With a loud noise, I put the rather heavy basket filled with vegetables on the floor of one of my neighbor's kitchen.

- “Thank you, Aster! Once again you are a lifesaver!” Miss Monica, a rather chubby lady in her late thirties gave me a tight hug.

- “My pleasure, but! You better remember me when you’re baking your carrot pie!” I said in a joyful matter.

- “Oh, Aster, you know that you don’t have to ask for that! Least that I can do for all your help!”

- “Only that?... ONLY?! Monica! You are underestimating your cakes! They are to die for!”

- “Oh, you sweet talker you… actually, I have a new recipe in mind, I wanted my husband to be the first one to try it buuut… would you mind visiting this evening? I would treat both of you.”

- “That would be a pleasure and honor at the same time!... Anything else I can help you with?”

- “No, sweetheart, no! You already helped plenty! I wouldn’t dare abuse your generosity even more!”

- “In that case, I will take my leave…” I said walking toward the door of her hut, just to turn around by the doorstep “…I will come by sunset for degustation, is that fine?”

- “More than fine! The cake should cool down till then!”

- “Great!” I said leaving the hut, not shutting the door behind me, just as Monica asked.

I was about to direct my steps toward the fields, where most of the villagers were already planting wheat for the harvest next season - our soil was really blessed, allowing us to harvest even three times in a year; when I was stopped by one of Diederik hunters.

- “Hey, Aster, right? I would like to ask you for your help.” He said putting his palm on my shoulder, he really had a concerned look in his face

- “Sure, what is it? I will try my best helping you out!”

- “Tell me, how well do you know the local forest?”

- “Are you kidding me? I was almost born in it! I know every path, crock, and alley! From hunting grounds to berry fields!... I think that only hunters – Markus and Joseph, know them better than I do!”

- “Splendid! You see, Lord Michael is a rather demanding hunter and going after deers no longer satisfies him, do you have in your forests something proving a greater challenge?”

- “I don’t think so, deers are the fastest animals we have here, you won’t find anything that would outrun them…”

- “That’s not the point, we are no longer looking for something that would be . Do you have some predators here?... Actually, let me rephrase myself, we know you do, can you show us locations of those?”

- “Ironhide boars? Good lord! We would rather avoid angering those! They live quite far from the village and we want it to stay this way! I know that I don't have to tell this to experienced hunters such as yourself, but if you kill one of them, the rest would dedicate themselves to hunt down the hunter! If your smell leads them to our village…”

- “I was actually thinking about bears.” Hunter stopped my rant

- “But the only bear we have is…”

- “The Ol’ Rockclaw.”

I shivered just hearing his name. In my whole life I have seen him only once. Joseph was teaching me the basics of hunting, we were deep in the wood close to one of the hunter's stashes, when HE came.

The bear was old, his fur was grey and his colossal body was covered in dozens of scars, one, widest one, was located on his head right across his eye which was no longer there.

Dead silence struck the forest as he was walking across it, not even insects dared to buzz their wings. Unquestionable king of the forest. He was the reason why there were no bears left in the forest – by killing them all the monstrous beast claimed his title.

- “I… don’t dare to question your skills, mister hunter, buuut…”

- “Yes, I have heard already – you treat him as your guardian deity…”

- “Deity? No, a deity is something you worship. We are merely afraid of its very presence”

- “Yet, I heard that you are leaving him offerings.”

- “Offerings? No! We are scattering bloody remains of what we hunted in the forest far from the village, so he wouldn’t look for food around here!”

- “I see… I see… Is it big?”

- “Twice bigger than any other bear!”

- “Now, you are just exaggerating.” He laughed

- “Do you see this shed?” I asked, pointing to the small building we used as storage which was over five meters long.

- “Yup!”

- “He wouldn’t fit in there.”

He wanted to laugh once again thinking I am pulling his leg, but seeing how serious I was, sparks of joy vanished from his eyes.

- “Also, the reason we don’t even want to try hunting him is that he keep other predators away. Few herds of ironhide and few packs of shade wolves – we can deal with them, but, if Ol’ Rockclaw would be gone - I prefer not to think what could return to the forest. Grandfather of my grandfather said, that there used to be a wyvern nest before the Ol' Rockpaw was born.”

