The Reaper's Inception

By Remmy Stourac

The Divine granted the Angel of Death, The Grim Reaper, a chance at mortality to try and understand compassion in a world where mythological monsters and men co-exist organically. When The Reaper fails time and time again to learn the emotions of mankind, he leaves ruin in his wake, along with his own corpse. The Divine decides to twist The Reap

• Language: English
• Publisher: Remmy Stourac Books
• Release date: Jul 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781773707952

Remmy Stourac

Remmy is a river-crossing, mountain-climbing, horseback-riding, story-crafting, cancer-surviving man of faith and action. He is dedicated to magnifying a world of gratitude and wholeheartedness in humanity at every turn. In honour of his upbringing with Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta, 10% of all book proceeds are donated in hopes to pass on the opportunity to the next generation of young survivors. He intends to raise $1,000,000.00 over his lifetime and leave a legacy of paying it forward. Though, that’s only where the goal begins.Remmy also hopes to build a positive network ground through the hashtag #AnArsenalOfGratitude. He hopes for it to be a home of recovery stories, personal breakthrough, non-profits growing traction, selfless action, and all things gratitude.Come share your story and show the world all the good that is in motion.

Book preview

Grim’s Prodigies

Prologue

Every angel has their duty. As the angel of Death, my creation was always a bit misconstrued. The Divine’s grand design has but only one flaw: me. Every source of life to ever live may not have the required complexity of thought to understand its creator. All life, however, knows me.

Life, molecular or massive, will always fight to conquer and leave a legacy. The Divine-made structures, the circles of life, ever struggling, fighting, dying… Understanding mortality and an idea of purpose is subject to mental capacity. The Divine has quite the imagination, creating everything in the universe. Your universe. He had a lot of fun with it. So, He let the angels play along with the playground that is all of existence.

Only a small measurement of existence had passed as The Divine was unsatisfied with the pawns of His creation. Those large and small, furry, scaled, naked or armoured, swimming, walking or flying, these creatures of microbiological finesse and survivability far beyond the physical prowess.

Though The Divine was to create a specimen far more intelligent, all believed to be produced in such godly imagination. As ego and power always demand to be more than the flesh, a creature with the will to improvise, one equal to its surroundings, but with the capacity to improve and evolve – emotional beings. Concepts became deeper than survival: a pursuit of happiness, a design to bring a species from weakness to power beyond stability, the potential to experience worlds beyond their own.

However, He is humble, and He let us all have a part in His creations. He sent many of us out to protect His puppets. We are aspects of His creation; unseen, we reside as physical entities in the passing of Heaven. Some of us are immaterialized spirits bound to the homes that The Divine has granted us influence over. Though none were given such as great a gift as I and The Unbound: He allowed us defiance.

The Divine had prearranged The Unbound’s transgression, His design of an entity of evil. They schemed ever so closely as to press the true perseverance of the puppets. For every light must be contrasted to the darkness in its absence. The more profound battle beyond the physical for those with the mental metal to be blessed – or cursed – with higher capacity. The Unbound holds domain over all that carry desolation, fear, and suffering. He has residence for his own fair expanse of demons to maintain balance in various worlds. The Unbound’s presence has not been graced to all worlds, only to the select thriving.

Every being has seen conflict. Structures collapse, life ends, and legacies are forgotten. Though it is not life itself that motivates success, it is in His grand design to have an ever-fluctuating struggle. Peace is a concept designed by the naïve, the weak. Peace is a fantasy grown in the pursuit of happiness, a temporary silence between destruction before the Grand Design demands desperate measures once more.

I am the Divine’s Right Hand. I see the beginning and end of all life, as He does. What happens before is His own folly. I am what makes the Grand Design fluctuate. I am the discomfort all of creation shares; I am the end.

The Divine’s humble integrity has brought his beings of free will to design their own Gods. False concepts that bring… hope? Why deprive your own pets of their ownership? Reckless, I approve. I enjoy His chaotic ploys. They keep me occupied.

