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

each and every one of his words is followed by a significant pause; each and
every point he makes is reiterated time and again before he lets me speak. I
present an argument... then wait, and wait, and wait while he makes his
counterpoint. To which I shoot out a snappy counterpoint of my own... then
must wait yet again for another of Amnas' drawling, meandering, seemingly
endless counterpoints. It's everything I can do not to simply lop the fiend's
tusked head off and snatch the key from the twitching corpse...
'Unavoidable Pain.'
As I struggle with him, on the edge of a blazing-hot stream of molten lava,
my weapon-hand is slowly, inexorably forced ever closer to the magma. I
curse him for being stronger than me, by just a hair. Beads of sweat
evaporate the instant they appear; the hair on the back of my hand blackens
and smolders above the awesome heat. Finally, my howls of suffering
echoing from the canyon walls around me, my hand and the axe it holds
plunges into the lava and chars to ash in a few, agonizing seconds.
'Tender Love.'
My eyes are closed; I can sense myself standing on the tips of my toes,
pressed against her tightly. Soft, soft lips brush against mine, giving me the
most gentle of kisses... my heart seems to flutter in my chest, and I feel as if
I could fall backwards and simply float off into space...
'Pure Glee.'
Dancing and leaping about in rhythm with the wood elves' bouncing festival
music, I and a dozen other dancers spin through the forest clearing like a
whirling dervish, smiling and laughing like mad. As the cheering forest
dwellers whoop, clap and dance alongside me, fairies careen through the air
above our heads, leaving sparkling trails of colored light...
'Tired Surrender.'
Shuddering, chattering, hoping beyond hope to be found, I curl into myself
beneath a blanket of snow to save what little warmth I have left. Fighting to
keep my eyes open - to remain awake - I become aware that I can no longer
feel my arms... my legs... the ice against my face... and tired, so tired, I at
last resign to the inevitable. I close my eyes, bidding sleep a bitter welcome
as the sense of loss forces a single tear - doomed to crystallize before it even
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