God Among Men

Shottana, the god of death, with chains and a bell in his right hand and an open book made out of flesh in his left and made his way through the land of mankind. Black smoke covered his being, his body swallowed all the light in his vicinity, making him invisible to all mortal eyes. He wore a long black robe, and on his face a crow mask, his skin hugged his bones tightly and was as white as how you would imagine an angel of light.

He pulled in his chains souls of the dead that were not allowed in heaven, today he was given the luxury to be their judge. A once in a decade offer he could not refuse. Ahead and above him was his raven Ikara flapping its wings and marking the road ahead for him. Today was just another normal day for him, he was here as a guide for the dead and since there was nothing supernatural going on he was free to listen to the world around him.

If you listen you shall hear. Shottana heard screams coming from nearby, the most prominent voice was a woman's. He sighed and turned his focus towards the screams. He already knew what to expect, but still decided to guess what he would find.

"Car accident? Break-in? Fire? Or maybe it's not a death, no it definitely is a death. I can see Ikara there." He finally arrived at the scene and saw a group of masked assailants flee. "Just in time." He whispered to himself as he entered the near lifeless home.

"Mister, mister, save my child please." The woman lying on the ground called out.

He looked at her, bloody and near motionless. Every time she made an attempt to do anything it seemed like her lungs would quit on her.

He then looked down at his feet and saw a little girl with her body also covered in a pool of her own blood. She had already passed, unlike the mother.

Shottana got down on one knee and all the items in his person disappeared. He placed his finger on the child's forehead, and a white smoke followed his finger from the body.

"If you stayed in there any longer you would not be able to see paradise."

"Like the beach?" The little girl who was now standing next to him asked.

"Better than the beach, you get to see all your dreams come true."

"I get to be a doctor?" She asked with a big smile on her face.

Shottana picked up the spirit of the little girl and raised it over his head, she started laughing as she floated.

"Why settle for that when you can take the stars for yourself?"

Her spirit started to scatter and float out of the house, it continued all the way up until the sparkles could be mistaken for stars.

He looked back at the mother, "you should not have seen me." Shottana said as he pointed his finger at her. He shot a blast of magic at her forehead and she passed out.

Sirens outside got louder and louder until eventually, paramedics rushed into the house, running through the grim reaper who was standing over the little girl's body.

His chains and book appeared in his hands again, his bell rang as he walked out of the house. The paramedic attending to the little girl felt a cold air blow in and embrace their body as they found out that she had already passed on.

In the land that he walks exists tales of him, tales that paint him how he looks. A monster heatless and cold, swooping in unannounced and mostly uninvited to take away your beloved. Cruel and swift he leaves a flood of blood and tears in his wake, the bringer of famine and plagues.

Those who claim to have seen him describe his presence as chilling and silently loud, they describe the miniature bell attached to his scythe. They talk about his face is that of the skeleton, the demon in black to the living and a bridge to freedom to the dead.

"Yo, big Shotta." A voice called from behind the reaper.

Shottana sighed, "not him again."

"Yes me, I am the only one you cannot escape."

"Of course I can't, you are motion itself Poltako."

"I know, I know. I am amazing, now race me." The god of speed said as he jumped up and down around the reaper. He was dressed in his brightest cloth so far, he does this because his skin was the blackest thing in existence. And this was because light could not catch up to him. His facial features and everything else was visible thanks to an encounter he had a long time ago.

"Some of us have actual jobs to do if you do not mind."

"Oh come on, it will not even be a second. I promise you."

"A second could mean anything."

Poltako froze and wondered, more and more of him started to appear and all seemed to be thinking about something.

"Things like this have always been the only things that can stop you," Shottana said.

"Did you just laugh?"

"AH!" The reaper jumped at the sudden appearance of the speed god in front of him.

Poltako laughed and the reaper swung his scythe at him. He dodged and pulled the reaper's robe over his eyes. Shottana quickly removed it but once he did he was in the middle of the ocean and Poltako was nowhere to be seen.

"I hope he trips and falls into a black hole somewhere." The reaper sighed as he started heading towards the nearest island to him. Upon arrival he sent his raven, Ikara, to scout their area for any supernatural beings, because he picked up a strange energy from the island.

Ikara found a tribe of people in what seemed like a festival and alerted his master. The reaper immediately appeared there, he looked around and as he would expect no one saw him. The members of the tribe had tied up a man on a woman in the middle of their village, the two were not dead yet but they looked like they should be.

The drums from the crowd grew increasingly louder until coming to a halt. About a few feet away from where the couple was tied up stood the most decorated people in the tribe.

First it was the leader with a crown on his head, next to him on both sides were his wives. Next to his other wife on the left was a man holding a baby and he was singing in a language reserved for human communication with demons.

Shottana stood there and listened until the man with the baby stopped talking.

What he heard was the tied up couple along with their baby and a few others who were already dead came falling from the sky in a bloodless dragon. And since their arrival the god of the island was furious. The god had forsaken his people and that's how they ended up in this situation.

Shottana put away his scythe and prepared to accept the spirits of the family that was about to die here.

The man with the baby put it at the feet of the parents, did one last chance and struck it with a knife. Blood splat everywhere and started gushing out. An uproar arose from the crowd and the chief raised his staff in acknowledgement.

The parents of the child were then shot with arrows and sat on fire, all of this happened and the parents even died. Shottana got their souls but never the child's.

After the fire died down, the child was still there and was crying his eyes out. The man who was holding it before fell to the ground and started chanting. Before long the place became dark and the winds blew even more violently than before.

Lightning started hitting the ground followed by the roaring thunder and the villagers scattered in fear. Shottana did not move for the entire thing and watched the villagers get slaughtered by the demons and have their souls devoured.

As the demons consumed the humans, their power grew and as their power grew they were finally able to sense a presence that stopped them from moving.

Shottana looked at them noticing him and said, "I will just take the child and leave. If you promise to return from whence you came I will pretend that I never saw you here."

They watched as Shottana walked over to the child and picked him up. They looked at each other with confusion. They knew that the god of death only takes souls and not bodies.

"Master will be displeased if we lose the offering." One of the four demons said as he pushed the other one forward. They began arguing amongst themselves before finally attacking. All of them died instantly.

"It says the god of death in my description." Shottana shook his head as he floated off into nothingness.