“Hey, hey.” Max said softly, “Look at me. Can you hear me?”

The man, a ghost, sniffled up an invisible tear, he looked to Max before turning back to his dead, decomposing body. Then a realization hit him like a truck skidding through ice and fog. The man turned slowly, fearing what awaited him, like he knew what he was about to look at would change things. And not necessarily for the better.

When the ghost turned, all he saw was a young man with a gentle smile and a small monster hiding between his coat and shirt, “You can see me?”

Max nodded, “I can, she can’t. What’s your name?”

“Raymon.” He sputtered with a hint of hope and a mouthful of anguish, “People call me Ray…”

“Ray, okay, okay. I’m going to be honest to you, Ray. I’ve only met a few people in your condition. Although you are a bit of a special case.”

Ray turned back to his body, “What condition is that?”

Max stepped around the ghost, to block his view of his own body, “You are dead, Ray.”

For a moment, Ray’s incorporeal body flickered. His light green eyes flipped into solid black balls, like when a shark attacked prey. A second later they returned to normal, but the message was clear to Max. He had seen it before – the start of the End.

Ghosts didn’t always react well to knowing they died. Some knew instinctually, others knew through context and asking themselves questions, some didn’t make the realization until someone pointed it out. The fourth classification reacted horribly, they took the news poorly and reacted as such.

Ray slipped into the fourth grouping for just a breath or two, but he was able to pull himself out of the spiral into madness. Out of the spiral into the End.

Curse or gift?

“How?” Ray asked, almost inaudibly.

Max locked eyes with the man, “Murder… Do you remember it?”

Ray flickered again, reminiscent of a certain God of Death, “Yes. Now- now I do. How could I forget? How could I forget?”

The ghost crouched, his face ending up in between his knees. He screamed feral and sinfully as his whole life faded into the meaningless. He was meaningless. His legacy was meaningless. His goals and triumphs, all meaningless. How could this happen to him?

He had to get up, he had to. People counted on him. His family, wife, kid, they needed him. Where were they? He needed them? How could they not be here? He was dead, how could his family not appear at an event such as this. How dare they? They should be the dead ones, they should die for him to li-

Max slapped the man, his hand phasing through the man without impediment. For a moment, the Lost Lord felt dumb, but as the ghost straightened out and looked at him, he rescinded his self-loathing.

“Don’t think about anything else right now. You are too important to fall to the madness. Yes, you died – murdered along with a few dozen others. I need to know who or what did it. Otherwise there will be more like you. Do you want there to be more like you? Dead, I mean.”

Ray flickered again, this time not falling to its temptation, “I don’t want anyone else to be like this. This is worse than death.”

“Good.” Max said, “I’ve noticed that ghosts, people like you, only appear when they had a great worry or something they needed to finish in their lives. Did you have anything like that?”

“No? I mean, yes?”

“Is there something you need to do right now? Like its calling to you? Like your new purpose is to do this one thing?”

Ray’s face twisted into a haunted scared expression, “No. Should I?”

Max thought through all of his experience with ghosts. Truthfully, all of the others had something they wanted to do – if they didn’t pass on right off the bat. But he also knew he was working under assumptions and majorly limited information. So, he took a guess.

“I think you were killed in such a way that left a scar on your soul. Similar to how the other ghosts I’ve met had a clear goal. This scar is limiting your capacity to move on.”

Ray recoiled back, his mind reliving the memories of his death. He flickered again, but maintained eye contact with Max, “Yes. It would seem that way. My… death… was quite gruesome. What do I do? I have a family. A kid! A wife! A job!”

“The first and only thing you need to do is tell me how you died and who killed you. I’ll kill or capture the person, or persons, who did this. I’ll check in on your family and do what I can, as well.”

“Thank you- thank you… What did you say your name was?”

“Max Fowler”

Ray recoiled again, this time reliving a recent memory, “People in the city, the ones from Salae, said you did this. They said they sent people to look for you.”

“Salae doesn’t like me. I assure you I had nothing to do with this. I am, however, going to end it. Or try, at least. I can’t let the culprit get away with it.” Max confidently said.

“I know.” Ray went silent, his mind reeling, “I tried to tell them that you didn’t do it. They… they wouldn’t listen. They couldn’t. They couldn’t hear me. I tried to tell them that the thing was not a man. It- it was a monster. No one could move like it did, claw like it did, cry like it did.”

