Arin was blinded for a moment due to the huge green flash. The tolling sound of bell had intensified to the extent that he was afraid of going deaf anytime! He had tried to close his ears, but only to find that he was unable to move his limbs. He could not feel any of his organs. It was as if his whole body had been paralyzed; but, at the same time, he felt very lite, as if, he did not have a physical body to begin with, anymore! Arin got scared too much. Anticipating to witness something too horrible for his imagination to even conjure, he tried to open his eyes slowly.

There was no blinding light anymore. Rather, everything seemed pitch black. However, as his eyes grew accustomed to the surrounding darkness gradually, he realized that it was not as pitch black as it seemed at first glance. Rather, there was a soft greenish glow everywhere. He tried to look at himself. No, he was not laying down paralyzed in some stone slab as he was lowkey afraid of finding out. Rather, to his astonishment, he was now floating in space. He could see his body now, but it was translucent, as he could see through his body. Suddenly a chill ran down his spine. He realized that he had become incorporeal!

“Am I a ghost now?” Arin shouted in horror, “destined to wander aimlessly in this cold dark void?”

He felt like he could cry right now, “So my torment is not over yet, and I have to get punished for eternity in this limbo from now?”

He was hoping someone would answer him and tell him that it was all lie and his concerns were all false. But in back of his mind, he had also felt that no one was going to answer him in this God forsaken limbo.

Arin was a guy who had grown up facing hardships. No matter how dark the situation seems, it couldn’t keep him down for long. He quickly regained his composures and thought of knowing about his location and situation better and in details. He realized that he was probably not trapped in a black hole, but rather in a strange land of perpetual Twilight. The sky was strange with beautiful yet eerie aurora constantly changing shape, twirling and twisting, making Arin feel dizzy after a while.

He shook his head and looked downwards. A well like structure was just below his feet. It was not a bottomless pit, rather it was glowing with a bright celadon hue. And now he could see a strange statue near the Well. “What the…” Arin exclaimed, “Where from the Statue appeared suddenly?” as he was sure that he would have noticed this statue first time he had opened his eyes, if it was there since the beginning.

It was statue of a mysterious figure in a robe, whose face was covered in hood. He could not figure if it had hands or not, but there were two gigantic wings spread on both sides. It seems the statue was made of marble, but it was matching the surrounding, probably either because the stone was of a greenish shade or it was just reflecting the greenish tint abundant in this perpetual land of twilight.

Arin tried to look at the face curved in the statue. To his surprise, it felt like that the statue was also looking at him now. Arin felt that if he could look a bit more closely for a while, he could actually see the face that was curved. Suddenly he felt like, the stony lip had moved a bit!

“Feeling better?” spoke the statue.

It was so sudden and shocking that Arin darted backwards as his survival instinct kicked in. And then it dawned upon his mind, that he had regained complete control of his body.

“Happy now?” spoke the voice again.

“Who are you? Where am I? What is happening to me? What is this place? How long I am….” Arin started spouting barrage of questions; but was cut short in mid by the Statue, “It seems you have yet to shed your mortal traits! So many questions, yet so lack of patience!”

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“Wait….” shouted Arin, “it’s the same voice I heard that time, in my head!”

“Yes, and now listen as I speak” said the Statue, “I am the God of Dead! And you are in my realm, the land of Death”. Suddenly a thick voluminous fog slowly covered the face of the statue. As the face slowly became blurry, Arin could notice the smirk was vanishing and the face was turning grim. The thick fog covered the whole statue, and only two glowing green eyes could be seen now piercing through the thick fog. First time, Arin really felt intimidated and felt like he had been frozen in place.

“Listen my words, my Hem’netjer;” spoke the strange statue, “listen closely for you are now standing before Nerthazir, the Reaper Prime. I am the inevitable, the lurking shadow waiting to shroud mortals at edge of their final breath, the eternal silence trailing mortal’s last heartbeat. Irrespective of whatever paths mortals take in their lifetime, all paths eventually lead to my realm of perpetual twilight only, as none can escape my grasp. You had sought the hidden knowledge of the beyond, in your last life. When you stare at the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. You have answered my offer, and in return, you shall bear witness to the end of all things. Embrace your fate, for in my domain, eternity unfolds in the flicker of an eye.”

“So, I am dead and now trapped to this Land of Death forever?” asked Arin.

“Yes, and, no” spoke Nerthazir, “You are going to a World and conquer it as my Champion. You are going to rule it and establish my superiority over all the other Gods, by crushing their followers.”

“Why me?” asked Arin.

“Maybe it was because who you are, your latent potential; or, because of your interest in the occult, or maybe” Nerthazir took pause for a bit, “it was just a random event, a trick of fate, which binds everything, from you mortals to even us Gods”

“Are all those else who are vanishing for last few days, were being summoned by you as well?” Arin asked with a suspicious tone.

“This is for you to find out” Nerthazir chuckled, “as well as, the path you will take and how you will tread upon it. You are not my puppet or avatar or slave. You are even free to quit being my champion, all choices will be yours, and so will be the consequences.”

“That’s not something I had expected from a grim God of Death!” Arin said in surprise.

“Yes, I am often misunderstood by mortals, not that I care much. Anyway, go with my blessings, curve your own path. I wish you get what you had hoped to achieve in your last life and more. As my Hem’netjer, you will have dominion over life and death. You will take life from the living and bless the dead with undeath. But remember to treat the power I am going to bestow upon you, with respect and responsibility. Or the power will corrupt you and take control of you. Following me is akin to walking on tightrope, one misstep and you are destined to fall to your doom. But if you maintain balance and can keep walking on that tightrope, you will one day reach your destiny, which I won’t reveal now.” said Nerthazir in a compassionate voice.

Arin suddenly remembered his own father, whom he had forgotten much by now. There was certain warmth in God of Death’s chilly embrace. “It will be done” Arin said automatically as he bowed his head in reverence.

“May it be” Nerthazir’s mysterious statue, which seemed to have come alive by now, gestured and Arin started floating upwards, only to stop for a moment when he could see eye-to-eye with Nerthazir. “Before you leave for new home, remember these doctrines of mine”, said the Eternal Reaper, “Maintain Balance, Embrace Death with Grace, and Protect the soul from Corruption- both in and out of the body!” Nerthazir gestured again, and Arin started floating upwards, with increasing speed. Arin could feel his incorporeal body is crumbling under the unmatched acceleration, and everything that made him Arin was constantly dissipating. Only his consciousness remained.

Arin was heading fast towards a swirling vortex of light. He felt as if he would now crash with the intense light, and what was remaining of him, his consciousness, that would be lost forever as well. He wanted to cry but he no more had a mouth to cry, or eyes to shed tears. He accepted his fate as h braced for imminent impact.