He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the star glazed night sky. Many different stars were racing in the dusk colored canvas. They slowly drop, like the dew in the mountain grass every morning, forever chasing each other. Though some differ in size, all of them sparkle just the same.

Gone was the rough texture of sand. It was replaced by the feel of water. He was lying in some kind of lake. His movements disturbed the stillness of it. The lake acted as a mirror to the beautiful face of the sky above, making it look like there were stars below too.

He didn't know how long he was lying there nor how he was floating in a lake. The sky was far too mesmerizing for him to care. Needless to say, he lost track of time. He was startled by the sound of a boat paddling towards him. A figure of a person rowing can be seen.

"Eshikel," the stranger softly called.

Up close, Eshikel can see that the man was all bones. He was clad in a black robe. Flesh was stripped of him. The only thing that seemed alive of the man was the inside of his skull which was radiating fire. With a bony hand gripping the paddle, the man approached him.

It seems that he was meeting Death.

He slowly stood up to meet him. He had no idea how he was walking in water. All he knew was that his bare feet refused to sink.

"Where am I?"

"In the third plane," Death replied.

He motioned him to come aboard the boat. Eshikel complied and sat on the opposite side, taking care not to rock the small boat. Death started rowing again. Gentle waves rippled in the lake as they cut their way into the water. Together, they watched the falling stars dance in the sky. Despite Death's terrifying appearance, his scent was that of a beetlegrass. The minty scent soothed both Eshikel's tired soul and body. He let it wash away his worries for now.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Death said.

"It is."

"It's from my wife."

"Your wife?"

"Yes, she made those stars for me."

His scent changed to that of a sunflower. The calmness that was in Eshikel's heart a moment ago shifted towards a warmer feeling. This scent reminded him of the sunsets he always watched on the top of the mountains. He remembered the clear skies that always domed his small little world. There, he spent most of his childhood peacefully. Free-spirited, carefree and most importantly, untroubled by the tides of war.

Silence passed while he reminisced those days. The misty bite of the dusk wind whisked Death's robe into a flutter. Eshikel collected his thoughts. There were many questions he wanted to ask him but he decided to ask the most important things first.

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"My family, are they here?"

"Yes, they weren't marked."

Relief flooded his heart upon hearing that. The gnawing emptiness inside him subsided a little knowing that his loved ones were in a paradise.

"Then why am I here, I'm marked," he asked.

Death looked beyond the far line of the lake as if there was something behind those distances.

"Have you ever heard of the living God? He is known by many names."

"Yes."

How could he not know? He conquered almost all the land familiar to man.

"I need you to stop him." He kept on rowing.

"Huh?"

"I summoned you here to stop the fake God. Why?"

Death turned around to face him.

"Because scums like him are learning how to devour a soul."

Death, with that bare face of his, couldn't frown yet from the tone of his voice, Eshikel could feel a certain coldness leak out of it. His scent, like earlier, changed from the fragrance of the prairies to the snowy pines of the tundras in the north. His emotions also changed. Memories of his bloody past flooded him. He remembered particularly the feeling of warm blood on his hands and the cold glare of his wife's corpse.

He clenched his jaw.

Numb your heart

It was a phrase that he always repeats whenever he can't control his emotions. He had his revenge yet he still felt that empty feeling of dissatisfaction.

"Oh, pardon me child."

The icy scent that Death emitted was soon gone. It was back to the calmness of the beetlegrass. The anger that chewed him also vanished, leaving him with a clearer mind.

Death continued. "If a soul is devoured, it wouldn't be able to go here. My children down there would suffer."

Eshikel got the gist of it. If God says it's a threat, even he would be wary. There was one more thing bugging him. Of all the people Death could've chosen, why him? He was a sinner. His cursed mark was proof of that. What once was a clean soul was tainted by his petty revenge.

"You wanted a second life. Here I am." Death waved his hands towards himself. "I can remove the curse if you succeed. This is your chance."

Death turned around and faced him.

"Will you take it?"

"How will I kill a God?"

"Make him human again. Find the ownerless things that made him a God. Piece him back together and he will be vulnerable."

"I don't understand."

Eshikel was confused. There were many things that didn't make sense. But this was God.

Of course it wouldn't make sense.

"Child, do not confuse yourself. You will understand when the time comes. I cannot keep your soul here much longer."

Eshikel mused A second life was what he wanted. Although he wasn't expecting something like a bargain from Death himself, he couldn't pass off this last thread to life.

"I'll do it," he said while staring at the empty skull of Death.

As impossible it might seem, a chance to live was better than rotting in the middle plane.

"What about my sanity? How long will it stay?" Eshikel said. Based on his experiences, an undead lasts only a month.

"I do not know for nothing in this world is certain. Everything is odd."

Before he could ask further questions Death stopped rowing. "Travel west to the crooked tower. Ask for the magi Rowan."

He patted Eshikel's head. "Go now. Tanja cheers for you"

"Tell her I love her."

"I will."

He asked Eshikel to step out of the boat. Just as Eshikel was expecting his feet to float, the water swallowed him down. His body continuously sank deeper and deeper in the lake, as if someone was pulling him. He wasn't drowning. He didn't even feel the need to breathe. The light of the stars becomes dimmer until he was covered in pitch-black darkness. A few moments passed and without knowing it, he slipped out of consciousness, forever sinking into bottomless waters.