It took Rosa well over thirty minutes to reach the place the blacksmith had mentioned, even though she’d tried maintaining a brisk pace to keep warm on the chilly night. Trudging through the darkness, she found herself thinking it might have been worth keeping Father Abraham around, if only for him to serve as a human lantern. It would certainly have helped her avoid a few near-tumbles on the way.

The first sign of habitation she found northwards was in the form of a decaying, timeworn fence enclosing a vast field on the right side of the road. The dark masked how far it stretched, but it was clear that it hadn’t been used actively for a considerable period.

Soon, she spotted a farmstead that looked to have been untouched by human hands for years. Still, it was the first place that might count as a ‘home’ Rosa encountered, and the blacksmith had made no mention of continuing past it, so she ventured off the beaten path and headed towards it.

As she approached, her eyes swept across the farmstead. At its center stood a stone well, and beside an old barn lay a heap of rusted tools. If this was where that Malachi person lived, Rosa doubted they were a farmer.

That brought up some questions about what such an individual would be doing living in such a remote location. The elderly woman who’d told Rosa about Malachi had also issued a warning about them being dangerous, though the nature of that danger remained a mystery. It could range anywhere from them being a knife-wielding maniac to a terrible cook, and Rosa really didn’t know what to expect. The entire situation had her on edge.

The unsettling atmosphere of this place didn’t help with her unease, and it felt like something could jump out at her at any moment now. The farmstead didn’t just feel abandoned. It felt forsaken. At first, Rosa had thought it was the visions playing tricks on her senses, but with every step closer she got, that impression became more entrenched.

She paused as she caught a flicker of movement between two buildings. Whatever it was had a tail, but was it just her imagination, or did the tail have spikes?

Normally, she would write that off as another product of her visions, but this place made her reluctant to dismiss it like that. Though it would be just like her ‘freeloader’ to exploit that uncertainty and use it against her.

Reaching behind her, Rosa unstrapped her klert, clutching the wooden instrument tightly. She remained vigilant, ears cocked for any unusual sounds. After a while, she resumed her slow approach, making her way towards the structure that appeared to be the main building. A dilapidated homestead that belonged in the types of tales you told children to keep them from running off into the woods in the middle of the night for fun. When she reached the entrance, she extended her hand to knock on the timeworn planks of the door.

Then she waited.

Unsurprisingly, there was no immediate response. Even if someone was home, a knock at the door might not rouse them from their slumber. She tried knocking again, this time with more force. For once, she didn’t mind a touch of rudeness. Strangely enough, she felt more exposed standing here in front of the house and waiting than she had standing out in the open.

Several more minutes elapsed as she tried knocking a third time. She was starting to worry that there either wasn’t anybody here or that this wasn’t enough to catch their attention.

“And who are you?” a raspy voice suddenly pierced the night’s silence.

Rosa nearly jumped out of fright, spinning around to face a figure draped in dark robes. A hood concealed their head and most of their features in the shadows. For just a brief moment, she squinted her eyes to confirm if they were real or not. Then, shaking her head, she wore a smile. “You practically startled me out of my skin, but hello there. Fancy meeting someone else in these parts. I’m Rosa, and I was looking for the person living here.”

The figure, a woman, it seemed, regarded her from beneath the hood’s shroud. Rosa glimpsed the faint hint of a smirk forming on pale lips. “A peculiar woman arriving at my abode in the dead of night is a rare occurrence. Especially one so young…and bright.”

“Er, right…” Rosa glanced around, examining their surroundings. “A bit of an unconventional greeting, that, but I guess I’ve heard worse. I take it you’re Malachi?”

“I’ve been called that,” the woman answered. “What brings you here?”

“I think I might need your help.”

“My help?”

“Yes. I have a…unique problem, and I’ve been told you might have some more insights into it. I’m more than willing to pay, if that helps any.” Rosa reached into her pack and retrieved a pouch that clinked with the sound of coins. Scarlett was generous enough with her pay, and Rosa had been able to save up a decent sum now that she didn’t have to worry about covering basic expenses. “Just name your price.”

