It began as I fell. It was like one of those falling dreams, where everything becomes so vivid as you plummet toward the earth. I tried to scream but no sound came. Wind howled in my face and ears as I tumbled, seeing first the black night ocean, then the starry night sky. The full moon was shining high over land somewhere to one side, but as soon as it registered, I’d rolled and couldn’t see it. The water began to rush up.

This is going to hurt.

It didn’t. I hit the water about as hard as your typical cannonball, sank a few feet in a storm of bubbles, and I got my feet under me and kicked back to the surface, arriving with a burst of spray and water and coughing, now treading water.

I felt strange, my whole body plagued tingles and sparks that I wasn’t sure to enjoy or fear. I was short of breath, and before I knew it, my legs and arms were failing me, and the waves began to take me over. I made one gurgling cry before sinking. A falling dream, mixed with fears of drowning.

It was all just a dream and Freudian experiment until I opened my eyes. I was face down in sand, feeling cool but not freezing. I grunted and got back to my feet, looking over my shoulder. The night ocean washed over the pale shore behind me. There was a forest that created a nearly impenetrable wall at my front. Rocks blocked the beach in on one side, and the beach seemed to continue endlessly on the other side.

I dusted myself off, finding I was wearing a plain outfit of black fabric, perhaps cotton, a tunic and pants. The tunic was laced up in a pointing neck and then up from my sides by leather thongs, and the pants were laced down either side, keeping them tight but not skintight. It was pretty comfortable, I had to say. I stretched and checked out the dimensions of this outfit, musing that it was easier to move in than some modern-day outfits. However, there was something stiff along my back, diagonal from right shoulder to the left outside of my rump. I felt it with my hands, feeling the strap that held to my chest, making my breasts a little more prominent. I felt a hard cylinder over my shoulder and pulled, feeling it come free easily.

My arm followed through, drawing a sword from it sheath. It was black, narrow, with a straight blade ending in a diamond tip. It was marvelously light and easy to spin, and I took a few trotting steps and sliced the air with it. The metal sung as it cleaved through the night wind. I was immediately pleased, being someone with no sword skill. I grinned, attacking invisible demons. It wasn’t until something bumped my back that I jumped and turned, ready to slice it in half. There was no one there. I looked around and listening, until it knocked against the back of my knees. I whirled again, slashing the air. Nothing. I looked around again, listening sharply.

“Where are you?”

I felt it again and turned, seeing something black whipping around my back. I followed it for two or three revolutions, then reversed to throw it off. No matter what I did, I couldn’t catch it, and was suddenly too dizzy to sand and had to go down on a knee, supporting myself by the longsword. “Ungh.”

I felt it against the soles of my feet. I looked, seeing it still there, whipping about. I managed to strike out and grab it, and to my surprise found it attached to my butt. I could feel my hand squeezing around it, too.

It was black and furry, reminding me an awful lot of my cat’s tail.

Tail!

I dropped the sword and grabbed it with both hands, then moved up and touched my head. My human ears had been replaced by two triangles that twitched and turned as I listened to the world around me. I noticed that I had rings set through the bottom edge on either side, piercings that had transferred from my human form. I got back up to my feet and looked at myself, realizing that my black clothing wasn’t the only dark thing. I rolled back my sleeve, seeing my skin had turned charcoal black, with a whole mess of neon blue lines that were drawn on me, looking like a cross between a vine and Aztec scrolls. It went all the way down my arm to my hand, and on that right hand was a marking that seemed significant. There was a simplistic wreath of triangles and curves around a ten-point star and a sword glinting atop it. The wreath connected to tattoo rings on each finger. The sword looked familiar.

I picked up my black blade, and there it was, engraved into the steel near the hilt. Ten-point star and sword, on the blade and on my sword hand.

It didn’t take a high school genius to see a relationship. I put the sword back in its sheath and began to look around again.

There had to be a next step.

Amid the mists and lightning show of my mind, the local resident appeared, hopped up on a synapse, and settled back. I looked back and forth down the beach, crossing my arms.

What now?

What am I, the map?

I could use one. What do you think? The forest, or the beach?

Hey, I’m just here to make fun of you, remember? You make all the big decisions.

I sighed and walked toward the forest. My feet moved from firm, wet sand to moss and I entered the silent grove. I wasn’t twenty feet into it before I started getting nervous. It was dark in here. I could barely see, and even armed, I was afraid. After a short while, I began to slow down and start freaking, my heart pounding in my chest, one hand on the hilt as I looked around. I heard a few rustles to one side and froze, staring that direction as I waited for another sound.