Ray clutched his head, “But it was a person. It was my… my neighbor. But it wasn’t him – they found his body two days ago. It just looked like my him.”

Calmly, Max spoke, “Good. That’s helpful Ray. What else? Where were you? Where you with anyone else?”

“I- I was walking home from work, my neighbor appeared. He was… erratic. He begged me to help. Said someone was hurt… I wanted to help him, but he closed the door and—I remember his bones breaking. The sound is unlike anything. I spun just before his… hand, or claw, struck me. I-I was knocked unconscious… The rest is just flashes. Broken memories.”

“That’s fine. Describe them.”

“Blood. Bones. Slurping-“

“Slurping?” Max asked.

“Not slurping as in drinking soup but slurping like when you slaughter chickens. They kick and twitch for a little while after. The sound of their lifeless body moving with dead muscles – I’ve always thought of it as slurping.”

“Okay- Slurping. What else.”

“Howling.” Ray’s eyes opened wide and flickered, “My neighbor was howling. Not like a dog or wolf, but like… like… like… a horn. It was no howling, it was screaming. A doe? Buck? It was the screech of game. It- it- it came from my neighbor’s chest? His hip? The screams didn’t come from his throat… how did he make that sound?”

Anything? Max asked Emi through their bond. He had been keeping her up to date with the conversation.

Monster. She replied.

Maybe, but how does it Inspect as a person with a class. How does it look like Ray’s neighbor?

Emi didn’t want to say it, but breaking bones and animalistic screams sounded awfully familiar, A [Druid], a bad shift? They went insane and now they are killing others?

Can that happen? Does shifting effect the mind?

Celenia never said that could happen.

Max thought for a moment, Celenia wouldn’t lie to them, he knew as much, She probably doesn’t know then. If an apprentice [Druid] went insane, it would be best for the Order to silently take care of the problem. They probably don’t tell the initiates until they become full members.

Or it’s something else. Emi reminded.

Right.

“Ray, that’s enough. Don’t think about it anymore. You’ve done good.” Max said.

“Oh, okay…” The dead man flickered again before a little life returned to his ghostly body in the form of focused eyes and a strong spine.

“What have you done since becoming a ghost?”

“Oh… Well… I woke up next to my body. I assume my killer stuffed me into the sewer drainage, I didn’t… form… right away, I guess. I stayed nearby for the first day, then I headed into the city to find help. They… they… they couldn’t hear me. I pleaded, screamed, begged, nothing. I was ignored.”

“Focus Ray.” Max guided.

“I overheard conversations. Some about you, others about the bodies that had been found. I visited my family. They were crying. And yelling. My son blamed my wife, said I worked too long of hours, that I shouldn’t have been out so late. He was always a good kid, always looking out for me.”

Ray looked up, meeting his eyes with Max’s, “Tell him! Tell him I’m here! That you can help! He’ll listen, he will have to… My wife! She can’t blame herself! Tell her our son is wrong! That I- I didn’t mind the hours, that it was just… unlucky timing… that… I… died…”

“I’ll tell them Ray. If they will listen.”

“Oh, right. Max Fowler, suspect number one…”

Max cleared his throat, “Anything else important?”

Ray scrunched his eyes, “Yes, or at least I think so. There are others like me. Ghosts, I mean. I can see them and talk to them. Most were angry, they screamed or shook uncontrollably. But there was one, a woman, that I briefly spoke to. She was energetic and inexhaustible. I tried to get her attention for more than a moment, but she ignored me.”

“What? Another ghost ignored you? Why?”

“She was mumbling something about ‘following it to the ends of Nava.’ That she ‘wouldn’t rest until it was killed.’”

Max raised an eyebrow, “Until what was killed, Ray?”

He thought long and hard, reliving traumatic memories was difficult. His mind actively tried to hide things, at least, until he remembered. Then it was like a flood gate opened. Everything spilled into his mind, every detail, every word, everything.

“She…” Ray began, “She was following herself. But it wasn’t herself. It was like my neighbor. It only looked like him – like her. The woman ghost, she was following her killer. It was-“

“Herself.” Max finished and with a dreadful thought to Emi, he spoke, [Doppelganger].

Emi agreed and said, Nix.

Someone from the footbridge shouted for guards. Max and Emi had been spotted. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have happened to begin with. But the duo stood on a frozen creek next to a dead body while Max spoke to the air.