- “I understand your concern, unfortunately, you see, the young Lord needs to prove himself as a skilled hunter, and such a big game would help him greatly. I am really sorry to ask for this, but I need you to show me his den.”

I gulped loudly thinking if I should lie – tell that I am not aware of where to find it. The truth was opposite, everyone in the village knew – for the sake of not even approaching it.

… No. It’s too easy to find out, and lying may only worsen our relations with Lord Diederik who was kind to us. Why did I choose to help them? Because if you think that monsters are scary, wait till you meet a hostile bureaucrat.

I met up with four Diederik’s hunters on a clearing in the forest. This place was an informal border between “safe woods” where you could rest or pick mushrooms without fear of your life, and the “deepwoods”.

- “Is it done boy?” one of the hunters asked getting up from under the tree

- “Yes, here – these should help hide your smell.” I stretched my hand with vials of herbal paste.

- “Good, good… and the other thing we talked about?”

- “Just as you asked, I didn’t tell anyone about what we were doing… I don’t want to damage the good name of the young Lord…”

In a long and rather complex way they told me that I should keep Lord’s request to myself, apparently, the official version that is going to be spread is that Michael’s encounter and bear hunting was supposed to be “unintended”, otherwise his “bravery” would be mistaken with “stupidity” or “death-courting”. But, if there was a villager about to be attacked, then he would be portrayed as a hero.

As you can easily imagine, I was supposed to be an “attacked villager”. Oh, I was told that I would be far from danger, I just couldn’t be around the village when the deed would be done (and they told me that for participation I could ask for any reward I wanted – of course, I couldn’t be crazy about it).

I was going to ask for some books for Liz’. I already couldn’t wait to see her surprised face as I would rain her down with little treasures.

In the meantime, we started heading deeper into the forest.

The very air here was different, far more humid up to the point where it was difficult to even breathe. Trees were thicker therefore it was also much darker. Yet despite of all of that, I kept on showing the way, deeper into Ol’ Rockclaw’s den.

I kept on pushing branches aside, slowing down with every step.

- “Actually…. Where is Lord Michael?” I asked

- “We will not bring him without scouting the area ahead! He is nearby though, fret not.”

Well, that was a rather smart move. I shouldn’t have raised my voice.

We were getting closer just a few hundred meters from the clearing when I decided to speak up once again.

- “Just behind the corner, there is another small clearing, perfect place to ambush him… actually, the only reasonable place where you could challenge it. Fighting anywhere else with him would be a death-wish…”

- “You don’t say…” I heard the rather amused voice of one of the hunters.

My cheeks became red with embarrassment. I just lectured someone that ate his teeth on hunting how he should do his job. Silly me.

And as I walked over the mentioned corner, I saw it.

The Ol’ Rockpaw lying in the middle of clearing in a pool of his own, already dried blood.

His head was bigger than my torso, his only eye was still opened wide in shock, proving that he died almost instantly. From its back, three long spears were sprouting like gruesome flowers.

- “I… what…” I looked at hunters “… what happened here?”

- “Oh, we killed him about an hour before asking you for help.” The hunters leader said cleaning dust from under his nails with a hunting knife.

- “Was it some kind of… test?”

- “Mmmm… not exactly, no.”

- “Then… I beg your pardon, but why are we here? If you wanted to transport the body, we should have taken a cart and…”

I couldn’t say anything more. A needle-like pain shocked through my body, clouding my mind. The pain changed, resonated, echoed through my guts like an avalanche.

I looked below, on my belly, to locate the source of my pain. It was a knife. The very hunting knife he was just cleaning his nail with.

- “Sorry kid, but my dear Lord likes your girl, and this whole Oath made it all problematic. Seriously though, who the fuck does even perform these rites nowadays?... And now, good Lord, will avenge your death, killing the terrible bear that feast upon you, bringing some comfort to your lady… he would give her a few days to lament over you and offer to take her to her mansion where she could escape from painful reality…”

The twisting of his dagger enlarged the wound in my belly.

He pinned me to the tree as his other hand tore the pendant that Liz’ gave me off my neck.

