Reaper's Order (Founders Series Book 1)

by Mari Dietz

  William looked out over the battle. “I think I might be safer with someone who knows me from Nyx.”

  He had a point. “Don’t get killed, light lover.”

  “Wasn’t planning on it.” William reached back to grab Samuel’s arm.

  Vic stayed close to the edge of the battle as she took off toward Nel. It might be too late to do anything. These two Orders wouldn’t forget this attack. If all of Nyx had been at fault, she wouldn’t have been so fast to stop this, but it was her fault for going to the Dei commander. Nel had sounded like she wouldn’t take any action, but now here she was, killing blameless reapers. Vic bit the inside of her cheek as she dodged fighting reapers. When she could, she tried to knock them out. At most, they’d have a headache, but at least they’d still be alive.

  A tall blond male stepped in her path. “Ah, the founder bitch.”

  It was the man from the trials, Yaris. He had the black X of Dei on his pale neck.

  “Nice to see you again. Please move, I’m going to Nel.”

  He smirked. “I’m sure you are, Nyx bitch.”

  She glared. “Okay, I’m a bitch, but you need to move. I know Nel, and I need to get to her.” Couldn’t he just understand?

  “Go around. He won’t listen,” William whispered.

  “You think?” Vic pushed to the side, but Yaris stepped in front of her and lowered his scythe.

  “I think it’s time to see who the best reaper is.”

  Vic wanted to scream in frustration, but she tossed Kai’s scythe to William instead. Then she flicked opened her weapon. “Fine, but you’re wasting my time over a personal grudge.”

  Yaris didn’t respond and swung his scythe in a massive motion aimed at her neck. Vic met it with her weapon and stepped aside so his scythe slid down hers, his blade locking with hers. She pulled with her entire body, whipping his scythe out of his hands.

  “Grab it, Will.”

  She didn’t turn to see if William listened and swung her blade, aiming it at Yaris’s chest.

  “Wow, you’ve proved yourself,” Vic sneered. That battle had only taken a second.

  He stepped forward, and Vic pressed the blade against his chest. It cut through his black shirt.

  “Don’t push me, Yaris. Leave while you can. Why don’t you come back after you’ve trained for a few years?”

  He left, but not before yanking his scythe out of William’s hands.

  Vic refocused on the fight as Nel hit the ground. Blood spurt from her mouth as she rolled onto her side. Vic bowled through the battle, not caring if she got hurt. Xiona stood over Nel with her scythe raised. Vic wouldn’t make it in time.

  All she could do was watch as Xiona ran Nel through with her blade. Then, from the side, Kai charged out of a throng of bodies toward Xiona. He still didn’t have a weapon, but Vic saw the flash of a blade as he attacked her. He was going after her with his tiny knife.

  “Blight take him!” Vic pumped her legs to get to him.

  One of Xiona’s reapers came after Kai and pushed him aside, but Vic saw Xiona flinch as she recovered from the surprise of his attack.

  Vic jumped between Xiona and Kai. She hoped William would get Kai his scythe.

  “How many times do I need to get rid of you?” Xiona flicked her scythe, and blood spattered the ground from her blade.

  Vic braced her feet. “Probably just one more time.”

  Xiona laughed. “Fine, then. I’ll trust your word.”

  They eyed each other, then their scythes clashed. Vic’s arms vibrated from the blows. Xiona wouldn’t fall for her tricks like Yaris had. Vic remained on the defensive as Xiona closed in, waiting for Vic to leave an opening. Xiona used the end of her scythe as much as the blade, something Vic’s trainer had drilled into her.

  Xiona’s blade flashed in front of her, and Vic stepped back to avoid it. She couldn’t look behind her, but she could hear Kai fighting the other reapers.

  The wood smacked over and over. Xiona’s eyes gleamed. She thought she’d already won. Then Vic faltered on a crack in the stone ground. Vic tried to dodge the fall of the wooden handle, but it thudded against her arm. The bone snapped, and Vic shouted as she pushed herself back to avoid more blows.