He spun, watched the young boy who had found them run off to find help, and spun again, “Ray. Thank you. This has been very helpful. Is there anything else?”

“Yes… The woman, I watched her walk out of the city, through the western gate.

“What is west?”

“A few villages, the town of Zulin.”

“That’s good, the killers not in Lullin anymore.” Max said but knew he didn’t know if that was fully accurate, “Ray, listen. I’ll make sure your family knows your last wishes and I’ll help them where I can. But you need to pass on. I’ve met God Peneil, he’ll help you.”

Ray looked taken back, “But my FAMILY! I CAN’T DIE NOW!”

Max spoke in utter calm, “Ray, you have already died. This world isn’t for you anymore. Don’t make it harder on your family than it needs to be. If they find out that you are always hovering around, then they are going to be uncomfortable. They will never be able to live their lives. Do you want that Ray?”

The ghostly man looked like he was crying, no tears came out however, “No.”

“Then pass Ray. I’ll find the killer and deal with it. You take a rest now, okay? You’ve done more than enough. Thank you.”

Ray contemplated the Lost Lord’s words for a few seconds. But like a switch had been flipped, the call of oblivion had sounded. He knew his time was over on this world, so he embraced it. He thanked Max for showing him the way and began to fade. His ethereal body began to morph. Without a soul, without life, a ghost didn’t have long to live.

A black star made up of millions of grains of ash formed just above Ray’s stomach. The star spun and condensed, pulling Ray’s ghostly form into itself. It spun for a moment before all of the dead man was a void, a husk, a simple remembrance. The ash disappeared along with Ray, leaving the creek void of one of its eternal inhabitants.

Max watched the man fade, quickly wrote a note, stuffed it into Ray’s dead body’s pocket, hugged Emi tight, and teleported west.

Max teleported without reservation for efficiency. As he had come to learn, spell casting had a bit of depth to it. Two individuals could cast the same spell and two wildly different outcomes could develop. Max didn’t care about getting the most out of his mana, purposely stretching his spell to the horizon. Instead, he only cared about traveling west, roughly on the road that led out of Lullin.

Zulin was the duo’s true goal but confirming that the area around Lullin was safe from the Empire was important also. So they moved in short zips, jumping from one clearing to another, checking noticeable caves, and Inspecting every person they saw.

It was an invasion of privacy, but one Max and Emi deemed worthy. The traveling [Farmer] and his [Crop Hand] didn’t appreciate having to wheel their cart off the road and hide – [Bandits] often scouted from a distance for easy targets.

Eventually they neared the first village. Instantly they knew something was wrong. It was mid-day, maybe just after lunch, prime time to finish the day’s work. But no one in the village was out working. In fact, there was no one in the village at all.

It took Max fifteen minutes of searching to find the villagers. They were aways off, holding a funeral. A great pyre of white flame lit up the surroundings, sending off souls and casting forward memories. A somber tune held in the air; one Max chose not to disturb – he might have talked with another ghost if he saw one, but a futile scour of the crowd ended that thought.

Not even a half days walk from the village Emi smelled iron. After pinpointing its source, they found a den of speckled badgers dead. Each having been brutally ripped apart. A trail of blood continued west, to which they followed.

A second village held the same note as the first, a few villagers dead. This time Max was able to speak to someone about the attacks. He feigned the disguise of an adventuring team’s scout, traveling up ahead before needing to report back.

This opened a lot of doors in the village. It seemed that everyone was frightened and pleaded for Max’s team’s help. The story of the village was the same as Lullin. An attack at night, a beast howl followed by friends and family attacking one another.

They even allowed Max and Emi to have a look at the bodies. Transparent skin mixed with the scent of Divine Evil.

If this is Nix, why is he attacking like this? Surely someone with experience in Vast Empire’s M.O. would know this is the work of a [Doppelganger], right? Max asked Emi.

Insane? Emi questioned back.

Maybe… but this seems odd. Did she order this? Is Cresthill ready for the consequences of this? Does she even know? Attack Lullin and a few villages doesn’t seem strategic. Unless they hold a secret like Esmel, why here?

Maybe to spread fear? To get Vast Empire’s name back into circulation?

Max shook his head, They already are. Every power on this continent knows about what happened in Yepu’s Plains. A few indiscriminate killings across a few villages and maybe a city or two? That doesn’t spread their name near as much as leveling a city or burning down a landscape.

