Death's Twin: The Great Harvest III

Chapter III

A few days passed me and my new friend decided to return to my World, where only a few minutes had passed. It was getting boring staring on gray walls of the empty castle. When we returned to my apartment only ten minutes passed since my disappearance, but there was one unpleasant surprise: power cut. 

“Great, no electricity!” I said sitting on the couch, but remembered that I was given the power to restore all electronic devices with only one click of my fingers, but my friend done it for me.

“You’re welcome”.  She said and grinned, annoyed from my immature behavior. At first I considered her to be an old lady, who is wise and kind, but then I came in to understanding that she was spiritually the same age as me: impulsive, unsure and contradictory.

“You’ve never told me your real name; you only said that you were Death’s twin sister”.

“I have a lot of nicknames, but my real name is erased… erased by time”. She whispered creepily, making me shiver from fear that once again began to consume me.

““Hulossa Sassara” that is my most ancient nickname. A man from a small tribe, somewhere near the… I cannot remember exactly where it was, but the only thing that I can depict is an endless steppe with little grass, but somewhere far away I could see mountains, covered in snow. The weather was very hot indeed. Even though I am immortal, I got thirsty. I searched and searched for dwellers of this region the whole day and finally found a small village, where about a hundred people lived. I knocked the doors of small round houses, built from river rocks to my surprise. The people were very rude and did not want to answer my questions; some did not even open the door. The chief of the tribe…well, there is nothing special about him, an old man, who lost his mind… I wanted to leave the village, when suddenly I saw a herd of cows returning to the village and a young man on a horse guiding them. I approached him and asked if there was a river or a lake nearby. He did not say anything and gave me his hand. I took it; he pulled me on his horse and rode somewhere. The panorama of the steppe was ruined by a brook and trees growing near it. I jumped down from the horse and began lavishly drinking the water. I thanked him and was about to go back to my realm, when suddenly he pronounced “Hulossa Sassara”, meaning “Wandering Spirit”. I went by that name for a few millenniums. Later in the Rome people called me “Felicia”, during the middle ages “The Cursed Dame”. My latest name is Alice Grimm. I got it in Norway, somewhere in 1920s, after one of my brother’s soul harvests”. She once again was carried away by her memories. I listened to her attentively though her story was not very breathtaking or particularly interesting. I did not react at all and she noticed that:

“Why are you so silent? Is something wrong?” She asked narrowing her eyes and putting her hand on my shoulder. I had a suspicion that she can read my mind and understand all my worries.

“No, it is just that I cannot believe the situation I am in…” I murmured looking at the floor.

“Something constantly worrying you and you cannot get rid of it… I am in this condition for a long time”. She started, but I changed the subject:

“Do you want something to eat?” I offered standing up, ready to leave the room.

“No, thank you”.  She refused and closed her eyes. I went through the corridor that led straight to the kitchen. There was a wooden window in my kitchen that I could see out of my room. While I was talking to the girl I noticed that it was open and there was something flying outside, but very close to my apartment. Now the figure began to grow and grow. Suddenly, without ripping the mosquito net a large humanoid made out of brown rags flew right at me roaring. Its deformed head in a cone shaped hood, large arms ready to rip apart everything that stands in the way and enormous body horizontally elevated in the air froze me. I almost lost my mind when it pushed me back to my room and hit the door leading to the balcony. I felt pain, but it disappeared faster than usual.

“Summon a sword!” The girl commanded and a large metal axe appeared in her hands.

I conjured a sword and to my surprise it was made out of pure gold encrusted with diamonds. We attacked the monster. After a few strikes on the head he flew away out of the window.

“What was that?” I asked barely catching my breath.

“Do you remember the stuff they used to scare you when you were a child?” The girl whispered barely standing.

“What, you mean that was the Boogie man?” I joked.

“No, but you can say it is something similar to him. It was a dream demon, one of my brother’s minions. Once they were lost souls, but now they deliver nasty visions to mortals. We are immortal, so we can see them the way they are”.

“Flying old rags…You’re brother has weird minions”.

“We will face even more surprises, you greedy thing”. The girl mocked me pointing on my sword. It was probably worth more than my apartment, but to my regret it turned in to ashes a few minutes later. The girl burst out of laughing:

“You know that materials from other dimensions cannot exist here for a long time? The aura of this territory will destroy everything foreign. We are an exception, though”.

“Why?” I questioned suspiciously.

Everything around me disappeared suddenly. Around myself I saw a dark void. The girl was holding a blazing sphere.

“Stars, planets, galaxies… Everything is a part of us, but we are not a part of them. We are the creators…”

“No, we cannot be gods! There is only one God…” I shouted in rage like a fanatic, despite the fact I was secular.

“Yes, there is one God, but there are many creators”. The girl cut me off.

“This is preposterous! We should not temper…” I wanted to resist once again, but the girl continued:

“I know on Earth you have your own beliefs, but look around you: don’t you see we can control everything? I am not denying the fact that God exists. Even beings such as I and my brother cannot see him, but we feel the presence of a more superior force that can eradicate us in a second. Being a creator does not mean being a god”. She explained and calmed me down.

I wanted to say something, but to our surprise we heard a strange sound out in this darkness. I realized that it was a hoarse voice of another creature.

“We’ve got company”. The girl mumbled rolling her eyes. A few seconds later a skeleton with a note in his hand appeared. The girl picked it up and quickly read it.

“My brother has sent YOU a note”. The girl grinned unpleasantly handing me the paper. I was shocked when I saw words written with blood:

“Any ally of my sister, is the enemy of death”.

“This is what I was afraid of. I think your brother is after me”.

“No, he is not. He is just trying to recruit you on his side, because you are more powerful than I am, for the time I am injured at least”.

“This tour is not getting us anywhere, to be honest. We are disposing ourselves to your brother”.

“Do not worry; He is trying to recover from our fight. Even though he won, I hit him a lot. He is consuming his power for the Great Harvest, but you can never predict when he will strike, you have to be ready for sudden attacks”.

“You mean like the one with the “Rag” monster?”

“Even worse, my friend, even worse”. She repeated and the darkness that we were in slowly began to melt, returning to my dimension. Nothing had changed.

To be continued…