Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) by Sean Hayden

Darius spoke again. “We will find her soul and it will
have a place of honor among us. We owe her a debt.”
    “You
can do that?”
    “Her
soul was promised to us. It should have found its way to one of our realms as
it was released. Do not worry, we will find her. On that, you have my
word.”
    “Do
you think she’ll know who did it?”
    “You
have never visited with the souls who come to our realm, have you?”
    “No.
The other day was the first time I had been there.”
    “You
need to come home more. Find me when you return. You will have a place there
for you should you need to leave this realm for a while.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “He
means you’ll have your own apartment-like thingy. All of the Fallen have
quarters in one of the realms,” Clarisse interpreted for me.
    “You
have your own place?” I turned to her.
    “Correction,
I have two of my own places. One in Shade City and another one here.”
    “Most
of the time I forget that you don’t have parents and live by yourself. Doesn’t
that get lonely?”
    “Sometimes,”
she said. I could tell by her face it was more often than sometimes. I fought
the urge to give her a hug. It probably would have ended with her fist in my
face, anyway. I turned to Darius instead.
    “So,
what were you saying about the souls?”
    “That
they usually have little to no recollection of their previous life. They also never remember their death. Often it is too painful a memory to bear.”
    “That
makes sense. It would be on my top ten list of things to forget, anyway.”
    He
nodded. “It is time for me to depart. If you have need, call me.” He
strode back to the center of the park and flew upwards once again, disappearing
into the green vortex that appeared in the night sky.
    “I
can’t believe nobody is going to call the cops about green swirling clouds
above the park.”
    “Humans
can’t see it. Most of them anyway. The ones that can are usually already
labeled by your society as different or insane. It’s quite convenient.”
    “You
and I have different ideas about convenience.” The events of the night
finally caught up to me and I swayed a little on my feet.
    “Are
you okay?” Clarisse reached out and steadied me on my feet.
    “Yeah,
Just tired. Want to sit with me a minute?”
    “In
the park?”
    “Sure.”
    “We
might want to get rid of our wings first. In case someone happens to drive
by.”
    It
was nearly four in the morning in Cedar Hills. Nobody would be driving by, but
it is always better to be safe than sorry. I did as she suggested and followed
her over to the swings that had already collected dew in the cool night air. I
decided I didn’t care about having a wet butt nearly as much as I cared about
not falling on it.
    I
could feel it seeping into my jeans, chilling my backside even more that it
already was. The cold no longer bothered me, but the wetness was a little
uncomfortable.
    “Feel
better?” Clarisse wiped off her swing seat with her hand. She always was a
little smarter than I was.
    “Feels
good to sit.”
    “Not
what I meant, but I’m glad.”
    “What
did you mean then?”
    “About
Jenny’s soul. Death for humans is never permanent. For us on the other
hand…”
    “It
is?”
    “No
one knows. When we die, we disappear. We hope it’s to rejoin with the Creator,
but that’s just one of many theories by the Sages.”
    “Sages?”
    “Yeah.
I told you this before. We have many callings. Seekers and Reapers. You met
Darius. Warriors, are the responsibility of Jun, whom you also met.”
    “And
Agravius is in charge of the Sages?”
    “Yes.”
    “What
is a Sage though?”
    “Wise
one. They are our scholars.”
    “That
makes sense. Who is in charge, charge of all the Fallen though?”
    “No
one person. It’s the Triad. Three members so there is never a tie on any
decision.”
    “And
who do they report to?”
    “I
suppose the Creator, but he left these realms.”
    “He
gave up on us?” I had a little trouble