locked inside pieces of Thieron for millions of years,” Soul said. “We’ve done our duty and then some. We deserve the freedom she promised us, not going back into the fold.”
My stomach tightened. Something cold crept up my spine. I would’ve listened to whatever was left of this conversation, as it offered me unique insight into the First Tenners’ minds, but my Reaper body was reacting to something, bringing back the whole hypersensitivity concept.
“Hey, guys?” I breathed deeply. “When you say I’m hypersensitive, do you mean I can sense pieces of death magic or something?”
Soul shot me a cold grin. “‘Or something’ would best describe it, sure.”
“How come I’m feeling cold and… I don’t know, heavy?” I asked, my knees suddenly made of lead. I leaned against a monolith, welcoming the rugged surface scratching against my fingertips. It made me feel like I was still made of something physical, not just a spirit living between worlds.
“You’re reacting to the last Beta element, I think,” Phantom surmised, watching me with renewed interest. The ninth Beta element was firmly in her grip, with Morning watching me, equally fascinated. “I’m not sure why you’re manifesting now,” Phantom went on. “I’m assuming, based on your befuddlement, that you haven’t felt like this before?”
I shook my head, trying to go over past instances when I’d been around death magic, and seals, in particular. Nothing came to mind. “No. It started when you cut down the first Beta element, I think.”
“Ah. That’s got to be your trigger, then,” Soul said. “You’ve had the ability all along, you just didn’t know about it. There is something in the Beta elements’ composition that made you react. That’s all.”
“But… But why me? I’m just a common Reaper. Why am I hypersensitive?” I asked, feeling somewhat wronged by fate. My plate was full enough as it was, and I certainly wasn’t enjoying any of these sensations. I felt as though I was gradually losing control over my spirit, reacting to death magic and manifesting symptoms I wasn’t even sure how to handle.
Phantom moved closer. “Breathe deeply, Kelara. In and out.”
I had trouble concentrating. Soon, I couldn’t even understand what they were saying anymore. All I knew was that the last Beta element was coming, and that my entire being was resonating with it.
Sliding down the monolith, I ended up on my knees. My arms were like spaghetti. Phantom held my head up, constantly encouraging me to breathe, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. For a moment, I felt as though I’d been locked on the outside, looking in, unable to say anything—let alone move.
Silence muffled everything as a figure emerged from the woods. It glowed… black. What a strange sensation; what a peculiar view this was. I just stared at it, my lips parted, as it moved toward us.
Phantom, Soul, and Widow followed my gaze, but I doubted they saw what I saw. Phantom killed and reaped her Beta element. Purple blood mist expanded around her as the creature died, further breaking the seal.
“That’s the tenth,” Phantom said. None of the First Tenners seemed horrified or even remotely troubled. Their galaxy eyes glimmered with recognition, but none of them moved. Something changed inside me as the glowing black creature looked at me and pointed a finger my way. Then, everything felt… different.
Whatever this was, I had to handle it.
There was no instruction manual, not even the slightest understanding about it, but it… it had to be me. It was my only certainty in this instance. Pulling myself up, I managed to walk toward the black figure.
Soul said something, but he couldn’t move. Phantom was frozen, too, though struggling to get to me. Widow was the angriest, twitching and jerking against his invisible restraints.
The closer I got to the black figure, the clearer everything became. A voice made its way into my head. It wasn’t mine, but it sounded familiar.
“You have to break it, Kelara.”
Why me? I wondered. Whatever this vision was, I knew it wasn’t what I was seeing. There was a Vetruvian creature beneath the black glow. The last of the Beta elements. This was an epiphany, I thought. There was a conclusion at the end of this road, something I had to come to terms with… but what was it?
“Break the seal, Kelara. It can’t be any of my brethren,” Morning said, having somehow snuck inside my head. I wanted to scream and kick her out of here, but I understood that I only had