Under the cover of darkness, Davis and Skye lay low, huddled among the bushes, keeping a close watch on the patch of land connected to the flowing water.

Skye barked softly, "What are we looking for, Dad?" She slumped onto her front paws, her eyes squinting slightly as she continued to look for any sign of life.

Lying on his stomach, Davis replied, "I’ve got no idea either, but he told us to keep watch." He sighed, letting his head slump forward out of pure tiredness. "We’re going to be here for a while."

As they continued their seemingly aimless stakeout, neither noticed the fog slowly starting to roll in, thickening around them. Unbeknownst to them, a monster would soon rear its head.

Meanwhile, K sat across from the bartender, both smirking in anticipation as they watched two groups of men arguing intensely. The argument was growing more heated with each passing second, much to K's delight.

"Funny, isn’t it?" K glanced at the bartender before continuing. "They were happily drinking a few minutes ago, and now they're at each other's throats."

The bartender chuckled brightly. "It’s more common than you think, sir. They always fight over something. It's almost become a tradition at this point."

"You have to admit, it’s a good one!" K joked, pointing at him.

Before the bartender could respond, a man was suddenly hurled across the counter, knocking the bartender out and clearing the bar.

K still staring blankly at the bartender's last position, then giggled. "He didn’t say no." He grabbed his cup and turned back to enjoy the spectacle.

Leaning comfortably against the counter, K sipped his booze, thoroughly entertained as he watched the chaos unfold. What started as a scuffle between two groups of men quickly escalated into a full-blown brawl, with even the unaffiliated patrons joining in, turning the tavern into a free-for-all.

As K observed, a man was flung onto the chair next to him. K turned to him, a playful smile on his face. "My friend, care for a drink?" he offered. The man struggled to get up, but before he could, he was knocked out cold by a punch from another brawler.

"Great shot," K complimented, raising his cup in a mock toast to the man who had thrown the punch. The brawler paused, turning his attention to the nonchalant K.

Suddenly, he lunged at K with a heavy jab. K leaned back, dodging it just in time, but the motion caused his booze to splash into his opponent's eyes, temporarily blinding him. In a frenzied state, the man stumbled around, and K jokingly tripped him, sending him crashing to the ground where he remained motionless.

K looked up to see that more of them had noticed him, advancing with the assumption that he was easy prey. "Time to have some fun," K chuckled, rising to his feet and joining the fray.

Back on the mountain, Davis was beginning to doze off, while beside him, Skye was already fast asleep. The fog had fully enveloped the area, yet nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Davis yawned, his vision blurring and his body growing restless as sleep began to overtake him.

Ah*

A piercing scream shattered the silence, jolting them both awake. They turned towards the river but saw nothing. As they stood up, they finally noticed how unnaturally thick the fog had become, so dense that they could barely see anything around them.

"Skye, can you see anything?" Davis asked, his eyes darting through the thick white fog, but there was nothing in sight.

"No, I can’t smell, see, or hear anything since that scream," Skye replied, her senses heightened. The bluish stripe on her fur grew more prominent, a clear sign she was ready to shift into her battle form.

They stood back-to-back, tense and alert, but there was nothing—no sound except for the chirping of mountain insects, no movement at all. Carefully, they began to inch toward the grassy clearing.

They didn’t dare search for whatever was out there, uncertain of what it was or how to fight it. Suddenly, a male voice echoed from the direction of the river, desperate and pleading. "Help me, please… ANYONE!"

As usual, Davis quickly rushed in the direction of the voice, with Skye close behind. But despite their thorough search, they found nothing. they focused on the sound of his scream, and they realized it wasn’t coming from the river but from across it.

Even after pinpointing the direction, Davis still couldn’t see anything through the unnatural fog. "Skye, get as low to the ground as you can. I’m going to clear the air around us," Davis said, his voice serious and his hand on his blade handle, electricity crackled around his body, growing more intense by the second.

Lightning God's Sword Technique, Second Form: Sweeping Storm*

He leaped into the air and swung his blade in a circular motion, sending a lightning-infused slash through the air. The energy cleared the fog around them, revealing the man.

The man was half-submerged in the river, slowly sinking deeper. Pure terror was etched across his face. Though he struggled physically against the water, his submerged body seemed paralyzed, unable to break free.

