“WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE LIGHT IS THAT?”
Veeyel fell out of his chair and crawled backwards along the floor, edging away from the writhing mass of shadowy tentacles in the middle of the room. Similar cries were made from the other Ksa scattered around, all of whom had been minding their own business when the mass appeared.
“Oh Light, it’s not a Zonta, is it?” Jaydee panicked, backing away into a corner.
Whatever it was, it was terrifying, warping reality around it and giving off vibes of pure terror. Normally, these battle-hardened warriors wouldn’t have been so scared. Several of the Ksa present had noticed this and tried to compose themselves, but to no avail. The only vok not backing away was the youngest, who seemed to recognise what this monster was.
Suddenly, the shadowy tentacle mass collapsed in on itself, before gently dissipating into a cloud of glitter and sparkles. Out of the cloud stepped some sort of strange, winged Thanatian creature, completely naked apart from some conveniently placed shadows. Its body was incredibly curvy and feminine, with smooth, grey skin and large, nearly floating breasts, kept held down by a single black tentacle. Its claws were nearly as long as its arms were.
“Hello again, Death…” Arkay sighed, as everyone around him noticed how relaxed he was and began to calm down. “Are you here to claim one of us?”
Death grinned, but not in an I-am-about-to-claim-your-soul way. She didn’t say anything at first, instead she wandered around the room, looking at each Ksa in turn. The grin on her face grew in size as she eyed Zitel, muttering something under her breath. Finally, she turned to Arkay.
“Your friends are cute! Shame they’re all as terminally ill as you are!” Death exclaimed, leaping up to the young Rethan. “You certainly know how to pick them!”
Arkay rolled his eyes. One of the Ksa behind Death gasped, having no idea how Arkay could get away with that. “We’re in a hospital, in particular a ward for terminally ill Ksa. Not like I chose to be here.”
Death shrugged, then went back over to Zitel. “Well… they’re all cute. Especially you. You’re really cute. I might have to put you in my jar when you die.”
Zitel wanted to back away but remained in place.
“Um, what are you?” Veeyel squeaked from underneath the table he was hiding under. “I… I’ve seen you before. Hallucinated you. I think…”
“Near-me experiences tend to do that!” Death smiled. “Ah, sorry, little ones! I didn’t introduce myself! I am Kinisis, the Lady of the Cycle, the Mistress of Renewal. But you can call me Death!”
Most of the Ksa remained silent.
“Uh, hi, Death. I’m Zitel. Nice to meet you.”
Not wanting to be outdone by Zitel, the other Ksa also introduced themselves. Death grinned at them all and turned her attention back to Arkay.
“So, how is my favourite little godkiller?” she asked, stroking Arkay across his face with one of her gigantic claws.
“Not great, to be honest. Kinda wishing you didn’t tell me to hold my breath…”
Death was still grinning as she threw her arm over Arkay’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about that. That’s kinda why I’m here! I thought, after putting you through all that and getting rid of a thorn in my side for years, least I could do was spend an hour with you and your friends! I’m sure the universe won’t mind.”
“You’re… here to spend time with us?” Aziten stuttered.
“The avatar of life and death wants to spend time with us?” Ayess repeated. Aybee-En and Efel also had similar enquiries.
Death nodded her head. “Yeah! I need to get back in touch with the… life side of things, so I thought I’d make my first stop here! Since I kinda owe Arkay a little… So!” Death suddenly changed her tone. “What do you guys normally do around here!”
“Well… We don’t have much, but…” Arkay looked around. “What do you fancy? We have cards, paper for drawing, electronic games, television…”
The Lady of the Cycle though had already made up her mind. She rushed over to the drawing table and grabbed a wad of paper. “Come on, everyone! I’ll teach you how to play consequences!”