Atychis was standing over a dying girl thumping his foot. Arms crossed and leaning forward with his helmet, that covered his entire face, down to the girl that was pooling blood. He thought of eating her right then. But curiosity got the better of him. He had been alone attending to his master’s duty for the better part of a year and not had an intelligent conversation in ages. His duty was to hunt and kill all that opposed his master. On the other hand, he was still hungry. The goblins did give him a snack, but he knew he had to feed again to control his hunger. That ravenous hunger that threatened to undo him if it ever took too much hold. She was also the target, so had to die anyways. All he had to do was look through her thoughts and determine if she wasn’t from this realm… or as his master calls it dimension. If she was then kill her on sight. But Atychis already knew she wasn’t from here. Her surface dreams he could look into, and he found strange things. Buildings taller than clouds, metal beasts floating in air, men in strange suits and getting into metal carriages that fluttered away by themselves.

He debated and pondered what to do. It only took two minutes for him to conclude that he would eat her after a pleasant conversation. Something he would later regret to decide. She was nearly dead now because of her missing foot, now a stump, gushing blood onto the jungle floor. He bandaged and cauterized her foot with the aid of a sleep and fire spell. He then looked over to the worg he had shot in the heart. Its mouth was open with a tongue hanging out. Flies already were buzzing near the dripping saliva. He decided this would be her food. He took out the bolt, blood squirted out of the wound, and carried it as well as the girl on the same shoulder. The worg’s blood oozed on her as he walked to find somewhere safe to set camp. After hours of walking and some clairvoyance spells Atychis found a cave. He got to work to build a fire. After some time gathering wood and leaves for a bed for the human girl. He roasted the worg over a fire after he built a rotisserie for it. He set aside his prized crossbow and slowly turned the worg, careful not to burn it. Then after a couple of hours, well into nightfall, the human girl started to mutter and awaken. Atychis could now read her mind much more clearly and was able to watch and listen from her perspective as she woke up.

The first thing Atychis noticed was her sense of smell. The odor of black smoke and burned fur for her was terrible. Next was the dull throbbing pain from their right ankle, intense, dull, and prickly. She decided to lay there for quite some time, at first not remembering who they were or how they ended up lying on a pile of thick leaves and grass. They felt a permeating chill from the faintly damp cave floor underneath them. The haze of deep sleep faded, and clearer and specific thoughts came streaming. She remembered her name was Sam and that she was being chased by didn’t’ remember what was chasing her. She also remembered climbing a tree. Which is true. Atychis had seen her foot get ripped apart when the worg climbed the tree to eat her.

Then she opened her eyes and she saw that the ceiling was a dark bone grey with large boulders jutting out like teeth and flesh. The orange and red light from a fire behind her cast a black shadow of the skewered worg slowly turning. It was strange to see it turn from her perspective, but Atychis kept turning it trying not to make it aware that he knew she was awake. The four stubs from broken off legs became black rising mountains on the cave ceiling before disappearing and reappearing on the other side. The firelight came from her feet, and she felt the warmth then intense burning. Perhaps he had placed her too near the fire because Back Sam jolted upright and ripped her feet away. Well… foot. Atychis then realized that she had felt the fire on all her toes. He experienced feeling her toes as well and her confusion and despair on seeing that she only had one foot.

She heard the turning of the worg and saw him who was effortlessly turning the cooking beast with one arm while sitting down. Atychis saw that he looked massive compared to her sight of him. She couldn’t tell how large he was, but his hand was next to the skull of the worg, and it was the same size. He heard her think about if he could squeeze the worgs head like a fruit. He glanced at it and he probably could. He then heard her think about his apparel, plate shoulders, a red and white tabard with a strange symbol near the center of the chest, a thick leathery belt that shined in the firelight, tough looking leather boots, all of it looking well-kept with the occasional splatter of blood. Face was completely hidden under his polished helmet. She was confused about the helmet because there was no visor and just smooth metal. The firelight danced across the surface and almost made it sparkle. She didn’t know that Atychis could see underneath the magical helmet, but she felt like she being watched by him despite. Atychis noted that she was rather intelligent because he was observing her every move, thought, and feeling.

