The Madman chuckled, savoring the blood dripping into his mouth, his tongue flickering with delight.

He could feel the deep abiding hatred and disgust, but most of all the fear that his half-elf victim was feeling!  For a few precious moments, he allowed himself to bathe in the euphoria of it; his bloodshot eyes closing in ecstasy.

Alas, it was not to last!

He could already feel the power coalescing behind him.   He turned around and beheld Death standing there, cloaked in darkness, a chilling aura emanating into the air surrounding him.  He held a gleaming scythe effortlessly in one bony hand. The Madman’s lip curled in a sneer. With a flick of his fingers the struggling and terrified half-elf, behind him, fell unconscious.

“It is time,” Death said sonorously, openly ignoring the overt display of hostility from the Madman. 

 As if the Madman was a match for his power!  The Madman was simply an ant to be crushed beneath his heel.  Death’s teeth ground together in amusement and a blood-soaked dagger appeared in his other hand.  He offered it slowly to the Madman.

“Indeed it is,” The Madman agreed belligerently, reaching for the dagger with an expectant sigh. 

Before he could grasp it, Death released his hold on the dagger and it clattered on the ground.  The Madman froze and stared at Death’s dark visage. Again there was the horrible grinding of teeth.  The Madman, boiling with ill-concealed anger, slowly bent down to retrieve the dagger. No matter which way the view, it appeared as though he was bowing before Death.  

The grinding of teeth increased – Death was laughing whole-heartedly!  

The Madman struggled madly with the impulse to jab the dagger into the dark hood that concealed Death’s face!  

Do it!  Do it! Death’s jawbones separated into a hideous grin.  Do it and I’ll show you what a madman truly is!

The Madman gritted his blood-stained teeth, then straightened and turned his back disdainfully on the annoying Death. Just you wait and I’ll show you what I can do.

He looked down at the slack body of the Half-Elf one last, lingering moment. His chin tightened into an ugly and determined grimace and suddenly and viciously, he plunged the stained dagger into his own beating heart.  

Yet, he did not die immediately.  Oh no, he couldn’t, wouldn’t die that fast, not even from a dagger as powerful as the one he held.  That was not part of the plan, his plan or Deaths plan.

Blood spurted out of his horrific wound as he yanked the blood-red dagger out of his chest.  The satiated dagger jerked in his hand, struggling to free itself. The Madman’s grip tightened and he raised it high over his victim’s prone body. Stretching his bloody mouth into a rictus smile, he plunged the dagger deep into the Half-Elf’s limp body.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

-The Half Elf-

I instinctively sensed danger and blearily forced my damaged eyes. open.  I could still see! Yet it was not to last, my burst of joy was short-lived! What I saw coming towards me was a bloodstained dagger, glinting wickedly in the orange torchlight. It plunged rapidly towards my chest.  I could not move. I could not breathe. My heart filled with despair. I had only a moment to register the evil weapon before it was plunged deep into my chest by hands already stained red with blood. With my lifeblood.   

I heard the sound of a knife on concrete as it exited through my back and hit the slab I was lying on.  I was suffocating, choking on blood and pain! In my last moments I saw the face of my mortal enemy; the Madman whom I loathed more than anything in this world -  he was laughing! As I gave up my life’s essence and my soul all I felt was pure, unadulterated hate and a ferocious wish for revenge!  

…

Death watched as The Madman collapsed upon the half-elf's body.  His teeth grinding as he watched the scene in front of him. He sat on a stone throne that appeared behind him and elegantly crossed his bony legs.  He smoothed out his dark cloak and looked into the realm in-between, a place only he could see to watch an entertaining show.  

The Madman's spirit was chasing the half-elves spirit which was flitting frantically to and fro; desperately seeking a way to escape.  It soon became obvious that there was none. There were invisible walls that kept him bound to this vile mind-bending in-between realm.  He did not understand why his spirit was trapped here. He had thought he would return to the cradle of his ancestors and see his Holy Lady again; instead, he was trapped in a continuing nightmare.  

The Madman’s spirit caught the spirit of the half-elf and a vicious fight ensued. Death nodded approvingly as the half-elf fought like a demon – haha!  

Now that a fight was inevitable, the half-elf took this unexpected chance and never faltered.  He was a vengeful spirit driven by pure hatred.  

You tortured me, I’ll rip you apart!  His fingers hooked into the eyes of the Madman’s spirit and clawed mercilessly.  The Madman howled and he flung the half-elf into the air. He pushed his eyeballs back into his eye-sockets and threw himself upward to heavily elbow the descending half-elf in the ribs.  The half-elf somersaulted back into the air sweeping his legs into the Madman’s head. The Madman’s head swiveled 360 degrees and he laughed madly even as the half-elf catapulted into The Madman’s back-breaking his spine.  Surely that should have killed the Madman’s spirit? The half-elf backed off and watched warily. 

To the half-elf’s horror, the Madman laughed, straightened, then with the speed of lightning he soared after the swiftly moving half-elf.  Twisting and turning The Madman allowed the half-elf to escape his clutches time after time laughing in deranged delight! 

“Stupid Elf, we are no longer in a material plane!” 

Then in a seemingly random movement, the Madman captured the desperate half-elf into a headlock and slowly tightened his grip on the half-elf’s neck.  The half-elf hung limply, his mind in turmoil. Why couldn’t he destroy the spirit of the Madman? Why was he suffering another death? His eyes blinked in confusion.  

 Through the misty in-between he saw Death; one bony finger tapping on his knee and his white teeth gleaming in the shrouded darkness.   

The Madman took the spirit body of the Half-Elf and prepared for the next stage. He ripped off both arms of the Half-Elf and let the blood spurt onto the floor, taking the arms he ripped those apart as well slowly forming them into pure essence. He then proceeded to do the same with legs, he ignored the horrific screaming that the Half-Elf was letting out. He then repeated the procedure on the rest of the body forming it slowly into pure essence. He then meticulously prodded it into the shining half-gem that he conjured on his hand. He then pulled the other half of the gem from out of the air and clamped the two halves together.  He held it up and turned it around, inspecting it with a careful, satisfied eye. He was so immersed in results of his handiwork that he failed to notice the sudden warping of the in-between and the incessant grinding of skeletal teeth.