I can speak to him now.

After the last mission I learned something. A ritual.

i took some bullets and hammered them into 2 disc. I spend the day and night praying, sending worship to my God, and when morning came, the disc were coins with a symbol of my God.

On picking it up, I could feel my God. His mark came to me, blessing me with his symbol. His words came to me, praising me for my work, and telling me to spread his message. To kill in his name, and to spread war.

I’ve spent much time talking to him in recent days. Through our conversations and my reflections, I can feel something broken inside of me healing. My understanding of others. How to talk to them , what they wanted.

I’ve made so many mistakes because I didn’t understand. I need to be better. I’m sure my next mission will require me to grow and learn. So that I am ready.

I have been talking to my God some. Planning.

But also reflecting. I have… changed a lot in the last two months.

Things that didn’t make sense to me. About people. About myself. It makes more sense now.

i feel like something in me was broken. And these Contracts and my God is fixing it. So that I may be a better tool in his hands.

i’ve made so many mistakes. So many ways I could have managed the situations I’ve been in throughout my life. 

I have been a fool. Good with a gun. Good at killing. But I need to be better.

What my God wants from me is hard. I need people to be strong . I need war to spread over the world to bring glory to my God. 

I need to be smarter. Stronger. More competent.

The challenges I will be facing next as I prepare to change the world will be hard.

i was broken. My God has fixed me. Now I must remake myself to be a tool for him.

Len moves through the woods. Trees around her. She moves slow, and steady, following a pair of tracks. Hunting. She will need a lot of game for her next step. For fixing what was broken. 

Luckily, animal targets are much less dangerous than human ones. Or supernatural ones. 

She brings her gun to her shoulder. It feels wrong in her hand. Like she needs to change it. Like it is just a rifle.

She will fix this.

She fires.

The deer goes down. 
---------
Len forms a ring with the 4 deer. She steps into it. Naked.  She is exhausted from the day. Ever since that... day. Since the book. She hasn't been able to recover right. She gets tired easily.

But. This needed to be done.

The blood pools. She soaks her hands in it. Touches her face, down her neck, over her shoulders. Painting her body. 

Then she lies down. Her hair soaks in the blood. She holds one of coins under her tongue. She dreams.
---------
Len looks at her God.

"COWARD. TRAITOR. YOU SHAME ME."

Len looks up at Ares.

"Yet I live, while 3 other companions are dead. And 14 died for my life."

The arena she is in booms.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE FRONT LINES! READY TO DIE! TO KILL! WITH HONOR!"

I didn't want war, Len thinks to herself. I wanted to be strong. The military let me learn how to be strong. How to kill. But valor... honor. It is fake. It will lure me in an kill me. I don't want to die.

Len looks up at Her former god.

"And yet I live."

Mists begin to form around Len, sliding up the sides of her clothes. She feels cold.

Ares strikes out at her. A spear through her heart.

Len falls.

And her new God catches her.

She is surrounded my mists. The God of death watches her. Thanatos

"My new reaper."

Then Len wakes.

Her mouth is full of blood. Spiting out her coin, she finds it marked now with a Scythe. A reaper for the god of death.

The sun is hot on Len's back.

Before the contracts she would be able to do this much faster. Now she needs breaks. Her heart and breath hammering. 

Shovel in. Lift dirt. Toss out of the pit. Rest

Before the contracts she could make 5 of these in a day. Now she'll be lucky to finish one. 

She looks up to the sky.

If it rains clearing the water will be hell... but the slipperyness will help... maybe I make them more shallow. Less mobilization, more warning.


Len puts down the shovel. She climbs her makeshift ladder up. Grabs the spikes she had prepared. Covered in rotting blood, and animal intestine.

She plants them firmly in the ground. 

She rests. Then she climbs out. 

She looks at her handy work.

She could survive falling into this. Below her usual standards. Probably other contractors would as well. This is not nearly as effective as a mine field.

But I'm stronger now too. I could kill a gang of men that came for me if I knew they were coming.

Len takes a mesh of twine, and covers the pit. Then gathers leaves and dried grass. Lays them over the pit.

The sun is nearly down. She started this before noon. 

Her body calls for a rest.

She looks at the large pile of dirt next to the pit.

I'll get rid of that tomorrow.

Len carries a heavy bag. Full of empty cans and bottles. She moves through the forest.

She uses twine to hang some bottle some from branches. She places others on stumps or nestled in roots. A long arc, around her house. 

Many in cover. Some swinging naturally with the breeze.

This. This was a challenge. This made Len feel excited. 

She grips her gun. She feels the energy flowing through it. Soothing her aches and pains. Clarifying her focus.

This is what she is good at. She doesn't need to think about the new thoughts in her head. She doesn't need to think about her changing body. 

This is what I am good at. This is what I am for. I am good at this.

She makes her way back to her house.

She sets up. 

Finally

Len starts shooting, and all is right with the world.

It is a misty day. 

Len moves slow. She used to run. Patrolling, searching. Making herself fit.

It has gotten… harder. 

Moving fast is generally harder. Even after her heart stopped beating.

The mist swirls around her. 

Her new God wasn’t a loud one. Not insistent. But she felt him then. The power flowing through her. Changing her. 

Len grips her gun. Her Sycthe. She steps forward, the mists billowing around her. 

For a moment she sees Chareon. The mists of the river Styx. 

Len lands, almost stumbling . 

She grins.

“Thank you my lord.”

 Len feels the mist inside her. That energy of death. 

Strength for her, and strength to win. The ability to move. To hide. Power to make up for her weaknesses. For her body that has been slowly breaking, even as she becomes a better tool. 

I don’t want to be a tool. 

A small voice. A little voice. The voice that was silent since she hide in the attic. 

She ignores it.