The Book of the Reaper Read online

  The Book of the Reaper

  Eric R. Asher

  Also by Eric R. Asher

  Keep track of Eric’s new releases by receiving an email on release day. It’s fast and easy to sign up for Eric’s mailing list, and you’ll also get an ebook copy of the subscriber exclusive anthology, Whispers of War.

  Click here to get started: www.ericrasher.com

  The Steamborn Trilogy:

  Steamborn

  Steamforged

  Steamsworn

  The Vesik Series:

  (Recommended for Ages 17+)

  Days Gone Bad

  Wolves and the River of Stone

  Winter’s Demon

  This Broken World

  Destroyer Rising

  Rattle the Bones

  Witch Queen’s War

  Forgotten Ghosts

  The Book of the Ghost

  The Book of the Claw

  The Book of the Sea

  The Book of the Staff

  The Book of the Rune

  The Book of the Sails

  The Book of the Wing

  The Book of the Blade

  The Book of the Fang

  The Book of the Reaper*

  The Vesik Series Box Sets

  Box Set One (Books 1-3)

  Box Set Two (Books 4-6)

  Box Set Three (Books 7-8)

  Box Set Four: The Books of the Dead Part 1

  Box Set Five: The Books of the Dead Part 2 (Coming in 2020)*

  Mason Dixon – Monster Hunter:

  Episode One

  Episode Two

  Episode Three

  *Want to receive an email when one of Eric’s books releases? Sign up for Eric’s mailing list.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Also by Eric R. Asher

  Copyright Page

  Epigraph

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Note from Eric R. Asher

  Also by Eric R. Asher

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2020 by Eric R. Asher

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Smashwords Edition, 2020

  Smashwords Edition License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Edited by Laura Matheson

  Cover typography by Indie Solutions by Murphy Rae

  Cover design ©Phatpuppyart.com – Claudia McKinney

  ~

  To all things an end.

  ~

  CHAPTER ONE

  Vicky slid the worn silver tetradrachm across the table, feeling the wood grain against the obverse. She’d held the Heart of Quindaro, felt the power coursing through it when they reanchored the blood knot, but the coin was inert.

  Her hand moved to the piece of eight, golden and brilliant since Graybeard insisted on polishing the old coin. She smiled, remembering the parrot squawking at the innkeeper. She slid the coin to the side until it bumped into the tetradrachm.

  The dark gray cale came next, a coin from another world, not merely another time. Beth gave them the information to find it, but it had cost them Cornelius. Sam returned it to them. The edge of the cale clicked against the other two coins, forming a rough triangle.

  Vicky remembered the whisper of power that had torn through her from the Eye of Atlantis and the broken bloodstone. It was hard to imagine that these coins held that kind of power. But these were meant to bind the Titans of old. These held a power that went beyond her understanding.

  Luna pursed her lips and turned the parchment between her claws, holding it up to the light of the chandelier above them to better examine the patterns and whorls drawn across the page. “It’s like a tree of life, but it’s wrong.”

  Vicky drew her fingers away from the coins and took a deep breath. “The innkeeper called the swirls a triskelion.”

  “A what?” Luna asked.

  “It’s a triple knot. Two spirals in the branches of the tree, and one in the roots.”

  Luna squinted and then her eyes widened. “Oh, oh, I see it. How did I not see that before? It’s like the man in the moon. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”

  Footsteps sounded on the narrow staircase at the back of the house. Vicky hadn’t slept well, and it sounded like she wasn’t the only one.

  Beth peered into the kitchen, bags under her eyes and her hair a wild spray that would have intimidated any hairbrush. “Just the kids.”

  Vicky raised an eyebrow and looked at Luna.

  Ashley shuffled in behind Beth, bleary-eyed as she made her way to the electric kettle. The innkeeper would likely be horrified at Ashley as the priestess dumped some instant coffee into a mug and waited for the water to heat.

  “Are you two okay?” Vicky asked.

  “Coffee,” Ashley muttered.

  Beth rubbed Ashley’s back and smiled at Vicky. “It’s best not to expect words before coffee.”

  Vicky glanced down at the cale on the table. “I’m sorry about Cornelius.” She’d seen enough loss over the years to know there weren’t words to fill the void. But she wasn’t comfortable saying nothing.

  “Thank you. I’m going to miss him.”

  The quietest whistle started from the kettle a short time later, and Ashley slid it off its base, splashing water into her mug with one hand while dumping creamer in with the other. Vicky didn’t miss the flex in Ashley’s jaw when she set the kettle down a little harder than necessary.

  Beth guided Ashley to the table where they sat down. Ashley didn’t take her eyes off the coins.

  The blood mage reached out and picked up the cale, turning it slowly between her fingers. “It could have been worse. All those people, the shadow folk. If Cornelius hadn’t summoned that thing, we all would have been lost. And in time, those Eldritch creatures would have come here.” She sat the coin back onto the table with a click.

