Power that carries death, which often appears in the plural, like the portions of death of each man. Zeus places two Keres on the pans of the golden balance in Book VIII, one for the Trojans and one for the Achaeans, and in Book XXII those of Achilles and Hector. On Achilles' shield, the deadly Ker drags a dead man by the feet, wearing a red cloak of men's blood.
Where It Appears
Quotes
and then the Father stretched out the golden balance; in it he set two Keres, the fates of death that strikes down, one for the horse-taming Trojans and one for the Achaeans in bronze tunics; he took it at the middle and lifted it: the fated day of the Achaeans tipped downward.
Book VIII: The Battle Interrupted, the narrator
my friend, if by fleeing this war we were always going to be ageless and immortal, I would not fight among the foremost, nor would I send you into the battle that gives glory to men; but now, in any case, the Keres of death stand over us, countless, which no mortal can flee or escape. Let us go, and either we will give glory to someone, or someone to us.
Book XII: The Assault on the Wall, Sarpedon
in it he set the two Keres of the death that brings lasting grief, Achilles' and Hector's, horse-tamer; he lifted it holding it at the middle: the fated day of Hector tipped downward, he went to Hades, and Phoebus Apollo left him.