I spent the rest of the day’s walk experimenting with this new side to my shapeshifting abilities. Before today the weirdest I had ever gotten with it was my Fey form, and even that was completely accidental. Honestly, I didn’t use it much beyond spending a bit of time every day practising with it. I just didn’t have much need to look like someone else, and I hadn’t really considered at this point that I would be able to shapeshift beyond the general human template.

  I didn’t end up changing too much on the move, for obvious reasons. I mainly stuck to my hands, and that alone was providing me a whole new perspective on my ability. First of all, I’d thought I was getting good at shapeshifting. I could change most of my body in seconds, and unless I kept doing it over and over I didn’t get too tired from it. I could also keep my body stable for a long while, although it was still uncomfortable.

  As we walked though, I discovered that my technique simply wasn’t sufficient for more complex and unique changes. I’d only really managed my weird chisel-finger by borderline copying the chitin from the Gloom Stalker and shaping it differently. It was like part of me remembered the layout of the Gloom Stalker’s body, although I hadn’t really delved deep into it while I was draining it dry. Next time I found an interesting monster I was definitely taking the time to sweep my vitae through it to see if I could copy anything from it.

  The bottom line was that I only really knew how something worked if I had already encountered it, and while I could improvise I didn’t really know what I was doing. That’s not to say I had no ideas though.

  Still, before I could get to any of them I would need to get much better at this more advanced usage of my shapeshifting, so I the rest of the day passed with me idly chatting with Cassie while I kept shifting each of my fingers in sequence, leaving each one with a coating of that same chitin. It wasn’t anything exceptionally useful on its own but it was great practice, and I was flush with vitae to practice with.

  By the time night fell we had set up right by the side of the road, a small campfire doing its best to ward of the night’s chill. Setting up the campfire had been nerve wracking, at least for me. Cassie acted like she wasn’t bothered by what had happened last night, but I could tell from the way she checked the book half a dozen times before even trying the cantrip that she was affected.

  I couldn’t help but glance at her hand, where her scars were almost invisible in the flickering light of the fire. I knew that she said she was fine with them, but I still felt guilty. I should have been able to heal her without scarring, I thought I had. Still, she wouldn’t let me see if I could fix them post-application.

  Sighing, I shuffled closer to the fire where she was sat staring into the flames. “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking,” she answered, trailing off slightly by the end.

  “What about?”

  Cassie grimaced. “About how we should have brought something to sleep on. I mean, who forgets something like that?” She turned to me. “Seriously, you’re the compulsive packer, how did we forget that?”

  My mind threw up a flash of an image: me leaving the house, our sleeping kits resting against my bed. I shrugged. “If I’m honest, my focus was on what happened after this bit, the travelling wasn’t really something that was on my mind.”

  Cassie stared at me intently. “The week long trip wasn’t on your mind?”

  I shrugged again, not sure how to answer. I had made sure we had everything we needed to survive, but I’d forgotten that we would be sleeping at some point as we walked.

  Cassie shook her head. “Never change, Lia.”

  I lifted my hand and quickly lengthened my fingers, widened my palm and turned my skin pink. “Unlikely,” I said with a grin, before shifting my hand back.

  That coaxed a quiet laugh from Cassie. “Seriously though, just because you and your magic body don’t have to worry about chronic back pain doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t. I expect free healing from the consequences of your actions.”

  “Sure. In return, I expect to get to eat my own meals every day.”

  Cassie shot me sheepish look. “I already apologised for that. Besides, you said it was expected.”

  “Sure, but you could have asked.”

  “While you were unconscious?”

  “… I’ll give you that.”

  We fell into silence again, both of us now watching the flames as they danced above the wood. Eventually, Cassie scooted a little closer to me, and then a little closer again. Soon enough she was pressed against me as she fell asleep, so I gently lay back as I did my best not to disturb her. The ground was cold and uncomfortable, but I suppose a new life as a pillow was a small price to pay.

  I let my body naturally shift to be softer and more comfortable, both around where Cassie was lying and where it was in contact with the ground. After the day I’d had I was plenty tired, so it didn’t take me long to drift to sleep myself.