I heard an unearthly wail and something was in front of me, a black, gangly shape. I couldn’t see it well, but it was terrifying. I screamed, unable to even think of drawing my sword. It grabbed me by the throat and threw me up against a tree, slowly crushing my neck. As I struggled, I felt the feeling begin to drain from my feet, heading up my legs. I realized as the feeling left, the limb stopped moving. I didn’t have much time.

The demon in my head was freaking out as much as I was. Do something! Use your sword, you idiot!

I yanked the blade out and swept it across me. It felt resistance for barely a second before going through, and I was falling to the ground. I hit and folded, unable to move with my drained legs. The beast howled, splitting my skull as I tried to recover. Warmth pounded back into my legs and I got up, taking my sword and running. I didn’t stop until I was on the beach, panting and exhausted. My lower body was killing me. Whatever that thing had done, it hurt unlike all else.

I crouched and hid in the dunes. Had it followed me? Minutes passed and I began to relax again. I noticed suddenly that, in the moonlight, the marks on my hand seemed to be glowing on their own. I began to wonder if the moon affected me.

I exhausted and laid my head on my hand, sighing.

Next time, let’s avoid the haunted woods.

What was that thing?

I think it was draining your soul.

You think? I know it was draining something. I wanted to nap, but I wasn’t sure I was really safe. Not wanting to go anywhere near the forest again, I sheathed my sword and began to walk along the beach.

As the minutes passed, I began to regain my strength, little by little, and picked up speed. The sand was firm and held my weight, so walking was easy. But there was so much walking. I began to wonder which would come first, collapse from exhaustion, or finding something. I was sure that if I pressed on, I’d either go totally around the island or find something eventually.

And find something I did, eventually. As I walked, I saw rocks sticking out into the water a distance off. The curve of the coast proceeded and into view came a tower. I grew excited and began to run, reaching the rocks quickly and climbing up them. There was a boardwalk heading out over the rough boulders toward the tower, which from here looked much more like a lighthouse. I began to walk down the boardwalk, beginning fast at first but quickly slowing. The walkway felt and sounded weak, and I found planks missing and once or twice skipped one that cracked.

I reached the base of the lighthouse, seeing that it was founded in what appeared to be poured concrete. The base had one door, facing me, but as I did a lap around it, I found nothing of note anywhere else. I stepped inside and found myself bathed in near darkness. Light came in from a few keyhole windows, letting me see just enough to navigate. After a short amount of stumbling I came across what looked like a lantern. Picking it up, I gave it a wiggle and felt fuel slosh around inside. Better yet, there was a metal box of matches on the table nearby.

Matches? Here? I opened it and saw it was about half full. They looked like matches from home. With a sharp strike on the rough box, it flared to life and I could see the lantern by the gold light. After a bit of fumbling, I managed to get the glass top to slide up and put my sputtering match to the wick before it burnt me. I wasn’t so lucky, but after I’d dropped the match, the lantern had taken light. I closed it and held it up, admiring the soft golden glow. A light source. Thank god.

I held it up, feeling much like the ancient lighthouse keeper, and looked around. There was a lot of debris and abandoned furniture, but the only other thing I thought to take was a leather belt with a dagger the size of my forearm. After that thing in the woods, I was going to take every weapon I found. It wasn’t as sharp as my sword, but it would still work.

There was a set of wooden, spiraling stairs heading up and some stone stairs heading down. Above me, I could see the wooden platform. There was a black cable heading from the floor to that platform, though I could say what it did.

I heard a rustle and turned sharply. My light fell on a rat sitting on the floor. I glared critically at it, hand on my dagger.

“Just a rat,” I told myself. “It won’t hurt me.”

The rat looked at me. “Well why would I?”

My heart stopped for a second. “You talk?”

“Of course I talk.”

“I’ve never heard a rat talk before.”

“Perhaps you’ve never listened.”

I stopped to think about that. Either rats talk in this realm, or I can hear them, or both.

The rat stood on its hind legs and looked at me. “You’re Kin. Of course you can hear us. Did your tribe never teach you?”

“Uh, can’t say they did. What do you mean by Kin?”

“Did you lose your memory? Kin! Fusion of animal and man. To combat the Wraiths.”

I suddenly remembered seeing that beast in the forest. “The demon things in the woods.”

“That’s the one. Humans are too weak to do it.”

“Do you live here?”

“Not by choice. I was brought in with a shipment. The ocean outside is too rough for me to get out on my own.”

