After a bit of convincing, mainly using force, Brax came along, following behind Rafe as he walked through the busy ‘streets’ of the fortress. After a short while, they appeared at a secluded spot in the corner of the fortress; Scarlet’s spot.

“Scarlet”

Slowly, the beautiful red-haired woman turned her head to face him.

“Rafe. And…Brax?”

‘How the hell does she do that?’ Rafe scratched his head.

“Look…I think Merl might have been err…murdered. If he was, the killer could be after my patrol team, for whatever reason, so I need Brax to take a look at the body”

After hearing Rafe out, Scarlet pondered for a second before answering.

“Alright. We were going to cremate him after the examination so he’s resting in the empty lodge near mine”

‘That was…quick’

Rafe wasn’t complaining.

‘Empty lodge near Scarlet’s? Oh, the one opposite. Well, alright’

“Let’s go, Brax. Thank you, Scarlet. I’ll keep you updated”

She smiled.

“Alright, Rafe. Stay safe”

At that, Rafe and Brax headed to the other side of the fortress, right towards the empty lodging. Well, not empty anymore.

Looking at Scarlet’s lodging, it was oddly small, for such an important guard. Perhaps that’s simply how she wanted it, since Rafe doubted the guards would be that crude to put her in such a small space. In fact, it was smaller than the group’s room. Though, it was for a single person.

The lodging opposite was quite run-down. Scarlet’s was also a little worn but had seen some kind of refurbishment, however this one was beyond saving.

‘No wonder no one moved in. Well…that and having Scarlet opposite. Bound to attract attention’

The wooden door had cracks all over it, allowing the repugnant aroma of a corpse to squeeze through. How was Scarlet coping with that? It was the most vile odour in the whole damned North.

Brax spat, irritated by the repulsive smell. However, he was too intrigued by the mystery to be put off that easily. And by now, due to the nature of his ability, he was coping a lot better with this kind of work.

“Just open the damned door” he said.

Rafe pushed the wooden door, almost taking it off it’s rusty hinges. This place really was ramshackle.

With that, the corpse of the late Merl was revealed, lying on a wooden table with a single burning candle by his side. Scarlet had likely left that candle, it was the best one could do to send off an old friend, with how rare candles were in this odd world.

“Get to it” Rafe said.

Brax spat at getting ordered around. Of course, he was going to do it anyway, so why bother telling him what to do? Damaging his pride.

‘Obnoxious bastard’ Brax cursed.

Slowly, he approached the sturdy wooden table that held up the late Merl. Each small step left behind a loud creak, some even causing the wooden floor beneath to snap, causing a small eruption of splinters. Brax ignored it, simply staring at the corpse, analysing.

‘Looks like a suicide every which way. But what kind of demonic bastard would do that to themselves? Had you become a cultist, my friend? One of the demonics? Probably poked those little eyes of yours out to become one with the darkness. How grim’

As he arrived at the self-mutilated corpse, Brax reached his hand out, grasping Merl’s cold, pale hand. It was time to look into the mind of the dead. Revigour- his ability to awaken the mind and take a step inside. But he couldn’t last long, so he had to make every second count, finding whatever clues he could to this damned mystery.

“Ack” Brax winced. That was the sign he had activated his ability, hit with a terribly painful headache.

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Suddenly, his sight fell silent, then reawakened in a strange place of existence, if there was any existence at all. It seemed as though he was floating through a gap in space, drifting through endlessly, towards nothing, towards no end, as though every point in space existed in this one spot, and simultaneously didn’t. As though everything and nothing had become something.

Brax was used to this plain of existence now, and he couldn’t waste time wandering, it was time to dive inside Merl’s memories. At that thought, a glimmer of light appeared like a miniature star in his hand, and he closed his eyes, exiting this existence, and entering a new one.

Automatically, he’d end up at the most recent memories of the person’s mind he dove into, and that was exactly where he needed to be.

“Arghhh…stop. Stop. Stop. stopstopstopstop” he yelled. His voice seemed deeper, and more hoarse. Indeed, this was Merl.

‘What in every hell is this?’ Brax winced inwardly.

Every sensation of Merl had become his own, and now, he was about to find himself in agony, the moment those sensation linked up to him.

‘Arghhhh…gods’ Brax attempted to shout, but no words could escape him in this state.

