It was dark, an encompassing darkness so black that Adrian felt even his soul lost light in its presence.
He could not see a thing. All he could feel was a cold stream washing over his body, paralyzing his limbs and stealing his warmth.
And yet even in this state, Adrian was seething in rage. His teeth were gnashing, and his body slowly vibrating, unable to contain his anger.
Tears rolled out of his eyes at the same time, sorrow gripping his heart like a vice.
That was when he saw a light. At first it was small, a little purple ball of light in the distance.
And then it expanded, becoming as large as the sun and illuminating a sea of black clouds. Adrian could finally see, but what he saw made him gasp.
An endless battlefield filled with long forgotten fighters. Skeletons so worn that there was not an iota of flesh on their smooth bones.
Clang!
Swords clashed against polearms, axes against shields, as thousands engaged in an endless battle.
Those who fell would be taken by the earth, only to be spat out a second later, as though the world rejected their deaths.
Drawing their blades, they strutted back into the battle, with purple flames burning in their eyes.
This was rage, it was anger, it was anguish.
Adrian could feel it, a small tug in his beard urging him to join them—and so he did.
With a guttural shout, Adrian yanked the sword of one of the fallen, ripping it out of its bony hands, just before he dashed into the eerie madness.
He had only one arm and yet he fought like the devil himself. With his teeth gritted and his body simmering with purple fire, Adrian brought devastation upon the battlefield.
He did not care about how bizarre the entire thing was, all he wanted to do was let go of that rage that dwelt in his heart, that anguish that was eating him from the inside out.
Pierce!
Adrian's head rocked back forcefully, as an arrow found its way into his right eye.
All he saw was darkness as his body fell to the floor, all he felt was the pain of a thousand stabs as the skeletons descended upon him.
Rustle Rustle
Adrian slowly sank into the earth, right until he was spat out once more, this time with renewed vigour.
With a maddened smile on his face, Adrian danced the dance of war, and carved a path of destruction wherever he stepped.
He continued like this endlessly, for days? Weeks? Years?
Yet his rage could not be satisfied, and his anguish burned ever strong.
The battles had moulded him, shaping him into a lethal killing machine, and yet Adrian was not satisfied with the slaughter.
"Maybe after ten more years…"
By now, both his eyes were gone, and yet he could see. His body was a pound of rotting flesh, and yet each step was stronger, more powerful.
His clothes were worse than rags, coated in blocks and smelling of rot, but he did not seem to care.
Adrian was lost.
Ting!
A loud, clandestine sound bellowed from above the skies, and suddenly, everything froze.
The countless warriors suddenly crumbled to a pile of bones, leaving Adrian alone in the mess.
"What the fuck?!"
Adrian screamed, staring around as he breathed out a steamy breath, his face fraught with anger.
"Bring them back! I need more!"
But nothing happened.
Only he remained in the vast expanse of desolation. And then that too changed…
A dark entity intimately appeared next to Adrian. It was shrouded in a deep black ethereal cloak that was constantly shifting as though being tussled by the wind.
The face of the being was shrouded in an endless darkness, and just being next to them felt like the world was pressed against his shoulder.
"You have passed my—"
Swoosh!
Adrian swung his blade right at the entity's head, but before it could even move an inch closer, his hand suddenly evaporated to dust, leaving him handless.
His sword fell to the ground with a clank.
The entity huffed.
"Rage so seething that it would stand out in hell…"
"Grief so strong that it would make even the gargoyles weep."
The entity's voice was inhuman and strange, it was like something that was not meant to exist on this plane.
The entity reached for him, and Adrian snapped, almost biting their finger off.
With an angry puff, the entity waved a hand over his face, and in an instant, Adrian felt relief.
His anger, his grief, everything was gone. She had taken it…
"We need to have a sane conversation, so I can't have you lashing out like this."
As sanity finally came to Adrian's mind, he took a step back, his eyes taking in his environment as though he were seeing it for the first time.
The countless bones surrounding him, the purple sun, the black clouds, and the whispers…
It was like experiencing them for the first time.
The stench of his body hit him next, crashing into him with an overwhelming smell of rotten flesh.
He fell to his knees and gagged, but there was nothing to cough up. This was not his real body after all.
Then he stared up at the entity, his gaze hard.
"Who are you?"
The entity did not move, neither did they speak. For a few seconds, it was as though they were simply contemplating their answer as they watched him.
And then, their shadowy hands reached for the hood of their cloak, and slowly, they uncovered their face.
She was a beauty beyond comprehension, one that made even Adrian gasp.
Her hair was long, so long that it rested gently on the floor, and the silver strands shone a soft light blue light.
Her skin was flawless and smooth, almost translucent to look at, with tiny little bits of energy hovering around her skin, illuminating the surface softly.
And her eyes as…
Her eyes were profound. They were sharp and piercing, bearing knowledge no one could fathom, and a madness no man could tame.
They were black, like two infinite voids, and they bore a spark within them, as though galaxies had been trapped in her eyes.
She slowly walked over to Adrian, her footsteps echoing through the vast expanse of nothing, and leaned down.
Her hand caressed his jaw softly as she smiled.
"I am Death."
"And you, my dear…"
"You will be my partner."
'My sweet Monarch of Spirits,' the entity snickered to herself.