            “Your awake. It took you a day and a half to manage such victory.” Atychis turned his fiery helmet back to the roasting beast. His voice was deep and haunting in Sam’s mind.

“Who are you?” Was what Sam could muster. Shaky but intelligible.

“A hunter first. Your savior second. You may not remember well but I shot this worg to stop it from eating you… I was not fully successful.” He gestured to Sam’s right leg. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He said flatly. He then lifted the entire worg out of the fire with one arm. Sam could see the trunk of muscle briefly underneath as the Ogre lifted the skewer. Then taking a carving knife and some leaves, he cut out small chunks of meat from the worg. The diced chunks of meat looked neat and pathetically small compared to the massive hand and knife that carved them.

Atychis placed the meat onto some leaves. Then reaching over to the cave wall where his crossbow was leaning. Sam thought it looked thick, deadly, and noticed the distinct bronze scope. Atychis felt a sense of pride that the girl was afraid of the weapon. But such feelings were childish, and he threw them out as quickly as they came. He took the end of the unloaded crossbow and used it to slide the meal over to Sam until, from her perspective, it was an arm’s reach away. The middle section was almost as thick as Sam’s waist.

Sam was hesitant, but the smell made her stomach grumble, and she quickly took it and ate like an animal. It tasted terrible. Atychis was able to observe more of her thoughts as she ate. Being unable to know which plants she was able to eat. Hearing distant howls in the jungle at night. Trying to make her own clothes out of vines and leaves. Trying to find water. He began to empathize with this poor creature named Sam. Like a lost pup trying to live without its mother. She paused and looked up at him.

“Are you going to eat as well?”

The question disturbed Atychis. He remembered that she had no idea what was going to eventually happen. Perhaps it had been a mistake to keep her alive this long.

“I don’t eat Worg.” His voice was low and rumbled.

He heard her think it was odd that he wasn’t eating and had many thoughts to explain this. From culture to the taste, but none about her being eaten. Shen then set this wonder aside and focused on his helmet. It made her very curious.

“It looks like you can see out from your helmet. How?” Sam asked genuinely. It had been bothering them since they woke up. It must be magic or a see-through alloy. Sam prayed that this question was a common one. It wasn’t. Nobody had the chance to ask him.

“It’s enchanted that way.”

There was a long silence. Sam wasn’t sure what to do. She was glad that he was answering questions, but she thought that he was reserved and careful not to say too much and wondered if she was being tested. Atychis was curious with her thought process. All the theories she was able to cram into only seconds of time. She was clearly an intelligent individual. Or perhaps he hadn’t seen such intelligence for such a long time.

“May I see your face stranger?”

“No.” She thought his tone wasn’t unfriendly, but it was troubling. There was a much longer pause this time.

“Is that why you don’t want to eat? Because you would have to take off your helmet?” Atychis looked at Sam for several long moments. The thought came along with the question, and he wasn’t able to prepare an answer. He never spoke any thought that just came to him and always had to phrase his words carefully. Now wasn’t any different. He thought about his current situation with his master and the old empire that he overthrew. Atychis was a high ranking officer in the old empire, he dare not think it’s name, and had been turned into an undead.

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“Yes. You small folk do not see someone like people like me. It is better for me to hide my face. There was a time that I wasn’t a monster to them, but those times have passed. We both changed for the worse. Becoming monsters in the process.” Trogon, his master, made no reservations about not trusting Atychis. He was able to know this by reading his mind. Something Trogon didn’t know that he had learned. He found himself drifting his gaze to the fire. He had been able to put countermeasures against Trogon’s own mind reading capabilities. He also thought about what spell he needed to make sure Trogon wasn’t able to know about this conversation.

“Did they decide that you were a monster or did you?” Atychis froze in place and turned toward Sam. He searched her mind for anything that might hint at magical power. There had to be something there, but he found nothing. He had been grappling with this same question for a long time. While in his frantic search Atychis wasn’t looking into Sam’s surface thoughts and she saw his old officer book buried in his satchel. Sam decided to mention something.

