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Daughter of the Reaper

By Addy Crowell

Image by Dynamic Wang

The days were quiet now. No one has been killed for some time. “Perhaps it is over,” some say,
although not to anyone in particular. I knew better. The quiet never lasts long- she was waiting for
something. And when the Great Southern Tower fell, when the seas rushed in to reclaim the ruins of
that fated city, I was not surprised. Not long after, I met a friend of mine- oh, it hardly matters who they were anymore, hardly ever mattered- for a stroll in my garden. “A fluke, for sure. Soon this will all smooth over,” they said. I laughed silently at their jokes. My expression betrayed nothing. I was the last person they spoke to… besides her, of course. When one of the pale moons fell from the sky, I watched from my perch, resting before I must leave for the night. There would be much work to do. It was a terrible sight, so many lost souls. There weren’t many left now. “I know I am next,” said one. “Perhaps,” I replied, and gave them a reassuring smile. I met them again three days later, as they fell screaming from a cliff two hundred miles above the broiling sea. I could only smile as I listened to him blubber his innocence. The waves did the talking for me.

​

A bell rang, an ugly, clanging thing. There was little point repairing it now. I smiled to myself.
So, she was here. I knew she would be. The huge black doors swung inward, and framed between
them, shining like a vanquishing angel, my daughter stood. We said nothing. I smiled warmly. “You’ve slain the gods, and now, you come for me.” She nodded, took a step forward. I held out my arms. She was welcome here. Her chest heaved, every movement a struggle. I would say it felt like an eternity, but time has little meaning to a god… and Death does not feel. I did not feel her blade bite into my bones. “I cannot be sorry,” she said. “I cannot be sorry, Father.” I said nothing, only smiled, as the last god fell.

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