Nothing is here. Just stale bread and dirty laundry. I was able to find a canteen and filled it with water, and 4 gold looking coins. Uggh, I just need to get out of here, time to pack up and roll out.

As I step outside, I realize I have no way of knowing if anyone will recognize me. Running back inside, I scrounge up a sour smelling scarf and a dirty cloak. It’s going to be hot, but if it can keep me out of trouble, it should be worth the discomfort.

---

The cloak and scarf lasted about 10 minutes in the heat. The road was empty and the sun was sweltering. The heat seeped into my boots, the scarf stuffy, and the gravel I kicked up found homes in every nook and cranny of my body. I can’t handle it!

I ditched the cloak and scarf and bundled it into my bag. Feeling the breeze was immediately comforting. Definitely the right call.

Looking around as I walked towards the city off in the distance, I investigated this world a bit more. The trees, the grass, the dirt, the air, the heat off of the sun… it all seems to be the same as Earth. I was never into plants, but they all look and smell the same. The only thing that seems different is the way Linden’s house was built, and the sheer… quietness of the space. No airplanes, cars, trains, just the sound of my boots grinding into the loose dirt I am walking on. In the morning though, there were some strange birds making noise.

I try again to reach out to the voice I heard before, the first cursed night back in existence.

"Hello?" I say out loud, nervously.

"I don't know if you are still with me, but I wanted to say thanks for all your help."

I wait, no response.

Was that voice just a delusion? I know that shitty god talked to me about some nonsense, but do I really consist of multiple souls? I guess I just have to keep thinking on it...

---

Finally! The gate to the city is here! A yellowish stone wall seems to be wrapping around the city, and a large wooden gate is inset into the wall. Seems like the doors are wide enough to allow a large flow of traffic in and out of the city. The merchants in line seem to be bored waiting for their turn to enter.

I try to look like a regular and match the idleness and boredom the merchants.

“YOU!” a Guard shouts out from the far end.

He points at me and starts speeding up to me.

“Me?” I point to myself meekly.

Why is the Guard charging at me?

CRAP! I feel my blood drain from my face. I forgot to put on my scarf and hood before getting in line. They are still in my bag... I must have just been recognized.

“He’s coming with me.” The guard turns his head and speaks to the other guards without losing his stride. I focus on the large spear in his right hand as his left hand grasps my shoulder.

Under his breath he mutters, “You little shitter, I told you to never let me catch you again.”

It’s too late for me to flee, I try to go with the flow and keep from being dragged, “Sorry, but I have some unfinished business in town, and then you will never see me again.”

His face turns a beet red, I can feel his grip tighten and he looks like he’s shaking with anger… Great, somehow I pissed him off even more.

Ding

Detect Hostility has been learned

I wave my hand to close the annoying and useless pop-up.

“You do have unfinished business you Rotakin, I would strangle you with your own intestines if Staklin didn’t want to see you alive.” We slow down a bit.

“You’re taking me to Staklin?” Please take the bait! What the hell is going on?

At this point, I have no idea where I am in relation to the city gate, he’s been dragging me along mostly alleyways and small streets.

“Don’t play fuking stupid. You fucking stole…” I turn to see his eyes still full of rage, but swelling up with tears on top of it all. He collects himself, “My daughter lost her fucking hand because of you”.

He throws me down face first in a particularly small alleyway. Unable to catch my balance, I hit the ground hard. Starting to lift myself up of the ground, but before I could get up and turn to him, I feel a hard hit across my back and am slammed into the dirt, a loud crack ringing through my ears. I hear a soft thud close to my head and it looks like the end of the spear has splintered off of my back and landed nearby. My hand reaches to the jagged piece of wood.

Revenge, Revenge, Revenge! Let’s make the world blind together!

“Fuck you Rotkin. I should just kill you here. No one cares about such a waste of a person. The entire city was looking for you and your ugly mug for days.” I manage to flip myself on my back to see him pointing the tip of his spear at me. Piece of splinter wood in my hand now in my hand, nervously turning it around in my hand.