The man’s fear was palpable as he looked at Davis with his terrified eyes. His lips trembled, and tears streamed down his cheeks as he cried out, "Please, help me!" But as his body sank further, he desperately tried to shout again.

"Please help me get off this h—" His words were cut off, replaced by a gurgling sound as the river water reached his nose, leaving only air bubbles behind.

Determined, Davis channeled his power. Using the sharp edges of rocks that were slightly sticking out of the river, he leaped across the river, his enhanced speed propelling him over the rushing water. But he fell just short, crashing into the river instead of landing on the other side.

Davis was prepared, raising his blade into a defensive stance as he slowly backed toward the shore. On the other side, Skye barked loudly, her heart racing with fear as she watched him crash into the river. The fog around them began to dissipate, as if by magic.

When Davis finally reached land, he was gasping for breath, his heart pounding in his chest. He had faced monsters since he was young and knew fear intimately, but this was different.

It wasn’t the fear of an enemy he could see or understand—it was the fear of the unknown, something he couldn’t identify or predict. When his breathing steadied, he finally noticed the strange prints on the ground, leading into the water.

New, strange prints appeared—completely different from the ones he and K had seen before. These were handprints. As Davis followed the trail from the river, his unease grew with each step, his breath caught stuck in his throat, he hastily turned his head left and right as he walked fearing that something would jumped at him from the shadow.

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

The handprints continued far from the riverbank, spaced evenly apart, almost as if some creature with four hands instead of feet had crawled along. What unsettled him even more was that the prints were identical to human hands. As they approached the river, the handprints grew smaller and smaller.

It was as if the skin and flesh had gradually peeled away, leaving behind only bone. The final print before the creature entered the water looked exactly like a skeletal human hand—four of them, moving in unison like an animal.

"K is going to enjoy hearing about this discovery!" Davis murmured as he dumbfoundedly stared at the prints.

In the lively tavern, K stood alone among the bruised, battered, and injured bodies scattered across the floor. "Stop! We’re the Celestia knig—” Three people clad in Celestia enforcer uniforms burst through the door, cutting their words short as they took in the scene.

Their gazes locked onto K, who was casually walking back to his chair and pouring himself another drink. "You two, check on the others. I’ll handle him," commanded a female knight, her crimson hair and fiery red eyes exuding authority.

She approached him and took a seat beside him, her tone stern. "Sir, I’m from the knight order responsible for the safety of this town’s people." She slid her sigil across the table. "Would you mind answering a few questions, Sir?"

K downed his drink, brushing his hair back with a practiced ease. He turned to her with his usual demeanor and a charming smile. "Sweetheart, I wouldn’t dream of ignoring such an attractive gal like yourself."

The knight maintained a professional front, though she couldn’t entirely ignore the allure of his smile. "Sir, what is going on here?" she asked, her duty taking precedence over her reactions.

K gestured casually around the room. "As you can see, everyone was just enjoying a pleasant evening. Suddenly, they had the bright idea to start a little friendly, safe, and well-organized game of who going to wake up in the medical center first."

She glanced from his innocent smile to the chaos around them. "This is 'safe'?"

K chuckled and leaned in closer. "It could’ve been a lot worse," he replied with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Say now darling, since it is fate that brought us together, would you mind telling me your gorgeous name?"

The knight firmly denied his advance. "I’m sorry, Sir. But, I’m currently working right now." She then got up and continued questioning him. "And how come you’re the only one who is fine?"

K giggles, "What can I say? I’m one lucky son of a gun!" He continued sipping his cup, his eye never leaving the female knight's face.

She listened intently to K’s account, taking meticulous notes. "So, you’re claiming you have no involvement in this entire scuffle?" she asked, pointing her pen at him as she awaited his response.

K responded quickly, his expression one of innocent detachment. "Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a scuffle, but yes, madam. You have my word!" He added a slight bow and a charming smile for good measure.

As the female captain’s subordinates helped an injured man to his feet, the man glared at K. "You bastard, you broke my nose with your elbow, you fuc—" His outburst was cut short as he was swiftly pulled away.

K stood there with an awkward smile, glancing at the female captain who smiled back at him. "Please don’t misunderstand, madam. That man is clearing isn’t in the right state of mind." As he spoke, another injured person passed by, and then another, some praising him and some cursing him for his involvement.

