"death looked up angrily , and found himself staring into eyes that were black as the inside of a cat and full of distant stars that had no counterpart among the familiar constellations of the realtime universe . death and fate looked at each other . death grinned - he had no alternative , of course , being made of implacable bone . the whetstone sang rhythmically along the blade as he continued his task . '' i have a task for you , '' said _ ..." What is the word in the blank space (_)? The answer is
fate