- “Sorry, we kinda have to tear you apart, just as a bear would…you know, in case they were looking for you, you need to look like a victim of a bear… but look at this!” he grabbed my other hand with a golden ring given to be on my birthday by priest “… that’s… worth quite a lot! We weren’t told to bring this as well! Boys! Selling that will reward us with a month of partying at a local brother!”

Eventually, he pulled the dagger off my guts.

- “Finish the work, lads. I need to hide this ring somewhere safe… and report back to our beloved Lord.”

- “You could have left the whole job to us, to begin with…”

- “Sorry, stakes too big lads, couldn’t let you fuck it up.”

Blackened blood was gushing through my wound. He pierced my liver, hence the darkened color. My death was assured, nothing would save me, not even the best healer from the capital.

Why did he do it like this? He had so many opportunities to kill me. Why bother telling me why he did that? Bah, he could kill me in so many faster ways. Slit throat, pierce heart, stab a knife into my spine as I was turned with my back to them… so why…

… ah, of course.

He was a sadist. Getting a trophy was not enough for him, he needed to see the dying light in my eyes.

Michael… wanted to kill me. For Liz?

That was so ridiculous! He barely knew her! And… I thought he was a good man… And not only am I going to die, but also leave my Liz’ with a monster such as himself…

Why?

Why do I have to die? I was… a good person… Right?

I was working all the time, helping everyone around… mother kept on telling me that good things happen to good people… that when you spread good deeds, they are coming back to you… Up until now, I thought that it was true… yet now… yet now…

- “Yet now, it’s time to go, child…”

The world turned grey, three hunters above me, preparing knives to cut me to pieces stopped.

I saw their faces, deprived of any emotions as they were looking down on me. To them, I was no different than a deer they caught yesterday that they had to strip off the fur and meat, leaving just bones.

But, what was most important, the pain was gone. My wound was no longer bleeding. As I was lost in my thoughts, my blood must have run dry.

Next to me, was a beautiful woman, kneeling on the ground. Dressed in a simple white dress with melancholic expression and sorrow in her eyes, she was looking at me, or maybe, within me.

- “It is always such a loss when just men are dying to the wicked…” she laid her hand on me, caressing my cheek.

It was so delightfully warm.

Only then, I started crying.

- “Why? Why did it happen? Why to me, of all the people?”

- “It is your nature – as a human. Your kind mistakes kindness for weakness, and those who are wicked are using those of pure hearts for their own goals. You are not the first, and, unfortunately, you shall not be last, to share this fate.”

She embraced me slightly, trying to bring me as much comfort as she could.

The Pale Lady. Death. The carrier. Many names for the same goddess.

- “Do you know why I am here?” she asked me with a gentle, soothing voice.

- “To bring me on the other side.” I responded weakly as tears were still running down my face.

- “Do you wish to use my services?”

The Pale Lady would take your hand and lead you through the mist to the afterlife. Those who had unfinished business could cast it aside… but woe, woe on those who would refuse, for very few stay on the earth, as tormented ghosts trapped to the place of their death, rest of them, were forever trapped in the mist.

I didn’t answer, instead, I just hid my face in her arm and cried quietly.

- “It’s ok. We have time, I will stay by your side until you make up your mind… everyone is fine now…”

It was no fine at all! There is no way it would be! The pain.... the humiliation, the knowledge that this monster - Michael -would go to the village and tell his own version of the story! That everyone would believe him! That he would fool Liz and make her live with him... I wanted to howl into the heavens, to wake up all the vengeful spirits, to even make the deal with the devil, or something even worse if it existed...

Funny, when I recall that it was those same emotions and thoughts that would ultimately summon him to me. To think, all it took was my idle ravings and final thoughts of hatred that would change the future of...everything.

- “Oh? Is it?”

Another voice could be heard from the edge of the clearing, so I raised my head to look at the other person.

Somehow, the little warmth that Mortis offered was gone, blown away by the cold wind that the stranger brought. Clad in black rags covering his body, I couldn’t see his face because of the hood. On his shoulder a huge raven was sitting.

- “Beware his name, that comes in shade…” Mortis started saying, addressing not me nor the stranger

“His heart of dreams and deceptions is made;

He lies speaking truth, He laughs as you weep,

Into your ears his words surely will creep;

Your fear, his meal, your dreams, his snack,

So leave all and run, for the Beast is back.”

