The Forged Order took their injured soldiers back to the city of Luva. They were still going to continue the mission, but we were not going to make it to the hill on time.

Meanwhile the rest of us moved to the farmers home bringing the Nightmare’s corpse with us. Inside we saw the remnants of what was once a happy family. Surrounding a large hand-crafted table were three chairs. One quite smaller than the others. Splashes of blood and deep thin claw marks covered the stone walls. Clothes and toys had been ripped apart deliberately.

We placed the body of the Skinwalker on the table, and by we I meant my teammates as my broken hand made it difficult to help.

Professor Liraca began to examine the house, sifting through the belongings.

“Whatcha doing Professor?” Melanie asked.

“Please Miss Melanie, speak with some decorum,” the tall professor said, picking up a blood stained dress with two fingers.

Vit gave a slight nod to her words.

“Miss Lady Professor Liraca, may I have the honor of knowing about your current actions?”

The professor raised an eyebrow.

“I will let that go,” she said with an even voice. “I am looking for information on the family that was killed here, and also making sure all of you see what monsters like that are capable of.”

She moved to the parents bedroom and started to look through drawers.

Meanwhile the rest of us turned to the Nightmare oozing blood on the table.

“So Monty, you are going to Dismantle that thing?” Elina asked, her voice oddly neutral.

“No, I will dissect it normally. That gives me the best information to add to my Dismantle Wit.”

“I for one, do not wish to watch that. So I’ll help the professor,” Melanie said a grimace on her face.

“When I was training in the royal palace we often dissected Nightmares. It was a part of our training. The act may seem distasteful to some, but for us to properly prepare for the dangers below the Core Layer we must be knowledgeable about our enemies. I myself have great hopes for young Monty here,” Professor Liraca said, a small stack of papers in her hands.

“Uh, sure then, I’ll watch,” Melanie relented, though she didn’t sound happy.

“Professor, what are those?” Vit asked.

“The deeds to the property, a marriage registration, a will, some old love letters, birth certificates, and a few receipts. There are always copies of these for anyone working in this dangerous environment in case the worst happens. However, I would prefer if no one takes advantage of this tragedy to steal.”

“I have a question.”

“Yes Miss Moda?”

“Why would they even raise a child here? Maybe in the city it would be safer, but even then this is the Second Layer,” Elina asked, a pained look on her face as she stared at the papers.

“Complacency. Even in a dangerous environment such as this people can still get complacent. They forget that they are only human in this world filled with monsters. Also the pay is good.”

There was a lull in the conversation so I spoke up.

“Are you all sure you wish to watch? I know it can be uncomfortable for some.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“You need a strong stomach to be a good Dreamer,” the professor said.

I guess that was that then.

Hesitantly I opened my bag. I hadn’t been upkeeping Toolkit enough for it to still be functional, my time instead spent crafting books for Nightmares.

What would they be thinking as they watched me? Fear? Revulsion? …Understanding? My free hand closed over my watch. Breathe in for five seconds, hold for three, release over five seconds.

If after this they were repulsed by me… then I was thankful for the time we spent together. I was thankful for having friends for the first time in my life.

“Monty?” Elina asked, her voice soft.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I am just thinking.”

“Oh, alright, take your time.”

She must have thought I was talking about the Nightmare. Taking a final deep breath I delve into my Dreamscape, bringing the Skinwalker book to the Dismantle Room once again. The blurry form on the Skinwalker appeared on the operating table, its insides empty of definition. That would soon be remedied. On the bookshelf next to the desk appeared the books Human, and Injuries, their knowledge easily at hand, while the desk had a copy of the Skinwalker book. The wall with posters were mostly empty, outside of a few images reminiscent of the fight we just went through, and the display stands had very little on them.

Now I was ready.

Stepping up to the Nightmares body I first took measurements.

“Subject’s height is six foot two, due to extended abdomen the waist is fifty-two inches around. Note that with the thinness of the rest of the Skinwalker this makes the abdomen stand out a lot. The arms go half-way down the thigh, meaning that the length of the subjects arms grew once the skin was shed. Note, tests will need to be done to see if the film on the Skinwalker automatically connects to skin, and if the arms will shrink if skin is put back on.”

“Monty-” Vit began.

“Shh,” The professor cut in.

“I know, with the film and skin being damaged as they are it will be very hard to test that,” I reassured Vit.

I finished taking the measurements, detailing the information in my Skinwalker book.

“Subject’s eyes are now completely black, compared to when subject was wearing its victims skin. One eye has been badly damaged due to blunt force trauma to the head, but we can examine the other eye and see if it is due to its unique anatomy or the Nightmares ability. No genetalia is visible. Though it may have it internally, reproduce in another way, or use the victims own genetalia in lieu of not having one.”

I heard a gagging noise from behind me and froze. Nobody made a sound for several moments and I continued, moving on to a different part. My neck too stiff to look back at them.

“Both claws and teeth are retractable,” I said slowly, no noise from behind. So that was okay to talk about. “This is evident from when the victims' teeth and nails popped out once the Nightmare attacked. Further examination is needed to see how that is done.”

I then stared at the Nightmare’s body for several minutes, adding details of its looks and scent to my book. Some blank spots were there from the injuries it sustained through combat, but the Nightmares outside proportions were well filled out now.

“I will now begin the dissection. As I found out earlier the subjects extremities are similar to a humans anatomically, however I would like to examine the claws first… running just above the extensor tendons of the hand there is a tube like muscle that holds the retractable claws. The claws are also held under the extensor hood and have and additional band holding them down on the distal phalange. The claws themselves are between seven and eight inches long but only half of that is actually past the fingertips. I will now stress test the claws.”

Using a small clamp I bent the claw back and forth. Unsurprisingly they were quite flexible, after that I tried to cut into them with my scalpel. Then I grabbed a leather jacket that was on a nearby hanger.

“They are harder than bone, but much more flexible. The claws are able to cut through a leather jacket with ease, but not as much as I was expecting. This means that they also rely on the strength of the Nightmare to aid in the effectiveness of the claws.”

With a few cuts of my scalpel I took the claws from one of the Nightmare’s hands. Placing them off to the side.

“Moving onto the torso I will begin to extricate the vital organs of the Nightmare, examine its spine and attempt to find the differences between this Nightmare and a human. Despite having no abdominal muscles the Nightmare had still been able to walk and bend normally enough. This may indicate supplemental muscles on the sides and back, or possibly being behind the protruding stomach of the Skinwalker.”

Excavating the insides of the Nightmare was rather easy compared to the first time I did it on a human. It had a heart, lungs, and a stomach, that was it. There were actually supplemental muscles on the sides that acted as large bands wrapping from the Nightmare’s back to its pelvis. I don’t think that was enough for it to be abdominal replacements however.

I once again forced myself to not look behind me as I moved to its stomach. The Forged Order soldier said this was what was left of the family that lived in this house. This would make the other uncomfortable, but I wanted to know.

“I will now examine the stomach and the victims’ remains.”