Thud.
A human corpse fell to the ground.
The head was wrapped in a leather bag and the hands were tied behind the back.
The four figures next to it were on their knees, shaking with fear.
"P-Please, spare us!"
"I don't want to die!"
"There h-has to be a-another way…"
"Can't you just leave us here? We'll die anyway!"
The person in front of them laughed.
"Whoever opens their mouth again is next!"
The victims immediately stopped whining.
"Now come here, Eline."
A masked girl approached him and the man pointed to the corpse.
"Reap his soul."
Eline was taken aback.
"It's an order, if you didn't catch that."
She walked right in front of him.
Eline was quite shorter than him, so she raised her head to look him in the eyes.
"With all respect, Gariss, you are not my boss."
A vicious grin appeared on his face.
"Should I remind you who entrusted me with this mission? If you don't wanna get excommunicated, do as I say."
After ten interminabile seconds, Eline broke eye contact and distanced herself from the man, wielded her scythe and got close to the corpse. The weapon fell down like lightning and the blade perforated the body from side to side, piercing the heart.
She then bent down, took off the linen bag from its head and untied the hands. After that, the girl got up, fastened the scythe behind her back and joined the hands in prayer. The mourning lasted only twenty seconds, interrupted by Gariss' obnoxious voice.
"Are you done?!"
Eline simply walked away, unperturbed, without sparing him a glance. But just before he started shouting at her, the sleeping giant lizards suddenly went into a frenzy, attacking the four kneeling porters.
Gariss took a defensive stance.
The next instant, the Reapers' carriage, stationed not too far away, immediately took off, with a Reaper on board.
"W-What's happening?!"
Gariss was at a loss.
The other two male Reapers shouted at the passenger, just as confused as their leader was.
"Beldam, turn back!"
"Regain control of the lizards!"
However, the man did not respond to their calls.
"Did that fucker betray us?! That's… why he acted strange today. Fuck!"
Gariss was furious. The mission was almost in its last phase when their plans went completely awry.
"What should we do, boss?"
"What else? Start running you dipshit!"
"S-Shouldn't we catch up to him with the porters' carriage?"
"Can't you see that the lizards have already turned into damn Revenants?! He fucking killed them! How are we supposed to ride a carriage now?!"
"B-But what about the p-porters? S-Shouldn't we reap their souls first?"
"Leave 'em, they are dead anyway! And once they've all turned into Revenants they'll try to catch up to us. We can reap them after retrieving the cargo. Now run!"
The Reapers started running, their speed was superhuman, but they were still not as fast as giant lizards.
Looking back, Gariss noticed that Eline had not moved an inch, and was still in the proximity of the porters, staring at the corpse from before.
"Eline, get your ass here! If you even dare to save them I'll kill you myself!"
The masked girl turned towards the madman and, after a second of hesitation, she sprinted, catching up to him in no time.
The group moved across the plain, following the carriage in front of them. Their faces were pale and dread was written in their eyes.
They were heading towards the Whispering Woods.
***
"And that's how we got here. In the first hours of the night we managed to find the carriage, but the cargo was gone, so we stopped searching and went to sleep. The following morning, the other three were nowhere to be found."
"Wait, didn't someone remain awake to keep guard?"
"Yes, Vern, but he must have dozed off and succumbed to the siren's call. Can I ask a question now?"
"Go on."
"Do you have any ideas on how you came back from the dead and how you are regenerating your wounds?"
"I already told you, I simply woke up and found out that I was still alive."
"But if you are not a Revenant there must be some kind of explanation. Were there any footprints near your corpse?"
"I was not in the condition to pay attention to it, sorry."
"Then do you have any strange objects on you?"
"No, not really. Just a compass and this useless rock… And also my locket."
"Let me see them."
Alwyn handed Eline the two items and she studied them carefully.
"N-No way…"
"What is it?"
"This… is a healing artifact! I saw it inside the Church's catalogue. It went missing many years ago."
"W-What, that stupid compass?!"
"No, the rock!"
Alwyn looked at her with dead fish eyes.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"How did you manage to steal it? The Church's vault is highly guarded."
"I didn't steal it! I've never seen that thing in my entire life!"
"Then, how come you had it in your pocket?"
"I've no idea, one of the Reapers must have put it there!"
"Why would they do that though?"
"I don't know! L-Listen, let's sleep on it, maybe I'll remember something else by tomorrow."
Eline gave him a suspicious side eye.
"Okay, we'll think about it tomorrow."