Eden. Emi said with a bit of bite.

Eden… You think he’s working with the Empire?

Emi sent the equivalent of a nod through their bond, Trying to get rid of us. Of you.

Max thought about this. Truthfully it didn’t make that much sense, but at the same time Eden wasn’t exactly a long-term thinker. Would he work with a terrorist organization to get rid of a mutual enemy?

… I don’t think so. Max finally said, But I’ll bring it up with Alia. She knows more of what he’s capable of.

The duo continued to travel west, following the road through trees and dead straw. At one point they massed a caravan of Salae. It was only three carriages long, but a total of eight [Knights] flanked on mounts. Most interestingly, they were traveling moderately fast – a trot rather than a steady walk. They wanted to reach somewhere before nightfall.

Max and Emi continued forward until they found the city of Zulin. The city was similar to Lullin in that they both had thick walls protecting its inhabitants. But the local dark wood set the city’s skyline as polished and inviting. Chimney smoke added to the homely feel, which then reminded Max of Lesterwood – of Clammy and Reep, of Vel and Bishop.

From above, the city looked filled with ordinary guard movement. There were no extra shifts or patrols, no armament being moving to defend the sentries. This led Max to walk into the city. He and Emi had a few reservations about this, but they chose to act the part of the adventurer.

If Nix, or whoever was the culprit, was near, then they would need to act in accordance with the guard. If he randomly showed up in the city’s center spewing crap about an eminent attack, people would dismiss him as crazy.

So, Max and Emi walked to the city gate.

A small queue of wagons and individuals waited for entry into their home city. Some carried grain, others winter fruits and vegetables. A pair of adventurers even trudged along with a thick bloody pelt, no doubt the proof of a kill for a Guild quest.

Max and Emi walked right by, cutting in line and directly speaking to the on duty guard.

“Lines back there, adventurer.” One of the two guards sneered.

“Has there been any attacks here recently?” Max asked, keeping his voice low to not spread worry.

“What? You hit in the head? Back of the line!”

“Listen to me. I’ve just come from Lullin. They had a string of murders along with the two villages on route to here. I need to know if the killer is already in the city.”

This got the guard’s attention, at least enough for him to stop shouting to move back, “I’m listening.” He declared.

“A platoon of Salae [Knights] are going to be here before nightfall with the same information.” Max continued, “But they don’t really know what we are facing. We need to prepare now, have there already been any deaths?”

The second of the guards spoke up, “I’m getting the captain. Better yet, follow me.”

The first guard help up a hand, “We need to see some identification first, Mr mage. Just who are you?”

Max materialized his identifying Adventuring Guild black plate, “My name is Max, I hail from Lesterwood.”

Both of the guard’s eyes widened, the second guard spoke, “Right, follow me.”

They were escorted through the city to the closest barracks. Along the way, they both looked for teleportation spots, finding a few that were easily accessible if the need arose.

The guard knocked once on an office door before opening it and ushering the outsiders in, “Sir! I brought a black plate. He has information and needs assistance.” The guard then stepped out.

The captain looked the part. Uniformed, straight posture, scars, a weapon at the hip. He even rolled his eyes at his underling’s rushed departure.

“What can I do for a black plate?” He asked obviously annoyed that an adventurer was in his office.

“My name is Max Fowler, this is Emi. We just got here from Lullin-“

The captain raised a hand, signaling to stop, “Max Fowler… Where have I heard that name before…” he ruffled through a stack of pages, pulling out a formal written letter, “It says here you are wanted by Salae’s highest court.”

Max rolled his eyes, “Second highest actually. The first court is only for the royal family.”

The captain didn’t look amused, “Why should I not capture you where you stand? You are in a guards’ barrack. If you were thinking you could just walk out of here, then you are a fool and a half.”

“I could, easily, if I wanted. But I’m not.”

The captain shifted at this, putting his hand on his weapon but not moving to stand.

Max continued, “This city is in danger if I’m correct. Lullin is still looking for those missing and two villages are in trouble for their next harvest. Do you want to add Zulin to the list? Because if you don’t prepare now, than I guarantee some deaths.”

“Stop. I’ve heard enough.” The captain whistled causing the air to crack with a class ability. A moment later shuffling and weapons were drawn outside of the office, “Are you going to come quietly or resist?”

