The Mortal Knife

It was hard for Adam to explain why he was so awful at being a Luman. He knew Nathanial thought he would grow out of it and get better but Adam wasn't so sure. He wasn't scared of death or the souls or the Hinterland - most of the souls were quite happy to step into their Lights once they knew their life in the physical world had ended. He just couldn't shake the feeling that his own life should be about more than death.

It didn't help that Adam had an extra talent - one he was careful to hide from his family. In the Luman world someone like him was called a Seer. All Lumen had a death sense, a sense that told them when a soul had died and whether it was a predicted death or unexpected. The Mortsons specialised in sudden deaths, when souls could get frightened and lost unless they were guided into their Lights quickly. But a Seer had an extra sense - what Adam thought of as his doom sense. He could sometimes feel when a soul was about to die, before it had actually happened - which gave him the chance to do something about it.

This meant breaking Luman law - and cheating the Fates out of souls. So far Adam had intervened in death scenes three times, most recently depriving the suicide bomber of his intended victims. So far no one suspected that he was involved - but if he got caught he would be put on trial by the Luman authorities and face the death penalty himself.

Adam sighed and slumped back in his chair. He was pretty sure most people his age weren't having to worry about being executed just for trying to help people.