  She held her scythe in her left hand, but her swings had become clumsy. Xiona’s blade rose, and Vic knew she couldn’t stop it. She stepped back again, but white cloth caught the corner of her vision. Samuel stood next to her, gazing at the fight before him. Vic shouted in surprise. Xiona would not divert her blow; she would hit Samuel. Vic pounced, dropping her scythe. It clattered to the ground. She grabbed him with her left arm and pulled him down to the stone ground.

  The blade missed them, but Xiona stood over them. She sneered at Samuel. “A bit of cleanup is due.” Smeared blood covered her scythe.

  With horror, Vic saw her thrust her blade at Samuel’s neck. Had Xiona lost her mind? Samuel was helpless. Why kill him first? With her bare hand, Vic blocked the blade and gripped it in her left hand. She gasped as it cut through her flesh. Her blood ran hot down her arm.

  Behind Xiona, William glowed white, looking like a spirit. Vic kicked at Xiona’s legs to push her toward William. Xiona stumbled back. Vic released the blade.

  It was a horrible choice, but she needed to be stopped, and Vic had no more body parts to sacrifice. “Stop her, Will!”

  William stood still, his wide gaze telling her he didn’t have a weapon. Vic held up her bloody left hand. His mouth opened, and he raised his hand in a surreal moment.

  Xiona had recovered, but William gripped the back of her neck. It only took a moment for the anger in Xiona’s eyes to be replaced with a strange calm. Xiona’s scythe dropped to the ground, and she smiled peacefully while the war raged around her.

  Vic’s mouth dropped open. Xiona’s follower screamed at William and charged. Kai ran him through with his blade, done with his other battle. Vic shuffled to standing. A ring of dead bodies surrounded them.

  23

  Vic

  The clang of reaper scythes drew Vic out of her trance. She ran toward Nel and fell to her knees at the commander’s side. Her right arm dangled uselessly at her side.

  Nel held her hands over the open wound, and Vic placed her hand over the leader’s.

  “So this isn’t looking great,” Vic muttered. She could feel the warm blood over Nel’s cold hands.

  Nel coughed, and more blood bubbled out of her mouth. Vic thought she saw the commander smile.

  While Vic held her hand over the wound, she scanned the surrounding battle. Reapers retained their own healers, but she couldn’t see anyone pulling aside the injured. “I thought you didn’t care what Xiona did? Not all of Nyx was bad.”

  If Nel understood her, she gave no signal. Her eyes faded and lost focus. The gray color dulled until life left them completely. Vic closed her eyelids and choked back a sob. This shouldn’t have happened.

  Hands pulled her away from Nel’s body and wrapped around her. Her nose filled with the scent of clean linen. She folded into William and let herself grieve, then took an unsteady breath and backed away. William’s white clothes had smears of blood down the front.

  “Kai?”

  “He went to find a healer.” He took in the body of the Dei leader. “The battle has died down, and all the healers are trying to manage.”

  “Commander!” the shout sounded over the cries of the wounded. Becks plowed through the fallen reapers and knelt at Nel’s side. She glared at Vic. “This is your fault.”

  “You don’t hold back, do you?” But Becks was right. She’s the one who’d asked Nel to stop Nyx. All these bodies were her responsibility.

  Becks rose and faced Vic. She drew her blood-stained scythe. Vic heard William stand next to her. A nice thought, but he couldn’t purify everyone. That idea made her uncomfortable.

  Vic folded her scythe with a loud snap. She raised her arms to her sides. “I think we lost enough reapers today.”

  Bodies clothed in black filled
her vision. The courtyard of Nyx had been turned into a graveyard.

  A muscle in Becks’s jaw jumped. “We only came to get Xiona, but all the stupid reapers attacked on Xiona’s call. We tried not to kill them.” Becks took in the fallen around her. “We came to help you and your commander.” Grief replaced the anger in her voice.

  Vic didn’t know what to say. She already blamed herself for all this.

  Becks folded her scythe and put it in her harness. She picked up their fallen leader and signaled for the Dei reapers to gather the wounded. Then they ran out into the night, leaving their dead. Vic knew that if they stayed, it would only lead to more fighting until they explained that they’d only been trying to stop Xiona. Then, hopefully, the Nyx reapers would burn the Dei reapers with honor.