“I don’t mean to be rude, and if I am I would trust you tell me, but I can’t help but notice how strange you are. I would at least like to know your name. And if it also wouldn’t be too much, I am curious about that book you have.”

Atychis froze in place again and looked down. Sure enough the officer book was poking out of his satchel. He pulled it out and looked at the cover. It had been and old empire book about drills soldiers would do, squad tactics, and what it meant to be a leader of men. Also extensive history about the empire and its founders. He had been given this by his commander, despite him only being a sergeant. He thought of it as being the best day of his life.

“I sometimes forget I have this. It’s military tactics as well as history. Some bad, some good. But better than now.” The Ogre went silent again but was now looking at the book tensely.

“Isn’t that all of history?”

There was even more silence. His helmet didn’t show but underneath his face was twisting and turning with many complicated and repressed emotions. He knew he had to hide this book from everyone. Sometimes even himself.

“You’re right. Don’t ask any more questions about it.” He felt a sudden outburst of anger from Sam that surprised him.

“Well, you don’t seem to want to ask me any. And I’m trying to distract myself from having part of me eaten. You don’t have to tell me your name but anything about you would give me some peace of mind! You probably already have assumed but I’ve had such a terrible time recently and I don’t know what to say and how to say it to try and have a nice conversation.” Sam rubbed her stump and tears began to form.

It had also been a long time since he had spoken to anyone. He felt her rage, anger, desperation, and memories of her trying to survive. He looked back down at the book. It stared back at him. He took a moment to reflect. To question if he should just kill her now or tell her his story. He looked up to see a desperate sight. Sam wasn’t even looking at him but cradling her leg. Such a poor creature.

“My name is Atychis. But it’s not the name I call myself now. It was given to me by the Empire when I was taken by them in a raid. I would rather be called Seargent out of formality. It was my rank in their Legion.” Atychis was looking down at the book and swore he saw eyes of his fallen men. He immediately regretted what he said. Why had he asked to be called seargent? He had betrayed his people, and they would never forgive him. He placed his hand on the book, and it formed into a fist covering the red symbol. Why did he say that? They wouldn’t forgive him no matter how much he asked. He was at war with himself, fighting feelings, memories, and pain. His first trembled softly, but Sam didn’t notice.

“Do you still serve that empire?” Sam asked unknowingly.

Atychis heart skipped. A truth hidden deep in him had burst open. He took a moment to observe the wreckage instead of washing it away. He decided to serve Trogon. To betray his people. To survive. To be a true monster.

“No… But I want to… despite it all.” These few words gave a shed of life to his dead heart.

“Why?” Asked Sam. There were moments of silence between them.

Atychis looked at Sam again. A small part of him felt like screaming the truth. To beg for forgiveness of his endless sins. Atychis saw two clear paths he could take now. Embrace this truth. Or go further down his shameful path. To eat.

“Can I tell you a story?” Atychis asked but would say anyway.

“Please do Seargent.” Atychis softly grimaced.

“I never knew my parents. They were both Ogres. I am not sure when I was taken from them, but I do not have any memories of them. What their faces looked like, if they beat me, if they loved me. Despite knowing what I know now I cannot give myself that answer. What I do know is that I was taken from them and taught to hate them and all Ogres. The Empire at that time was reinforcing their colonies on these lands. They were a sea away and relied on a strong military as well as native labor. They wanted to exploit the land for wealth and power and as you know the Empire consists of small folk such as yourself. They didn’t take kindly to the natives.” He motioned to Sam with one arm. “Regardless of their intention for me they gave me a new life that at times I enjoyed. I believe my tribe was one, if not, the first to encounter them. How unfortunate… or rather fortunate they were.” Atychis was silent for a few moments but continued.

“When they took me from my parents and I began to grow, they began their plans for me. A military one. They threw me into a Legion when I was still very young. They trained me both in mind and body. Taught me how to fight, and how to kill on someone else’s authority. I never saw actual action in my many years there due to my age but only after a year I was able to defeat the strongest soldiers consistently. So, after many years I became a Drill Seargent and introduced new recruits to the Legion.” It was here that Atychis began to lighten up and forget where he was.