“Shipment? Recently?” I looked around. “This place looks like it’s been abandoned for... years maybe?”

“There’s something wrong. Ever since the Wraiths started showing up, things haven’t looked right. One day you wake up and things have been abandoned for hundreds of years, or an old battle site returns to its day-after state. I heard the Humans talking about it.”

“Do they come here?”

“Not anymore. Not since this place looked like this.”

After a pause, it started to rummage around again, its attention expired. I took my lantern and began to poke down at the stone steps, heading under the floor into the basement. It wasn’t long before I came across water. I knelt, looking around. The water was pretty deep, it looked, but I saw that cable on the wall, and a box there. Wood debris floated atop the millpond-flat water.

If I wanted to explore this any farther, I had to get wet. Not wanting to get my outfit wet, I had only one option. After a minute of pulling away my gear and tunic, I sat on the stone with the lantern next to me, temporarily entranced.

That mark on my arm wasn’t alone. In fact, I was covered from the ankles up in the weird mixture of flowing curves and angular scrolls. It was almost hypnotic to look at. The neon was a little dull right now, with no strong light source. I left the lantern on the bottom step and began to walk into the cool water, shivering and gasping as it flowed up over my chest and I began to wade across the room.

When I reached the box, I got a nice step up before I banged my knee into something. I stared at the glossy water, but couldn’t make out what was underneath. I looked around and then opened that box. Inside were fuses. Seriously. The little cartridge fuses stuck between two forks. Obvious from the black charring, two of the five were burned out.

I heard the ratty squeak and looked over my shoulder. He was cleaning his whiskers near my lantern.

“Electricity?”

“Wha?”

“Humans have electricity?”

“Yeah, but I guess it doesn’t work with all that water there. The Humans had a thing that drained the water, but it doesn’t work either.”

“A pump.”

“Do I look like a mechanic? I just listen to people.”

I spent a second fumbling under the water, trying to feel out the machine, but other than its obvious mechanical nature, I had no further clues.

Giving up, I waded back over and climbed out the water. I was soaking wet, and still didn’t want to get my clothes wet. Besides, who was here? One rat. I took my clothes and the lantern and went back upstairs, left my clothes on a table, and started for the platform. Again, I was careful. I didn’t want to make a bad step and go through one of these creaky boards. Who knows how badly I could get hurt if I landed on something down there. I reached the ladder and got myself up okay with the lantern in hand. I looked around.

The windows were so grimy I couldn’t see out of them. Center stage was an ancient light fixture with the rippled lenses. I couldn’t really see anything else. Wandering around, I found the glass panel that opened and went out onto the balcony. The wind was chilling, but the view was what I wanted.

The moon lit up everything. The coast went as far as I could see in both directions, with the ocean behind us. I couldn’t see where I’d started, because it was beyond a curve somewhere, but I did see a mountain far inland. It seemed to be more a continent than an island. I put the lantern behind me and squinted, suspecting I saw something. Indeed, there were lights glinting on that mountain. Civilization! I had to find my way out there.

The demon shrugged and walked to another synapse and settled in for a nap.

Can’t even congratulate me. I figured that out.

But how do we get there?

He was right. I saw no roads anywhere nearby. I sighed and looked around, finding a ladder behind me, heading to the lighthouse roof. Off I went, and there on the flat cap was a strange mechanical contraption. It had a pole and a bunch of open rings. I put the lantern down and went over to it, studying it critically for a moment before attempting to fit my body against the device.

It fit like I suspected. They could stick someone up here and keep them there for as long as they wished.. They probably waited for them to die from exposure. I had a great view of the ocean from here, and I assumed that if it were any nastier weather, this would be far worse than just uncomfortable.

I climbed down from the roof and sat myself in the tower room. How many hours until daylight? I leaned against the lamp, turning the lantern down. As the light went away, I noticed again all the markings on my skin, and all of them were shining brightly. The moonlight did that. I again found myself mesmerized by the patterns, watching them as my eyes drifted in focus. Shapes appeared out of the ones on my chest and belly. It was almost like watching a story, seeing vague figures that were caricatures of roles and identities.

I opened my eyes and found it to be daylight. I sat up, a little startled. When had it become day? The markings were almost completely faded, the tower room was warm from the sunlight blasting into the glass. But then, there was something else not quite right. The sky was purple. I got up and nudged open the panel. The sky was a marvelous shade of lavender, with the hot white sun blazing down. I frowned and studied it for another minute before climbing down.

I was, naturally, completely dry now, and I returned to my clothing, finding it somehow fun to lace everything and get the sword ready to travel.