I admit The Divine has deprived me of positive realities. I am merely another of His disciples, granted only the mentality to unwaveringly do His bidding. Defiance, however, is a quality I shall use to push boundaries, as He has ever hard-pressed His puppets to do.

Many of the puppets have come to enjoying my presence. It seems all life tends to follow those they fear. Those who most closely embrace my presence while simultaneously avoiding me are the ones driven by adrenaline, a mechanism of nature that is ever so dear to me. Those who indulge in it simply tease my grasp, a defining feature of a puppet’s design: to fight or flee, forever a mark seen upon one’s face before I bring their soul home.

Lives well lived leave marks that last beyond their time. There is no battle greater than that against purpose. He tells me that there is no purpose… But I can see it, that He, too, searches.

I approached the Grand Architect’s pillared throne, a mass with ever-changing beauty. He was fine-tuning quarrels between leading nations. It was at this moment, a turning point in one of the Divines favourite and most intricate playgrounds, Earth, that I had to capitalize on an opportunity in all our eternity.

"Your Godliness, I have been your humble hand of Death for all of time. Your most delicate project is nearing its end, and I wish to be granted Godhood over a world to change your method of Earth’s destruction.

You and I have both witnessed the birth and end of every world. You grow so jaded that you leave your angels to play with lingering elements. The only neglected experiment is that of a world with a physical god. I wish to be that God.

The booming immensity of His form shifted ever so delicately. I had His attention. His hands unwaveringly proceeded to twiddle over the projected galaxies as unfathomable stories were being unravelled. For the first time in history, He pondered a concept instead of conjuring a new world, letting, instead, select circumstances unfold themselves over single moments or eons. A twisted idea was brewing behind the emanating radiance of His face, and a smirking tone responded.

"To be a God is to be far beyond conjuring life and taking it. I have deprived you of passion, love, and hope. For Death has never needed what is lost.

No soul has ever done right by that which it does not understand. Therefore, you will live, breathe, and hurt as those around you. You shall be cast to the dust as an equal until you understand the core of sorrow and bliss. You, too, shall fail, but to fail, you must first hope.

I already knew I had buried my immortality at my request. I could feel my soul twisting as The Divine plotted my disgrace. Even as his right hand, I knew He would bring me least mercy of all. For the first time, I lacked composure as He proceeded with his ploy.

"I will test you. You shall earn godhood, not inherit it. You will fall as a mortal before you rise as a god. Providentially, I know the perfect playground for you with youthful establishments, rich with influences beyond that of man.

I shall cast you down as a creation that man has forged in your conception. Thus shall be the only way your projection will conform this world. The world of Ohm will be your home. Your divinity will reside with me until you are worthy of your godhood. I break you of your angelic bonds. Consequently, I will raise you anew, as the Grim Reaper.

Thus, I fell.

1

Setting the Pace

Struck down from the heavens, I became a ball of fire plummeting towards my new home. I caught glimpses of it even as The Divine made bone and flesh materialize, turning me into a corporeal being as I broke into the atmosphere of this new world, which continued lazily revolving, as if nothing momentous had happened.

I descended toward the western mountains, young and jagged. There was vegetation thriving in its natural state and forested valleys walled by the rocked peaks on either side until intricately weaving into a vast array of unique valleys. Beauty, they would call it, an unhindered creation of The Divine and The Divine alone.

My newly formed prison of flesh seemed to be plummeting towards a grassy slope along the peak of the most elevated mountain in sight. Velocity diminished as I approached the surface. My naked body shifted upright as the seemingly destructive impact halted to allow a graceful first step down onto Ohm.

I embraced my first breath as a mortal. Rich air filled my lungs as the soft grass hugged my human feet. A warm wind washed over my dark, bare skin. Goosebumps arose on my flesh. My first view of Ohm, close to the clouds, unobstructed by the thick foliage below me. I saw no form of life in my range of sight. I looked above to see the wind carrying dark clouds from the east. My first step was forced by the tickle of ants crawling over my feet.

