Hamuro leaned back in his chair as he took a deep breath, trying to get some hint of the outside world from his post in the corridors under the palace. He remembered what his supervisor told him before he came in; that a new Watcher would be starting tonight and would need to be trained. Hamuro quietly prayed that if the new Watcher completes his training, then he would no longer have to work this post.

He hated guarding the corpse of Reyz.

His supervisor told him that while Reyz may appear dead, he’s still alive and plotting revenge and that his body needed to be watched at all times. He remembered the attack, but none of this made any sense; a corpse is a corpse and that is a fact of nature. The dead can’t walk once slain. None of it made any sense to him, and that is including the fact that immortal creatures live openly within the city walls.

As his attention wavered, he heard a sound going through the corridor. He corrected himself as he heard footsteps go down the damp and narrow corridor until an older man wearing an unranked officer’s armour stoof before Hamuro. Hamuro examined the man’s features carefully from his grey and balding head to his pale and wrinkled skin. While not elderly, he had definitely been around for a while. Hamuro took a double take when he locked eyes with the man’s blueish purple eyes that stood out against the rest of his skin.

Oh great, they sent a rook down here, and some geezer at that; they’ll let any cannon fodder join the Watch won’t they? Hamuro thought to himself while rubbing his eyes. “What’s your name rook?”

“Dorei sir,” the man responded with a modest bow.

“I take it you’re the new overnight watch, get over here then,” Hamuro instructed while gesturing to the spot on the other side of the metal door.

Dorei complied and went to his side of the door. “E-Excuse me sir, but is it true? That a monster sleeps in there?”

Oh boy here we go, Hamuro thought to himself. “We are not paid to question our orders; only carry them out, rook,” he said in a stern voice. “The King has ordered that we guard this door and its contents with our lives; both from outsiders and anything on the inside.”

“But I heard the rumours; the creature that attacked almost 2 years ago is trapped in there,” Dorei continued in a nervous and shaking voice.

“We pay no mind to the rumours of the people,” Hamuro continued in his stern voice.

“But is it true?” Dorei insisted.

Hamuro sighed while rubbing his eyes, wondering why the Watch would have let this man into their ranks. “Here’s what we know; that creature was apprehended and its corpse placed in this chamber. We are to guard the body at all costs; that is all we need to know.”

“So he is in there,” Dorei wondered aloud while stroking his chin.

“Oi, keep yourself together,” Hamuro ordered in a deep voice.

“I’m not afraid or anything,” Dorei said softly. “I’ve just been curious; I wanted to see him.”

Hamuro had a realisation as he slowly reached down for a blade on his belt, gripping the hilt tight and waiting for Dorei to make the first move. He realised that the Watch would not let an unranked officer work this post, nor let down here alone. “And why would you want to see him?” Hamuro asked cautiously.

“Oh you see, I had been captivated by him,” Dorei said softly while massaging his knuckles. “I had always wanted to see what the Paladin was capable of with my own eyes.”

Hamuro had enough and drew his knife and brought it down on Dorei but before he could react, Dorei disappeared and Hamuro felt a cut along his side; a cut that went cleanly through his armour.

Hamuro spun around and saw Dorei in the corner, slowly walking towards Hamuro while licking blood from his nails. “Sadly, you have been ordered to protect his body with your life, and that makes you an obstacle for me,” Dorei said while laughing.

Hamuro kept his knife close and made several lunges towards Dorei but found nothing but air as Dorei moved faster than Hamuro could. Each lunge resulted in yet another cut across his armour, as if his armour wasn’t even present.

“Come now,” Dorei asked while licking Hamuro’s blood from his nails. “Don’t let me waste your blood; I still have a need for it.”

Hamuro growled and ran towards Dorei with a knife poised for his throat but was caught by Dorei’s arm, bouncing off like it had struck a shield. Hamuro followed up with another attack that struck Dorei’s forearm, this time piercing through. Hamuro looked on as he didn’t see red blood spill, but a purple slimy liquid that oozed out from metal plates hidden under the skin.

“What the hell are you?” Hamuro asked as he examined the wound.

“A humble servant,” Dorei answered. Dorei then reeled back and struck Hamuro straight in the face as Hamuro blacked out from the hit. Hamuro didn’t know when he hit the ground but when he opened his eyes again, he saw himself looking into the eyeless sockets of a dried corpse. He tried to get up but was held fast by rope that held him tight.

