The Name's Kharma - Miss Reaper if You're Nasty

Chapter 1: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The boom from the last explosion was still reverberating through the air and the smoke and dust reduced the visibility to nothing. The soldiers on the hill stood behind the handful of tanks with their ears still ringing from the assault from overhead. There was no way a single enemy combatant could have survived, and if there were any civilians in those buildings? They'd be goners, as well.

All they had to do now was wait for the smoke to clear, then do a sweep and collect what they could from the bodies. Another victory, moving them closer to the fall of yet another country and further expansion of the Northern Kingdom. The men were all in high spirits, as the Supreme Ruler had promised triple pay for a successful mission. There was also sure to be plenty of partying in the troop barracks that night with booze, drugs, food, and women.

The smoke was starting to settle and the front troops were beginning their advance when movement caused them to halt. As they watched, a black headdress began to appear, first the top feathers and then a raven's head with a tremendous beak, the end of which was a gleaming blade. Before they could fully question their own sanity, the figure broke through the smoke and a tall, powerful woman stood before them. She was wearing a helmet that was topped with the Raven and gleaming onyx feathers. The feathers continued down her back in a full cape, under which she wore black armor that began at her neck and covered her entire body like a second skin.

Her appearance was odd enough to momentarily stun the troop into inaction, which was long enough for her to raise her arms and release an unkindness of ravens. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of the birds filled the air and descended on the soldiers, causing them to foolishly drop their weapons while trying to fend the large birds off. Meanwhile, the woman began her approach once again.

The officers, who were still observing from the relative safety of the hilltop, finally sprung into action and began firing automatic weapons in her direction. From under her cape, the woman pulled two long scythes and began twirling them, deflecting the bullets as if they were a shield. Her advancement was not slowed.

Passing the advancing troop, she barely glanced at the writhing bodies being consumed by the hungry birds. The General who sat in a jeep on the hill -- the one who had led these men in battle and whose strategy had rained such devastation on the enemy -- watched in horror as the black birds lifted as a single entity and were absorbed back into the cape covering the woman's back. He could not break his gaze from the impossibly large eyes that were glowing red. In them he was able to see his future and it was horrifying enough to make his bladder let loose.

Standing before him, without so much as a scratch or feather out of place, the woman cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. The soldiers and officers that surrounded him had gone still and seemed to be as stricken as he was.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked in a melodic voice that somehow seemed to be coming from inside his own head.

"You're the Morrigan, Goddess of War."

"That's one of my names, yes... a rather ancient one," she said with a chuckle. "I'm also known as Abbadon, the Angel of Death." Looking around at the other men, she peered into their souls and saw all the good and bad they'd ever done. She weighed out their actions. "But my favorite, and the one that you're going to deliver to your Ruler, is Kharma."

With another flick of her hand, all but eight of the soldiers and one of the officers fell to the ground, their hearts stopped. The nine men that remained standing had good acts that outweighed the bad.

"Go, leave this place," she spoke into their minds. "Go back to your families and think of how you want to spend the remainder of your days on earth, understanding that I will make your experience match your own deeds. And when the day comes that I return to collect your soul, the manner in which you live will determine if your last day is easy or terrifying."

Once they left, she turned back to the General. He had not moved or even blinked. "You..." Kharma held out a hand and a particularly large black bird appeared. "You're a particularly naughty boy, aren't you?"

The bird raised her wings and screamed at the man, who lost the last tiny bit of color in his face. In his mind he saw flashes of all the atrocities he'd perpetrated on prisoners... and some civilians... in the past decade of this ongoing war between the Northern and Southern Kings. Their screams filled his head until he thought he'd lose his mind. Then, just as suddenly as they started, it was replaced by silence - leaving nothing but the pitiful sound of a child crying... a child he'd refined his terrible skills on. His child.

When she spoke, it startled him. "You're going to deliver a message for me. Tell your Ruler - the one who started this war - that he needs to contact his Dark Lord," she paused to bare her teeth in a grin that made his bowels loosen. "He needs to alert the Dark Lord that his equally dark sister would like to parlay in a fortnight."

"Where- where should I t-tell him to meet you?"

"Easy, tell him to meet me where it all began."

"Where --"

"Don't worry, he'll know exactly where I'm talking about." Kharma took a step back and saw a flicker of relief cross the man's face. "There's no where you can run, Patrick, so don't even entertain the idea of not fulfilling my request. As far as you're concerned, you've fought your last battle, and if I was you, I'd start thinking about how to build up some good... karma."

She giggled and started to walk away. He'd just relaxed his shoulders when she turned back to face him. "You know what just occurred to me? You don't need eyes to deliver a message." The raven lifted from her arm and the sounds of screams filled the air and this time as she walked away, a genuine smile lifted her lips.

Sometimes, she truly enjoyed her job.