  William stayed next to her. Kai didn’t come back. “W-we need to help the wounded.”

  He went to the nearest bodies to check for signs of life. Samuel and Xiona followed him like ghosts.

  “Ah, you might want to tell Xiona to go somewhere … away …” If the reapers saw their leader in that state, they would kill William. Vic shifted her gaze away from the leader’s blank face. No more silent calculating, only the happy gaze of a radiant.

  He whispered to the ex-commander, and she ran off in the dark. Vic hoped no one had seen what had happened. She checked the reaper nearest her for a pulse. With Xiona gone, they’d accomplished their goal. Kai would be the commander now. The thought didn’t fill her with relief but weariness.

  “You need to get your arm treated first. Also, the bleeding should be stopped.”

  “Oh.” Vic stared down at her broken arm. She couldn’t feel any pain. Her left hand was still gashed open and dribbling blood all over the ground. Her brain felt foggy.

  William guided her to the healers set up in the dining room. The long tables had been pushed to the side and makeshift cots now covered the space. Vic flinched as the healer sanitized, sewed up, and bandaged her left hand.

  The healer gave her something for the pain while she wrapped Vic’s right arm in low-grade imbued bandages. “We need to save the others for life and death situations. In a few days, we’ll have more bandages.”

  Vic nodded, and the healer set her arm. William held her as she convulsed in pain. When it was over, she lay still, sweat dripping down her face. William cleaned her up.

  “Stay here and I’ll help with the bodies.”

  Vic shook her head and wobbled to her feet. “I can still walk. I’ll go until I pass out.”

  William let her be foolish. He might understand her more than she thought. His expression softened, and he followed her outside to the scene of the battle. They wandered among the bodies to find the wounded and left the dead for now.

  A woman reaper gave off a death rattle, and with the help of another reaper, Vic carefully picked her up and swiftly took her to the main hall. They found an empty cot, and a reaper ran forward with imbued bandages. They would try to keep the reaper alive while healers were busy with other injured.

  The reaper looked over the injured woman and sighed. “We’re running out of imbued bandages. I’ve been ordered to ration them.”

  “Follow your orders. If the ration runs out, it runs out. Don’t feel guilty for doing your job.” How had she become a counselor to this random reaper? She didn’t want that job. Deciding who got to live or die and who got more magic to heal? They all got an equal amount, and if they lived, they lived. Her arm throbbed painfully, reminding her she was lucky she hadn’t needed higher-grade bandages.

  Vic turned to go look for more reapers. The task gave her the single-mindedness she needed to keep going. Otherwise, she would sit on the ground and not move.

  During the night, she passed William a few times. He stuck out in his white uniform, stained with blood. He always scanned her to make sure she was okay. With his Samuel shadow silently following him, the reapers never questioned him as he brought in the wounded.

  Vic laid the dead together along a side wall. She didn’t want to count the bodies. Too many from both sides had died, but more from Dei. Once the wounded situation stabilized, they would burn the dead.

  Slow and steady, they sorted through the dead and wounded. Vic didn’t know most of them. Only a few weeks had passed since she’d joined Nyx. She swallowed and realized she didn’t know the people in her squad.

  The sun rose, and the blight glowed a vivid yellow. The courtyard now only contained the dead. Crimson blood stained the stone, turning a rusty brown as it dried.

  “Is this our fault?” Kai’s voice cut through the silence.

  Vic hugged herself. “I think we’re supposed to blame Xiona.” She turned to face him. His face was pale in the morning sun. “I’m having trouble doing that.”

  “I have to speak to them. I don’t know what to say.” His clear gaze focused on Vic. “I’m starting my leadership with lies.”

  “You can tell them what she was doing. From there, I don’t know what to do about GicCorp.”

  “We need to tell them.”

  “Then what?” Vic stepped over a drying puddle of blood. “We fight the whole city? What happens without GicCorp? We’ll become mogs.”

  Kai ran his hands over his head. “I know. I guess we need to look into GicCorp. I’m getting the sense that we don’t know everything, starting with the vitals.”

