Once upon a time, there lived a kind old wizard named Oken. He was the first of his kind, wielding power to change the very fabric of reality. A compassionate old sage; Oken never used his magic for self-gain. He would give blessings, heal the sick, and protect the weak, but he would never kill. “I do not have the power to give life, therefore I will not take it,” he would often say. The people loved Oken; his generosity was legendary. From far and wide they would travel seeking his awesome power. Through him the world was made a better place, and for a time all was well.

One rainy afternoon, however, as Oken enjoyed a cup of tea, he felt a violent shift in the fabric of time. An ominous aura consumed him. As he looked around, all seemed well, but he knew it was coming. He gazed at the center of the floor and waited. He could feel it coming, but he could not stop it. Whatever was about to happen was beyond his control, Oken knew that immediately. All he could do was watch and wait. The spot on the floor that Oken gazed at suddenly turned gray. The gray slowly encroached further out picking up speed as it moved.

The gray continued to grow, sucking the color from everything it touched, the now colorless objects frozen in time. The wizard stood up and took a step back in vain, he knew there was no escaping its reach. In an instant the environment was consumed with the time freezing gray. The cup of tea he knocked over now in mid-air, the liquid spilling out frozen in time. There was no movement, all was quiet. No birds chirping, no water running, even Oken's footsteps were now void of sound.

The wizard looked at himself, relieved to see that he was still in color, seemingly unaffected by the gray. As he looked up, he saw a floating black mass shaped something like a sphere. Animated yet lifeless, the sphere opened revealing giant black wings. Attached to them was a skeleton cloaked in black. The black of the cloak and the black of the wings was so dark, deep, and indistinguishable that Oken could not tell where one ended and the other began. The being gripped a large, curved scythe in its right hand. Its lipless jaw opened as it began to speak. “Oken,” it spoke with the voice of a man and a woman, accompanied by a booming echo. Its resonance shook the wizard to his core.

“Greetings, my lord.” said Oken respectfully.

The being's jaw opened a second time as Oken braced himself for its voice. “I am the end, the keeper of all that ever was. Through me eternity is held at bay. Behold the bringer of death, nay I am death.”

“Mortem,” replied Oken. “You honor me with your presence, my lord.”

“I do not seek to honor you, wizard. Not once have I had to take physical form. Not one time since the dawn of existence have I revealed myself so completely to a mortal.” The being snapped with his left index finger outstretched in Oken's face. “But you have angered me. You who wield the power of the cosmos; powers meant to be exclusive to greater beings, and you would use them against me.”

“I beg your pardon, my lord. I have never sought quarrel with you or anyone else. I only use my magic for good,” replied Oken boldly.

The beings wings kept him aloft. They flapped slowly, their sound was loud and chilling. “Kaw!” heard Oken as he turned to face a large black raven the size of an eagle.

“Lower life forms never perceive the grand design,” boomed the being's voice. “Making decisions yet unable to see the full effect of them. This is why your kind was never meant to hold the reality shifting power of magic. Your good deeds have saved many lives, Oken, lives that were meant to be mine. I am here to claim what has been stolen from me.”

“I apologize for meddling with the great balance, my lord. Let my death be enough to sate your anger.”

“That is not good enough, Wizard,” growled the being as he slowly wagged his long, skeleton finger. “You owe me ten thousand lives.”

“How is that possible?” Oken said, shocked by the number. “Surely I have not saved that many people.”

“You save a life, then they go on to save another.” The being used the tip of his scythe like a pointer as he poked it toward the wizard's face. “Trust me, Oken. You owe me ten thousand.”

“I will not kill ten thousand people, my lord,” said Oken, predicting what the being wanted from him. It took its scythe and hooked it around Oken pulling him closer. The wizard felt the being's cold breathe upon his bearded face. “Yes you will,” its voice so loud and deep that his ear drums ached. “Take this book,” said the being as it waved its hand and materialized a black pool of liquid in the floor. Out ascended a large brown book which forced its way into Oken's hand. “In this book I have written the names of the 100 mortals you will kill.” Oken looked up at the creature, his face only inches from its. “People who will save lives in the future. Their deaths will cause more deaths. This is how you will collect your ten thousand?”

The being took its hooked scythe from around Oken as it leaned back satisfied. “Exactly.”

The book was dark brown and thick , surely containing more text than just the names of 100 humans. Oken deign not open it to discover its contents. “My Lord--” began Oken as he found himself startled by the creature's next gesture.

The being stretched out its boney finger and touched the wizard on the forehead. Oken commanded his feet to step back but they disobeyed, his body now paralyzed. His skin turned pale and his clothes blackened, their design transformed. “Bear my mark as you fulfill my purpose. You are mine now, wizard, and so you shall remain until your work is done,” commanded the being, its feminine voice as mighty and forceful as its masculine.

As the being withdrew its finger, Oken felt command of his body return to him but he remained numb. He gazed down at his new jet black garments offset by his pale white skin. Horrified, Oken looked up at the being. “And if I refuse to kill, what then?” asked the wizard earnestly.

“KAW!” Screeched the giant raven as it took flight out the colorless window.

“Refuse me, and I will wipe all life from existence and Vita will start her work anew,” boomed its awesome voice. The being's wings folded in covering its body as it took the spherical form it first appeared as. Slowly it descended into the colorless floor like a stone into water. The gray quickly faded away as color and sound returned to the environment. Even inanimate objects seemed to breathe with life in contrast to the gray of Mortem's presence. Oken's body was still numb to all feeling; he took a moment to adjust to this. The wizard gazed thoughtfully at the tome in his hands, its cover read “The Book of Death.” A somber feeling took hold of him accompanied with a weak resolve as he opened the book and read.