I bit into my pastry while watching the humans scurry along. The ingredients were a mystery to me but I loved its sweet taste. And for only 6 knights I managed to buy two of them. While chewing I considered my options.

Exploring the city had been fun but I had made virtually no progress in finding Sarvad’s target. Not surprising considering the size of the city and the fact that I had very little information to go off of. I asked around for someone with her description but no one knew anything.

At least my inner companion was starting to become more proactive. During my exploration, we would periodically talk before he went silent. When he came back, he blamed the parasite for keeping him busy. Speaking of the parasite, Sarvad did reveal some information about it. It consisted of two parts: the claw and the beast.

Only the claw existed in the physical world, while the beast was a manifestation of it in the mindscape. Of course, that led to the question of what the mindscape was. Sarvad didn’t have a simple answer.

The mindscape is sort of a small separate layer of reality. Every living being has a unique one that is tethered to its respective body. Its complexity is tied to ‘the power of the soul’. Most of them aren’t actual places that one can enter. The only reason the mindscape of this body is so complex and able to withstand the parasite is because of my efforts.

Anyway, a soul is split into two parts - one that resides in the body and one within the mindscape. The tether between them acts as a sort of gateway, through which the parts can interact and even switch places. Most of your soul is currently in the body but if you consciously entered the mindscape then most of it would be there.

I nodded my head. ‘So, your soul is only in the mindscape, right?’ Sarvad didn’t answer but I could feel him nod. Whatever happened to him pushed his soul out of this body and entirely into the mindscape. I wanted to clarify what a soul was but my companion failed to answer. Souls were something he didn’t truly understand.

‘What to do now?’ I asked myself. The shadow of a flying messenger monster passed over me but I ignored it. ‘Maybe I should just head back to the inn’.

That would probably be a good idea.

Sarvad’s answer surprised me. ‘You don’t want me to continue looking for that woman?’ His sudden lack of interest was weird.

The chances of you finding her are minimal. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I asked you to find her. Instead, I’ll just wait.

Now I was starting to worry. ‘What do you mean by that? How would waiting solve the issue?’

If you won’t find her, she will find you.

His answer didn’t placate my concerns. It did the opposite. ‘Why would that woman be interested in me? And even if she was, how would she find me?’

Sarvad’s laugh was disturbing.

Oh, don’t worry. She isn’t interested in you. She is interested in this body. That lying asshole wouldn’t just leave her precious research wandering around. Her higher-ups wouldn’t let her.

Even though I was starting to get answers I wasn’t happy. ‘Explain yourself’. But he didn’t answer. Taking a deep breath I tried to piece together what I had just heard.

Sarvad was interested in this non-human woman. At first, I had thought it was because of some form of emotional attachment but the way he spoke about her made me doubt it. The vitriol in his voice made his feelings for her clear.

Sarvad also had confidence that she would find me. If that was the case then I needed to assume she had a lot of resources on hand. His mention of higher-ups made me think that she was part of a group. That could be bad or good. It depended on her attitude toward me.

Also, why had Sarvad called me, or this body, research? I wouldn’t call a body research. To research you needed to collect information, do experiments, and-

The white room. Faceless figures. A bleeding eye.

I shuddered. The visions. The ones I had during my time in the desert. I hadn’t thought a lot about them, as they had stopped happening. But knowing this… they had been of experiments. Horrific experiments performed on this body. On Sarvad.

This… was too much for me to handle. I needed to inform Pecta and get ready for the possibility that I would soon meet this woman. A sense of nervousness and slight dread started to fill me.

“Out of the way!" I was cut off from my thoughts by a loud voice. It belonged to a tall human with gleaming armour and a spear. He and a couple of other such humans were clearing the way for a strange construction on wheels that was slowly being drawn by two reptilian creatures.

The other pedestrians quickly got out of the way, leading me to follow their example. I wanted to ask what was going on, but one of the armoured humans answered my question before I had a chance to ask it. "Make way for City Lord Vatus! Move along!”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I bewilderedly looked at the procession, momentarily distracted from my dark thoughts. Was this normal? From the reaction of the citizens this was a common occurrence and not some sort of special event. Pecta had said that the nobles were treated better but now I was able to truly see it. ‘So extravagant for someone just wanting to travel the city.’ Although, being chauffeured around did look pretty comfortable…

Curious, I tried to get a look at the City Lord through the window. The inside of the construct was very spacious and only occupied by an older-looking human. Vatus, I assumed. But there was something strange about him.

I frowned. Was he talking to someone? The cabin was empty but I could see his lips moving. His eyes were also focused on the seat across from him. I took a closer look at the empty seat. My head started hurting but I could just make out a distortion in the air.

‘What is that?’ I asked, not expecting an answer.

That is very interesting.

I was startled upon hearing Sarvad’s voice. ‘Finally! Listen, we NEED to talk about your past. If what you said is true then it affects us both.’

Not now. I just found something interesting.

His rebuttal wasn’t appreciated. ‘No, we need to do it now. Who knows how long-‘

Shut up.

I quieted at his harshness. Not bothering to apologise, he continued.