Malachi studied her for a moment. “Follow me,” the woman eventually said, turning around and walking away.

Rosa briefly looked back at the door she’d been knocking on before hurrying to trail after her. Malachi led her around the building’s exterior and towards a smaller side barn. With a loud creak, she pulled open its doors—Rosa would definitely have heard it if the woman had come from here—before entering. The barn’s interior was so dark that Malachi’s black attire almost seamlessly blended in with the shadows, forcing Rosa to tread carefully as she followed.

As they came to a stop in front of a hatch set into the floor, Malachi leaned over and pulled it open, revealing an unlit stone stairwell descending into darkness. Rosa strained to see where it led, but it was impossible.

“Don’t dally. Come,” Malachi instructed, beginning her descent.

Rosa hesitated, a frown creasing her forehead. Following a cloaked, enigmatic, and potentially dangerous figure down a pitch-black stairway wasn’t her idea of good fun. Or anything good, really. It got her thinking that maybe she should have borrowed those enchanted glasses of Scarlett’s that let one see the dark, but it was too late for regrets now.

If she met her end in the belly of some concealed monstrosity lurking in the shadows, at least she’d die blissfully ignorant of how it looked.

With what she felt was a reasonable measure of reluctance, she gingerly took her first step, then continued down, one cautious step at a time. Her hand searched for the coolness of the stone wall as a guide, tracing her descent into the impenetrable darkness. In her other hand, she held her klert and the strap of her pack. Navigating by touch, she listened for any sounds indicating the presence of her hopefully-not-secretly-a-cannibal guide.

Finally, her feet met a level surface when she reached what seemed to be a corridor of sorts. A door swung open ahead, flooding the corridor with a burst of light that nearly blinded Rosa, and she glimpsed Malachi entering the room beyond. The woman glanced back at her, as if waiting for her to catch up.

Rosa sped up and followed her into the room, only to stop abruptly.

It was a spacious underground chamber, hewn from stone and illuminated by the emerald glow of green crystals embedded in the walls. At one end, several tables were cluttered with an assortment of strange, sharp tools and instruments, flanked by rows of odd glass-enclosed containers. Within those containers was the kind of stuff that haunted Rosa’s visions.

Creatures adorned with dark scales of purple and crimson, sporting sharp and menacing features, along with rows of teeth capable of rending flesh. Eyes gleaming with pure malice, flickering an intense blood-red as they focused on her, as though anticipating fresh prey.

They embodied everything the tales had described and more, a sight Rosa had never wished to encounter firsthand like this. Demons.

She’d already taken a step back without realizing.

“Don’t mind them. They bite, but not through glass,” Malachi spoke, moving across the room. She pulled back her hood, revealing a mass of thick, disorderly silvery-grey hair tightly wound into a bun. “They are part of my experiments.”

“…Experiments, you say? That’s a pretty unique hobby, if you ask me.” Rosa kept her cool as her gaze darted between the imprisoned demons. There were five in total, each glaring at her as if she were a piece of raw meat. It was unnerving. Was that glass really enough to stop them from reaching her? And why had Malachi brought her here before anything else?

The looming uncertainty of exactly how much danger she was in did not help her feel better.

“So they tell me.” The woman stopped beside a table with books and parchments spread across it, picking up a glass filled with a milky white liquid and drinking it. Then, she turned her attention back to Rosa.

Rosa masked her surprise when she finally got a clear view of her appearance.

Malachi wasn’t as old as her raspy voice and grey hair suggested, though faint lines marked her face. What drew Rosa’s attention the most, however, were the woman’s eyes. They were a striking emerald green, and they were glowing.

“None of this should be too surprising to you, given your distinctive constitution,” Malachi said.

Rosa’s train of thought ground to a halt. “…You can tell there’s something wrong with me that quickly? What do you see?”

“The connection between you and the realms beyond the Veil is exceptionally potent. Intriguing.” Malachi pivoted towards a different table, filled with what mostly appeared to be a collection of cutting implements. Rosa paused for a moment as the woman picked up an object resembling a sextant equipped with multiple lenses. Malachi adjusted it and directed it at Rosa. “I wonder why, hmm…?”