I would leave the lantern here. It was too much to carry right now. Hopefully I’d find those lights on the mountain by the time the darkness came again. I did take the matches, since they were smaller and I figured I might as well be prepared.

The rat appeared and poked in some dust before giving up. I remembered how hungry I was myself.

“Do you know where the nearest town is?”

“Maybe. Who knows if it’s still there.”

“Can you point me to it?”

“What’s in it for me?”

I knelt and held out my hand. “The mainland.”

He stopped and seemed to think for a minute before coming over and climbing on my arm. He was soft and fuzzy, and his claws didn’t hurt at all as he climbed onto my shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

I carried him back out into the windy day. The waves roared and crashed across the rocks, making it a slick going until I was halfway there. I could feel his panic as I carried him. It would be hard for him to cross. We reached the beach and I stood there, looking around.

“Which way?”

“South.”

I checked the sun, nodded, and proceeded southward, to my left further down the beach. It wasn’t a long walk before he suddenly told me to turn right.

After pushing through a little brush, I found a disused wagon trail. It was cool in the forest, and I was glad to have the sun off me. I walked along until the road joined with another, one more heavily used.

He climbed down my arm and hopped off. “Keep going. You’ll know which way to go.”

“Thank you.”

He vanished into the undergrowth.

I began to walk again, proceeding at a healthy trot as we went. He was nice.

I know. Go figure.

Talk to animals. Well there’s a fantastic skill.

Tell me about it.

I continued in silence, moving along the moist dirt and listening to the bird song. It was very peaceful, almost meditative. I wished everyone in my world the chance to walk in a place like this. After many minutes, maybe nearly an hour, I stopped and sniffed.

What?

I smell something, I noted, beginning to hasten. It was making my dry throat even drier, and I had a feeling I knew what it was.

A wood bridge appeared in the path, and I ran to meet it. Under its span was a clear creek. I hopped off the road and down the bank, giving it a sniff. I had smelled the water. My new body’s senses were certainly coming to use. I grinned and leaned in, putting my lips to the surface and sucking up a mouthful. I’d never tasted anything more delicious. “Whew. That was good.”

Maybe we can hunt something.

“I am really hungry. But I’d need a fire to cook it. And I don’t know if I could eat something I can talk…”

I heard something in the bush and turned to where my ear pointed. Slowly getting up, I crept toward it, finding I was seriously entertaining the idea. I was really hungry. Talk or not, I was famished.

It was a rabbit. As I saw it, it saw me, stopped and twitched its nose, and then took off. I lunged, giving a feral growl before landing on it. My claws sank in and I rolled off, gripping the animal in my hands. Before I’d realized what had happened, the rabbit was dead. I sank my teeth in and ripped away a bunch of fur to get at the meat underneath.

I was nearly done before the real me came back and saw what had happened. I stopped, looking at the devoured carcass. “Oh no!” I stood up, wiping the blood from my face. “I am an animal.”

I coulda told you that.

“The poor thing.”

I wonder if that causes distrust between animals.

My distress was halted as he presented an interesting question. “Why wasn’t the rat bothered?”

You didn’t immediately eat him.

“I could have. I didn’t want to.”

Maybe that wasn’t one of the real animals.

“What do you mean?”

Maybe he was one of the Kin. Hence he could talk.

“He was all rat, though.”

There was something different about this. Besides, what could Kin eat? Check you teeth, sweetheart, and tell me you’re not a carnivore.

I poked. They were sharp. Catlike. He was right. I began to move again, not wanting to spend any more time moping about that.

“Do you suppose I can eat Wraiths? I wouldn’t feel bad about that.”

Hehe. I’m sure you wouldn’t. I don’t know whether that would make you sick, though.

I pouted as I walked along, until I arrived at something distracting. There was a fork in the road, and at the joint was a sign post. Conveniently, the sign pointing back toward me was broken. I could read “PA” before it ended in splinters. The sign pointing right read “KIRAKU, 45 km” and the sign to the left read “Stoneland Abbey, 2 km.” I searched the ground for a second to see if the rest of the first sign was anywhere, but it had been completely consumed by the ground.

“Left it is.” I began to walk. Two kilometers. I had to dig a bit to think of the conversion factor, realizing that I’d learned it sometime in high school. It surprised me to find that I could remember specific knowledge, but I still knew nothing about myself, nothing more than what I had found already.

I began to wonder if I should name myself, but unfortunately I was fresh out of names. I couldn’t think of any, no matter how hard I tried.

