The Butterfly Warrior
Prologue
Once upon a time, as fairy tales go, there was a large, thriving kingdom. This kingdom was home to a host of things from magic and warriors to demons and other mystical creatures. Even Death himself was a real, tangible, literal being, and often payed visits there in order to carry out his eternal task of collection.
Many a night the people would witness Death in his shadowy robe, gliding through town looking for his next client. It was a dreadful ordeal to live through each night, and yet it was also an honor. Death wasn't mean or merciless. He wasn't corrupted with blood-lust, and didn't wish to summon legions of undead on humanity. Those he led to the afterlife-- the Dark World as they called it-- were transported with a soothing embrace and warm touch. For Death wasn't out to kill or bring souls over to a path of evil. Plenty of beings in the kingdom could handle that task. Instead, Death existed to bring peace to dying souls. And, as anyone who's survived an encounter would say, he loved his job.
Still, the price of being in charge of dimensions was a heavy burden, and not without its mistakes. Death had never made mistake before, or at least not one he ever lived to regret. Everyone got where they were supposed to go eventually, even if it was through less than appropriate means that most were usually treated to.
However, Death made a single mistake once that cost the whole world.
Years and years and many more still, a war started between the kingdom and another country. There was blood and battle-torn land and all of the other gruesome elements that war had. Leading the war for this other country was Tylis the Overseer-- slave master and self-appointed king over the tribal country. Even though the tribes never really liked the idea of war, there was no use in pleading with Tylis. On way or another you obeyed Tylis' commands.
Death hated Tylis. Death despised Tylis' existence. Because of Tylis, Death transported many souls to the Dark World that simply weren't supposed to die yet. Most came to Death in the most horrific forms, sometimes unidentifiable because of how disfigured and mangled they were. If Death had any control over the living, he would of plucked Tylis right off of his stolen throne. Yet Death was powerless until Tylis died, and Tylis didn't die for many years.
When Tylis did die however, Death was overjoyed. They say that for no more than a moment did Tylis feel 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, naturally, Death decided to punish him. Not by sending to him to hell or any other plane of ungodly torture like he had first anticipated, but instead to a different realm where his virulent personality would have to relive life once more from the beginning. 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.
Of course, Death didn't realize his mistake at first. Tylis had to grow up again from an infant, then to a child and an adolescent. It wasn't until the early years of Tylis' second adulthood that Death began to see his mistake.
Up until then, Tylis had had a horrible life. His parents beat him into obedience whenever he questioned them, his siblings all died from disease (and probably the beatings), and even his friends all left him eventually for one unfortunate reason or another. Death had made sure that Tylis would suffer. This was the first part to Death's mistake, for the rage and hatred that bubbled inside Tylis was enough to make him relapse. Although the memories of his previous life would never flow through his mind again, he began to feel the evil from this other life seep back into him like a powerful drug, one that poisoned and gave him pleasure all at the same time.
In no time he was dabbling in black magic and other forbidden arts. This is the second part of Death's mistake, as Tylis' thirst for power began to take deeper root. Armed with magic and many blasphemous forces, Tylis stormed the royal city of his birth and overtook it. Once again sitting upon a throne not rightly his, he began a second life of repulsive deeds and unspeakable terror.
Meanwhile, Death was in an uproar. How could he have known that Tylis would rise again? How could he have known that second life wouldn't work? Death paced back and forth thinking about what to do. As long as Tylis lived there was nothing that Death could do, for the forces of life and death had bound him to one task and one task alone. Nothing could break this binding, and left Death in a particularly bad situation.
But then an idea came to him, one born of the previous dimension and previous kingdom. Death could not rip living souls out of life, nor could he influence life to his will. However, if someone were to die in this new world, and Death were to give them second life, could he not employ them to fix his mistake? Yes, he thought as he finished pacing. That could work very well.
So, with a new plan forged, he searched all of the world for a suitable warrior to carry out his request. The search was long, and the search was tedious. The person had to be pure in thought, or at least mostly (since very rarely is there actually such a thing as a person pure in mind) so. They had to be fit to fight and willing to live again. They had to be fearless and courageous and all of the other heroic traits that suited a warrior of death.
