The pair exchanged a worried glance. They weren’t especially sure about going around telling everyone they ran into about what had happened. Noaidi’s prophecy, the destruction of the Rising Bear, Makatai’s ghostshift… It was a lot of information to give a stranger they had met less than 10 minutes prior. Makatai spoke first this time. “My name is Makatai, and my friend here is Ahanu. We are travelling to… Avalon.” They were headed in the direction of Avalon, so he decided that was the most believable destination. “Ah, Avalon. The land of steel and home of the forge. You’re a shaman, aren’t you son?” The old man gestured to the separation dagger at Makatai’s belt. He nodded hesitantly. The old man continued “I’d be careful in Avalon, my friend. The queen has a strong dislike for those with heightened spiritual senses.” Makatai remembered a similar conversation he’d had had with his mother once. “It isn’t often you get a shaman headed to Avalon. Watch yourself now, boy.” He gave Makatai an intense stare, a lot different to his expression only moments before. His one visible eye glittered, reflecting the fire around which the three sat.

“Anyway” Ahanu said “You said you were a Merchant, right? We’re actually looking for some supplies. What kind of wares are you selling?” The merchant picked up the sticks with meat and passed one to each of the two. They thanked him and began to eat, and he spoke as they chewed in silence. “I have all manner of goods my friend. Have a look yourself! Have a look! Keh ha ha…” He stood up and swept aside one of the tent flaps, revealing all manner of tents, sleeping skins, rope, torches, weaponry and a vast array of other equipment. “You want something? I’ll have it, no doubt. Some is up here, but I keep even more stock in that cave there! I have so much of everything! Yes… A lot of everything.” The man looked momentarily confused, raising a hand to his temple before looking up and lowering his arm again quickly. He tied the flap open so they could see inside. The tent was stuffed full so they couldn’t actually enter, but they could still make out everything inside.

“What a choice!” Ahanu surveyed the inventory. “How much for a sleeping skin and a small tent? Maybe some arrows too?” Ahanu rattled his almost empty quiver as if to emphasise. He had bought a small pouch with about 200 argin in it, so they had a little money between them. “I… yes, how much… 10 argin? How’s 10 argin for the lot?” “Only 10 argin? Are you sane, old man?” Ahanu laughed out loud at the price suggested. He stopped laughing, however, when he noticed that he wasn’t joking. The merchant stared at the pair blankly, and the young men exchanged another nervous look. Makatai stepped forward and put a hand out towards him, moving to place a hand on his shoulder, but he drew it back when the man flinched away. “Are you alright, elder?” Makatai asked cautiously. “Sorry… So sorry.” He looked up again, a little calmer. Makatai could see the dirt under his fingernails as he stood awkwardly opposite them. He clearly hadn’t bothered washing in a while, despite the common appearance of small streams all over the nation. In fact Makatai could see one right now, only a small distance away.

A little vigor returned after a moment’s awkward silence. “So a sleeping skin, a small tent and arrows?” “Yes, that’s right. Are you sure 10 argin is enough? That’s… a third of what most merchants would charge” “I know! But as you can see I have a lot of stock to sell. And besides, you two have given me an afternoon's company, so why not let me make you a special deal?” The sun had moved far across the sky since they had arrived, and was slowly falling in the west. “Alright, if you’re certain.” “Why of course! Now, your companion is rather tall,” He began again, looking now at Ahanu “So I don’t have a skin that would fit him here. However I have no doubt there will be something for him in the cave. Why don’t you two go in and have a look around? Pick one that fits and bring it to me.” The merchant let out his unnerving cackle again, and Ahanu raised an eyebrow but smirked, finding humor in his unnatural laugh. “Alright Makatai, let’s see what he has.” The two got up and headed over to the mouth of the cave, lit by torches affixed to the walls, and started to descend.