  -------------------------------------------

  The next day was much like the second half of the first, with Cassie and I chatting amongst ourselves as I absently practised my shapeshifting. It was only with such extensive practice that I realised exactly how much vitae I had taken from the Gloom Stalker. I had known it was a lot, but I could probably heal that burn wound on Cassie’s hand a dozen times over and still not run out. I hadn’t even taken everything that the monster had held, either. It had definitely bled some out onto the forest floor, and it had also still been alive when I topped out.

  I had seen a bit of improvement in my shapeshifting, mostly in speed and multi-tasking. Where before it had taken several minutes of dedicated concentration to shift a single finger, I could now shift two simultaneously in the same time frame. It still wasn’t anything impressive, but it was quickly becoming natural to me. It was fun too, and I had a few different ideas of how to apply this new aspect of my skills.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  After a quick stop for lunch, we finally reached the edge of the woodland that surrounded Vernal. There were still a lot of trees around, but we could also see further in each direction. The road finally forked too, since there was another village not too far from here. We had briefly considered taking a rest stop there when we had been planning this trip, but decided that it was too far out of the way.

  Not long after the fork in the road, we came across a commotion. There was a group of men, all dressed in scruffy attire and each of them armed, surrounding a younger man who was dressed in far finer clothing. The younger man was somewhat dishevelled from travel but largely clean, and to his right was a huge bloodstain with no body. This man didn’t seem to have any weapons on him, and yet he was also fairly calm about the situation. He had his hands up, and his expression was one of boredom rather than fear. They were speaking about something, but we were too far to hear it.

  As soon as I realised what was going on I moved off the road, gesturing wildly at Cassie to follow. Now partially obscured by the trees and brush, we moved closer until we could hear what was going on.

  “...sure you understand, I simply had to take a shot,” said the well-dressed man.

  “Yeah, well now that you’ve taken ya shot, just cooperate, yeah? You ain’t a stupid man, you know you ain’t getting’ out of this if you don’t.” The ruffian closest to the man spoke, while the others simply continued to menace the man.

  “Of course, of course. But…” The well-dressed man’s eyes suddenly caught on my own, and all of a sudden he seemed a different person. “P-please. Y-you have to l-let me go! Help!” He shouted, shooting a glance my way that couldn’t have been more conspicuous. The bandits followed his gaze and saw the two of us crouched in the trees, watching the exchange.

  Shit. What are you playing at, man?

  I stood up, and from the rustling behind me Cassie had also. I could feel her vitae begin to get agitated, roiling within her as she grew anxious. I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t know what to do about this situation. There were five of them, against the two of us and a clearly unarmed man. Even with the advantage that came from Cassie’s magic she could only cast so fast, and I was pretty sure I saw a hand-crossbow at the waist of one of the men. Still, I drew my sword nonetheless. Better to be prepared, at the very least.

  Even if we won, I didn’t know what we would do. While I probably wouldn’t hesitate in defence, I didn’t want to kill these men. I couldn’t just leave them here either, both because that was fairly likely to just kill them slower and because they were clearly up to harming random passers by.

  I felt a nudge from behind me, turning to see Cassie glaring at me. “Stop overthinking!” She whispered harshly. She nodded ahead of me to see the bandits, all but one of which had turned to face us. I didn’t know how Cassie knew what was going through my head, but she was right. At the very least, I needed to do something about this situation. I could figure out what to do as it happened.

  I stepped onto the road and walked towards the men, still far out of reach but close enough to talk. As I moved towards them I tried to keep myself outwardly confident, back straight and eyes dead ahead. I think I overdid it though, because even as I walked I could tell my movement was far too stiff. Them bandits saw it too.

  “Ya alright there, girlie? Lookin’ a tad nervous.” This came from the same man who had been speaking earlier, who was apparently the spokesman for the group as a whole.

  “I am fine.” I ground out. “What are you doing with that man?”

  “Ah, nothin’ for you to worry about, lass. Say, why don’t ya put down your blade, let us talk like civilised folk.”

