"How very interesting." Azrail mused as he held his hand around Abraham's throat.

The area of the forest they were in was in shambles. Trees had been blown into pieces. Large, human sized holes had been punched through other trees, leaving gaping holes in them. The ground was peppered with small craters.

A sticky red mist hung in the air around them as Abraham's arms hung limp at his side while he was on his knees. His head dropped down as Azrail stood over him. The calm man had his hand around Abraham's neck as he looked down at him with sympathetic eyes.

"You seem to be taking this rather well." Azrail said as he brought his other hand down to gingerly wrap around his neck as well.

Azrail took in a deep breath as he tilted his head up towards the sky. "You know, you can't see the sun here. No sunrise. No sunset. Just endless twilight framed by silent lightning that streaks across the sky."

He lowered his head so that he could stare down at Abraham as he continued. "It's truly a blessing that you won't be around to live through that. Lost in a land without time, without reason. A place of endless madness. No, this is truly far better for one such as you. In fact, this reminds me..."

PPTTTEEEUUUHHH

Abraham struggled to lift his head up just so he could spit blood onto Azrail's face. "You really don't know when to shut up, do you?" He croaked out.

Azrail left the bloody spit on his face as a satisfied smile spread across his lips. There was a hint of cruelty in his eyes as he looked down at Abraham. "Words are all I really have brother Abraham. Though to one such as you my abilities are god-like, I am nothing more than a worm when compared to many others. Truly, I am..."

WHAM!

Azrail stumbled backwards as Abraham's fist came up and met his nose with a wet thud. Instinctively, his hand came up to his swelling face, but Azrail stopped himself before he actually touched his skin.

"Cocky one, aren't you?" Abraham said as his body creaked and ached while he stood up. His shoulders and knees popped as he let out low groans. "But it takes a lot more than something like that to finish me off."

Azrail looked stunned as he stared at Abraham. His eyes focused on the other man's neck. His outfit was no longer pristine, and had red and brown stains all over it from their fight throughout the forest. His neck was black, and the flesh looked necrotic. However, it was quickly peeling off and being replaced by fresh, untouched flesh underneath.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Azrail frowned as blood dripped down from his nose. He let out a quick breath as he put his nose between his knuckles, and violently twisted and pulled it back into place. "How tragic. Two of you cursed in such a way."

Abraham raised an eyebrow. "Two of us? So, I won't be alone with your corpse here once we're done?"

"I'm afraid not. A splintered soul frozen between death and life, twisted away from his original purpose and made to be little more than a beast." Azrail monologued. "A tragic tale of a lost child left in the dark so long it has fused with his spirit and puppets his body forward despite his spirit's exhaustion. Why..."

WHAM!

Abraham had run up in a flash and slammed his fist into Azrail's cheek. He hit him with such force that Azrail went flying through the stump of a tree. His body passed through the solid wood like it was Styrofoam, and chunks were torn away with his body.

"I wish you would just shut up." Abraham sneered as he scowled at Azrail.

Azrail yanked his jaw back into place. "Then perhaps you should try not asking me so many questions." he quipped. "After all, generous as I am, I try to answer fools like yourself when I can. Like this poor mercenary I once met in my travels."

Azrail stood up and shifted his jaw back and forth before he continued, "He always had something to ask but seemed upset when I answered. Like he just wanted to voice his concerns without hearing an actual reply to them. Which was interesting you see, because..."

Abraham rushed up to him again with his fist raised. This time, Azrail lifted up his own hand, and caught the incoming fist. For a brief moment, the two of them glared at each other. Then, Abraham yanked his smoking fist free and leaped backwards.

"Really now," Azrail said with an annoyed huff. "Much to my annoyance, violence doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. So, I really wish you would give decent conversation at least some chance."

"Nowhere?" Abraham said before he grinned and licked his teeth. "Well, I don't know if I would say that. It was immensely satisfying to see my fist shut you up and swell that pretty little nose of yours."

"I shall choose to take that as a compliment." Azrail said. "It is not often I'm called pretty."

"Heh heh, I'll bet. Now shut your mouth and let your fists do the talking."

Azrail let out a sigh. "We have tried that, and you seem immune to true cleansing, while I am so far above you that brawling with you is nothing more than an exercise in tedium."

Abraham crouched down slightly as he grinned wickedly. "I survived your tricks. Just how much longer before you have none left, and at last I overwhelm you? I can't be stopped. I don't tire. I'll keep hounding you until you lie broken at my feet."

Then, he flew at Azrail again. It was a flurry of blows. Abraham was like a wild animal. Untamed, without much form, but with unrelenting blows that disregarded his own safety.

Azrail was the opposite. Like the eye of a hurricane, he stood calm. Every movement looked calculated, and it was obvious he had trained to fight under many masters as his entire body worked as one. Each blow from Abraham he deflected one after the other.

After a couple minutes of endless attacks, Azrail seemed to fall into a smooth rhythm of knocking away strikes and stepping out of the way of others.

"Now do you see how pointless this exercise is? How futile your attempts are?" Azrail said calmly as he slid between Abraham's fists.

Abraham let out a wild laugh as he leaned his face in and tried to bite Azrail. The trained martial artist lifted a hand up and pushed Abraham's lower jaw up, which forced his teeth to clatter together.

"Useless, just..." Azrail's eyes flew open as Abraham's knee flew towards his nose. He shifted to the side as the fabric of his pants scraped against the tip of his slightly swollen snout.

Abraham grinned as smoke poured off from where Azrail's hand touched his chin. Azrail put his other hand on Abraham's chest, and shoved him away.

"It's only a matter of time," Abraham cooed as he cracked his neck. "You'll slow, I won't."

"How curious," Azrail mused before he looked down at his hand.

As soon as Azrail's eyes went off of Abraham, the wild man rushed to attack again. Azrail easily fell back into a smooth defense with only one hand as he looked down at his open palm.

Azrail narrowed his eyes. "Those women, then this place...have I actually been forsaken?" he murmured to himself.