The cloaked man grinned. "Isn’t the wolf dangerous when cornered?" He wiped the blood off his cheek, leaving a red smear across his skin.
He removed his cloak, revealing a man with dark hair splayed in wild directions, a noticeable dimple under his right eye, and bloodshot red eyes.
He pulled a crystal object from his pocket, his voice laced with mockery as he asked, "Why care for such a tiny object anyway? Did your lover give it to you or something?"
Every word carried scorn.
Ty’s gaze darkened in response, but he chose silence over words.
The cloaked man’s smirk sharpened. "Maybe I will just bre--"
Ty cut him off by lunging forward in a blur. His fist connected with force, and blood spurted skyward. A knife lodged in Ty’s hand, its blade marked with carvings.
The knife was attached to a chain that extended back to the man’s cloak.
"You are fast, huh? But not fast enough," the man taunted, as a surge of electricity sparked to life along the chain.
Ty’s body convulsed under the electrifying shock, his scream resonating with unchecked rage. Then, another weapon, more sinister in appearance, joined the fray.
This second blade was jagged and brutal, with crude edges that looked made for tearing.
Both blades were connected by a metal chain that snaked up the man’s sleeves and coiled around his back.
Ty’s eyes barely had time to register the second blade’s heavy presence before it plunged mercilessly into his chest, sending a jolt of agony throughout his body.
As the blade plunged further into his chest, Ty felt a violent rush of wind tear through him. Blood began to spill onto the ground below, forming a dark pool.
The man leaned in, his voice laced with pleasure. "Tell me, how does the pain feel? I get an enjoyment from watching my victims bleed out before they start begging."
Despite the grim situation, Ty managed a sly smirk, looking up defiantly. "What, is this supposed to really hurt?" he taunted.
"I just needed a chance to get ahold of you, you slippery bastard," he uttered with grim determination. He grasped the man’s wrist. For a brief moment, the man saw nothing but Ty’s skeletal form.
A shockwave of energy erupted between them, sending jolts of pain and revelation coursing through their bodies.
In that electrifying instant, Ty saw glimpses of the man’s life -- flashes of memories revealing the man’s history of robbery and murder.
Each image showed another step in the man’s brutal path.
The memories came in corners: hungry nights, clenched fists, the first theft that felt like survival, and then the later ones that felt like choice.
That was enough.
It told Ty what kind of person was standing in front of him.
Someone hurt, yes.
Someone used, probably.
But also someone who had learned to enjoy the moment a weaker person realized no one was coming to help.
That made the next choice much easier.
He could live with that.
"So, from starving to stealing to killing, and now an ambassador for Legato," Ty said, his sarcasm sharp.
"Kind of pathetic, if you ask me," he said, addressing the man as his playful grin slowly faded away.
The man’s face twisted in anger as he shouted back, "Shut your mouth! You know nothing about my life!" With that, he sent another surge of electricity through Ty’s chest.
This time, Ty held the man’s gaze through the pain.
Black flames began to curl around Ty’s hand, slowly enveloping it.
He raised his flame-encased hand and placed it gently on the man’s shoulder.
The flames started to burn and seep into the man’s flesh, a creeping torment that visibly pained him.
Ty ripped the blade from his chest. Its chained edge caught his other wrist as he moved, severing the hand that still gripped the man’s shoulder.
He retreated back 15 feet, each step a struggle against the pain. Gasping for air, he collapsed onto his knee, the shock of the encounter showing across his face.
"There were no reports of you having the ability to withstand death hits! I know for sure I hit vital points," he continued, disbelief and frustration cracking through his voice.
Ty, still reeling slightly from the turn of events, responded with a hint of shock coloring his words, "Oh, so this wasn’t just some random chance.
You actually wanted me to follow you here, was that it?"
The wound around Ty’s chest began to mend gradually, the flesh knitting together as if guided by an unseen force. As the blood pooled around him slowly dissipated into the earth, Ty pressed on, his voice steady. "So what was your plan?
Lure me out here to kill me and steal more of my stuff?"
His gaze hardened as he continued, "I haven’t heard too much about this Legato person, but he seems above sending someone who murders people like you do."
"Shut the hell up, what do you know?" the man retorted, his voice rising in anger. "Everyone I’ve killed deserved it. And I’ve seen the aftermath of the fights you’ve been in. So don’t bother trying to take the moral high ground with me."
Ty, placing his handless wrist over his head, responded, "While that is true, they attacked first. The visions I got of you were much different, but, nonetheless, I’m no hero, and you simply stole something from me that I need back."
He continued, "So, given the situation, if you just go ahead and hand over the crystal, I will let you live. Trust me when I say you can’t kill me."
"Given the bravado, you seem to think you’ve accomplished something great? In reality, what have you done to think you can stand there all high and mighty?" the man shot back.
"Who said we need to kill you?" the man added.
Ty realized they were probably not alone and sighed. "All of this, for my crystal?" he asked, using his remaining hand.
"Then you have chosen death," he declared, bringing his hand up to his face and abruptly ripping a metal fragment from it.
As he did so, the flesh around the area tore, pulsating and writhing in response before slowly dissipating into nothingness.
"You want to know why you and anyone else can’t kill me?" Ty asked rhetorically. He stood there in his full skeletal form, a robe of black flames cascading down his back.
His black, marred bones caught the overhead sun, cold and wrong in the open light.