Death's Judgement (The Avatar Series Book 3)

By Jeffrey Alan Henning

The previous Avatar of Death signed a contract which requires John Ashkore, the current Avatar of Death, to provide security in a trial between Avatars. Unfortunately the Champion of Law, who presides over the trial, falls ill and cannot continue the trial. John must now find a replacement while he and his friends come under attack from unseen forces, and still being hunted by the relentless FBI Agent, Lois Kine and her partner.

John Ashkore is called to be the bailiff in the court of the Champion of Law. Bound by a decree that his predecessor signed, and told to kill everyone involved by Death himself, John must make a choice. He can do as his House is bound and cross Death, or take the easy way out and kill everyone involved. With mounting pressure in the world of Avatars, he’s hard pressed to decide to start a one-man war or be killed himself.
Unfortunately, the Champion of Law is poisoned during the proceedings, and a new one must be chosen or everyone involved will lose their Avatar powers. Luckily, Helena Thompson, the Avatar of Luck, steps in to help John with his decision.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeffrey Alan Henning
• Release date: Dec 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370004850

Jeffrey Alan Henning

Jeffrey Alan Henning currently resides in Colorado Springs and works as a Network Defense Analyst for MEIT. He currently holds a degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment Bachelor of Arts degree at Full Sail University and is currently working on self-publishing his works.

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Death’s Judgement

Written By:

Jeffrey Alan Henning

Smashwords Edition

Copyright© 2016 Rikoun Publishing

Published by Rikoun Publishing at Smashwords

Discover other titles by Jeffrey Alan Henning at Smashwords.com

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Although the author and publisher has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

The Avatar Series

Book 1: Death Trade

ISBN: 1481891529

Release Date: July 8th, 2013

Short Description: John Ashkore has been the Avatar of Death for a little over 7 years. As Death’s helping hand on the mortal plane, he is frequently given tasks by Death himself. Only this time, the task is something John never expected, keeping someone alive instead of dead! The problems are: he must do this while fending off a psychopath who wants him dead, maintaining secrecy from the world, ducking the law, keeping one of Death’s clients alive, and above all - staying alive himself…

Book 2: Luck is Everywhere

ISBN: 149236004X

Release Date: September 6th, 2013

Short Description: Helena Thompson has been the Avatar of Luck for a few years now, though all she's been doing is training. Finally, Lady Luck has given her a mission to accomplish in the real world, and it's only her Luck that's keeping her alive. Luck, and John Ashkore - the Avatar of Death.

With someone close to her trying to kill her, and unable to trust anyone but The Avatar of Death and his Butler, Stephan, she must find out who’s trying to kill her while proving to Lady Luck that she’s a capable Avatar of Luck.

Book 3: Death’s Judgement

ISBN: 1537738135

Release Date: December 1st, 2016

Short Description: John Ashkore is called to be the bailiff in the court of the Champion of Law. Bound by a decree that his predecessor signed, and told to kill everyone involved by Death himself, John must make a choice. He can do as his House is bound and cross Death, or take the easy way out and kill everyone involved. With mounting pressure in the world of Avatars, he’s hard pressed to decide to start a one-man war or be killed himself.

Unfortunately, the Champion of Law is poisoned during the proceedings, and a new one must be chosen or everyone involved will lose their Avatar powers. Luckily, Helena Thompson, the Avatar of Luck, steps in to help John with his decision.

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Table of Contents

Today - June 23rd, 2008

7 Days Ago - June 16th, 2008

6 Days Ago - June 17th, 2008

5 Days Ago - June 18th, 2008

4 Days Ago – June 19th, 2008

3 Days Ago - June 20th, 2008

2 Days Ago - June 21st, 2008

Yesterday - June 22nd, 2008

Today - June 23rd, 2008

Tomorrow - June 24th, 2008

The Next Day - June 25th, 2008

Epilogue

Other Books by Jeffrey Alan Henning

Duty.

Honor.

Tradition.

These are things that people in positions of power and influence rant about. These are the things that most of those same people often ignore.

It would seem I cannot ignore them, whether I wanted to or not. My job will not allow me to.

I am the Avatar of Death; with every duty it entails.

Honestly, I do not think I know them all – yet.

I am honorable, though some days… some days it feels like I am a liar, and a cheat.

Tradition. We humans are all about tradition, are we not? My Master, however, has no need of traditions. Or perhaps he has more traditions than any of us. It is hard to tell sometimes…

If you could only choose one of the three, which would you choose? Duty? Honor? Or Tradition?

Should I follow the traditions my predecessors set forth, even if Death himself has told me not to? To cross Death would surely be an execution, but I cannot believe that my predecessors would have agreed to bind themselves so thoroughly with mortal laws and traditions without at least seeking counsel from their Master… Sure, the Histories of House Death tell the who, the what, the where, and the when - but they mention nothing of the why, or most importantly, the how.

John Ashkore

Fifth (and current) Avatar of Death

June, 2008

Today - June 23rd, 2008

The figure walked slowly out of the hallway door, crossing into the library in front of the other Avatars. It was dressed in a heavy black robe, which covered its owner from head to toe, plus a little extra that dragged behind its feet as it walked forward. It was impossible to tell what gender that figure was, if it even had one, due to the fact that it was slightly hunched over. Its hood was pulled up over its head, to cover its head in the same fashion as the robe did the body. If one were to try to gaze into the hood, they would see nothing but darkness.