- “You are calling me the Beast, though the crimes are on you…” the stranger responded

“… you call me the liar, thought all I speak is true.

You claim I feast on deception andddd…. I fucked up. I messed up the number of syllables in a line, not to mention I have no idea what’s a good rhyme with , so it would make sense… Shit, should have come prepared.”

That was quite… unusual.

- “What do you want, Beast in Black?” Mortis asked

- “Nothing, just to feast my eyes on yet another of your failures.” He sat under one of the trees next to me searching something under his coat. With loud “A-ha!” he picked a small traveling flask and took a huge gulp from it. It reeked of strong alcohol.

- “What do you mean by ? I had nothing to do with the death of this pure soul!”

- “When I said I meant all the young goddesses. The last generation of this world. You see, kid, you may not know it, but! - The Three that you worshiped so badly decided to play with mortals… again. They did something in your capital, which started a commotion, which made young Lord Diederik to come here which eventually got you killed. Butterfly effect that THEY caused.”

- “Y-you mean…” I started with a weak voice

- “That if it were not for the goddesses you worship you would be working on the field right now, just to come back to your loved one.”

- “But…”

- “Don’t listen to him!” Mortis, the gentle lady, hissed angrily “… his words are poison! He twists reality and…”

- “Then call me a liar...” he disturbed her rudely “… tell him that if you… and by YOU I mean THE GODDESSES OF NEW ORDER wouldn’t get bored, or perhaps felt threatened, and thus decided to play with mortals this lad wouldn’t be dying! Tell us that it is not the aftermath of your doings!”

Divines couldn’t lie, and so, Mortis just clenched her teeth.

- “I came here mostly to tell you this, kid, because, you see, good Ol’ Mortis would have to keep you a company through the mist, and that would make your little journey this much more awkward if you would hold a grudge against her…”

- “Who… are you…”

- “Ho-ho-ho! Glad you asked! I can’t really tell you my name, because of some… FUCKING DIVINE BITCHES… who made me play their games, and one of the laws is I can’t tell my name to non-followers, but I can tell you that I am a new God of…”

- “YOU. ARE NOT. A GOD!” Pale Lady yelled. And divine couldn’t lie…

- “YET!...” Beast in Black hissed back “… let me rephrase myself, I am an… internship worker, in this whole new god-business, if I would win in those… FUCKING DIVINE BITCHES… game, I would become a full-fledged god. For now, though, I feed on the scraps. Oh, and my domain is fate. So I am a g… A SOON TO BE GOD… of fate. Nice to meeth’ya!”

He took another gulp from the flask.

- “But… if you are a god… soon to be god! Or internship god...” I quickly corrected my wording under the sharp gaze of the Death “… why are you dressed…”

- “IN RAGS?!” He burst.

- “Y-yes?”

- “Because. I am. Fucking. Internship. Worker! Do you know how little we are paid?! HA!? YA TESTING ME PUNK!? Come on! Spit in my face! Laugh at me! Do the same thing that those bitches are already doing!”

- “I… was not going to…”

- “Whatever. I am just messing with you. To gods, faith is currency. The more people follow us, the stronger we get… in theory. I am wearing rags mostly because I have little to none followers. Sheesh. Those evil bitches are worshiped by millions, why do I have those few chosen ones… and now, ask which one of us is actually doing his job as a deity!? The one that is paid the least, obviously!!!”

He stretched his arm…

- “I am sorry to hear that…” I managed to say.

He turned his head in my direction. I knew that it was a surprise that came upon his face, even though I still couldn’t see it because of the hood. He looked at me for a good few moments before he burst in crazy laugher.

- “Wait! You are the one that just got stabbed to death, and you are ? Are you fucking serious?”

… His crazy presence made me literally forget about the whole world around me – including three hunters still standing above me as if frozen in time.

- “… tell you what kid… Don’t you want to, I dunno, take revenge on them?” He eventually started.

