The Butterfly Warrior

For no more than a moment, Tylis felt Death take ahold of him. It was a surprisingly painless ordeal, filled with lots of imaginative falling, flashes of previous memories, and almost no remorse for the lives he had taken and the suffering he had wrought. In fact, reliving each blood-curdling scream from countless victims brought a smile to his ethereal form. He couldn't even tell if he was indeed smiling, just that he felt like it. Being evil was a good thing to him, and no matter how deep into his heart Death looked, there was nothing righteous.

So Death decided to punish Tylis. Not by sending to him to hell or any other plane of ungodly torture, but instead to a different realm where his virulent personality would have to relive life once more. What Death didn't realize was that this wasn't a punishment for Tylis. Tylis, in all his evil ways, loved to hurt people, and a chance to walk again brought another smile to his ghostly visage. As Death waved its skeletal hand, Tylis drifted away from view, his essence floating away toward a new world, with new victims.

This story is entered in this contest: Love For Fantasy!