The figure moved slowly, and was near silent. Only a faint swishing could be heard as the robes moved about the figure while it was moving. The only other sound in the room was that of which it carried, or more accurately, leaned upon. It was a scythe, and apparently heavy from the sound it made as it struck the tile floor as the figure leaned on it to move forward. The only visible part of the figure’s body was the one hand holding the scythe, occasionally slipping out from underneath that long robe - it looked like a normal human hand.

The frail looking figure stopped when it was behind the big oak table in the center of the room. It paused for a moment, and turned its hooded head to its left. There was a small desk and one chair there. The woman, who had stood the moment the figure had stepped foot in the room, was gorgeous, but in a natural way. Her hair was a pleasant looking tangle of black curls, with gems hanging sporadically throughout. They sparkled in a variety of colors, even in the dimly lit room. Her skin was dark, indicating that she spent much time in the sun. Her eyes were a strange and alluring blaze of gold. She wore a forest green outfit that looked shredded as it ended raggedly just above her knees. The tunic was slashed with various shades of browns, which accented it quite nicely. Around her wrist was a tangle of leaves and twines that looked like they were made out of glass, or gems. The leaves varied in color, from bright green to a dull brown. If one were to look close enough, they would see that inside the gemmed foliage was a liquid that seemed to move on its own throughout the entire bracelet. She held her Artifact - because that’s what it truly was – in front of her, with her freehand nervously twisting it around her wrist. When she wasn’t twisting it, she almost looked like she was wringing the life out of it.

The cloaked figure nodded to the woman, who silently bowed her head in response, and turned his head to his right, ignoring the usual muffled coughs from the old man sitting directly ahead of him at the large oak table that stood in the center of the room.

The other side of the room was set up in the same fashion as the left side, where a woman and her Artifact now stood. There was the same table and chair - the only difference was that a different woman stood in front of the chair. She was so very tall, at the very least six and a half feet, if not more. She was light skinned, and powerfully built, yet still had a feminine figure. She had long braided dirty blonde hair, with a very small red ribbon at the end of it. The braid came down the front of her outfit, on the left side, to her waist. She wore a suit, but instead of a skirt, she wore suit pants. It fitted her form very well, from what the cloaked figure saw.

She stood with her hands resting on top of the hilt of a huge broadsword. The semi-transparent layer of the blade was deep red in color, so deep that it looked like dried blood. The inside, however, did have the look of red blood swirling around, up and down the length of the long blade, and into the hilt - which was wrapped with leather. Tassels hung down from the hilt of the sword, but the cloaked figure knew those served no other purpose than decoration.

The cloaked figure nodded to her as well, and if she acknowledged him, she did so in a secret way, for she made no movement or hint that she had even noticed. She was staring intently at the dark skinned woman across the room, ignoring more muffled coughs from the old man in the center.

Avatars, the cloaked figure said in a deep voice. You will place your Artifacts on the desk, and return to your seats, as agreed. The cloaked figure motioned to the two wooden stands on the small tables in front of them.

Both women knew their Artifacts were inert now. The Champion of Law, who was sitting in the center of the room and having his coughing ignored, had taken their power at the beginning of the trial those seven days ago.

The woman in the suit hefted her huge sword and swung it with great familiarity. She stopped the swing perfectly above the table, and lowered it as gently as one would a baby. The dark skinned woman merely took hold and slowly started to slide her Artifact off her wrist.

Suddenly, the old man at the desk in the middle of the room coughed loudly and shook violently. The Avatars stopped quickly, both moving their Artifacts into a battle stance. The smaller woman holding her hand out in front of her, and the large woman moved her sword in front of her so quickly that it surprised the dark hooded figure.

The old man continued coughing. He coughed so much that the man dressed as Death moved forward to check on him. Suddenly, the coughing stopped. Both Avatars looked at the old man. He looked like he was about to say something - only his head dropped on the oak table that he sat behind, making a small thumping noise as it did so.

Quick as lightning, the big Avatar with the huge weapon swept forward and impaled the man dressed as Death with her sword. His scythe fell to the ground as he coughed once and grasped the huge blade with both hands, and then slid off it and onto the ground, coughing a couple more times before dying. Not once was his face shown. Death’s black robes helped mop up the blood that was seeping out of him.

The other Avatar, who had watched with a face of contempt, fled through the doorway to the giant library they were in, de-materializing as she stepped over the threshold.

The big woman in the pantsuit spit on the corpse of Death. The Death Avatar is dead! She shouted in the air. She licked a small amount of the blood from her kill and said a small prayer to her Deity.

I don’t have a poet’s voice, but I know this,

He who is silent passes undetected,

He who looks average is often underestimated,

He who partners with an idiot, is usually caught with said idiot.

I’ve had a lot of friends, but only a small handful of them were people I could trust. Most often than not, partnering with anyone will get you caught – your ‘friend’ will always manage to get you into trouble.

Just a note:

If ever do I partner up again: utilize his talents for the job and then kill him. Period.

Tomas Kinsos III

Fourth Avatar of Death

August, 1642

(After three years’ imprisonment for theft, of all things.)

7 Days Ago - June 16th, 2008

Reginald Reg Walker stood with his back against the corner of the dark alley. He held a Glock G41 Gen4 in each hand, pointed upwards towards the sky. He had recently bought the pistols and liked the feel of them since he had first picked them up. He peeked around the corner, and upon seeing nothing, he nodded to his friend across the alley, who was also peeking around his corner. The