Short Story - The Tale of Life and Death

The Tale Of Life And Death

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There is an old tale of brothers. Two brothers to be precise; Grim and Nyx. Sons of a poor farming family who worked in the fields, Grim's job was to cut away at the wheat with a Scythe while Nyx dug and churned the earth.

There was a girl. No one remembers her name, who she was, or how she came to know the brothers. But in the end, both boys fell in love with her. One day, when he and she were both of age, Grim asked the woman to marry him. And the woman accepted for she loved Grim truly - only, she was oblivious to the fact that the younger boy, Nyx, was heartbroken and jealous.

On the night of the wedding celebration, as the bride walked down the aisle, beautiful and pure in a long white gown, she smiled brightly at the man waiting for her at the end. As the younger brother looked up to Grim, his smile large and his eyes filled with love, watching his bride come forth. As the couple were mere steps away from their 'Happy Ever After'... Nyx finally snapped.

They say that in Nyx's blinding jealousy and hatred for his brother, the strange abilities inside of him finally revealed themselves.
The earth trembled in an almighty roar; mysterious figures began to crawl up from the ground. People screamed and fled as the creatures hauled themselves out of the soil, rotting and foul. When most people had fled from the wedding and the creatures were standing in front of him, Nyx addressed his new Undead Army with a sickening smile.

"Kill them all."

He looked to his brother and his bride, "But not these two."
And so they did. Every last one of them. Chasing them across the fields, following them as they fled or finding them as the hid. They were all slaughtered - children, family, elders - just as Nyx had demanded. When they returned Nyx gave his next command.
"Hold him", he pointed to Grim. The Undead pushed Grim down until he was on his knees, holding him there. Nyx smiled and beckoned to the woman.

"Come".

When she didn't move, Nyx took her by the arms and dragged her into the centre of the aisle in front of his brother. Nyx took her by the chin and lifted her head up as he spoke.
"You know I loved you. You knew I was smarter, kinder, more attentive and affectionate than he. You always knew and yet you still chose my brother. Why is that?" The calm voice he used sent shivers, like needles, running up the woman's spine.

"I never loved you, Nyx - never have, never will. You may say you're sorry for doing what you have done tonight but no one will ever forgive you! You will be hated. You will be hunted. And you'll have a long, long miserable life. You will die a lonely man Nyx. Lonelier than you will have ever been before!"

She screamed at him. She screamed for the family that he had slaughtered, for her fiancé, for herself and for him, for losing himself to the darkness. Nyx wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed; his smile gone. He spoke sweetly to the woman as he held on tight, and his brother's curses and shouts behind them grew to a full blown roar of anger.

"Now that's where you are wrong my love. Nothing will stop me or ever stand in my way.”

And with that, he threw the woman down the aisle into the waiting arms of his Undead Army. She screamed as the creatures came down upon her and started ripping and pulling and biting. Painting the walls red with her blood as they ate her alive. Grim screamed and Nyx just smiled as he made his brother watch the only woman he ever loved get torn apart.

The world seemed to slow. As the room hung frozen, Grim reached outside the window and grabbed his Scythe - the one he used to cut wheat with Nyx - and as his hand made contact with the wooden handle, it changed. It morphed into a deadly, dark silver blade that shone like the moon.

The world snapped back. As Nyx turned around to face Grim, the blade of Grim's Scythe cut down his face in a bone-deep gnash, tearing through Nyx's left eye. The younger boy howled and stumbled back, tripping in the pews. The creatures watched him with dumb expressions, staring at him with white-orb eyes.

Just as Grim spun around to face his brother, Nyx - now with only one working eye - smashed the older boy over the head with a long, pulled floorboard. Grim stumbled forward and his vision went black and those few seconds were enough for his rage to peak. Grim roared and spun around. As he raised his scythe - ready to cut his brother down, Nyx did the same with the plank of wood.

The world slowed again. As both weapons touched, all went silent. It seemed as if the world had sucked in a huge gasp, and, when they touched, blew it all back out again in a roaring explosion.

The ground in front of Grim dipped into a giant, deep, smouldering crater. The trees that had once surrounded the barn were now nothing more than piles of ash. The barn was nothing more than a few chunks of charcoaled wood and the, now sizzling, metal arch in which he was supposed to be standing under with his bride. But his poor bride, along with his brother and his demons, were nowhere to be seen.

In the end, both boys fell in love with a girl. One took her heart, the other destroyed her because of it. One boy was consumed by grief and vengeance, the other was consumed by wrath and jealousy. And so was born life and death, Grim and Nyx, as Grim made it his responsibility to right all of the wrong his brother made.