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Lucas stepped back, smiling. “I infused it with Death magic, and because I control Death magic, I can control this! Watch.”
Lucas flicked his wrist, and the scythe followed his command. The blade swung at a stack of books in the corner, slicing several of them clean in half. I jumped, and Chloe’s spine straightened.
“Uh, that was a little frightening,” Chloe said.
“Right?” Lucas replied proudly. “I can literally use it as a weapon in battle. And it doesn’t just physically transform things. I can also bring death to ideas. Look.”
Lucas held out his hand, and the scythe sped across the room straight into his fingers. He held the scythe out in front of himself and turned to the bookcases along the wall. “Let’s see… I want to read a good mystery novel. Perhaps I’ll look over here…”
Lucas started in one direction, but the scythe jerked the other way. Lucas nearly lost his footing as he followed the scythe to the other end of the bookcase. The scythe spun in his hand, until the tip touched the spine of one of the books.
Lucas pulled it down from the shelf. “Actually, this is a romance novel, but he’s still learning. The point is, he can change my mind and lead me in a new direction.”
Chloe’s eyebrows shot up. “Impressive.”
“It’s like the scythe has a mind of its own,” I added.
“Kind of?” Lucas sounded unsure. “It’s like a companion, but also an extension of me.”
“The potential for this is huge,” I said.
Lucas subconjured his scythe. “I just wish it was enough. If it was, I’d have passed the Warlock’s Trial by now.”
“What exactly do the Reaper Records say about the Warlock’s Trial?” Chloe asked. “Can I see it?”
Lucas shrugged. “Sure.”
Chloe used telekinesis to float the book over to her. Pages flipped open mid-air, and the book gently fell into her open hands. She began reading. “The Reaper Order is a society of reapers who have demonstrated a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities within the Miriamic Coven, as well as their magical powers, through practical application and keen comprehension. This system was developed by the coven’s first reaper, Mortimer Imperia.”
Chloe paused. “Huh… I’ve never heard any of Miriam’s family referred to by last name.”
“I've been researching our past lives historically,” Lucas said. “Our family name was Imperia, which the Imperium Council is named after. According to the stories, the children came together and chose this name for themselves. Most of the records we have go back to the kids. We know little about Mother Miriam's past, because she wasn’t keeping records until she started writing stuff down for her kids. Not everything survived the witch trials, though, so there are gaps in the coven’s knowledge.”
“Interesting…” Chloe mused. “Listen to this. Mortimer believed that a reaper’s power and responsibility required great care, and because of that, the master-apprentice system was put into place.”
Lucas scoffed. “You’d think I’d know what I was doing, considering I was the one who designed all this.”
“In a past life,” I reminded him. “That doesn’t mean that you consciously have any of the answers here in this life. It’s too much to expect of yourself.”
Chloe continued reading. “To become a member of the Reaper Order, an apprentice must pass the Warlock’s Trial. The Warlock’s Trial was named for Mortimer, who designed the trial to indicate when an apprentice has become a master. Once an apprentice has demonstrated they fully understand their powers of death, the reapers will grant the apprentice welcome into the Reaper Order, and he or she may take on their own apprentice.”
“See, that’s the part I don’t get,” Lucas said. “Autumn isn’t part of the Reaper Order, yet she was supposed to be my master. How can the system work if I’m not learning from a master?”
“Maybe that’s one of the reasons you incarnated right now,” I theorized. “If you developed this system in a prior life, maybe you came here to correct the ways in which the system has failed its reapers in the past. Maybe you don’t need Autumn, because the answers are already deep inside of you.”
“Maybe,” Lucas agreed thoughtfully. “But like you said, that doesn’t mean I have any conscious understanding.”
“Try this,” Chloe suggested. “Take a deep breath.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s the answer.”
Chloe frowned. “Just try it, okay?”
Lucas kept his eyes on her a moment longer before finally giving in. He laced his fingers in front of himself, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “Now what?”
“Tap into your intuition,” Chloe said. “Tell me the first answer that comes when I ask the following question. What is it that you need to pass the Warlock’s Trial?”
Lucas hesitated.