Just in the corner of his eyes, he saw Dorei walk over to Hamuro and kneel down. Hamuro felt his stomach turn as he looked into Dorei’s eyes as they shone with a haunting purple light.

“Ah, you’re awake, that’s unfortunate,” Dorei said in a hissing voice. “Oh I’m afraid this will be quite painful for you; quite painful indeed.”

Dorei then reached down for Hamuro’s bound arms and cut Hamuro’s arm with a knife. Quickly, Dorei brought the blood soaked knife over to Reyz’s tried lips. Hamuro watched in horror as drops of blood fell on Reyz’s tongue and were quickly absorbed by the dried flesh.

Dorei laughed and quickly got up and moved away as Hamuro watched the muscles of Reyz’s face twitch and stitch themselves back together. Hamuro pulled at his bindings as he watched the creature slowly begin to move again, gasping with rasping hisses that sounded like wood rubbing on stone. Reyz’s teeth began to elongate in his jaw as it popped into place and his hands and made sounds like the bones were cracking.

Hamuro heard the metal door behind him close as he watched Reyz’s slit throat stitch itself back together until the rasping sounds of Reyz’s voice began to be replaced by haunting moans of a walking corpse. Reyz then looked towards Hamuro and smelled the air as his tongue hung from his mouth.

Hamuro panicked and kicked Reyz away as he tried rolling away from the creature. Reyz howled and smelled the air, trying to find Hamuro. Hamuro realised that Reyz is blind and a plan came to him. He slowly moved towards the door but the sound of him dragging along the stone floor drew Reyz’s attention as the creature turned towards him and made a series of clicking noises in his broken throat. Reyz was able to track his prey as he crawled down on all fours and launched himself towards Hamuro.

Dorei smiled as he heard Hamuro’s screams from inside the cell accompanied by the sounds of flesh tearing and bones snapping. As the screams filled the corridor, Dorei admired the sounds and was even impressed by the sheer ferocity he heard from the creature. After minutes of the agony, the sounds quieted until Dorei could hear little more than the occasional crunching accompanying a creature’s raspy breath.

Dorei slowly opened the door and inside he saw the stone floor coated in blood with little left in the way of a corpse. On the far side of the door, he saw a man in tattered dark clothing sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“Ah, Reyz, it’s good to see you again,” Dorei called out in a half nervous voice.

Reyz growled as he looked up at Dorei with his green eyes staring right into Dorei’s soul. “You,” Reyz growled under his breath. “You were there, you raised me from the ocean.”

“It’s good that you remember me,” Dorei said with a bow, his voice changing to be more raspy and haunting.

“Why?” Reyz growled, his deep voice reverberating through the cell. “Why won’t you let me die? What more do you want?”

“My masters still have use for you, my friend,” Dorei said while coming close to Reyz, careful to keep his distance. “They see such great promise and usefulness in you. They wish to elevate you to their ranks; to make you a lord of our kind.”

“I live for only one thing, and that is not to be a lord of some insects,” Reyz growled as he slowly rose to his feet.

“J-Just think about it for a moment; we can grant you everything you could want, everything you need,” Dorei insisted as fear started to grip his voice. “Both of us; we both want the same thing. We can help each other.”

“I work alone,” Reyz growled while baring fangs.

“You say that, and yet each time you were imprisoned, you needed one of us to free you,” Dorei said with a heavy sigh as he came closer to the Paladin. “We need you, and you need us. We can complement each other.”

Faster than Dorei could move, Reyz pulled free from his chains and threw Dorei against the wall, pinning him to it by his throat and choking him in a vice grip.

“Let me make myself clear, insect,” Reyz growled as sparks flew from Dorei’s crushed throat. “I have already killed your kind before. You have nothing you can offer me.”

“Information,” Dorei squeezed out from Reyz’s tightening hand. “We can tell you where he is.”

“I will not be indebted to you,” Reyz insisted while throwing Dorei to the side. He climbed down on all fours and ran through the corridor, crashing through the stone wall and running out into the nighttime city.

Reyz ran behind a building and went up on two legs as he ran through alleys, avoiding the lit streets. He continued running until he found himself nearing one of the city walls. Like a loosed panther, he ran on all fours and ran towards the guarded gates. Before the guards could respond, Reyz lashed out with his elongated nails, slicing through several of the guards before running out into the moonlit night.

He only had one thing on his mind now, and he would see it realised even if it kills him.