Page 20 of Reaper's Quest

“That would be good.” I shifted in my seat and weighed the possibility of us getting along versus repeating some version of the shark tank incident.

Yeah, this task of a reap was going to be a challenge in more ways than one.

“Well, I’m gonna…” I tilted my head toward my bag, set to double as a pillow.

“Yeah, sure. Sorry.” His shoulders dropped, then he turned and walked back to his seat.

Reaping gods. How long did I have to work in close proximity to him?

If we lived past this day and somehow managed to get inside the citadel…

I didn’t want to think about it.

Exhaling a heavy breath, I leaned back against the seat, closed my eyes, and promptly fell asleep. Slipped into the blessed darkness of a too-short serenity.

Bang.

I snapped wide awake.

What was that?How long had I been out?

At the front of the car, Mr. Aldine pressed his face against the window and gawked at the landscape beyond.

Bam.

The train car rocked, and I bolted upright, leapt to the window.

Metal groaned all around us as the train shook and trembled from side to side. Beyond the windows, the cover of night attempted to slide into place, painting the landscape in gray. And within all that gray, shadows flashed and sounds flapped.

Theflap,flap,flapof enormous dark wings.

The quiet words of the train conductor on the departing platform jumped to the forefront of my mind.Danger guards the path.

Shhhriek.

I jolted, more out of surprise than anything else.

Screams, monstrous and ear-shattering, reverberated through my bones and quickened my pulse into a frenzy. A rude awakening, for sure, but one quick to pull me from my previously groggy state.

And then I saw them through the window.

Flying monsters.

What in the reaping hell?

Flying creatures attacked the outside of the train.

Where had they come from? No one had said anything about the presence of monsters.Much less, the kind that fly.

To the sides of the train stretched an endless open land sheeted in stagnant water. Ahead, craggy peaks rose skyward, and from there, the winged creatures came.

I pressed my hands to the glass. Energy dwelled in all things. Therefore, a reaper or transition guide existed for every type of creature, no matter how small, ginormous, or dangerous. So, what of these things?

Could we reap them? Lead them to the afterworld? Their next life? Should I even try without their names on a collection list?

“Don’t worry,” Mr. Aldine called from the front of the car, a hint of wobble in his delivery. “These creatures are not unexpected. I came prepared.”

He ripped open his bag and started pulling items free—dropping one and fumbling with a few others.