“There is no point in me bringing you alive to him, my daughter’s hand is gone! She’ll be a cripple for her entire life!” He smashes the tip of the spear towards my head.

Give me control, give me control. You weakling give me control so we can survive!

I can feel a bit of blood running down my cheek, but somehow I just manage to dodge the tip from skewering me. My head is pounding and an unrecognizable voice keeps shouting in my head. My empty left hand opened and raised towards the Guard, “What do I have with your daughters hand? I didn’t cut her hand off, I swear!”

I can feel the cold sweat. I always sucked at lying, but at least I am pretty sure I wasn’t the one that cut her hand off.

“You were responsible for my daughters hand! You escaped on my watch. You fucking drugged me and my daughter was punished! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!” He wretches the spear out of the earth and readies his attack again.

It will feel so good. I will give you the bloodlust, the courage to protect yourself. Just let me in!

This voice again! Just save me from this nightmare!

Everything slowed down immediately from that thought. I take the time to see the whole scene infront of me. It feels like my vision has been enhanced, as I see even the sweat off of the guard’s bridge of his nose bead up and slowly start running down his nose. The spear is slowly moving towards me, as if in water. My hand with the splinter wood moves seemingly on it's own and deflects the spear from my stomach and lands just off of my left side. As the spear sinks into the earth, the guard's lunge brings his head closer to me, and my legs raise to meet his neck. His eyes start to open up wide in shock and the bead of sweat on his nose reaches the tip of his nose.

My legs clamp down, my left hand grabs the nearby spear and twists my body violently. The guard loses his balance and that bead of sweat goes airborne, to be lost in dirt forever. While he toppels forward into me, I raise myself with the spear in the earth and twist myself on top.

His eyes are closed in the moment of confusion and impact to the ground. The splintered end of the spear tight in my hand, raised above the guard.

“Open your eyes and look at me! LOOK AT ME!” A gutteral, gleeful voice comes from me. I can feel a deep excitement welling up inside me.

The guard opens up his eyes, I feel like I can see myself in his eyes. I can feel an unnatural smile flash across my face.

Ecstasy washes over me as I see him recognize his situation. His expression turning from confusion to fear. At that very moment of fear in his eyes, my hand poised over him becomes a meteorite.

Crunch

I feel the light vibrations of bones breaking under my hand. Small waves of ecstasy crashes over me, eminating from deep in my core. Again!

My hand raises again, showing a bloody face underneath the wood. Deep gouges along the guards eyes and nose. He's murmering something non-coherently that I can't make out, or is that me? My hand crashes again into his face.

Crunch.

The sound was wetter this time. So good!

Again!

Crunch

Again!

---

Time starts to resume as I slowly come to my senses. I pull myself off of the guard and vomit against the alley wall. What kind of monster am I? I was so excited to murder him. I enjoyed it. Thoroughly. Looking at the wall, I notice some blue on the corner of my vision.

Not important, I need to find a way out, I just killed a guard.

FUCK! I killed a guard and I liked it. Shit shit shit! I murdered him.

Don’t worry about other guards. If they come, we can kill them too!

A wave of pleasure comes over me again.

Fuck off, don’t mess with my head.

Cleaning the vomit off of my mouth, I can feel the dried blood on my cheek.

Shit, how long was I bashing in his brains?

With no other cleaning options, and the guards wearing a steel chest plate, I pull off the guards pants to find he’s pissed and shit himself. I use a clean part of a pant leg to frantically rub off the blood. The friction is burning, but without water, there is little I can do about that. Looking down, my shirt is covered in blood. I turn it inside out and drag the guards body deeper into the alleyway.

There’s nothing to hide him in. SHIT!

I drag up his body against the vomit in the wall. Trying to put his pants on and failing miserably, I position his body to look like he’s resting, positioning his helmet over his face. I found what looks to be an empty liquor bottle, so I placed it next to him and hope it can buy me some time.

I try to hide in the alley a bit further down and wait for the night.

As I wait, I realize I have my cloak, scarf, and water still. How can I be so stupid? I clean myself up properly with a bit of water and wrap the scarf and cloak tightly against my face and body and slip deeper into the city