As soon as they felt they were out of earshot and had disappeared behind a corner, they started to talk. Ahanu chuckled. “What’s wrong with him? Not quite all there, is he…” “Don’t be unkind about it, brother. I feel bad. Maybe we should pay him a little extra as thanks for the food.” “Yeah, sure. It’s not like he’s exactly overcharging us for the goods…” They headed a little further in, chatting about their new acquaintance as they went, when all of a sudden Ahanu’s eyes went wide and he staggered to the wall, clutching his nose. “Gahh… Damn! What the fuck is that smell!?” He sounded a potent mixture of angry and disgusted, and the flickering torchlight showed that his facial expression matched his tone. Makatai was shocked at this outburst from the usually entirely easy-going friend of his, and looked at him in surprise whilst trying to smell whatever had incited such a violent reaction. He could indeed, albeit very faintly, smell something foul and rancid coming from deep within. If it had been much stronger he would no doubt have had a similar reaction to Ahanu, but his friend’s nose had always been far stronger than his own.

Looking further down into the cave he could just barely make out a dark stain on the rocks that led around another corner. He approached, leaving his friend to try and recover, and crouched to brush his finger against the stain. To his horror they came away sticky, and realised too late that the substance he had touched was crusting blood. Dread stuck in his throat as he rounded the corner, and a groan of horror escaped his lips as he came face to face with the corpse of a woman slumped against the wall, her head rolled back and expression twisted in fear. Her throat had been precisely slit, leaving a deep cut running from one side to another, and the front of her dress was entirely stained through with crimson. What little torchlight there was that came around the corner didn’t penetrate deep into the dark, but he could just about make out a small, still hand reaching out of the dark from further in.

He was frozen. A picture of horror was painted in muted colours before him, and he didn’t even have the initiative to scream. He was only broken out of his silent terror when he heard Ahanu calling from further back up the tunnel. “MAKATAI! COME HERE!” He turned heel and sprinted back up the tunnel to find Ahanu and the old trader facing off, the merchant silhouetted at the mouth of the cave. He held a cruel-looking knife in each hand, the blades of both stained dark with blood, and was slowly advancing towards Ahanu who had his shield and tomahawk out and raised. “I knew… I knew something was wrong with you…” Makatai muttered, almost to himself, before trying to gather himself and raising his voice. “Stay back, Ahanu! He’s a killer. You smelt death, brother. And he’s the cause!” He drew his own dagger and pointed it at the approaching murderer. The torchlight struck his eye, illuminating an almost vacant expression on his face, as though he were half asleep. His eyes, however, rocked feverishly from side to side as if trying to see everything at once.

“You bastard. I knew there was something wrong with you! Where’s your bison, old man? How do you move all of your wares, “merchant”? You’d need 5 to move all the stuff you have!” “They were glowing. All of them… Gloowwwiiiinngg… It wanted their shine for itself. But an abandoned settlement is too conspicuous! Had to hide it all somehow… The bodies were hard enough to move!” He staggered slightly, slurring his words like a drunkard, before snapping his eyes onto Makatai. He came to a halt and continued speaking. “Your friend glows too, you know. Gently, gently. A little more red than the others, red and black pulsing, but nothing like you. You... you’re radiant! IT HURTS TO LOOK! HAHAHAHAHA!!!” It was more of a scream than a laugh and he threw his head back to accommodate. As he did so a deep red light began to spill from his mouth and eyes, illuminating their surroundings brighter than the available torchlight, and a sickeningly familiar red limb stretched out from deep in the rigid man’s throat.

A red spirit identical to those that Makatai had seen on that nightmarish day was erupting from his body. It forced itself out of his mouth, contorted and convulsing, before spilling out onto the floor in its entirety. Chittering and gurgling, it slowly raised itself onto its two legs and looked at Ahanu, who was the closer of the two boys. A thin red trail ran from its back heel into its host’s mouth, and as Makatai looked with his soul he saw it attached firmly to the spirit of the old man, staining it the same colour. Ahanu gritted his teeth, backing up slowly with the shield raised. “Makatai…” “I know. You take the spirit. Do the same with the shield as you did with the tomahawk. It won’t work well, but it’s better than nothing.” Ahanu crept off to the right, and the spirit dove toward him. He rolled to the left, passing under its grasping arms, and swung the spirit-infused tomahawk. It cut into the malicious creature’s side and it shrieked before swinging again. Ahanu gave a smirk, impressed with himself at his little victory, and their fight ensued leaving him on the defensive and backing out of the cave.