- “Don’t listen to him! He never gives what he promises…” Divines can’t lie…

- “Quite the opposite! I always am!” the two divines, saying opposite sentences… “… You see kid, quite a few prayed to me, for I have the power to change one’s fate… they asked me to change it. Lovers that were forced to marry someone else because of political reasons asked me save them from an unwanted marriage. So I did. Sometimes, I killed their spouses, sometimes, I killed them, sometimes I made one of them… incapable of attending their wedding… or any wedding. Many people beg me to change their fate, and I always do… but who told them I would change it for better. You see, I hate certain types of people…”

He got up from under the tree and started walking across the clearing

- “… those overconfident. Those who had it easy in life, who would face their first difficulty, and instead of fighting it, they chose to … so, I am giving them what they asked for… Instead of handing … lives, I prefer saying that I hand… opportunities. You were trying sooo, soooo hard, yet failed? You were training, till your hands started bleeding? You were working till your backs broke? And in the end, fortune proved to be a bitch?... I can help with that…”

- “Maybe you didn’t notice, twisted Beast, but he is already dead! Why do you want to corrupt his soul with your silver-tongued venom?!” Mortis disturbed his speech.

- “Silence, lesser goddess, I am not speaking with you right now.” He made a hand gesture.

- “You wouldn’t dar…” and then she choked and spat out blood as plants and trees started growing off her mouth, silencing her. In a few next moments, the Goddess of Death turned into a gruesome, twisted tree-like sculpture.

- “We don’t have much time, that won’t keep her for long. You are not dead. Right now, we are between tick and tock of the clock. In the world between this life and afterlife. Your heart is giving up its last beat, but because of that, we can talk. Soon, you will have to decide, if you go to the afterlife… or maybe… just maybe, try seizing vengeance… of course, if that’s what you yearn for, I don't judge!… I can give you something to replace the that you are just losing…”

- “Can I… be with Liz again?”

- “No, I mean, yes, but that’s quite unlikely to happen. Like, really, really close to impossible, I can’t lie because of some… FUCKING BITCHES… but, you better treat it as no, I wouldn’t like to give you fake hope. I have already told you. You wouldn’t be , that’s something I can’t grant you, not with my current powers… I can’t even give you much strength, nor cheat to carry on with your little new journey…”

The tree into which Mortis has turned started shaking

- “… I will tell you this one more time – I can’t guarantee you revenge, only a new opportunity. That would be a deal, in return I ask for one itty bitty tiny thing…” that didn’t sound good “… you will have to become my follower. Or even better, my champion. Your deeds and your faith would empower me… and… um, there might be a chance, that by doing so, you could perhaps by some possibility….” He looked at the tree, as if hoping that Mortis would turn back in the meantime not letting him finish what he started

- “… in some specific circumstances… in the situation ceteris-paribus, which means that no other thing would change….”

- “Just spill it!” I lost my temper and yelled at the god.

- “… you would be condemned in every other religion that currently rules this world. So, after death - next death, that is, you would come to my afterlife… aaaand… um… I am kinda… new to the business… so that’s the feature I am still working on.”

- “… excuse me?”

- “I AM AN INTERNSHIP WORKER! Also, all my followers are still alive! …. BUT with the faith I generated until now, I set some basic stuff! Fret not! By the time you come, I would have it all nicely organized! So…” he looked at Lady of Death, who almost completely turned back to normal “… do we have a deal?”

To be not led into the same afterlife as the followers of the Three meant that I would not see my ancestors. That I would never again see my parents… or Liz’…

He was suspicious, shady, definitely not trustworthy…

Only a madman would agree.

Mortis turned back to her old, divine, majestic form, yet this time she didn't look pure and calming, she looked like a plague about to harvest entire town.

- “Now you did it, you little insignificant piece of shit! With this, I don’t have to limit myself and can just tear you to shreds!”

- “… deal…” I said accepting his stretched hand.

And Mortis vanished, turning into dust and mist. From under the stranger’s hood, I could see a nasty grin as his eyes sparkled with wicked lights. That wickedness was not aimed at me though, but the goddesses, as if saying .

Something “pounced” at me from under his sleeve, violet vines which dug under my skin. I felt then crawling into my veins replacing all the blood I lost.

