There was still so much to learn about this Skinwalker, such as what looked to be secondary muscles for the middle and ring finger that allowed for a dexterity humans did not have. Or the fact that the overall height of the Skinwalker was taller than he was while wearing the farmers skin.

But something had a grip on my attention ever since we stepped foot into the house. The torn clothing and destroyed toys, the claw marks running down the walls. These were deliberate, not the remnants of a struggle.

I want to see why, and the only clue was inside the Nightmare's belly. The tension behind me was like a physical force. They were not going to like this next part.

The huge stomach was as heavy as it was large, and took quite a bit of effort to move alone.

I tried to run my blade down the Nightmare's stomach, but it was more durable than its muscles had been. Was that to cover for the organ being so exposed? A necessity for the stomach to be able to digest large foods? Was one of its powers tied to its stomach? Perhaps it could only wear the skin of someone it ate.

So many questions, a part of me wishes it was still alive so I could question it, do tests on it. But I do not have the power to hold the Nightmare. Another time, there will always be Nightmares.

"The stomach is extremely durable, more so than leather… a bigger blade would be better, but its still possible if I channel Intent through the blade."

I took a step to the side and began to cut my way through the stomach. Stomach acid poured onto the ground. A sour but also spicy scent of rotten eggs permeated the room.

Bones followed the fluid. Human bones. I let the stomach acid drain completely before I examined them.

I was quickly able to separate the bones into three piles. One pile was the easiest, the childs. I had to confirm with the pelvic bones for the adults, but once I identified the female pelvis I was able to seperate those as well.

The reason I could seperate them so easily was their different stages of being dissolved.

The man's was the oldest, only small shards of bone. The woman's was next, looking like it had been smoothed out thoroughly with sand paper

Last was the child's. It looked as though the child had been eaten that very day, only just showing signs of being dissolved.

"They were eaten in the order of man, woman then child. Eating the man first makes sense. It is his skin the Nightmare wore, but why is there such a large gap between the woman and child?"

I heard gagging from behind me. The smell, the sight of a child's bones, the fluid dripping onto the floor. To them it must have been disgusting, inhumane. To me it was facinating.

"One. The child was kept as a food source. I do not know the nutritional requirements of a Skinwalker nor the digestive rate of its stomach. Based on its size alone I would say the Nightmare was well fed."

"Two. The child offered some benefit to the Nightmare, so it kept the child alive."

"Three, unknown reasons."

I moved away from the table and walked around the house. In the childs room I saw even more destruction. Broken bedframe, torn pillow, and human waste.

The child had been kept alive. That was key. It was a type three according to the Forged Order. Malicious, hungry for blood. That was why it fled toward the city instead of the wilds. That was why it attacked them despite the overwhelming numbers.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

So why was a child kept like a prisoner for days?

I put myself in the Skinwalkers shoes. I am a Nightmare, I am malicious, I am hungry for blood, but I am also intelligent.

My nature is to sneak into human civilization, kill victims and wear their skin. Then I would slowly slaughter the people around me, until my true nature was eventually revealed.

The Nightmare acted against that nature in two cases. One was when it revealed itself to me on its own. The other was keeping the boy alive.

We are lacking information… and so was the Nightmare.

The Nightmare knew what Dreamers were, but it did not know who the Forged Order were.

It was not born intrinsically with knowledge on human civilization and culture, it needed to learn.

I walked back to the table.

"I have a hypothesis. First the Nightmare killed and wore the skin of the father. The smart thing to do from there would be to return to this house, faking an injury of some kind that will have the wife and child be more worried than suspect. The Skinwalker used this time to learn as much as possible. However eventually it failed, and it then killed the mother. The mother was older, wiser, and harder to contain. So the Nightmare killed her, keeping the child alive. It then began to learn from the child, and likely had the goal of convincing the child that he was not a monster before killing the kid as well."

"Quite the hypothesis. How did you come up with it?" Professor Liraca asks.

The question seems fake for some reason, but I answer it anyways.

"Because it is what I would do in its place."

I turned to look behind me. Now that the itch has been scratched I was relaxed enough to look at the others.

Professor Liraca had a placid look on her face, as though nothing bothered her.

Vit, despite his best efforts, has his nose scrunched.

Melanie was openly cringing, a look of complete disgust.

Elina had a blank look on her face, but it still looked like she was about to be sick.

I pushed forward regardless.

"But there is still one thing I am puzzled over. Why did the Nightmare expose itself at all? Did it think it could kill the entire Forged Order squad as well as the four of us? Was that just an aspect of its malicious nature? Is it because this Nightmare species has a particular desire to kill Dreamers? Or was it because wearing the skin of a Dreamer is beneficial to it?"

My eyes were on Elina's and she shivered. I didn't mean to scare her. I was just curious why the Skinwalker wanted to wear her skin. Physical power wise she is the strongest. Perhaps her attacks on the Carvini Cabbage left an impression.

Her eyes left mine, uncomfortable.

"To answer your question, it's the latter. Just as we Dreamers have conditions for our Wits, the Nightmares can also have conditions for their abilities. A Skinwalker can use the Wit of the Dreamers skin they wear. They don't have the knowledge of the Wits incatricies as far as we know, but for someone like Miss Moda, that is not necessary. However, Skinwalkers are rather rare, so it does not occur often."

"I need that Nightmare's skin," I said immediately.

How does the Nightmare's skin bind to its victims? How does that allow access to a Wit? Is it purely Intent based? Does it work after death?

Can I slap a piece of my skin over a piece of the Nightmare's and then I'd have a miniature Dismantle in my pocket?

Can I stitch multiple Dreamer skins onto a Skinwalker and they'll be able to use all of their abilities?

I finished dissecting the Nightmare, each piece of information added to my Skinwalker book.

I wrapped the claws, as well as a few of the bones in leather and put them in my pack to bring them back with me. Putting my pack on we exited the home of a dead family.

The Forged Order met up with us a little later, now with two missing members and a newly armored Champion.

Looking into the eyes of the soldiers, especially the new ones, I saw resolve, anger, fear. I wonder if those new emotions would help or hinder our group. Emotions were volatile things.

Line Sergeant Brightstrike with his incatrite battered armor stepped forward.

"My guys told me about the battle. I would like to thank you young ones for stepping up despite the danger. Im glad to see that you all are the types not to flee to save your own lives. My men have resupplied at the city but we will not make the time hack for this mission. If you all are okay with it we should head out."

What was a time hack? And I wasn't too sure about the fleeing part.

"Professor what about- where'd the papers go?" Elina asked.

The professor's hands were now empty and she had a playful smile tug at her lips.

"At the city obviously. Let us go."