"Nothing to do with it, you say?" The female captain smiled at him warmly, her hand on her cuff.

"What a lovely night this is, don’t you agree, darling?" K swiftly changed the subject, turning his head away with a dramatic flair. "Let’s not dwell on the small details. I feel we’re making a real connection here. How about we leave this place and head to your place?"

She returned his smile, leaning in to take his hand and whispering, "Very well, handsome." She then led the way.

An hour later, K stood with a look of disappointment, staring at Davis from behind a metal bar with a raised brow and gaping mouth.

"How did you manage to get yourself locked up in less than four hours?" Davis asked, placing a hand on his hip, clearly unimpressed.

"I got played by a woman," K said, his gaze shifting to the female knight captain sitting on his desk, who was softly laughing at his predicament.

Davis facepalmed. "You were charged with public indecency." Hearing this, K raised his brow and shrugged. "Sounds about right."

Davis continued reading from the list of charges the female knight captain had handed him. "Assault, assault with the intent to cause injury and vandalism?" K nodded proudly. "Not to that extent but something like that…"

"Providing false statements and attempted bribery of an on-duty Celestia knight?" Davis looked up at K, his expression shifting to one of impressed disbelief.

K grinned, crossing his arms as he laughed. "I’m not sure about those last ones, but I won’t deny the others," he stated calmly, his eyes drifting to the wall as if trying to recall. "Oh, by the way, where’s Skye?" he asked, his carefree smile never fading.

"She’s waiting outside. We saw something… strange," Davis began, his voice trailing off as he recounted his entire experience to K. As he spoke, Davis realized how unbelievable his story sounded.

"Shit, so it isn’t a skinwalker or a Spirit of the Wendigo," K sighed, scratching his head as he continued ticking names off his mental list. "And it isn’t a Kappa either."

He listed a few more names, then suddenly brightened. "It couldn’t be Nessie, since this isn’t Earth." He paused and asked, "Did you hear any music or singing?"

Davis shook his head, indicating that he hadn’t.

"Yeah, I don’t know why I thought there was a Siren in a river. It could be a Yotsuya Kaidan… Nah, that can’t be right." K murmured, his hand lightly grabbing his chin as he pondered.

K grabbed the bars, leaning in to whisper to Davis. "Davis, go back to that tavern and gather information about the deceased. Try to figure out if they had any connection."

Davis, puzzled by the request, asked, "Why the tavern?"

K’s eyes shifted left and right as he explained, "That night, I caught a strong stench of alcohol on the deceased's shoes. They were worn down and old, the kind a long-distance traveler might wear. Plus, there were small wild strawberry flowers stuck to them, and this town isn’t known for growing strawberries."

"I was supposed to ask around, but I got sidetracked..." K said, hinting at his earlier misadventures. He then continued, "There’s only one tavern in town where most travelers go when they visit. If my hunch is right, the others might be outsiders too."

As Davis prepared to leave, he asked K for his final thoughts. "Are you sure about this?"

K smirked lightly and shook his head. "No, not yet. But it’s the only lead you and I have at the moment."

"Another person has died..." Davis exclaimed, frowning as he stared at the ground. "All right, I’ll see what I can find at the tavern, be back soon." He turned to leave, but something strange caught his eye in the corner of K’s cell.

"What’s going on with them?" Davis asked, flicking his chin toward the three men huddled in the corner.

K chuckled, glancing at them. The moment they saw his face, they quickly covered their own in fear. "You see... I made some new friends during my short stay in this fine establishment," K said, chuckling sinisterly as he stared them down.

Davis sighed, understanding exactly what K meant. "Just make sure not to add more charges to your record while you're in here."

K turned back to Davis and nodded innocently. "You have my word, my friend. I’ll make sure they aren’t harmed—Physically." He chuckled again and walked back to the stone slab, sitting down.

The others quickly gathered around him—one massaging his shoulder, another his leg, and the last one fanning him from the side. K shrugged at Davis, leaning back and enjoying his free massage.

Davis shook his head and turned to leave, unable to suppress a chuckle at his companion’s new "vacation spot."

"Another day, another damn story..." K muttered with a soft giggle as he exited the building. Outside, Skye was waiting patiently for him, and together, they set off toward the tavern.