The Mask of Death

The village was burning. Liana's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the hungry orange flames licking at the roofs and walls of the houses and curling along the fences.
Her basket dropped to the ground and she broke into a run, shouting for her family. She wove between the other villagers, all of them calling for friends, searching for children, and sobbing for parents.
She reached her own home and stopped. The entire building was engulfed in fire. Part of the thatched roof had collapsed in and the walls were already cracking from the heat. For a moment Liana wanted to run inside to look, but a stronger instinct told her it was already too late.
She slid to her knees, watching her house burn as everyone around her screamed and shouted and fled. She couldn't find it in herself to care about them, or even care how this had happened.
Liana didn't know how long she sat there staring before a shadow fell over her. She looked up, realizing that the village had long since been abandoned. Much of the fire was dying down and night had begun to fall.
The person leaning over her was dressed in all black with a heavy cloak covering their body. Peering beneath the hood, Liana could tell it wasn't anyone she knew. Besides, who would dress like that?
"Who are you?" she asked, surprised by how raw her voice sounded. Rubbing a hand over her face, she was even more surprised to find tears drying on her cheeks.

by Lilliana Casper

by Lilliana Casper

The person tilted their head. "No one of concern to you," a woman's voice said. Liana wrapped her arms around herself. "Do you know what happened here?"
"A fire," the woman answered.
"I mean, how did it begin?"

The woman sighed. Straightening up, she looked around. "A boy plays with a candle and knocks it over when he is called outside. The flame catches on some straw and spreads quickly. Who can be blamed? It was an accident."
"The boy," Liana said. "Or his parents. He shouldn't have been near a candle."
"No," the woman said. "He was four. His father put the candle out of his reach, and it is the nature of children to want what they cannot have."
Liana stood up. "Where are the others? You seem to know so much, tell me this."
The woman turned to look at Liana. "Your family is not among them, my dear."
A chill of fear ran up Liana's spine. "Where are they?" she asked, fighting to remain calm.
"With me."
"I don't understand."
"You asked who I was," the woman said, facing Liana. She reached to push her hood back slightly, revealing a mask with a white skull design on it. "I am Death. Your family is with me."
Liana fell, her back curving in half, her hands over her mouth, her screams muffled by her sobs.
She was dimly aware of Death watching her silently, but everything else blurred. She collapsed to the dirt, gasps slipping from her lips.
It took so long for her to get herself to stop and think. Then she pushed herself up and looked at Death, who had remained beside her.
"I want to make a deal with you," she started. "For my family's lives."
The woman shook her head, a sad laugh emerging from her mask. "I am sorry, dear. That is not how this works. There will be no negotiating."
"Please, can't you just listen first?" Liana begged.
The woman shook her head. "You misunderstand. There is no bargaining with death. There are few ways to return the dead to the living, and you cannot do them."
"Why not?" Liana asked heatedly. "I can try. Give me a chance."
"No." Death turned away from her. "I am sorry for your loss, but your family is gone."
Fury filled Liana's heart, broken as it was. "That's it?" she shouted. "Nothing else? You're a monster? You're heartless. You could never imagine how I feel. Everything I loved is gone!"
The woman froze, her voice colder than ice. "Do not continue, girl. You have no idea who you are speaking to."
Liana didn't care. "And what, you'll kill me? That's fine. Kill me. At least I'll be with my family, instead of alive without them. Isn't that what you want? More dead to fill your realm?"
"Do not speak to me again!" Death whirled around. "You have family still, far away. You have friends waiting in the forest. You will heal, and you will be fine. But do not make the mistake of believing you are the only one who has lost!"
Liana took a step back, shocked by the woman's outburst. She tried to talk but was too scared to do so.

"I have loved, and I have lost, and you will never understand my pain, of watching them fade while I remain." Death reached up to her mask, and Liana saw now that it was broken, cracked down the side so delicately it appeared invisible.
The woman pulled it off, throwing her hood back at the same time, and Liana was rocked back again as she saw the face of Death.
The stories were wrong. Death was not pale with night-black hair and eyes. She was fair but lightly tanned on her cheeks, with steely gray eyes and brown hair tied in a bun. She tilted her head as she met Liana's gaze.
"I am human," Death said. "And yet I am not."
Liana stared at her wordlessly. The woman smiled sadly, and Liana saw what she had not before. There was darkness in her soul, darkness from pain and grief, darkness caused by suffering. A heart broken many times, from many different things.

For a long moment, the two watched each other. The wind blew through the deserted town, stars appeared in the sky, and the fire died.
Finally, Liana bent her head. "I'm sorry, my lady. I understand now."
The woman nodded in acceptance. "It is alright. Grief lashes out. I know it well."
Liana took a step forward. "Will they be okay?"
Death shrugged. "Perhaps. I am simply the guide, I do not know where the dead go once they leave my protection."
Liana nodded slowly. "Thank you. What should I do."
Death walked toward her and placed her hands on Liana's shoulders. "Live well," she said. "Be happy, celebrate your life, and do good in this world. Make them proud."
Liana felt tears rise, and Death pulled her in for a hug. "You'll be fine," she whispered. "But never forget the pain of grief. Console the others."
And then she was gone, a cold breeze replacing her warmth, and Liana stared into the night before straightening, adjusting her dress, and turning to the trees, determined to do as Death had commanded.
To live well, and make her family proud.