  I felt Cassie move behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see that she had moved behind me, obscuring the hand that held her wand behind my body. She was tense, but looked at least a bit more confident than I felt.

  Smart. Good job Cass.

  I turned back to men and prepared to answer when I saw the bandit watching the well dressed man topple to the ground, a dagger sticking from his throat. The others clearly heard it too, because each of them whirled around only to meet their victim, suddenly armed and aiming flashes of steel at each of them.

  In moments two more men fell, causing the leader to shout and the remaining man to take a swing. His strike was wild and amateurish, and the well-dressed man flowed effortlessly under the blow before planting yet another dagger in his throat, electing to leave it there rather than take it out.

  Despite the fact that he had been leaving them all over the place, the man still held two blades in his hand, from this distance identical to all the others. The leader stared shocked at the man, before roaring a wordless battle cry and charging at the man.

  Or at least, he tried to. Almost as soon as he took a step a blade sprouted from his throat, just like every other man. Unlike the others though, the well-dressed killer stepped forward to grab the blade and twisted, finally wrenching the blade out with a wet slice. The leader dropped to the floor like a used sack.

  The man turned our way and smiled, his almost rapturous expression completely out of place on a man surrounded by corpses. Somehow he had avoided getting even a single drop of blood on his outfit over the course of the three seconds it had taken him to slay five men. I stood there, taken aback by the display of dominance I had just witnessed. I felt Cassie shudder against my back, and I couldn’t blame her. I raised my blade again, causing a frown to form on the face of the man.

  “Come now, no need for that! You are a wonderful distraction, by the way.” All trace of the earlier pleading was gone from the man’s voice, replaced by a surprising warmth. Still, after his display I wasn’t about to trust him.

  “I think I’ll decide when it’s needed. Who are you?” My voice was cold and flat, because it was that or have it shaking. I did my best not to look at the dead men on the floor, but my gaze kept drifting to them. Part of me wanted to run from the scene, and a deeper part of me wanted to check if they had any vitae left. I squashed that impulse immediately and refocused on the man, who was looking at me strangely.

  “Me?” He grinned, the expression almost predatory on him. “Why, I’m no one important. You needn’t worry yourselves about me.”

  “Who were they?” Cassie called out from behind me.

  The man laughed, short and sharp. “An excellent question. All I know of them is that they accosted me and demanded my ‘valuables’. Do I truly look like I have many valuables?”

  “Yes,” me and Cassie answered simultaneously.

  “Ah. Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you two wonderful ladies, but I am afraid that I have places to be.” He tilted his head. “Out of curiosity, where are you two headed?”

  I considered lying to him, but there wasn’t exactly a lot of options down this road, at least not within a reasonable distance. “Perch.”

  His face lit up. “Truly? What luck! As it happens, I am headed to Perch myself.”

  I winced internally. “Yeah?”

  “It’s true! Say, I wouldn’t mind some company for the next few days, and you two seem fine enough. If you’re willing, of course.”

  I glanced back at Cassie, who sent me an inscrutable look. “...Let us talk about it,” I finally replied before ushering her out of earshot of the man.

  “So?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I reckon we should let him come with us.”

  I balked. “Really? You did see what he did to those guys, right?”

  “Exactly! He’s like extra protection.”

  “Yeah, protection against the prospect living to see Perch! Who’s to say he won’t just kill us and take our stuff?”

  Cassie held up a finger in response, before marching back over to the man. “Hey, mister! You gonna kill us?”

  The man put a hand over his mouth in a gesture of exaggerated shock. “Why, perish the thought! All I seek is some fine company on the road, nothing more!” The man was clearly playing it up now, and I could tell that Cassie was enjoying it. Of course she was, she did this kind of thing all the time.

  She swivelled back to me. “See? I say we take him.”

  “For what it’s worth, I say we take me too!” Called the man from behind her.

  “Cass…” I looked between the two of them and sighed. It would be pretty awkward if we didn’t bring him with us, given that we were going in the same direction. “Fine, but if he kills us I’m blaming you.”