“Veil?” Rosa eyed the woman closely, trying to decipher the meaning behind the words while she kept the conversation going. “What veil?”

Malachi lowered the instrument and regarded her for a few seconds. “You lack learning.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

The woman clicked her tongue and strode over towards the nearest demon-occupied container. Inside resided a four-limbed creature that could best be described as a grotesque fusion of a hyena, a lizard, and an armory’s worth of daggers for scales. Rosa instinctively took another step back when Malachi opened a small hatch in the glass and, with swift movements that she could barely follow, reached inside to grab the demon’s head.

The demon struggled, but its feeble attempts made it appear almost pitiful. The woman effortlessly overpowered it, dragging it towards the edge of the container. Its body was forced against the glass as Malachi pulled its head through the hatch, aiming it at Rosa.

“What do you see?” she demanded.

The demon continued to squirm and twist its body, but its fiery red eyes never left Rosa for even a moment, dark viscous saliva dripping from its jaws.

“I asked a question.” Malachi pressed long nails into the demon’s scales, and it let out a piercing wail that assaulted Rosa’s ears, evoking memories of some of the things she’d heard in her visions.

“I-Incarnate. Incarnate. Incarnate!!” the demon howled in a voice that cut like knives.

Malachi stilled for a moment. “…Incarnate, you say? Interesting…” The woman forced the demon’s head back through the shaft and released her grip. With an almost careless motion, she sealed the container and turned her attention back to Rosa, giving her a scrutinizing gaze.

A shiver danced down Rosa’s spine as those luminous green eyes bore into her. The term ‘incarnate’ was unfamiliar to her, but fragments of understanding began to fit together from her past experiences. The most pressing question now was what this term meant to the person before her, though.

“It would seem fortune has smiled upon you, given how you likely wouldn’t be standing here right now if you had encountered any other demons before,” Malachi said. She gestured towards the demon still fixated on Rosa behind the glass. “If this one had the opportunity to squeal, half of the Blazes would be on your trail within a fortnight. But not to worry, it won’t be spilling any secrets while imprisoned here. The same holds true for all of my projects.”

Rosa lapsed into a brief silence, swallowing as she considered her situation and the implications of Malachi’s words. Instinct had urged her to flee from the moment she arrived, but reason was saying to stay. This was her long-awaited opportunity to finally get some insight into her life, and this person clearly possessed more knowledge about her circumstances than anyone else she’d met.

Except, perhaps, Scarlett, depending on what the noblewoman was withholding. But Scarlett had wanted her to go here. The woman had orchestrated it. Rosa trusted that meant whatever answers she was looking for could be found here, with this Malachi person.

But Scarlett had also expressed concerns for her safety, likely for a reason.

“Why would demons be after me?” Rosa eventually asked.

She suspected she knew, and she might always have, deep down. Maybe she had simply been unwilling to look her problems in the face enough to notice.

Malachi shook her head, strolling back over to the cluttered tables to return the sextant to its place. “To not even know what you are. Surviving thus far, evading capture or endless servitude, is a remarkable feat. Though I suppose the presence that accompanies you is the cause for that. It cannot touch you directly yet, and it trusts no one else to do its bidding regarding something so sensitive, so it’s kept you hidden like a dragon guarding its hoard.”

Rosa took a tentative step forward. “You can sense its presence?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know what it is?”

“What, yes. Ordinarily, who would be more of an enigma, but not after recent events.” A disturbing smile appeared on Malachi’s face.

Rosa inched closer. “…And who is it?

As the question left her lips, something stirred inside. It was as if she had called its name, and she felt her passenger’s attention focus on her. It had been strangely calm until now, but now that was over.

However, counter to her expectations, there were no nightmarish visions distorting her surroundings. Everything in the underground chamber remained as it was. The entity within her was merely watching…

Waiting.

“That knowledge,” Malachi answered slowly, her smile growing slightly maniacal, “is something you must earn.”