(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

Morte howls - howling in pain, screaming for someone to stop, to stop killing
him... and my hand, lashing out, again and again and...
"Damn you, skull, you LIED to me. I'll THRUST YOU BACK IN THAT DAMNABLE
PILLAR AND LEAVE YOU TO DIE THERE."
There is the clatter of bone against what sounds like metal - a floor or a wall,
and the skittering of teeth knocked free. Morte, conscious or not, had slipped
free from my grip. I look down to my hand, his mandible torn free and still
clutched by my fingers. Stray bits of bone litter the ground. There he lies in
the middle of all this mess, a long crack branching out along the side, bone
indented and one eye loose from its socket. There was no blood... indeed,
Morte had none to shed, and somehow that made me angrier. Instead he lay
there, begging wordlessly, mewling like a beaten dog for me to st-
"KNOW THAT YOUR SUFFERING ON THE PILLAR WILL BE NOTHING TO THE
TORMENT I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER…"
~~~~~
My vision swirled, and Morte's cries ebbed, fading into his chattering
rhythm. "So, you realized I still had my uses, so I took up with you and I've
been with you ever since."
He had no reaction as I leaned against a wall, head spinning, trying to
swallow the bile that was boiling up to the back of my throat. I managed to
swallow, hard, though it would've been much easier with a drink of water,
"Morte, what did I want from the Pillar? And how long was it that I freed
you?"
Morte thought for a moment. "Well, as for how long, I don't know the exact
count, chief - ages, I suppose. I've done all I could to help you each time,
but..." He sighed, "It's not easy. And as for what you wanted at the Pillar, I
don't know - once you pried me off, I couldn't remember."
"Morte, why didn't you SAY something when we were at the Mortuary?"
Morte suddenly stiffened in the air defensively. "Because I never know who
you're going to be! Some of your incarnations have been stark, raving mad!
One time you awoke obsessed with the idea that I was your skull, and
707