They vanished out of sight, leaving only Makatai and the trader in the cave. “Don’t struggle now, son. Don’t struggle…” He leant in and suddenly rushed towards Makatai, swinging the knives towards his throat in a cross shape. He was as quick as a viper and Makatai barely had time to lurch under the blades as they flew towards him. Sparks flew as they connected with the stone behind him, and Makatai scrambled to avoid the follow-up attack, diving across to the other wall and turning to face his attacker. Despite his seemingly frail frame he was as quick as lightning, almost having caught up to him by the time Makatai turned. A voice in his head brought him out of his panic. “What are you doing? Ghostshift! Now!” The furious voice of Noaidi was all he needed to set him straight and as the third attack came in he leapt, his legs full of vitality. The twin blades whistled through the air and missed the sole of his boot by a millimeter as he went over the deranged elder, rotating 180 degrees in midair and nearly hitting the roof of the cave before touching back down. It was his turn to attack and he lunged forward with a devastating kick. His attacker barely managed to sway out of its path before his boot collided with the stone wall, cracking the rock and sending chips flying in all directions.

He paid dearly for missing however as he felt both a sharp pain in his knee and his side. He had used too much force, and overcommitted to the attack. The possessed lunatic took his chance, slicing a shallow gash in Makatai’s exposed midriff. He gasped in pain, before quickly swapping legs and swinging again. This time his foot buried itself in his side, and he heard a rib crack as the elder gave a cry and flew to the other side of the tunnel. He heard a wet thump as his body hit the wall and dropped to the floor. Makatai was breathing hard and clutching his side, the flickering torchlight illuminating the blood slowly running toward his hip. The elder began to struggle to his feet, looking almost unconscious as he dragged himself up the wall. His eyes had rolled back in his head entirely, and only the whites remained visible. Makatai grimaced, closing his eyes. Anger was rising in him, the sight of this vile man and what he had done filling his head. He felt a calling from within his spirit, similar to that of the rabbit from before, and reached in to answer. More power. More hunger. This demon deserved to suffer for his sin. Visions of fangs and claws filled his mind, hunger and hatred, and he reached past the innocent rabbit seeking further and grasping for a dark mass at the back of his head. As opposed to the shape of the rabbit, tame and fearful, this strength was sharp and hateful. Dangerous and precise. He grabbed it and it offered itself up all too easily, and in a flash he was overwhelmed by violence. A life on the hunt, living meal to meal. Rage. Struggle. Hunger. The plains wolf had lent him its power.

He opened his eyes again and saw claws molded from a fusion of the two spirits, emitting a golden glow, sitting at the ends of his fingers. He lent power, the wolf lent form. Just like before. He had little time to consider when he had acquired this new strength before the ruined body of the merchant was fully upright and had sent one of the knives hurtling through the air towards him. He ducked under it and, putting his full bodyweight into the strike, slashed horizontally across his body from shoulder to hip. Blood exploded from the three deep slashes and he staggered back, slumping against the wall again. Makatai didn’t relent, his vision red as the smell of fresh blood filled his nostrils. He spun on his back heel, legs still coursing with strength, and planted an explosive kick directly into the face of his opponent. He heard a crack as his head flew back, smashing into the wall and painting a blossom of blood on the solid rock.

It took all that Makatai had not to continue his assault on his clearly dead opponent. Blood was still spraying from the claw wound, and with every jet of it the wolf tugged at him more and more, threatening to overwhelm him and rampage, savaging the corpse before him. He screwed his eyes shut and forced it back, turning away from the body. His leg buckled, the adrenaline running out and exposing him entirely to the pain. He had definitely fractured something, and so shifted his weight onto his left leg and, using the cave wall for support, started to limp toward the cave mouth.

He repressed his ghostshift and looked back at his handiwork, and as he did so the sight almost brought him to vomit. He had never killed anything bigger than a hare before, let alone a fellow human, and despite the context he clapped his hand to his mouth to suppress the horrid sick feeling although it did nothing for the pit in his stomach. He made his way back to the mouth of the cave, gasping a little with every step, and finally spilled out into the light.