“Why just hunters?” Soren asked. “Why not the Nox”—he pointed to himself—“or the general public? Why limit who’s allowed to see them?”
“Because we don’t know how much ink is left in the stylus,” Jessy said, “and we can’t risk it running out. Without hunters, it’d be a lot harder to catch reapers, and way more kids would die.”
As dark as the discussion was, Viri was impressed by how much Jessalyn knew.
“How do people become reapers?” Soren asked, moving his nature mage into a copse of trees to guard his dwindling pile of treasure.
“They siphon ellixen from kids who haven’t Imparted and still have enough—”
“Buthow?” Soren pressed. “And why?”
Jessalyn crunched on a cracker, spraying crumbs everywhere. “The why is simple—they want power. Speed, strength, healing, longer life. Some just want to feel like they’re high all the time, since stolen ellixen is like a drug to them. It’s why they get addicted.” She reached for another cracker. “As for the how, if you mean the actualprocess, then they need to be touching someone, skin to skin, and they just”—she made a slurping sound thatcaused Viri’s stomach to turn—“suck it right out of them. Like pulling out a splinter.”
“As easy as that, huh?” Wynter asked, looking as disturbed as Viri felt.
Jessy’s normally bright face turned solemn. “Well, no. A taste is never enough, so they have to be willing to kill kids to steal all their magic. That’s a choice they make before they siphon for the first time—to become murderers. Nothing about that should beeasy.”
With Jessalyn’s bubbly, youthful personality, Viri often forgot that she was quickly growing from a child into an adult. Her answer showed a depth of maturity that filled Viri with pride.
She wasn’t the only one. Soren was also smiling softly at his sister. But then he schooled his features, used his character to summon a river as a defensive barrier, and asked, “Where did the first reaper come from?”
Jessy shrugged. “No one really knows. The most popular theory is that there was a weak shallow who was angry at the ancient mages for having all the power, so they messed around with magic they shouldn’t have and it corrupted them.” She shrugged again and used her elemental mage to take control of Soren’s river. “They probably used some kind of alchemy. We’ve all heard how dangerous that is.Andwe know it transforms one thing to another. A shallow to a reaper? Makes sense to me.”
Viri was careful to keep her eyes on the game. Wynter, at her side, did the same, though she squirmed slightly in her seat.
“It’s a shame we have no way of knowing what happened in the past,” Sarielle said, sipping more tea, “but what about today? Now that reapers exist, who controls them?”
“Not who—what,” Jessalyn answered. “I said before that they’readdicted to ellixen, so they’re controlled by their need for more of it.” She paused. “But if this is a trick question and you’re asking about a person, then throughout the ages, their leader has always been known as the Reaper Priest.”
Viri’s body tightened automatically.
“They follow him—or her—as much as they’ll follow anyone,” Jessy went on. “The current Priest is male, and he’s held the title for around seven years.”
“That’s a long time,” Sarielle mused. “Why haven’t the hunters caught him yet?”
We’re trying,Viri thought begrudgingly, though she knew her guardian was well aware of that.
Jessalyn shook her head. “They’ve been searching, but no one knows his name or what he looks like or where to find him, and the other reapers who are caught never share anything useful. They’re protective of their leaders, which would be honorable if they weren’t…you know…”
“Soulless, child-murdering psychopaths?” Wynter suggested lightly.
Jessalyn pulled a face. “Yeah. That.”
A grim silence fell, until Soren chomped loudly on a carrot and said, “Last question: How many reapers are out there? Dozens? Hundreds? Less? More?”
Jessalyn blinked. “I—uh—Our teacher didn’t—” She looked at Viri. “It can’t be too many, right? Because not a lot of people are willing to kill kids just for the sake of power. The cost isn’t worth the reward.” Somewhat anxiously, she repeated, “Right?”
Viri wanted to reassure her, but she couldn’t lie, not about this. “Reapers are like rats—no matter how many we catch and throw in the Underlock, they just keep appearing.”
She wished it weren’t true, wished there were an end point in sight for eradicating reapers entirely, but as long as people lusted for power, there were always going to be those willing to pay any price for it.
The mood around the table plummeted in the wake of Viri’s words, but then Sarielle cleared her throat and said, in a deliberately bright voice, “Well, I think it’s safe to say the Scholars’ Guild is keeping our educational system strong.” She smiled proudly at Jessalyn. “But let’s move on to something a little more cheerful, shall we?” She winked at the young girl. “Perhaps a certain someone’s upcoming birthday? Fourteen is a very special day.”
“Two more weeks!” Jessy’s face shone with excitement, all thoughts of reapers forgotten. Viri resolved to do the same. “Soren’s letting me have a party to celebrate my Impartation.”
“That reminds me,” Soren said, turning to Viri and Wynter. “How would you like to plan a party for a group of hyperactivekids?”
Viri snorted, and Wynter choked on a laugh, both knowing just how far Soren was out of his depth.