Hellish burning caressed his entire body, boiling water seemingly dripping from every wound. It felt as though his skin had been ripped off, cell by cell, as fire was rinsed over every wound; he’d been skinned. As Merl looked down, Brax with him, his face warped with horror, his skin looking like charcoal, as though he had gained obsidian scales.

Suddenly, a blood-stained blade appeared before his weeping eye, held by nothing at all, no culprit, and it was inching towards him bit by bit. Tears flooded his face, only causing more pain over the skinless, charred flesh. It was as though he was feeding his own suffering.

Each second, the viscious, mistempered blade got larger, nearing in to his eye until it was piercing a small hole into it.

Pop.

“Arghhhhhhh” Brax yelled with all his might.

In that moment, he jumped right out of Merl’s mind. What kind of psychopath would do that to someone. Not even Brax was that warped, and he was nowhere near a sane man.

Even outside of the memory, he could still feel the burning sensation of the skin, the boiling water that streamed down it, and the feeling of his entire body being torn apart and resculpted by the ferocious fire.

“I want no fucking part of this any longer” Brax shouted at Rafe, slamming his fist on the table.

Rafe seemed confused. Just what the hell had happened in there?

“Skinned. Burned. Boiled like a fucking meal. Stabbed in the damned eye. Whoever this psychopath is, I don’t want them after me. You’re on your own, bastard” Brax stormed out the room before Rafe could get a word in.

Confused, Rafe walked up to the body of his former patrol leader, now just another corpse added to the pile of dead guards.

‘Skinned? Burned? But there’s no signs of any of that?’ Rafe scratched the back of his head.

‘Just what the hell is this?’

Rafe brushed his fingers through his messy white hair, frustrated.

Brax was telling the truth.

Just how the hell could that be possible? Someone being skinned alive, burned alive; all of it. And yet, no signs of it. What the hell could that even be? In what dimension of reality could that even exist damn it.

This was a big deal, and one head alone couldn’t do it. Yet, anyone he asked for help would end up in danger as well. But…were they not in danger already? There’s no proof it’s only Rafe’s patrol team they’re after.

With all these thoughts clashing in his head, he walked out of the lodging. What on earth could he do? On Earth, huh? Right. Anything was possible here; even getting skinned while having all your skin intact; even being burned alive with no signs of it.

‘What if its an abi-’

Thud.

Back at Ryu’s lodging, Brax was stressing out, his mind all over the place. What kind of demon did this?

‘Body was intact. Is that right? Yes…I’m sure of it. But he has memories of being skinned…’ Brax shivered remembering the agony, ‘Then there’s only one answer. Of course. An illusion ability. Which of the guards have that?’

Brax paced around the large room, an inkless quiver in his hand. For some insane reason, after not only witnessing but feeling that terror, he was determined to pin down the culprit.

‘But I can’t let them find out I’m trying to damn it’

Which meant he couldn’t have any contact with their potential targets, such as Rafe. But perhaps Scarlet? Perhaps she would help, and if they did it in Ryu’s lodging, where only important guards could enter, they’d be safe, right? And Scarlet would agree because it’s her old friend that’s been killed.

‘Yes. This should work’ Brax smiled demonically, though a little worry hid behind that smile. He had no idea how this illusion ability would work. Is physical contact required? Do they need to be unconscious for it to activate? How long can they hold it? Must be enough for a strong-willed character like Merl to give in to suicide. How do the illusions work? They can’t bloom from nothing. Past memories? No…Merl had never been tortured in such a manner. Then…the wielder’s imagination? It had to be. Which made things so much worse, considering the wielder was a straight psychopath.

‘Damn it all’ Brax cursed, snapping the quiver in half.

As the shattered fragments of the innocent quiver strook the clean, sturdy wooden ground of Ryu’s lodging, Rafe awoke.

“Arghh” he felt incredibly dizzy, and he felt something going haywire within him. As he looked around, everything was dark and he couldn’t make a single thing out. Suddenly, he head heavy breathing right behind him, feeling the warm breath striking the back of his neck.

‘The killer? I’m…so fucked’ Rafe’s thoughts were all over the place. Had he been drugged? Why did he feel like this?

“Why won’t it work dammit!” a deep voice cursed. It wasn’t familiar at all; Rafe had no idea who this was. And so…that begged the question of why he should be targeted. Why?

If he didn’t know the person, where could they have gained a grudge against him?

At that moment, the strange thing in his brain that seemed to be going insane made sense.