  Work recovered from the remains of a journal found on the road to Perch from the South. The journal is bloodstained and torn, and was clearly in poor condition before whatever incident killed its owner. Some attempts at recovery have been made, but the entries are disjointed. The journal had been cut roughly in half, and only the top half was salvageable.

  Page 1, largely ruined.

  "-em said I should start a journal, so that's what I've done. He says it should help me 'centre myself' when I need to t-

  -omething. I'm not quite sure it'll help, but I trust that man with my life, and more besides. I thought I'd try. Of co-

  -help him, but we don't have enough food for another man. We'll need to h-"

  Pages 2 and 3 were lost to the ravages of whatever beast killed the man.

  Page 4

  "We found a small caravan that got taken out by a pack of monsters. Don't know what they were, but I know a blessing when I see it. We'll last the winter with this much stuff. There was one thing though. One of the members of the caravan, poor sod made his way onto the roof of the caravan, must've been the last one standing. He had a bauble on him, like a big coin with a weird engraving Looked like a poor man's rendition of a dragon, all long and twisty. Not how a proper dragon should look, in my opinion. Weird thing had slot for something, too. I can only imagine what, it's only the size of my palm as it is.

  Boss says we won't have to hit anyone we don't want to for weeks. Says we could probably stop by Perch to stock up with the kind of money we got off the caravan. Wouldn't be too big of a hit to our funds to bribe a couple guards. I'm not sure that's a bright plan, but he's the Boss for a reason, I guess. He says they'll head out tomorrow, see if they can't -"

  The rest of page four has been cut, potentially by a blade. The cut is too clean to to have come from an animal. Our assumptions have shifted from an animal attack to a particularly sadistic man.

  Page 5

  "Boss and the guys haven't come back. It's been almost a week, they should've been back by now. Jess is trying to keep the peace, but the rest of us are getting worried. Old Damien cottoned on days ago, his worrying hasn't helped. He says we should start looking for a mark, cause Boss took all the money when he left. He says Boss did a runner, but I don't believe that for a second. Boss has a good thing going here, why would he leave?

  Anyway. Everyone's all up in arms over the whole thing. I reckon we should be patient. I could be biased though. Old Damien caught me looking at that bauble I found from the caravan, said he needed to 'requisition' it. Greedy bastard. I would've shown it to him if he'd asked, but he had to go and keep it. Can't get it back either, cause if I make a fuss everything'll be my fault. Maybe I'll nick it from his tent as he sleeps."

  Page 6, written hastily.

  "Everything's gone bad.

  Old Damien took the rest of the boys (cept me cause of my broken arm and Jess cause of her flu) and he found a premium mark. Lonely guy, well dressed and unarmed, walking down the road without a care. Something wasn't right, but they all went anyway. I went to watch, cause I was still certain that there was something off about this hit. Boss has that bounty on him, it could be bait. I said as much, but that bastard never listens to me.

  I brought my journal cause I was upset, and Willem always said that was the most important time for journaling. I followed the boys and watched as they surrounded the man, textbook. Old Damien was right, he was a prime target, fancy clothes and no guards. There was no way that he wasn't a wizard or something, wandering around like that. Still, we'd taken mages before.

  But he wasn't bothered. Six armed men surrounding him, threatening his life. He looked like a barista got his order wrong at his favourite cafe. A mild inconvenience. They nattered a bit, and he waved his hand. Then Tommy was just... gone. One second he was there, doing his intimidating face just like I taught him. Next he was red mist, a smear on the ground. I couldn't believe my eyes.

  I thought I'd gone mad when Old Damien pressed on. Then he got out my little bauble for some reason, showed it off to the guy before putting it back in his pocket. Where did he get off taunting a guy that could turn him into sauce?

  I ran then. I was pretty sure I hear whispering in the bushes as I went. There were more people. I knew then that I had to cut and run. The others were goners against a man like that. Maybe he was one of those wandering mages, the ones that test your kindness, give you riches if you're good or turn you to ash if you're nasty. I don't know.

  I went and I told Jess and we've gone. We're headed to stock up in Perch and then going straight to the coast. We're starting a new life. We'll be fine. We'll be fine."

  That is the last entry in the journal. Presumably the strange man caught up to the writer.