  A painful pressure filled Vic’s chest as she thought of Emilia. Now that her sister resided behind the stone wall, what would she do if they uncovered more information about the vitals that wasn’t good? No one knew how the magic was purified. Once the imb entered, they connected to the magic and couldn’t leave it. “They aren’t telling us something, and now my sister’s involved.”

  Kai placed his warm hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find out what’s going on and help your sister.”

  “Commander?” A reaper appeared next to them. “Everyone would like to talk to you.” He gave Vic the side-eye.

  “Understood.” He gestured to Vic. “Let’s go.”

  Vic followed them to the dining area, now medic ward. Healers wandered among the wounded, but their urgency had slowed. Those who weren’t seriously wounded stood to the side, their gaze on Kai and Vic as they entered.

  Their gazes felt harsh. Vic knew they wondered why Dei had attacked, and they might want to launch a counterattack. She didn’t know what the ramifications of this battle would be. The lack of city officers was disturbing. Why weren’t they here? Had no one told them?

  Kai continued to the front of the room and stopped, taking a moment to scan the reapers. His stance only portrayed confidence in his new role as leader.

  His clear voice echoed in the room as he said, “This attack on Nyx was unexpected. I know we’re all angry over what happened to our fellow reapers.” Grim silence greeted him as they listened. “There was a discovery a few weeks ago, and I’ve been caught in the middle of an economic game played by Xiona. Most of you are innocent, and when you saw your leader under attack, you acted with loyalty and honor.”

  Kai paused. “I’m sorry they left you in the dark, and I’m sorry that because I wanted to keep my family safe, I didn’t stand up to Xiona until I had a plan. So I’m going to let you know what happened. This is why Dei attacked us.”

  The reapers shifted as they listened. Vic didn’t know how they would react.

  “I found her and six others cutting gicorbs out of people in the city.”

  An angry roar filled the room.

  Kai raised his hand, and they fell silent. “You know what this means. When I confronted her about it, she claimed she did it to boost our numbers and create more blight collection for Nyx.”

  Vic backed up against the wall and slid down. Disappointment filled her. He couldn’t out GicCorp yet, but seeing the anger on the reapers’ faces, she wanted them to know the truth.

  “I believe no amount of money is worth more than human life. Our purpose is to collect blight to protect people, not to advance our rank.” Ka
i took one more look around the room. “If you don’t believe this, we’ll need to have a talk. Dei found out what Xiona was doing, and they attempted to stop her.” He sighed. “I don’t agree with how they went about it. We lost many good reapers who didn’t understand. For that, I’m sorry, and I will work to clear our name and ensure nothing like this happens again.”

  A storm of reaper voices rose as Kai finished. He was immediately surrounded, and Vic slipped out the door. She was a new reaper. It was better that they didn’t know about her involvement in what had happened. A blood-stained William greeted her outside.

  “You look like a mess.”

  The usually pristine William straightened his cuffs. Vic would have found that funny if they hadn’t been hauling dead bodies.

  “I suppose black covers the blood better.”

  She grabbed his wrist, and her left hand smarted from the motion. “Let’s go get cleaned up.”

  Vic guided him to Kai’s room. She let him shower, then handed him some of Kai’s clothing. He hesitated to take the black garments.

  “Would you rather put on your blood-stained white clothes, light lover?”

  His expression fell as he took the clothes. “I don’t think I should wear white anymore.”

  He’d forced the change on two people now. Words of comfort didn’t enter her mind. Everyone’s beliefs had been shattered in only a few days. “Why don’t you and Samuel stay here until we can get something figured out?”

  He nodded, and she went to wash the blood off her skin.

  Vic let the warm water pound against her head as she stared at the wall. Her wounded arm and hand made cleaning herself difficult, but she got all the blood down the drain.

  Xiona was no longer in charge of Nyx. This didn’t feel like a victory. Dread filled her that this was only the beginning of their battle.

  24

  William

  He looked odd in black, maybe because his tanned skin looked pale. He lifted his hands, but there were no cuffs to straighten. They’d borrowed more of Kai’s clothing for Samuel. William took his clothes to the area for burning.