The City Lord is talking to somebody. They are using an item that affects the mind scape, stopping a normal person from seeing them.

He chuckled.

Emphasis on normal. Just a bit and… there.

Suddenly, I was able to see the second person in the cabin. They were covered in an unassuming cloak, hiding most of their features. Luckily they were looking out the window in my direction, making me see the face.

A face adorned with short curly brown hair and bright green eyes. She, because it was a female, looked with a disinterested look at the crowd around the carriage. Uncaring, she reached behind her head and pulled back the hood of the cloak. A pair of horns was revealed.

All this happened in a split second and was suddenly followed by a bone-chilling scream of rage. Sarvad’s voice drowned out all my other thoughts.

THIS IS ALL HER FAULT! SHE PROMISED ME EVERYTHING, MADE ME THINK THAT THERE WAS AN END TO MY SUFFERING, THAT IT WOULD BE WORTH IT! LIAR! I AM TRAPPED LIKE BEFORE. KILL HER, SLICE HER UP, CUT HER TO PIECES, MAKE HER SUFFER! SHE MUST END.

Flashes of images filled my head.

A barren room with a window. People in white coats, standing behind it and taking notes. The woman in the carriage starring at me with a look filled with equal measures of disdain and disinterest. A grotesque creature, reaching out its tentacles towards me. A symbol of an eye, dripping bloody tears with strange words written beneath it. And pain. A lot of pain.

I gasped and leaned forward. People were looking at me and backing away. Someone asked if I was okay. I couldn't answer and staggered backward.

Sarvad’s memories were causing too much pain. Looking up showed me that the occupants of the carriage hadn’t noticed me, but I seemed to have attracted the attention of a pair of guards.

They were pushing through the crowd towards me. The pain increased. I needed to get away. Not just because of the guards but because of the woman. Her presence was making everything worse. Sarvad’s screams were still filling my head, leaving me dizzy.

Somehow I pushed through and staggered toward an alley. The crowd parted in front of me, not wanting to be near a strange-acting human. I tried to go faster but it felt like the air was actively pushing me back.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I reached the dark shadows of the alley. My claw needed to remain hidden, which meant that I could only use my right arm to push myself forward. Sarvad’s screams didn’t get louder but a new presence made itself known. Something primal. Something I knew. The beast.

My mind was a mess of screaming voices, but I couldn't focus on it right now. The heavy footsteps of the guards made my body tense. END THEIR EXISTENCE. Was I afraid of them? TEAR THEM TO SHREDS. Did I think that they would be able to overpower me? No, I realised and that was what made me afraid. I knew that if a fight broke out, I would be the one to walk away, leaving their corpses in my wake. And some part of me wanted that to happen. To tear my prey to shreds. FEAST ON REALITY AND ALL WHO DWELL WITHIN.

The beast, no, the parasite wanted this to happen. But I knew that if I let it loose I wouldn't walk away from this myself. I would be reduced to a prisoner in my own body, only able to watch the outside world. Just like Sarvad.

RELEASE ME. The voices of the guards reached me but it felt like they were coming from endlessly far away. "What... happening... sickness... follower... probably desert fever... leave him to rot... not worth it."

Suddenly, a kick caught my back and I stumbled deeper into the alley, sprawling on the dusty ground. I could hear the laughter of the retreating guards. LET ME BE FREE. A burning feeling started in my heart and moved towards my claw. It began to spasm violently and ripped right through the leather strap holding it in place.

It felt like I was releasing that burning energy through my claw into the world. But right now I couldn’t deal with the consequences. A storm raged inside me, two entities fighting for control. Two distinct powers.

The first felt overwhelming and ancient. It used its massive power to crash down on its enemy like an unstoppable natural disaster, not needing any form or technique. The other was the exact opposite. Using its superior controls in the mindscape, it carefully controlled the power of the other, rerouting it and not letting it hit.

Sarvad and the parasite, both fighting for control. No matter who won, I doubted it would end well for me. Although Sarvad had been nice to me, I now realised that it had been a facade. His true self was twisted by hatred and the thirst for revenge. If he won, the consequences wouldn’t be any better than the parasite winning.

Both of the beings fighting in the mind scape wanted to control my life. To use me for their own ends and then discard me. No. This life was mine and I wouldn't waste it by dancing to the whims of others. Not now and not ever.

Placing both hands beneath me I pushed myself into a kneeling position. Both the flow of energy from my claw and the voices in my head seemed to slightly diminish. It was barely noticeable, but it was an improvement.

'Deep breaths. One in, one out, one in, one out...' Pushing myself further I placed one foot beneath me and tried to stand up. My balance was a complete mess and my claw dug into the sandstone of the house next to me. The energy didn't stop and instead started to flow into the material of the house. Another couple of breaths.

I was in control of this body. For now. But the hardest challenge was yet to come. The mindscape was a war zone, fought over by two beings who both needed to lose for me to win. No, not to win but to survive. I had to go in and reinstate control.

I took a deep breath before closing my eyes and focusing on the mindscape. This would be the second time I was there. Hopefully, it would also be the last.