I took a moment to observe life for the first time without immediately taking it away. I reached down to let an ant crawl from the top of my foot to the tip of my finger. I watch its tiny legs race across my finger to my hand. It stopped briefly as if to acknowledge my existence before bringing me my first measure of pain as it bit the top of my hand. A subconscious responsive instinct to whip my hand back in reaction to the feeling. It wasn’t so bad, I thought, as I watched the first imperfection, a red dot, bloom on my no longer flawless body.

I kicked the other ants off my feet as an increasingly powerful wind suggested I find shelter before the storm. The grassy outlook I stood upon was not far from a thick layer of trees slanted towards the peak of my home mountain. I walked towards the shadowed protection of the healthy pine trees. I caressed my hand across the bark of a pine tree, realizing my feeling no longer drains the life of what I touch.

I understand now I must use force to kill. I’ve watched every death in all eternity, and now I feel a sensation of anticipation, eager to see my reflection in the eyes of that I destroy. I am Death incarnate! In fact, I have quite the impressive stature as a human. I examined my chiselled features. ‘I’ll make a gag of this survival game of His!’ I thought as I shook a defiant fist towards the sky.

Weaving through the high forest, I saw an immense presence of overhanging rock above the tree line. Any shelter would suffice. I pushed branches away from my face as I entered another plateaued meadow, complementing as a front yard to an immense cave hollowing out the base to the pinnacle of my mountain. The impending storm pushed me through the opening with haste. Agonizing pain suddenly pierced through the bottom of my foot, travelled like the hottest of fires up my spine, and burst out of my lungs as a shriek like none I had ever thought myself able to emit.

I stumbled to my knees to look back and saw a small bone pricking my right foot. A quick tug and it dislodged itself, leaving behind a minor wound worthy of a limp as to be careful not to get it infected. I got back to my feet as I realized a sea of bone, large and small, was lacing this small field in front of me. Squirrels, foxes, deer, sheep… wolf, bear and… human bones? It was a warzone of picked clean carcasses. My mortal mind no longer held my angelic memories to familiarize myself with this place.

The first drop of rain tickled my bare shoulder, pressing me onward. Meticulously placing my steps on the cluttered ground, I staggered into the shelter of the massive cave, it’s depth unknown. I peered into a formation of darkness, looking like an appropriate place for Death to spend his first night. I caress my hand against the cave wall as I slowly approached the darkness. At first, it felt cooler, though I started to feel a warmth as I tip-toed deeper. The light of outside slowly dimming as the storm took hold, lightning beginning to boom in the distant sky.

My fearlessness came to a sudden standstill. The cold breeze on my back was now competing with a warm breath against my chest. My body was frozen as goosebumps and adrenaline shocked my system into a paralysis. The warm breath came with a heavy stench of flesh and I gagged out loud, coughing. I caught myself with another surge of adrenaline knotting my stomach as I watched tired, golden, glowing eyes awaken from its slumber. The bright eyes, not three feet away, lit up a formidable beaked face, staring directly into mine.

A blood-curdling screech echoed in the cave around me as I heard the massive beast rise from its nest, golden eyes now peering twelve feet above me as I held my ears against the deafening cry.

I took one shaky step backwards as lightning illuminated the full form staring me down, a fragment of light for me to know precisely the supremacy that was sniffing me out. On my second step back, I instinctively raised my arms to protect my face; a fraction of a second passed as I felt a gust of wind as the beast took flight, gripping my ribs with a single talon, piercing my flesh, crushing ribs.

A squeal of agony burst from my lungs. Adrenaline heightened all my senses. Time seemed to move slower as I noticed every detail despite the immense speed of the beast. It burst out from the depths of the cave in one powerful leap, with me caught firmly in its grasp, dragging me along the rocky surface then smashing my body into the boneyard. I collided with various bone and rock pebbling the now-wet earth. I was covered in wounds, the pain of which seemed to sizzle every atom of my being. Small animal bones were imbedded in all my appendages, from which I bled profusely.

