Back when things made sense

[death_gone_mad]

You may think this, yet mortals do not always see the purpose behind the ways of the immortal.

For all that death is undesirable to the living, we must die or the lands would be overrun with our children and our children's children.

Do not judge the deathbringer lest she judge you.

This land was old, and the peoples, old. Here along the banks of the bountiful River Elid, the planet's first human civilization was born. The annual flooding of the river brought the rich, life sustaining blessing of Elidinis to the land, and Tumeken, the sun, Lord of Light reached down and gave life to lifeless seeds. But the banks of the Elid were not the only part of the land that was bountiful. The plains of Uzer and the savanna where the Bedabin tribe roamed had plentiful game. A rich diversity of creatures wandered there, versions of which made it seem that their cousins who roamed elsewhere were only shadows. And the rich forests of Ullek, where wood prized the world over grows and matures; the granite and sandstone quarries!

Life begets death, and death begets life. And so, the union of the life giving powers of the sun and the river gave birth to death, rebirth, and destruction. And two new gods were born: Caring, gentle Icthlarin, and Amascut, red-haired and handsome. To Icthlarin fell the responsibility of bringing life though death and preparing the soul for the afterlife. His was the mystery of new life springing from the ground where the deceased found their final resting place. To Amascut fell the responsibility of bringing death though life and preparing the body for the afterlife. Hers was the necessity of death to life; hers was old age; hers was the hunt; hers was the need to eat; hers was the vicious fight for survival.

Hers was the harvest. And she had come to collect.

She passed her hands above the heads of wheat while walking through the field belonging to the household she was due to visit. As the wheat tickles her palms, spikelets fall to the ground. At least in this part of the field, the mice will not climb the stalks and break them just to get their meal, and the family will have a little more to eat went the harvest comes. Well, a little bit more than if they were just losing one mouth to feed.

Inside, a family was gathered around a boy lying on a few mats on the ground. He had been lying there, feverish, for half a week. And for the entire time, his family had kept vigil, praying that he would get better.

The reaper, grim and somber, passes through the walls of the house as if they were naught but smoke.

Comments

[myriadbeautiful]

The mother of the boy was the first to notice Amascut's presence. She burst into tears at the sight.

"No... Not my son... he is mine. Not yours... not yet."

The rest of the family turned to regard the goddess. Their faces showed sadness, exhaustion, and guilt.

[death_gone_mad]

Amascut looked at each of their faces.

Addressing no one in particular, she simply pronounced, "It is his time."

[myriadbeautiful]

"No, he is alive. He breathes!" protested the mother.

[death_gone_mad]

"He fights, both for your sake and for the sake of people he will never meet. But so do the things that afflict him. I promise you, his death will not be in vain. No death is in vain."

[myriadbeautiful]

The boy's father went to his wife to hold her, to attempt to comfort and calm her.

But she wasn't done. Fighting through tears, she shot back, "Why are you doing this to us?! My boy... he won't be able to help his father gather the harvest. Why? Why do you afflict us with disease and death? You monster!"

[death_gone_mad]

Amascut was still a little bit shocked and saddened whenever this happened. Did not the clergy educate the people why?

[myriadbeautiful]

"Sssh shh shh. Honey, stop." The father hugs his wife tightly, "We'll be alright, everything will be fine. His time with us was a gift. Life is a gift. It's not something we earn. It is not something so cheap that we can say we deserve it."

"It is a test! A test of our faith! You appeared to a family not long ago to resurrect their daughter after she had been dead for two days! Amascut! I repent! I was foolish before, blinded by lack of wisdom. You alone can bring the dead back to life, and you can bring back my son! I will be your faithful servant until the end of my days, I will even offer my life in exchange! please bring my son back!" The woman was hysterical, and her husband could hardly hold her back.

Her remaining children stared, tearful and confused.

[death_gone_mad]

"You do not know what you ask for, and you do not know what you offer in return!" Amascut answered. "Would you prefer the deaths of billions, just so your son would live? Would you sacrifice the well being of your family, just so your son would live? Would you rather have your son live a life of torment and fear than to die in peace after having fought for the good of his people?"

She walked over to the boy on his deathbed. "No. Indeed, no one deserves life. It is given freely. And no one deserves death. It too, is given freely and is a consequence of life. However, this boy has come close to actually deserving both. This boy, and the countless lives he fights against, the countless lives he has ended, and the countless he has fought for. His strength has saved humanity, for now." She placed a hand on the boy's violently heaving chest and all grew quiet. The boy ceased breathing.

Amascut made a sack full of gold coins appear in her free hand and tossed it toward the parents "He is to be buried as a hero. Take him to either my priestesses or the priests of my brother. They will ensure he is prepared adequately." She then turns to each of the boy's siblings and strokes their faces, saying, "Your brother was strong, and so will you be, and so will be the whole of your peoples."

Then she approaches the parents, touching both their faces. "Please, do what I ask. Do not hold me in contempt, it is unhealthy. And pray my brother forgives you, it is not I alone who brings back the dead, nor guides them to the afterlife. Without his cooperation, death and resurrection would be truly horrible and without mine, it wouldn't happen at all. It would then be life which is horrible."

Amascut disappears, her physical form fading like smoke carried away by the wind.