- “And now, prepare yourself child, I told you I would give you a chance, but I won’t win battles for you. With your new body you won’t feel pain, you will be also slightly stronger… but a bit slower… use the element of surprise… on them… I will explain in detail to you when you would end your business with those three…”

The Beast vanished, shortly after, the world “unfroze” itself, colors returned and hunters started moving.

- “M’kay – he should be dead by now. Let’s get to the chopping, that has to look like a beast’s work, I think we need to scatter some of his remains over the branches, don’t forget to put some into the beast's mouth and claws. Also, tear the wounds, we need to avoid clean cuts…”

The god said I wouldn’t feel pain. What I felt wasn’t pain indeed, but a dull sensation resonating across my wound, not letting me forget about the hole in my stomach…

… and rage. And anger, and wrath.

Yet at the same time… weird serenity.

- “First… let’s cut his head off…” he grabbed my hair and raised my head getting access to my throat, he lowered his whole body to make his job easier…

And then I jumped on him. I was unarmed, but it didn’t matter, I still had my teeth.

I dug them deep into his neck, I was waiting for a deep, disgusting taste of iron to feel my throat, yet all I felt was a sweet aftertaste. Weird, normally, I would never think about biting someone, definitely not to bite a piece of someone's throat off, yet this time, it was quite natural, as if I was lead by instinct.

He screamed for a moment or two as his companions were looking in shock not knowing what was happening. They saw my wound which right now, instead of blood, was oozing this weird, purple substance.

One of remaining hunters readied to battle, the other one, clearly less experienced and younger, fell on the ground and started crawling back

- “Gods have punished us… they punished us for what we did…”

- “Get yourself together, Rick! Idiot! It sometimes happens! When someone holds too much grudge they turn into undeads! Just cut its head off!”

- “Riiiick… Ernest…” I knew their names, I overheard them at the inn, still, the talking proved to be somewhat more difficult “… they know… what you did…” I decided to inflict some additional trauma on them “… the shadows… are calling… your naaames!”

- “Shut up, you fucking corpse!”

Hunter quickly jumped to the side and stabbed me from the side. I felt no pain as the blade penetrated my muscles, only irritation, feeling that there is something in my body, something, that shouldn’t be there.

I clenched my muscles as he tried pulling the blade off. But the sheer force of my body didn’t let him. Ah, I remember as Ol’ Margeret taught me once, that the human’s body is much stronger than we think, but, our brain is limiting it so we wouldn’t permanently hurt ourselves. We had enough force to throw ourselves across the room… Now, it looks like my limits were lifted. I twisted my body and faced the hunter that was still fighting, he tired jumping back, but his backs hit the tree. He had nowhere to run.

I grabbed his skull with both hands and tightened my grip. He screamed. And cried. And then, there was a cracking sound as his skull bones broke and shattered under my grip, piercing his brain.

I turned around to the last hunter, who, guessing by the stain on his pants, pissed himself. I took a dagger off my arm as I started approaching him.

Each kill felt soooo… liberating. It coated my mind in righteous ecstasy. I knew that I was enjoying it not because I hated them, but because they were villains deserving to be punished.

I wasn’t lying. In the shadows, I saw faces, they were screaming and pointing at the hunters. Apparently, I wasn’t their first victim.

- “P-please… have some mercy… I… I just did what I was told…” young boy was crying.

- “… that has to look like a beast’s work…” these words came out so naturally out of my mouth

- “I… beg you…”

- “I think we need to scatter some of his remains over the branches…”

- “No... No!”

- “Also, tear the wounds, we need to avoid clean cuts”

- “NOOO!”

Soon my work was done.

- “And, how are you feeling?” man in black appeared again

- “… pure.”

- “Just as promised, I will fill you in, so… before the boring ted-talk would start, do you have any questions?”

- “You said… you can’t give you names to non-followers… I am your follower… now…” speaking was hard. Again. “… your… name?”

He took his hood down.

- “Very well. You deserve to know this much, my little worshiper. I am called the Master of Desires, Forger of Stars and The Fate-Breaker. But, you can call me… Zariel. Zariel the Whiteraven.”

His perfectly white hairs danced on the wind and his weird, twisted eyes – one green and one blue – looked at me with a pounding glimpse of accomplishment.