The shelter was warm and comfortable .
Was it all for her ? I wondered .
Probably , it was .
I looked around at the room, at its simplistic design.
The shelter was made of fastened sticks and tied logs , pulled together and held by strings of bark, vines and plastered mud . A lonely fire burnef in the centre of the room on a sand hearth, bordered by fresh moist logs. It provided sufficient warmth in summer and kept the occupants alive in winter. The rising smoke exited from a small hole placed cleverly on the roof , with a covering to prevent rainwater coming in .
All this had very little significance for me at the moment. My main focus was on the young girl who lay in the bed near the fire.
She had been placed under thick blankets of wool and animal fur, causing her to sweat profusely. The blankets had once been composed white and pale colours, but now they were blotched with vicious red. Next to the girl was a woman sitting on a log, sharing enough resemblance to obviously be her mother. She slowly wiping her daughter's face of sweat when she wasn't coughing up blood.
The girl was dying .
She wheezed and spluttered blood from her mouth and nose , obviously it was hard to breathe in that state . The mother was crying with heavy tears , rivaling the sweat dripping off her daughter's forehead. It would hurt to watch for any human and each tear drop was like a cut to my core .
Grief.
Despair.
Helplessness.
I could end it all . I had the power . It was my duty to, as a widower .
I was an emissary of Death and snatching the last breath was my job . Meaning the girl , who I watched in my own shroud so as not to be seen , was my next soul to collect .
The girl coughed hard once more and held her mother's hand tightly , so tight I thought bones might snap . Then her eyes began to roll back in her eyes.
It was time .
I moved closer to the girl and peered into her face , deeper than human capability would allow. Her eyes immediately locked onto mine . I held her captive with my gaze, as I peered deep into her and observed the soul within this meat coil. It was hovering loosely and no longer tied by her body, a soul on the cusp of freedom .
With my satin gloved hand, I reached up to my face and held my mask , all while keeping the girl in my pervision . Then I slowly lifted my mask ...