her canines poked out between her small, thin lips, the essence of Bym’s soul still smeared at the corner of her mouth. Only then did I notice that she still had her old Reaper uniform on, though it was tattered and torn. It covered most of her torso and upper legs as she crouched behind Sidyan.
“With a catastrophe like this? No,” Sidyan replied. “No one truly checks these things. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have risked doing it in the first place.”
“And you’ve never considered… you know, putting her out of her misery?” I murmured. Maya could understand me. I could tell. My words frightened her, as she clutched the bottom of Sidyan’s tunic.
“Never. I would never,” Sidyan said firmly. “She’s safer with me. She’s loyal. She keeps her distance when she has to, and I make sure she doesn’t go hungry for more than a year or so. We have control over her condition. I don’t like it any more than you do, but it was the only way I could protect her.”
Taeral nodded and looked at me. “And here comes the proposition,” he whispered. Shifting his focus back to Sidyan, he laid out the terms of the deal. “I know you want to protect Maya. That much I’ve figured out from watching you sneak souls out to feed her. Which is also why I know you won’t say no to helping Lumi, here.”
Sidyan took a couple of steps back, already troubled. Maya moved with him, increasingly agitated and scared, trembling and growling at us. He motioned for her to stop, and she did. But her emotions were getting the better of her, and she squirmed and whimpered anxiously.
“What are you talking about?” Sidyan asked.
“Lumi needs to get to Visio undetected by the living and the dead alike,” Taeral said. “She needs a Reaper’s traveling assistance. I think you can guess why I thought of you.”
“No. Are you crazy? It’s against the rules!” Sidyan replied.
“Really? Now we’re talking about rules?” Taeral chuckled. “Dude. You’re raising a friggin’ ghoul. I’m pretty sure you can mule my friend over to Visio, and I promise I’ll keep quiet about your extracurricular activities.” He paused, since Sidyan didn’t seem entirely convinced. “Forever. I’ll keep quiet forever,” Taeral added.