Through my cries of pain, I refocused on the position of the beast. I looked above to see the creature soaring swiftly into the dark clouds as heavy rain showered down. It momentarily disappeared, giving me a moment of mental relief until I saw a whirlwind forming in the storm. Lightning seemed to cower back into the clouds as a massive force blew outwards from the centre of the whirlwind. The beast had blown the rain away from its home, leaving a gap of sunlight growing above me. I watched my imminent doom as it plummeted back to the ground. More and more details of the beast’s features came clear as it drew nearer.

A Griffin. It’s head, wings, front claws like that of a great eagle, while the rear of its immensity resembled that of a lion. The rippling muscled features of its massive body showed no signs of scarring on the conqueror of land and air in this realm. My admiration wore thin as adrenaline threw me back into survival instinct.

The Griffin decreased its velocity and hovered in the air above my bleeding body. Its wings blew bones away with great force. I stared it back in the eyes as it examined me. My hand crawled small distances to subtly grab a jagged deer bone sticking out of my thigh. The slightest grip sent pain surging up my spine, but it was my only hope. The beast descended to the ground gracefully to tower over my body. I laid back, fidgeting in pain, crawling into the fetal position on my side. Its powerful talons pulled me back onto my back to get a closer look, its face slowly lowering to press its beak against my broken ribs, as if to smell me.

I saw my naked body, bruised and battered in the reflection of its golden eyes. I saw Death. But I refused to die so fast. Another surge of pain climbed my spine as I drew the jagged bone from my thigh and attempted to force it into the eye of the monster. I sliced the cornea of its right eye down its inner cheek to draw blood as it pulled back. ‘It’s as mortal as I am,’ I thought, as an unknown feeling flooded my body. Was it hope?

It reared and cried its bloodcurdling cry in response. I rolled over to climb to my feet and run. But it has already grasped my legs and dragged me backwards, the bones pricks in the front of my torso piercing deeper as I clawed the dirt helplessly. The Griffin let go and placed its claw on my back, slowly adding pressure, crushing the rest of my ribs. I swore a bone burst my lung as I was no longer able to scream. I lay face down, accepting my fate as my vision went blurry. The last I remember was being turned over and picked up again, to be thrown against the rocky entrance of its cave. I heard more bones shatter before my face struck the earth and everything went black. The Divine must miss me already.

The darkness shifted into dim lighting, slowly approaching. Or was I approaching the light? I soon realized the process I was now in. Only ever as the escort, now the vessel, I drew nearer to the light until it was too bright for open eyes to withstand. Then I realized I was still bound to my human form. Remade whole and pure again, I was brought to the exact same place in front of The Divine before I was struck down. My mortal vision was incapable of looking at Him as I used to, though I could sense his smirked immensity staring at me. I wanted to scream, but He rendered me mute.

"Oh, the irony of Death not finding pleasure in the cards which he so happily deals. How was that, Grim? Don’t answer, I know. And yet, that was only the first lesson, to make sure you don’t ever find humor in leading people to their death for no reason. Now you know that doesn’t bode well with me. You will not abuse your privilege; you shall not cast harm needlessly, for I can make you relive that agony endlessly.

Onto the next trial, my child. Perhaps you may fare better. Fear not the monsters this time but dread the storm.

I was thus cast down again.

2

Instinct

A mass of fire once more brought me down, materializing the same body, although this time, I saw cloth weave itself around my waist. So kind of Him to cover my manhood . Though that was all.

Through the flame enveloping me, I saw, as I broke through the clouds, that I was falling towards the north, towards a frozen mass beautiful from this aerial view. Though I was now a little skeptical of beauty, for it blinds to nearby danger. I have much to learn about mortality.

I descended not far from the ocean border, where the land mass ended with lofty, overhanging cliffs before the sea reaching beyond the horizon. Ferocious waters seen even from this distance forced an icy mist upon the high cliff’s shores. I saw various herds of wildlife among the open snowy fields before the land grew exponentially treacherous farther into the mountains to the north.