  Ashley blew on her coffee. “And now it comes down to this. A few coins.”

  “Don’t forget our shitty luck.” Vicky made finger guns at Ashley.

  The priestess blinked. “You should work on your pep talks.”

  “She has a point.” Beth rubbed Ashley’s shoulder. “But we go on. We always go on.” Beth leaned her forehead against Ashley’s before planting a chaste kiss between her eyebrows.

/>   Ashley took a shaky breath and sipped at her coffee. “One day at a time. One hour.”

  “One step if you have to,” Luna said. “That’s what Camazotz always told me. One foot in front of the other, and if you can’t do that, drag yourself forward until your claws break off.”

  Ashley slowly raised an eyebrow. “You both suck at pep talks.”

  Luna exchanged a grin with Vicky.

  Beth leaned away a bit. “A week ago you wouldn’t have believed you could perform the rites of a priestess. And yet here you sit, ready to restore your goddess, and give our friend the only chance in hell he has.”

  Ashley didn’t answer, only stared into her mug. But there was something in her expression, defiance, resolve, a kind of intensity Vicky had rarely seen on a face outside of battle. And perhaps that’s what struck a chord with her. The ritual wasn’t a fight, not with swords and hostile magic, but it was a battle of another kind.

  Ashley held her hand out to Luna. “Can I see the sigil again?”

  Luna passed the parchment over before tapping her claws on the table. The death bat flattened her hands out against the wood, silencing herself when Ashley raised an eyebrow.

  “How can Ward be sure this is going to work?”

  Beth crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Ash, how can we be sure any of this is going to work? I wasn’t even sure I’d make it home from the Shadowed Lands. And Cornelius …”

  Ashley grimaced and ran her finger across the edge of the parchment. “I know. We have to get this sigil carved onto Gaia’s body.”

  The back window shuddered before it squeaked and rose.

  Vicky turned around to find a green man eyeing them from outside. “Stump?”

  “My friends, we have made the preparations for the ritual. When the priestess is ready and the sigil has been placed, we will be waiting.”

  Ashley sipped at her coffee and gave Stump a nod. “Let me get my cloak.” She hesitated. “And pants.”

  Vicky frowned. “I thought you did all your rituals naked?”

  Ashley narrowed her eyes. “You’ve spent too much time around Damian, apparently.”

  “Well, some rituals—” Beth started.

  Ashley cut her off with a glare that could have stopped a demon in its tracks.

  Stump shifted at the window, the vines of his face pulling up into a smile. “You are not alone here, priestess. Join us when you are ready, and we will support you in any way we are able. It has been a long wait in our memories, and to see Gaia once more would be a blessing like few others.”

  Ashley gulped down the last of her coffee. “Right then. Pants.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Ashley observed a series of rituals she’d all but abandoned since she had taken up arms with the Blade of the Stone. Bathing in saltwater as the scent of sage filled the room was one of her fondest.

  Beth sat on the floor outside the tub, legs crossed and eyes closed. Ashley studied her for a time, the pale scars on Beth’s shoulders and the thin hair pulled back into a ponytail drawing her eye.

  As determined as Ashley was to do what she could to save Damian, keeping Beth safe was the most important thing. Beyond that, keeping her coven and friends safe. Ashley sighed and finished bathing.

  Beth held out a towel when Ashley stood, hesitating for a moment before hugging her.

  “You hate wet clothes,” Ashley muttered into Beth’s shoulder.

  Beth squeezed her tighter and sighed. “Sorry if I screwed up your ritual. Are hugs allowed?”

  Ashley snorted and pulled away from Beth, toweling off before she reached out for her clothes. She’d thought about going back to the cloak she’d worn as a priestess, but that wasn’t all she was anymore.

  She held up the leather vest and nodded to herself, slipping into it far easier than the leather pants.

  “Not quite dry?” Beth asked as Ashley hopped up and down, yanking at the belt loops to get the pants over her thighs.

  Ashley grunted, and Beth grinned at her.

  Pants secured, she looped the belt around her waist, clipping the nine tails into place opposite the satchel of tiles. She pulled her own hair back into a ponytail. It wasn’t nearly dry enough, and would likely stay that way for hours.

  Ashley stared at herself in the mirror, her gaze trailing to Beth and the blade she held out.

  “Take it,” Beth said.

  Ashley turned and reached up for the blade. “For my athame?”

  Beth nodded. “I can’t help you with the ritual, but at least this way a part of me is with you.”

  Ashley blew out a slow breath before nodding. It felt right. It was right. She took the blade and slid it into the belt at her waist. “Thank you.”