Well, that didn't work out so well. As Tylis grew in power, Death ran out of time. So, desperate to fix the one mistake that could cost him his job and a dimension, he turned to the very next person that died.
A girl.
Many a night the people would witness Death in his shadowy robe, gliding through town looking for his next client. It was a dreadful ordeal to live through each night, and yet it was also an honor. Death wasn't mean or merciless. He wasn't corrupted with blood-lust, and didn't wish to summon legions of undead on humanity. Those he led to the afterlife-- the Dark World as they called it-- were transported with a soothing embrace and warm touch. For Death wasn't out to kill or bring souls over to a path of evil. Plenty of beings in the kingdom could handle that task. Instead, Death existed to bring peace to dying souls. And, as anyone who's survived an encounter would say, he loved his job.
Still, the price of being in charge of dimensions was a heavy burden, and not without its mistakes. Death had never made mistake before, or at least not one he ever lived to regret. Everyone got where they were supposed to go eventually, even if it was through less than appropriate means that most were usually treated to.
However, Death made a single mistake once that cost the whole world.
Years and years and many more still, a war started between the kingdom and another country. There was blood and battle-torn land and all of the other gruesome elements that war had. Leading the war for this other country was Tylis the Overseer-- slave master and self-appointed king over the tribal country. Even though the tribes never really liked the idea of war, there was no use in pleading with Tylis. On way or another you obeyed Tylis' commands.
Death hated Tylis. Death despised Tylis' existence. Because of Tylis, Death transported many souls to the Dark World that simply weren't supposed to die yet. Most came to Death in the most horrific forms, sometimes unidentifiable because of how disfigured and mangled they were. If Death had any control over the living, he would of plucked Tylis right off of his stolen throne. Yet Death was powerless until Tylis died, and Tylis didn't die for many years.
When Tylis did die however, Death was overjoyed. They say that for no more than a moment did Tylis feel 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, naturally, Death decided to punish him. Not by sending to him to hell or any other plane of ungodly torture like he had first anticipated, but instead to a different realm where his virulent personality would have to relive life once more from the beginning. 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.
Of course, Death didn't realize his mistake at first. Tylis had to grow up again from an infant, then to a child and an adolescent. It wasn't until the early years of Tylis' second adulthood that Death began to see his mistake.
Up until then, Tylis had had a horrible life. His parents beat him into obedience whenever he questioned them, his siblings all died from disease (and probably the beatings), and even his friends all left him eventually for one unfortunate reason or another. Death had made sure that Tylis would suffer. This was the first part to Death's mistake, for the rage and hatred that bubbled inside Tylis was enough to make him relapse. Although the memories of his previous life would never flow through his mind again, he began to feel the evil from this other life seep back into him like a powerful drug, one that poisoned and gave him pleasure all at the same time.
In no time he was dabbling in black magic and other forbidden arts. This is the second part of Death's mistake, as Tylis' thirst for power began to take deeper root. Armed with magic and many blasphemous forces, Tylis stormed the royal city of his birth and overtook it. Once again sitting upon a throne not rightly his, he began a second life of repulsive deeds and unspeakable terror.
Meanwhile, Death was in an uproar. How could he have known that Tylis would rise again? How could he have known that second life wouldn't work? Death paced back and forth thinking about what to do. As long as Tylis lived there was nothing that Death could do, for the forces of life and death had bound him to one task and one task alone. Nothing could break this binding, and left Death in a particularly bad situation.
But then an idea came to him, one born of the previous dimension and previous kingdom. Death could not rip living souls out of life, nor could he influence life to his will. However, if someone were to die in this new world, and Death were to give them second life, could he not employ them to fix his mistake? Yes, he thought as he finished pacing. That could work very well.
So, with a new plan forged, he searched all of the world for a suitable warrior to carry out his request. The search was long, and the search was tedious. The person had to be pure in thought, or at least mostly (since very rarely is there actually such a thing as a person pure in mind) so. They had to be fit to fight and willing to live again. They had to be fearless and courageous and all of the other heroic traits that suited a warrior of death.
Well, that didn't work out so well. As Tylis grew in power, Death ran out of time. So, desperate to fix the one mistake that could cost him his job and a dimension, he turned to the very next person that died.
A girl.