An Axe in the Flames

The Depths of Darkness

"Oh good. I have a real treat for you today, I think you'll enjoy this."

Elrie limped into view, dirty brown linen shirt hanging limply from his misshapen and lopsided shoulders. His yellowing and blackened teeth protruded from his mouth in a massive overbite, and a line of spit hung from the corner of his mouth. He was holding an oil lamp in a gnarled hand and a metal rod in the other. What was he planning to do with the rod? would he beat him with it, or break bones? Elrie stopped outside of the cell and rummaged through his keys again before unlocking the cell and swinging the door open. As he walked into the room light illuminated the stone walls and floors. He pulled back in shock, there were hundreds of worms crawling over the stone and writhing over each other. He watched a worm crawl up Rikart's torso.

"What in the fuck is going on? Are these corpse worms?" Elrie demanded.

Rikart didn't answer, he couldn't. Instead, he allowed the crawling worm to inch closer to his shoulder and then he sucked it up and chewed. Elrie watched in disgust as he swallowed and then gave him a cracked and bleeding-lipped smile. 

"At least you're eating, you disgusting piece of shit." He said as he spit a globule of phlegm to the dungeon floor. 

He walked into the cell without regard to the worms on the floor, crunching beneath his soft-soled shoes, and set the oil lantern on the ground. Rikart's skin had started losing pigment and was a shiny, pasty white now. His tattoos standing out even more in their colored red pigment. Elrie ran a clammy finger over the tattoos, tracing them with a long and browning fingernail.

"Master says you don't deserve these fire glyphs. Master says he wants them gone, that you shouldn't wear the sigils of the man you betrayed. He says that each one should be scraped off with the dullest blade so that you feel the pain of what you have caused him."

Elrie held up the rod, and Rikart could now see it was a sheathed blade used to cut down the hooves of horses. He unsheathed it and held it in front of his face, glints of rust shining in the dull light and flecks of manure dotting the now dull blade. Rikart closed his eyes and prepared himself for the onslaught.

No. Open your eyes. See the face of the man who is to inflict this pain upon you and know that your vengeance will be wrought upon him.

Rikart's eyes flew open, it wasn't Elrie's voice he had heard just now but the soft calling voice of the whisper that had been calling his name for...days...nights? He didn't know, but he recognized the tone. He stared ahead and caught Elrie's ruinous eyes with his as the blade dug into a glyph on his chest. Elrie tore down as a chunk of skin fell to the floor with a sickening wet smack.

"Oh, you think to watch me while I do this? Do you think to judge me for obeying my master?! You're no better than me, Rikart the Damned! You sit in your shit while your wounds fester and rot, hanging by your traitorous hands, judging me?! Me?!" Elrie screamed.

He began hacking and slashing with little regard at the glyphs, digging and tugging, while snot blew from his bulbous nose and spittle leaked from one side of his grotesque mouth. Rikart stared at him and let his pain dissolve into nothing. His body stayed numb as his eyes flowed with hatred.

"You keep staring with hatred, you filth! You monster! You'll die in these dungeons, my domain! My dungeon, by my hands! You mocked me in life, and you mock me in your eyes! I will have the last laugh when your limp and lifeless body hangs in these chains for all of eternity, to be eaten by the worms you consume and turned to ash and bone. Then I will piss on your ashes and shit on your bones!" 

Elrie was furious, his head shook with each screamed word as his gnarled hands worked the blade into Rikart's flesh and peeled away each bloody glyph. Blood splattered his face and ran down his cheeks, mixing with the sweat and dripping to the floor. His hands worked in a blur as he continued down from Rikart's chest, trembling through the anger he continued the tirade.

"Mocking me for the monster I am?! I have served and I have obeyed. You are the monster, the true vile creature. I have been valued by my King! Promised women and riches for taking care of your pathetic self. You are nothing! No one! Forgotten by the ones you loved and you will never see the light of day!"

He paused and came face to face with Rikart, his breath coming in great wheezing rasps that stunk of rotting meat and sour ale. He reached up and grasped Rikart's face, pulling him closer and almost touching noses.

"My face will be the last face you see before your last breath is taken."

He came closer and kissed his lips to Rikart's. Saliva stringing from their lips, Rikart struggled to pull back.

"My kiss is the last kiss you will ever know. My tongue will be the last to ever caress your cheeks and you will only ever know-"

His words were cut short as Rikart reared back and headbutted him. Blood gushed from his broken nose as Elrie dropped the knife and grabbed his face with both hands, blood pouring down his face.

You are death. You are destruction. You are REBORN!

The voice boomed inside of Rikart's head and his senses were assaulted with blinding light and an ear-splitting roar. His skin tingled as he felt like he was bursting from the inside out. Elrie reeled back and stumbled to the stone floor. A look of horror washed over his mangled and bloody face. He scrambled for the rusty knife on the floor and found the handle, picking it up and holding it out.

"You will rue this day, Rikart the Damned. Today is the day that Elrie takes everything from you!"

He charged from across the room, holding the knife above his head. Rikart watched as Elrie drove the knife into his abdomen up to the hilt. Driving the air out of lungs he bellowed an awful screech of pain. His vision went dark and then he was staring at the translucent rock with the glowing purple stone. It was beating in a rhythm like a heart, faster and faster. Its light growing brighter with each beat until it filled his entire vision and he felt it envelop him, swimming over his body and coursing through his veins. His vision exploded again as Elrie pulled the knife from his abdomen with a wet sucking noise, he was pulling back to stab him again, his face twisted in a rage. Rikart breathed in, his lungs were on fire, and he felt like his body was about to rip itself apart. He screamed as his arms straightened above his head and his feet shot to the floor. His chest rose and caved in as his knees involuntarily came to his chest. He was almost in the fetal position but he was hanging from his hands. Elrie hesitated a moment and then Rikart's world exploded into a rage. He screamed again as he brought his feet down, stone exploding under the impact. He pulled on the shackles at his wrists and the chains ripped free from the ceiling in a shower of white dust.

"I...am...vengeance. I...am...death." 

Rikart heard his voice but didn't recognize it. He stood in the middle of the cell, free from his shackles, his chest heaving, his body bleeding, and lifted his head to stare at Elrie. He was standing in shock, trembling holding the knife in front of him. Rikart smiled and cocked his head.

"Today, I am reborn."

His mouth opened a gout of black and purple flame shot from it and engulfed Elrie. His skin melted as he screamed wordlessly and fell to his knees, dropping the knife. Flames continued to erupt from Rikart as he walked and stood over Elrie's melting body, watching the skin fall and wither. His clothes burn and break into ash. Soon there was nothing left of the grotesque dungeon master except for a charred stain on the floor. The flames stopped and Rikart stumbled back, collapsing to the floor, toppling over the oil lantern. He lay on his side and watched the flames spill out and spread amongst the crushed and crawling worms as his vision slowly faded and he was taken back to the stone far beneath the ground. A voice called his name in a whisper.

Rikart is no more. Today has been your death, but has become my rebirth.