The beast was grumpy.
Its growls and sudden movements made me nervous.
I focused my eyes further ahead, trying to figure out if the problem was the light.
"Is the light coming toward us?"
She shouted.
Nyxaris continued grumbling mechanically as he moved forward.
"Run! Run!"
she panicked, as if the animal could understand me.
"Something's coming for us,"
she added, her voice cracking.
Nyxaris lunged forward, moving in a way that defied the animal's nature.
She clung to his long fur, holding on tightly as the beast jumped like a giant frog.
She let out a wild scream, pressing herself against the animal's back, eyes shut tight in fear.
In seconds, Nyxaris redirected a bullet midair, detonating it just past me.
She lifted her head slightly.
"What happened?"
There was nothing.
The small light had vanished, yet a brighter one still shimmered ahead.
It took a few minutes to reach the source of the light.
"Ahh, young fellow, I've lost my way… do you have a map?"
An old man held a torch, his hair thin on top, only a few wisps left on the sides.
He looked like a harmless lunatic, yet somehow… I wasn't exactly sure where I was either.
"Alright…"
When the beast beneath me settled, her eyes widened.
Seeing the Nyxaris made the old man's body momentarily freeze.
The presence of the Death-Bringer stunned him.
His hand shot to his chest.
Was it a heart attack?
He gasped dramatically, almost like a cartoon.
His body fell backward as if it were a door swinging closed.
"Y-you… the man!"
She barely had a second to react before the old man's body collapsed fully.
"Heart attack?"
She muttered.
My medical instincts kicked in.
I couldn't just let a person die.
"Check his bag!"
Nyxaris barked, his voice cold, almost metallic.
I studied medicine for… I can't just let him die!
I reached for a pulse first, though Nyxaris coldly shoved me aside.
"Check the stuff, I said!"
he growled, completely unbothered by the dying man.
"Are you kidding me? He's literally dying!"
It was like it didn't matter to him at all.
He was a robot programmed to kill, yet still… I checked the old man's pulse.
"May rest in peace.."
She reached into his bag.
There were a lot of papers.
"A map… or some project?"
She squinted, struggling to read.
Because of Gralik guess.
He probably learned to read by himself that is why I struggling.
I scanned the papers.
One must be what he was looking for.
"World destruction… 2000 days until the apocalypse… Aquaoris tsunami disaster"
The Death-Bringer stared blankly for a second.
"There is nothing actually.."
Then, quick as lightning, he reached into the man's pocket.
"Nothing there too… huh, a weapon? Is there one?"
Her eyes widened in sudden curiosity.
"Why didn't you tell me you were interested in this stuff, gurl?"
Nyxaris carelessly tossed the weapon aside.
"Take his clothes! Don't make me think again,"
he muttered, almost annoyed.
"What? You killed him just for the clothes?"
she yelled, shocked and furious.
"No, I'll use the body,"
he replied coldly.
I wanted to cut off all connection with him immediately.
How many animals… maybe even humans… have I caused to die?
He slung the old man's stiff body over his shoulder.
"Now we walk the whole way, you stupid human."
I didn't speak.
I didn't dare.
I silently prayed for all the lives I had inadvertently ended.
Finally, the palace walls came into view.
"You will use that body, right?"
she asked.
"…"
"It'd be better to change bodies before entering the palace."
"I won't take advice from you."
Oh great.
I didn't dare say it out loud.
Under a tree, I slipped into the old man's clothes.
"Ugh, it smells like rot,"
she muttered.
Nyxaris had already fixed his cold, mechanical gaze on the palace watchtower, leaving the old man's body on the ground.
The stench of the clothes hit me.
"What are you doing?"
"Putting on the clothes," I said.
Suddenly, he leaned closer, until our eyes were level.
"Your eyes, darling."
She froze.
She stammered.
"What… do you mean?"
"The person saw my eyes through your face…"
Ah, yes… I remembered something about eyes.
"Bodies change, but eyes don't."
Realization hit me hard: the story I was living was now even more vivid.
"Eyes reflect the soul."
"Then… what do we do?"
she asked, stepping back.
"You'll die."
"Right now?"
-
The dungeon floor was colder than memory.
Stone soaked with months of silence, iron biting the air.
Chains hung from the walls - still, waiting.
The door opened with a groan.
Light bled through the narrow gap, pale and unforgiving.
Two guards stepped in.
Neither spoke.
They weren't allowed to.
She sat in the shadows, back straight despite the weight of her wrists.
The chains shimmered faintly against her skin, leaving bruises like forgotten promises.
One guard knelt.
The keys rattled softly - click, click - and the lock gave way.
The chain fell, slithering onto the stone with a hollow ring that filled the room.
She didn't look at them.
Just stood - slow, deliberate, as if every motion was a memory of pain.
Her hair, tangled and dull, brushed her back as she walked past.
The guards stepped aside, eyes down, breath held.
The corridor was colder still.
Torchlight flickered against her gown, tracing the dirt and torn fabric.
She didn't flinch.
She'd forgotten how.
When they reached the end of the hall, the doors of her chamber waited.
Tall.
Silent.
The same doors that had closed behind her all those months ago.
The guards opened them and stepped back.
She entered without a word.
The room was untouched.
Dust shimmered in the weak light - curtains unmoved, bed untouched.
She stood there, motionless, her shadow stretching long across the floor.
Behind her, the chains on the ground trembled once…
as if something cold and unseen still clung to her.