Opening of chapter one

I still remember the first life I took. The look on their face. The sound of their last breath. It was the same with the last one. Plus the countless in between. Of course I know the true number. There was nothing personal about it. I am death. Or I was.

Allow me to clarify. I am one of the legion of angels of death. For centuries it was my task to take the life force from beings in their last moments. I am a vessel to transport that force and return it to the eternal stream of the universe. There is another group of angels with the task of guiding the souls into their after life. I rarely dealt with them mainly because it wasn't my concern and there wasn't time.

The day was constant as I collected the life force from thousands receiving my instructions for the when and where from Command through telepathy. I can transport myself to any point in the universe in an instant and had several planets in my domain. More than one angel works in a domain because as much as we try we cannot be in more than one place at once.

That had been my existence until the acts on one forced a change. One of our legion had developed an enjoyment in taking the life force. It was more than the sense of duty from doing a job well but the perverse joy some get from killing. He went rogue and was quickly recruited to join Lucifer as one of his minions.

One positive is that young angels of death have to develop a tolerance. Initially they are only allowed to retrieve one life force with a rest period in between. They are limited in their capacity to carry a life force which restricts the period before the chosen time. These restrictions were put in place after one had gone rogue before. He was dealt with eventually as will the new offender.

Yet even with the restrictions in place it is possible to gain tolerance over time. The kills can become more frequent and the amount before their chosen time can increase. There will also be a point where he can make multiple kills in succession.

The reason Lucifer recruited him is that in the dark domain the life force is a commodity. The demons and other minions have the ability to kill but cannot gather the life force. But now that they have some one that can their power is bound to increase. The life force can be doled out into smaller quantities which the minions can ingest to make them stronger. In larger quantities it can be a power source and that is a possibility that must be avoided.

My name is Ikkol. My task has changed with this new development. I am not in charge of hunting down the offender. There is a team to handle that. I have been reassigned to undo the loss of life.

I had been one of the best at what I did and that was one reason I was given this new assignment. After the life is taken Command informs me where and I return life force to the host being. The guide angels also assist the soul back into their body. Yet these beings are not just restored with a few moments of life. As a compensation for enduring they are given an extra year or more. Command makes that decision.

There were a couple that were lost before I was reassigned. Who could have fathomed any one capable of such actions? Especially from our glorious ranks. But once discovered the plan was put in place and I am doing my part.

His name is Gov. I had only met him once in passing as I was years past dealing with the new ones. He didn't make an impression on me but who could have known what was hiding within? Now our fates are linked.