I took this time to calm my mind and instincts. I cannot afford to be reckless like that ever again. That was a monumental slip-up that could have gotten me found out or even killed. I lifted the mask up off my nose and took a few greedy gulps of air. I stared into the murky water that engulfed my lower body, lost in thought as I watched the subtle ripples silently run from my being. I absentmindedly scrubbed the toxic black blood off my gloves. What would cause the normally fair-natured corpse eater to become aggressive like that?

Despite the fleeting nature of the spirit realm, entities rarely change. You know once a goblin reaches maturity its pranks will stop. You know that the elusive unicorn will run across the dream space in its final hours. You know that the proud thunderbird loves blackberries. You even know that the murderous twiggy’s will run from a mother in labor. My old common-sense dictates that this should be the case here too, yet it's not. How strange… how… strange. I started to feel some unnecessary anger well up in me, anger at the confusion and helplessness I felt.

I was the apex predator, a being few would even want to speak the name of. I was a man who had seen most of what life and death had to offer. Many great beings came to me to seek guidance. But here I was, stuck in a world where my knowledge was practically useless. I put a brake on those thoughts before they got even more pitiful. I had a certain pride in my wealth of experience that I spent many eras accumulating, but just because some of it was being challenged is not enough to throw me into pitiful wallowing.

After clearing my mind and making myself presentable, I headed back to camp. With the creature dealt with I had little concern for the safety of my patients. I only had one more matter to tend to, and that was mister red-nosed Rudolf. Though mostly immune to it, silver still hurt quite a bit, especially when someone lodges a good chunk of it into your side. Whoever created the stuff to be practically magic-proof should be stabbed repeatedly. Oh, wait… wasn’t that guy chained to a rock to get his liver pecked out? Apparently, that was a common punishment for helping mankind.

I grabbed Rudolf by his skinny neck when he rounded the corner and dragged his struggling form into the darkness of my personal tent. Here to finish the job are you? Well, too bad. With some small sleight of hand, I stabbed a scalpel into his larynx before he could cause a commotion. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at his terrified expression. I shoved him down into a chair and began our little talking session. Which contained no actual talking.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It wasn’t hard to put together that this little skinny kid was the one that stabbed me. It was pretty apparent from the massive gaping stomach wound from the smack I gave him. I slowly drew the silver dagger from my flesh where it rested. A look of realization crossed his face before I stabbed the weapon into his brand-new arm. With a satisfying *shclick* the blade parted flesh. See, not so fun now, is it? The boy’s grip on my arm tightened and his knuckles turned white as the pain consumed his mind. Instead of the normal bleeding that would happen from such a wound, the boy’s blood bubbled up and frothed out. Just as suspected, this was attached by the corpse eater. I guess it's time for amputation number two.

Unfortunately, but predictably the boy had no useful information, all except one small statement, Sir. Adle sent me. Of course, I had no doubt that this meant the Eike boy, Guillemot has proved mostly sinless and quite helpful. I wiped down the fine silver weapon in my grasp while looking at the passed-out figure by me. I had no grudge against the young man, he was but a teen, after all, I did stupidness once or twice when I was his age. This however only meant that I stayed my hand from ripping his guts out and hanging him with them.

Amputation and stitches without anesthetic probably made him wish for death though. Maybe I should get the Cleric over here so he can repent, God knows what critters he may attract with that curse coursing through his veins. A forceful donation from an unwilling corpse can bring about a nasty curse. Hmm, maybe I should take him along to the siege, he could be a runner for my apprentice and me. That would firmly place him in my presence until his predicament is figured out.

I tossed the last of my equipment on the cart. Because of a shortage of anesthesia, I had to run back home to make some more. This and the fact I spent two days hunting Eike’s corpse put us a few days behind schedule. However, this wasn’t all that bad, all that extra time allowed my student to gather a healthy amount of blood for plasma. I thanked the couple of soldiers that helped me transfer some of the tools from my tent and made myself comfortable before grabbing the reins. It was going to be a long ride, about one and a half days if we forgo stopping to rest.

I drew my notebook from my inner pocket and went over the directions Guillemot had given me. In about five miles heading northward there was a primitive highway, and about ten miles down it will be a crossroads, take the left path. In about half a day will be a subsidiary road that will lead to an adjacent trade route. From there it would be smooth sailing. Guillemot also mentioned something about a gang capturing the trade route. Apparently, the kingdom had its hands full with the war and could not spare the soldiers to eradicate the pests.