“That were the best moments of my life. Showing new recruits how to fight, giving them confidence, and doing some interesting punishments if they ever made a mistake. Ah… my favorite one was when I would grab them and pretend as if I were going to eat them.” Atychis was smiling under his helmet.

“Did you end up eating any of them?” Sam chuckled enjoying the story.

Atychis froze in place. Remembering. Feeling. Hearing the screams repeatedly. How he learned sleep magic to try and make it less painful to eat his targets. His former men. What an irony in plain sight.

“Not the ones… I trained.” Sam was too engrossed in the worg meat to fully notice the broken words. “In fact, the other Drill Sergeants did threaten that I would.” Atychis began to recover from the dark thoughts. “I didn’t know it at the time, but many didn’t trust me. And I could never be trusted under that system. The aristocrats in the Empire wanted reasons to take more land and fabricated stories about the Ogres further south. War came and it was my next assignment. I would be an Ogre that hunts Ogres. And I was perfectly willing to do so. The empire had been all my life and everything that I knew. They even gave me this weapon.” Atychis motioned to the crossbow. “Of course, it didn’t have a scope at that time, only iron sights. The Empire didn’t have much glass, and the glass it did have was of poor quality. But do you know who had well-crafted glass? The Ogres to the south. They made wonderful ornaments; the common belief was that it contained the souls of their ancestors.” Atychis began to trail off. “And the empire made me kill them, break those ornaments, and take as many prisoners as possible with me. For this service they gave me this.” Atychis motioned to the scope on the crossbow. “With the prisoners I took the Empire learned the secrets of making better glass. And scopes naturally followed. Every time I looked through it to take a shot… I doubted what I was…” Atychis went quiet and hunched over. He was now very hungry.

“There is no Empire now…” Atychis said sharply and painfully.

“… What do you mean Seargent.” Sam didn’t understand.

“The Empire… is dead. In more ways than one.” Atychis said raising his helmet to meet Sam, his posture being more animal than Ogre. “It fell 20 years ago to the necromancer Trogon. My former master. And you don’t know that because you aren’t from here.”

Sam’s stomach dropped.

“… How long did you know about that? Necromancer?” Sam whispered.

“I willingly led my former men, now undead, against the Empire, because I was killed by Trogon and spared only on the condition that I fight the remnants of it. Trogon detected an anomaly to investigate and deal with. Which is you.” Atychis looked directly through Sam. He had to say the next line carefully.

“I cannot let myself disobey. I only serve Trogon… even if I wanted the Empire back, they cannot rise again and are fully defeated.” Atychis said it as convincingly as possible.

“But… but I haven’t done anything wrong!” Sam stammered.

“Trogon can see my memories. I cannot let myself disobey him.”

Sam was looking through the ogre processing her incoming death. She wondered what she could have done differently.

“I don’t know what you could have done differently.” The ogre answered and started walking towards Sam. “I would have found you either way. Or something else would.” The walk was slow, methodical, and heavy.

Sam sprang up and tried to run further in the cave but collapsed. Still forgeting their foot wasn't there.

“I’m sorry.” The Ogre grabbed Sam and turned her over to face him. Sam was screaming and screaming. Biting, clawing, kicking, with thoughts of impending doom. Then the Ogre took off his helmet. His face was almost rotten and held together with tight grey skin.

“You can stop! You can stop! Please stop!” Screams slung and shattered against the cave wall but were overpowered by the striking chanting of a spell. A pulse of grey light washed over Sam. She went limp and silence fell upon them both.

Moments later the snapping of bone and flesh raked the cave. Sam was asleep. Atychis was eating the rest of the worg. The flesh tasted like grainy went wet ash. Atychis finished the worg in a couple more bites then stopped to look at the sleeping girl. He couldn't kill her after all. His guilt beat his hunger. His mouth began to warp and twist into a strained grimace of shame. He remembered the screams of his fellow soldiers as he murdered them. Their last thoughts before he saw himself ripping them apart. To have a moment's hesitation now would only mean death for him. And yet he did.

"What have I done..." The whisper echoed and echoed.