The Blunt Reaper

"C’mon, you know that was an accident."

"You threw an abomination through three walls."

"It was not easy to stop it."

"The third wall supported the floor above it."

"I didn’t know that."

"You were inside the building before."

"I don’t inspect every wall before a fight."

"The roof collapsed."

"On him."

"And seventeen other people."

"They moved."

"After the roof collapsed."

"Then everyone survived."

"One of my officers needed four days for his legs to grow back."

Rook nodded as though this supported his position. "He recovered."

Mara laughed again, less successfully concealed this time.

Elara climbed the steps toward the entrance. "You still owe the Forty-Second for the damage."

"I don’t have any money."

"I know. That is why the debt continues to grow."

"You charge interest?"

"I began charging interest after the first century."

"That seems excessive."

"So was the roof."

Two guards opened the reinforced doors for them. The interior resembled a defensive bunker more than an administrative building. Metal braces crossed the ceiling. Every doorway possessed a secondary iron frame, and the walls were thick enough that the windows resembled narrow tunnels cut through stone.

Mara ran her hand along one of the braces as they passed. "Did you reinforce the entire building because of him?"

Elara continued walking. "The Forty-Second has many enemies."

"That wasn’t an answer."

"It was the polite one."

Rook looked offended. "I am not responsible for all of this."

"One wall in my office contains enough metal to build three gates."

"It still has windows."

"They open outward, so anything you throw through them does not land on my staff."

Mara stopped trying to restrain herself.

Elara glanced back as Mara followed them along the corridor, laughing hard enough that she needed to wipe at one eye. Rook appeared increasingly irritated by her enjoyment.

"I preferred you when you thought I was dangerous," he said.

"I still think you’re dangerous. I just didn’t know that part of that danger was aimed at architectural property."

Elara entered an office at the end of the corridor.

The room was broad but sparsely furnished. A heavy desk had been fixed directly into the floor. Cabinets lined the rear wall, each secured by metal bars and several locks. Maps covered one side of the room, showing the Forty-Second, the surrounding roads and several regions farther inland.

There were no shelves above the desk.

Mara noticed Rook noticing.

"Nothing heavy enough to fall?" he asked.

"Nothing you can reach."

"Still excessive."

Elara removed her gloves and placed them upon the desk. "Sit."

Mara chose one of the chairs opposite the desk. After a moment, Rook leaned the coffin against a reinforced corner and sat beside her.

Elara did not begin immediately. She studied both of them, paying particular attention to the torn clothing and blood left from the crossing.

"You came through the third current?"

"The remains of it," Rook said.

"How many arrived?"

"Enough to fill some of the docks."

"That was not what I asked."

"It’s the only count we have."

Elara’s expression tightened slightly, but she did not press. "The Red Tide worsened several days ago. We stopped sending vessels after losing contact with two patrols. The currents changed before we could warn the Last Anchorage."

"We found out."

Mara touched the center of her chest. The remembered wound responded with a faint pulse of cold, but the pain had diminished since leaving the sea.

Elara noticed the movement. "You were injured."

"She awakened," Rook said.

That drew the Vice Manager’s full attention.

Elara came around the desk and stopped before Mara. "During the crossing? How the hell did you survive?"

"Beats me," Rook said, "She practically called every damn thing in the region, I’m still surprised we didn’t get murked."

"A mermaid pulled me under," Mara said. "I remembered how I died."

"How?"

"I was stabbed through the heart."

Elara looked at Rook.

"She Culled two Abominations," he added. "Wounded another."

"How long ago?"

"Less than a couple hours."

Elara crouched before Mara and held one gloved hand several inches from her chest. "May I?"

Mara hesitated, then nodded.

A faint white outline formed beneath Elara’s palm. It entered Mara’s coat without touching it and spread across the place where the remembered blade had pierced her heart. The empty sensation inside Mara sharpened. For an instant, the cold metal returned, followed by the pressure of a body holding her upright as the blade was pulled free.

She flinched.

Elara withdrew her hand immediately. "The Imprint is strong, but very unstable."

"I noticed."

"What does it do?"

Mara looked at her palm. "It creates the wound."

"Where?"

"Inside whatever I touch. If it reaches the memories holding an Abomination together, it cuts through them. Never have I seen a stab victim have such a strong memory... This has potential."

Elara stood. "Well, it does Cull, which is nice."

"If she touches the correct part," Rook said. "The effect failed against a larger creature when she struck one of its limbs."

"It wounded the limb," Mara corrected.

"It also nearly stopped your arm from moving."

"The arm is moving now."

"You’ve had an Imprint for less than an hour and already ignored the first limit you discovered."

"I was preventing something from eating you."

Rook looked toward Elara. "You see what I’m dealing with."

"I see a contracted soul who can Cull," Elara replied. "Something you have never had."

"Wow, that’s not cool, low blow, even for you..."

"It is the truth."

"Still, doesn’t make her a trained reaper..." Rook said.

"No. It makes the situation more complicated."

Mara leaned back in the chair. "You said you needed Rook."

Elara returned behind the desk. "The Manager disappeared a month or so ago. Search parties have followed every route we know he might have taken. They found nothing useful."

"Then what do you expect me to find?" Rook asked.

"What they missed."

"That could be anything."

"Yes."

Rook waited for further explanation.

Elara opened one of the drawers built into the desk and removed a thin stone tablet covered in written reports. She placed it between them but kept one hand resting upon it.

"I need a tracker who is familiar with hostile territory, Abomination movement and Reapers who do not want to be found," she said. "I also need someone who will continue searching after the obvious trail ends."

"There are trackers in the Forty-Second."

"They found nothing."

"So send better ones."

"I am attempting to."

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