Max looked to the ceiling and pleaded for why he deserved this. He scrunched his eyebrows with his fingers than spoke, “Prepare for the night. It starts with an odd sounding howl. It is a [Doppelganger] and known associate of Vast Empire.”

“Right.” The man scoffed, “I’ll be sure to explain that to the [Knight] caravan arriving tonight. Do you take me for a fool? I’ve been at this job for a long while, I know when people are trying to save skin.”

Emi growled, “Save skin? You are right, we are trying to save skin. Your skin. Have you ever seen transparent skin? It is gross.”

The captain stared at Emi, “If we are done here, I’d like to see how you walk out of here.”

“Fine.” Max snapped and disappeared along with Emi.

The two appeared high above the city, content with staying on overwatch. Hopefully the warning got through the captain’s duty, even if he thought it a lie. The threat of a Lost Lord should cause the [Knights] to remain on guard all night.

Max could live with that; making himself out to be the threat to have those threatened prepare.

The duo stayed in the city’s air space all night, watching the road, listening for screams. By midnight the [Knights] were still missing. That was, until a single wounded [Knight] ran towards the city.

The sudden movement caused a stir in both Max and Emi and the city’s wall. Guards simultaneously lit torches and [Archers] sent up a volley of flares. The extra light revealed the runner’s condition.

Her armor was torn and shredded, blood echoed her every step. She clutched her shoulder, obviously trying to ease the pain. She was weaponless but that hardly mattered. She had made it, made it to the safety of a walled city.

But as she neared, Max noticed something about her. Something he shared with Emi, something she didn’t see. The [Knight] was being followed. Not by a physical person, but rather a ghost. A ghost wearing city clothes and yelling out unheard warnings.

Max teleported, towing Emi along to the top of the wall where a mana light device mimicked the resemblance of a spotlight. They appeared directly next the guard captain, shocking those around to the point of weapons being drawn.

“Do not let that thing in. That is the [Doppelganger]!” he said with urgency. The captain pivoted and wildly swung out with a fist, Max easily dodged with a short blink and continued, “Please! I can prove it!”

“Prove it how?” the captain yelled back.

“Just don’t attack me from behind, that’s all I ask.”

Max didn’t wait for an answer, instead he teleported to the road before the gate. The wounded [Knight] continued to run, the ghost right behind her.

“Stop!” Max boomed, using mana to augment his voice, “Nix of Vast Empire surrender yourself or face destruction.”

The [Knight] slowed slightly but continued forward. She let go of her wounded shoulder and wretched out in pain. To everyone on the wall, she looked pitiful, but to Max and Emi, they knew. They knew Nix had decades of experience with feigning one’s perceptions. Decades of studying humanoid ticks and mannerisms.

They knew the enemy they were facing. Vel and Icarus had long since briefed them on who inhabited Guild Master Arthur’s skin. But still, there was a small thread of doubt. Maybe this wounded soldier was just a victim of a deranged monster. Maybe she was the only survivor. Maybe she held crucial information.

“[Knight] of Salae!” Max continued just to confirm he and Emi were right, “Stop were you stand or be sentenced to a rain of arrows!”

The [Knight] slowed to a stop, along with her ghost shadow.

“Where are your comrades?”

She fell to her knees, her armor remnants cutting into her thighs and ankles, “Dead! They are all dead! It-it killed them all!”

Max glanced at the [Knight] crying, but his main focus was on the being only he could see – the ghost.

Curse or gift?

The ghost flamboyantly yelled at the woman, “Right! They are all dead because you killed them all! What even are you! You’re sick! That’s what! Murderer! Monster-“

The ghost’s words were cut off as a spike of ice ripped through the night air.

The world went silent in that moment. Max internally prayed he was right. Emi gathered all of the nearby water she could. The guards on the wall drew back on their bows. The ghost’s eyes flickered with an unreadable expression. But most importantly was the [Knight]’s reaction.

A splitting screech sounded as the spike of ice pierced into her chest, ripping her already torn clothes off along with shredding into her skin and bypassing bone. As the metaphorical dust settled, the woman remained alive, but crouching over her open organs.

That is, if she had organs.

The ice spike revealed a grey-transparent skin-like mass squirming around inside the [Knight]’s skin. It rolled around on its own appendages until eyes stared out of the open wound. They were a lifeless yellow, unassumingly pale. Years of confined darkness evolved the being to change its ways. After all, a [Doppelganger] was a master puppeteer, one that lived within its puppet.