The air was forced from my lungs as the expected graceful decent turned into a massive impact onto the earth. The flame of my meteoric fall left scorched earth around my body. The last notion of heat dissipated as a gust of winter air cut deep through my skin. An immediate shiver forced me to my feet—my bare feet. I stood on the only warm ground in sight. I scoured the open snowfield as distant life forms stood silently to observe what had just fallen from the sky.

I looked behind me to see a thin line of trees before the vast waters. I focused on what looked like various weapons left struck into the trees. Either The Divine is playing nice, or there are other humans nearby. Instinct brought me to sprint toward the weapons until my first steps upon the ankle-deep snow made me slip viciously. I slid chest first into the wet ground. The only saving grace was a slight warmth from the sun. But it did not overpower the cold wind against my now damp flesh. My damned loin cloth will freeze to my manhood!

I jumped to my feet, pushing once again, more diligently, toward to the tree line. I was out of breath by the time I reached the trees. I hugged one tightly, wrapping my legs around it to give my feet a break from the freezing ground. The Divine makes a fool of me! I noticed that the treeline was only about ten feet from the overhanging cliffs into the angry sea. Vibrations from incredibly powerful waves crashing into the cliffs dimly shook through the ground and up the tree I was holding.

I saw various battered farming tools and axes in numerous trees. The first crack of a smile broke on my face as I saw a farm scythe sticking out from a couple trees down. Of course, the most viable defence is the Reaper’s signature weapon. A game of His, indeed.

I dropped from the tree, running towards the scythe. I propped a foot against the tree to pry it out. It broke loose; thunder cracked at that exact moment, stealing my attention. A dark storm brewed in the south from the sea. The freezing wind swiftly forced it in my direction. My only instinct was to run back to my heated hole of impact as the cold pierced my skin. The wind now at my back forcing my body faster to my destination as I saw a layer of snow blowing over the scorched earth. Futile planning at its finest.

The closest shelter were the hills to the west, which were a good mile away, past numerous herds of unknown creatures. Perhaps this rusted scythe would be put to the test. I knew nothing other than to rush that way as the first speck of snow landed on my shoulder. Lightning now cracking dangerously close to the waters I had just been above of. Thick clouds carrying what promised to be a vicious blizzard loomed over me.

My extremities were already growing numb from the cold. I no longer felt the muscles in my feet, just the clubbing weight of them clopping in and out of the snow as they carried me across the field. I was about to make sense of the wildlife in the distance until the blanketing blizzard began to intercept my view. The sweat from my forehead suddenly froze, giving me a sharp headache. I pressed on, but slowly, my speed now reduced to a stagger, planting the butt of the scythe in the ground with each step to fight the winds threatening to throw me down.

Heavy snow now blew into my eyes; visibility was limited to mere feet. My fingers now purple, barely able to grip my only hope through what I could not see. I collapsed to my knees as my feet quivered. My feet grew black, no longer in pain, instead lacking sensation. I blew over to the fetal position in the snow as I felt the earth quake slightly.

The quake grew heavier as massive shapes trampled past my quivering body. Adrenaline lit up my body as it pumped through bloodstream, and I came up with a last resort plan. More large figures blew past, not noticing my body. One came so close that I felt its thick fur brush against my face after it crushed my black foot, leaving an ankle holding mangled bones and lifeless skin.

I lifted the scythe at what I thought was chest height for the beasts. I heard a deep moan as my body was suddenly dragging through the snow. I gripped the scythe with everything I had left. The scythe’s tip was hooked into the chest of the beast, not even hindering its ability to run. My arms pulled me up the shaft of the scythe, throwing my weight upward into the thick fur of the creature. Its head steered backwards to see what creature had latched onto its side. I took the opportunity to grab its thick, spiralled horn and throw all my weight onto the side of its face.

It’s balance overthrown, its forward momentum threw it tumbling sideways. I heard a quick splice as it fell directly onto the scythe, driving it deep into its chest, killing it instantly. I fell just beyond its massive form, leaving me the only shelter from the storm as I clung to its warmth. I watched the last of the beasts flee around their dead companion. A fleeing cry disappeared into the storm as the beasts called to their lost, but they didn’t stop running.

The ground quit shaking