The Dasti Experiment...10

Force forward pushes back; equal pressure, equal power – but on one side of a gun there's a bruise, and on the other, a dead man.

Ascaeliat's hand connected with Tsisas' jaw.

Tsisas spun with the punch. He was laughing.

Ascaeliat saw red. His other hand lashed out, aiming for Tsisas' neck.

Tsisas fell backwards. On the floor, he was still laughing. His eyes followed Ascaeliat. His eyes were not laughing.

"She was alive!" Ascaeliat screamed.

Bruesia had been alive. The angle of her neck and the blood suggested so no longer.

"She was, she was!" Tsisas' sang. "She was indeed and guess what?"

Ascaeliat kicked Tsisas in the gut.

Tsisas doubled over, curling around the point of impact. His laughter mingled with wheezing. "Guess what?" he gasped.

Ascaeliat drew his foot back.

"She's not anymore," Tsisas said before lapsing back into giggles.

Ascaeliat kicked Tsisas in the face.

Bone cracked. Blood spouted from Tsisas' nose.

Ascaliat knelt and pushed a hand onto Tsisas' throat.

"Dead," Tsisas rasped between grunts that might have been laughter.

"I'll kill you."

"Will you?"

"Don't think I won't."

"I think you're hesitating."

"I'll kill you."

"Will you?"

Ascaeliat's hand tightened over Tsisas' throat.

"I'll kill you."

"I will kill you."

Hands, nails dug into Ascaeliat's throat until he let go of Tsisas' neck. His hands flew to his own neck, tugging, trying to get free.

"I will kill you!"

Tsisas sat up. He rubbed his throat, then started laughing. "All this violence – I think I need a nap."

Ascaeliat fought the hands holding his air away, pulled at the slender fingers around his neck. Strength lived in those fingers; he couldn't pull them away.

"Family ties, family lies – family building family's demise."

Tsisas sang, his voice lilting with the words.

"Family lives, family knives – family shrinking family's size."

Ascaeliat couldn't breathe. His neck hurt. He fought the grip. His movements grew feebler.

"Family flies, family cries – family killing family's nigh."

Ascaeliat saw red. Red faded to black. Black into nothingness.

Ascaeliat slumped down onto the floor.

"Family ties." Male voiced.

"Family lies." Female voiced.

Then together : "Family building family's demise."

If someone's been shot, they're shot. If someone's been stabbed, they're stabbed. If someone's been burned, they may be still alive, or their honor is far and dead.