  Beth handed Ashley the green cloak from the bed and turned to the door. “I guess we’d better get you downstairs.” She led the way into the hall, the door closing on its own behind them before the lock clicked shut.

  The light from the windows cast long shadows in the hallway as Ashley looked toward the opposite end. She was going to do more than save her friends, she knew. Whatever came of this ritual, the world was going to feel it.

  Ashley shivered and followed Beth down the stairs.

  * * *

  Vicky had just put her foot on the bottom step when she heard someone above her. She glanced up and saw Ashley and Beth headed toward her.

  “Perfect timing. I was just coming up to get you. The innkeeper is waiting by Gaia’s body.”

  Vicky didn’t miss the hesitation in Ashley’s steps. She could understand. It was one thing to wear a brave face around your friends, but quite another when there was nowhere left to hide, and no reason left to hide it.

  But perhaps even more prominent was the flint in Ashley’s eyes, a kind of determination Vicky had come to recognize over the years. Sometimes she’d see it in the eyes of her enemies—usually before the shock of realizing they were about to die—but other times it was on the faces of her friends when they were about to do something half insane.

  Vicky stepped off the stairs and waited for Beth and Ashley to join her.

  “I’ll see you soon,” Ashley said as she turned to Beth. She planted a kiss on Beth’s lips and squeezed her arm.

  Beth nodded and studied the hallway when whispers echoed around them. Sam and Zola stood near the front door. Beth glanced at Ashley, hesitated, and then headed toward the recently arrived pair.

  “Come on,” Vicky said. “I have to go with you.”

  “Why?” Ashley asked as she followed Vicky toward the back door.

  Vicky patted the backpack on her shoulder. “I have a part you’re going to need.”

  Ashley chuckled at that.

  The cellar door was already open, and pale orange light beckoned them inside. Vicky led the way, Ashley’s footsteps following close behind. She’d never seen the cellar so well lit, illuminating the rough stone walls, dirt floor, and the body covered in dust and vines in the center of the room.

  Sitting cross-legged at the head of Gaia’s body was the innkeeper. Her own head bowed, and she only looked up when Vicky neared.

  “You have the hand?”

  Vicky nodded and slid the backpack off her shoulder. She fished around a bit until her fingers found the cold dead flesh of the hand of glory. She held it out to the innkeeper, who shook her head.

  “Give it to Ashley. Only when we have prepared will we reunite the hand.” She gestured to the stump where Gaia’s hand had been severed from her body.

  Vicky held out the hand to Ashley who took it without hesitation, turning the hand of glory over, as if studying every ridge on the palm and every wrinkle in the gray flesh.

  The innkeeper leaned forward. “You must carve the sigil near the base of the hand. Do not reunite it with the body yet. Only at the right time can we revive that body.”

  Ashley pursed her lips as she drew Beth’s dagger from her belt. With her other hand, she unfolded the parchment that held the tree of life overlaid with the
triskelion. The tip of the dagger drew closer to the flesh.

  “Wait!” The innkeeper studied the blade in Ashley’s hand. “The athame you hold has drawn blood.”

  “It’s part of me now. This is who I am. If you’re wrong about me, about this ritual, then at least I will have failed as my whole self.”

  The innkeeper leaned back, resting her hands in her lap. She narrowed her eyes a fraction before one corner of her lips quirked up. “Perhaps you’re right. You are prepared, then?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “I don’t know if I’d go that far,” the innkeeper muttered. “But yes, child. The time has come.”

  “What do I say? How do I give a blessing to a goddess?”

  “You have time. You need only carve the marks for now.” The innkeeper leaned forward and patted Ashley’s knee. “Speak from your heart, my dear. You walk into territory where no witch has journeyed before. And no Titan. Speak from your heart and make it your own.”

  “How much time?”

  The innkeeper looked away from Ashley, her eyes meeting Vicky’s. “I have a mission for you, Vicky. A quest, if you will.” Her gaze returned to Gaia’s body.

  Vicky glanced between the innkeeper and Ashley. They had everything they needed here, the priestess, the hand of Gaia, the innkeeper, two parts of the whole. She frowned.

  “What else do we need?”

  The innkeeper glanced at the floor before slowly raising her eyes to Vicky again. “The powers of a Titan are not limitless. I’ll need a channel, something to grant the path for my powers through the colossus to reach Damian.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  The innkeeper took a deep breath. “The sigil Ward provided us, it must be carved into Damian’s hand.”

  Ashley cursed. “You’re going to carve that into the colossus?”

  The innkeeper shook her head. “Not the colossus. Damian. His soul is split. Fragments of it live inside Vicky, inside Samantha, and even inside the ghost Terrence and the pirate Graybeard. The triskelion shows the path through the tree of life for body, mind, and soul. But I too am bound to Damian, and my power has been dormant a very long time. I need a channel to find him, or we put our lives into a dire situation.”