The day slipped by faster than we realized. Kuro had been out cold for two hours and when he finally woke up, he dropped a bombshell on us. He told us about his secret skill, the one that lets him reach into the past and meet people in his dreams. While he’d been asleep, he’d spoken to one of the anomaly skill’s past bearers and learned more about the devourer skills. Everything the Soul Eater said checked out and there was even more. The Flesh Eater wasn’t just some monster, he was old, clever and terrifyingly patient. Not the one to fight fair but the kind who always lives to see another day.

  After Kuro told us and explained everything he knew about the anomaly skill to us, I decided to tell the others about all of my visions as well. I started with the vision I had at the library in Greenwood, the sudden sickness I suffered from consuming too much of my mana too quickly, followed by the visions I had in the carriage on our way to the capital, as well as the visions I had in the forest after touching Kuro’s mana barrier. The others were shocked at my revelations, but none of them judged me for keeping my visions a secret. The only thing I didn’t tell them about was the vision of my future self.

  With everything out in the open, we finally focused on the task ahead finding Morghast, the thing behind all the disappearances. While Ryu, Hina and I cleaned our weapons, Kuro asked for our coats and my arrows. I had no clue why but handed them over anyway. By the time the sky started turning orange, we were ready. I checked my reflection in the mirror and told myself this wouldn’t be the last time I saw that face, then strapped my dagger and bow to their respective belts before we stepped out, ready to bring the innkeeper home.

  When I reached for the knob of the inn’s front door, a female voice called out to us. The hooded person that had checked in shortly after us stood in the door to the hallway, holding a long object in her hand. The object was wrapped in some sort of cloth or silk, so I couldn’t see what it was.

  “If you set out with that battered up sword, there’s no chance you’ll survive. Take this, you can give it back to me when you’re done.”

  With that, she threw the long object over to Ryu, and the cloth fell mid-air. Ryu was so startled that he barely managed to catch the sheathed sword. He pulled it halfway out of its sheath and inspected it, before throwing a both thankful and appreciating nod to the woman.

  “I thank you for your help, I promise to take good care of this.”

  The woman turned away, ready to return to her room.

  “This foe is not to be trifled with. Don’t let him catch you off-guard. He is older than the Sural kingdom, and over the course of his life has killed more adventurers than even exist right now. Good luck.”

  We thanked her for her warning and set out for the lion’s den. The soul eater had told us to take a closer look at the wells, so that’s where we started our search. The first one, located in the south of the village, was a dead end. A little wooden sign said it was out of order and it was filled to the brim with dirt and rocks, probably because one of the walls collapsed.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The second of the three wells of the village, located behind some houses and only accessible through two small, dark and narrow alleys, was the one where we found what we’d been searching for. Even as we just made our way through one of the alleys, the air grew thick and started to smell of blood, mold and rotten flesh. This well didn’t have any water, instead it was just a deep hole, filled with complete darkness.

  Kuro summoned a small flame and dropped it into the hole. We watched it fall down, before it eventually vanished into the dark abyss.

  “Okay, this is clearly what we’ve been looking for. How do we get down there?”

  I noticed that my voice was a little shaky, so I tried to steady my breath and push the fear down.

  “Let me get down first, I will slow my fall with magic. Then you can come after me one by one and I’ll use my magic to catch you.”

  As always, Kuro instantly provided us with a solid base of a plan. None of us was really convinced by his idea, but we didn’t have a better one either. In the end, we didn’t have any time to spare so we went with Kuro’s plan. As he climbed into the well and jumped down, my anxiety peaked and my knees started shaking. After half a minute, we spotted a small dot of light at the bottom of the well, a flame that Kuro summoned to show us it’s safe.

  Ryu jumped after him, and a few seconds later the small flame flared up again at the bottom. I leaned over the edge, my stomach twisting. I hated this, but there was no choice, I jumped. The ground vanished beneath me, and all I could sense was the stench rising to meet me. As I fell, the darkness gave way to a faint glow, Ryu’s trembling flame, weaker than Kuro’s and flickering as if it might die out at any moment. Then the air itself seemed to catch me, slowing my descent, until my feet finally touched the ground with surprising softness.

  I stumbled into the cave that opened before me, fell to my knees next to Ryu and emptied my stomach. Kuro then lit his flame again, signaling Hina that she could come down to us. Her reaction was similar to mine but she managed not to throw up, even though her knees were as wobbly as mine. We took a few moments to recover, then started to explore the cave. Ryu’s flame extinguished, and Kuro let go of his flame as well. He summoned a small ball of pure light that flew around us, providing us with enough light to see well.

  There were multiple ways to venture deeper into the cave, but it wasn’t hard to find the way that we needed to go. We followed the foul smell of death through a small passage. After a few minutes, the passage opened up into a large cavern with more passages going off into different directions. The muffled sound of weeping and cries could be heard coming from a few of the passages. We had reached our destination, the Flesh Eater’s lair.

  The cavern was too dark to make out any details, but I saw many silhouettes that reminded me of skeletons, bones and human bodies. Hina seemed to have spotted them as well, and it was enough to push her over the edge and make her vomit. I got next to her and gently stroked her back, trying to comfort her in this disgusting situation.

  Kuro and Ryu moved cautiously through the cavern, scanning the shadows for any sign of the Flesh Eater. I guided Hina along behind them, doing my best not to look at the bodies strewn across the floor. Just as we were about to enter one of the passages, footsteps echoed behind us. The stench surged, so strong it twisted my stomach. If I hadn’t thrown up earlier, I would have now. Then a voice, sharp and grating like claws on stone, scraped through the darkness and sent a chill down my spine.

  “Ah… fresh skin, still warm with purpose. Let’s see how long you last before you beg me to be hollow.”