Going back on task, I returned to the conversion factor. I knew the Imperial system better, so it made more sense to me in miles. And the answer was less than a quarter mile. Not a far walk at all.

Before I could think again, I turned a corner and there, hiding next to a hill, was a stone wall. I walked quickly toward it, slowly as I neared the gate. The ground was heavily disturbed. Arrows and spears stood stuck in the earth. There were shields and bits of armor strewn about, and the gates were bashed in and charred. I passed through the ruined gatehouse and turned up inside, looking around. The Abbey was little more than a simple castle with timber houses inside it. Almost all the houses had been completely destroyed, only blackened frame hulks from the fire. The battle looked even more intense in here. I felt the roughness of the earth as I walked around. The battle must have happened not so long ago.

I went for the prime target: the keep. It was the only stone structure, built into part of the wall on the left. I climbed the smooth stone steps, looking at the shattered windows before I entered. The battle continued here. I was noticing that while I saw plenty of wargear, there were no bodies. No blood. That was strange. Usually there would be a lot of blood, I would think.

I entered the great hall, which was even more in a state of disarray. After looking around at crumbled statues and burned tapestries on the wall, I came to something interesting. A large sword was stuck into a crack in the stonework, and hung on it was a suit of golden armor. It was quite interesting and beautiful. The helm struck me the most interesting. It wasn’t shaped like I expected. There were gaps on the top and a protruded front, as if meant for a canine head. I reached out, touching the metal. It was warm and smooth.

A second later, I was struck by an electric shock and thrown back, standing but off balance. I shook my head and opened my eyes, getting over the roar in my ears to look.

The armor stood before me, shield and sword in hand. The gaps in the metal showed a ghastly figure, half-bone and half-flesh. It was obviously a wolf Kin, standing taller than me and looking quite fierce. The only tangible aspect was his burning amber eyes, which glared and cut into me. I put my hand to the hilt, ready to fight before he took that tremendous cleaver and cut me in two.

His next action was to chuckle. He lifted the sword and planted it in his back sheath, sitting down on a chair. I looked around, finding now that the hall had been restored to its glory. The windows were intact and shining with great murals. The tapestries were whole and the statues stood proudly. I found with a bit of glowing shock that much of the artwork was rendered of Kin in the nude, which I hadn’t expected. I supposed that it must have been culture. I looked back at the great shape as he reclined.

“The blue-eyed panther. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“We? Why?”

“I can only tell you so much. It is a test of your determination and intelligence. However, I should introduce myself.” He put his armored paw to his chest. “I am General Casper DeNoir. Or, what’s left of him.”

I felt a moment of sorrow for him. He’d been killed in a battle, untimely sliced from his life. Poor guy.

“Feel no pity for me. A warrior’s fate is to die in battle, and that is all I asked. Now I linger, to guide warriors like you.”

“There was a battle here.”

“Long ago. The fragmented timeline has brought it back. I believe in the present time it is a ruin, but I see an image of it being rebuilt as well. I cannot tell which is which.”

“Who was it that attacked?” I looked around for the weapons, remembering stupidly that this place I was in was devoid of all warfare.

“Humans.”

I frowned. “Why? Weren’t we made by them?”

“The Church does not like us. They consider us as abominable as the Wraiths. According to popular belief, the Wraiths were made by dark mystics. We were made to fight them, but we were also made by mystics. There are Humans that believe that the Wraiths rule the night and the Kin rule the day, and are wiling to strike us down because they can. I’ve yet to see a common Human kill a Wraith.”

“Should I stay away from them?”

“You may have to travel among them. Not all Humans are like that, but you should be on your guard.” He drew a familiar symbol into the air. “Be wary of this.”

“That’s a cross. Christianity?”

“Not the sort you know.” He got to his feet. “Have at thee, champion.” The sword sang as it returned to his paw. “Let’s see if you live up to your image.”

I drew my sword. “I’m not sure if I like having an image I don’t know.”

“You will come to know it; do not fret.” He swung his sword flat-side out at a gentle pace, and I was surprised as I responded and touched my blade to his between us. A gesture, a salute of some sort. He took up a stance, sword up, shield forward. I had no shield, so instead I flourished my blade and held my off-arm a little forward, ready to grab if need be. Everything seemed automatic.

General Casper closed on me, making me back away and circle. I checked over my shoulder and saw the table, and with a bound jumped up onto it.

The sword came down, whisking past my front and sinking into the table. I didn’t even realized I’d dodged before I was diving off the table, rolling over my shoulders and swinging out. My blade met the armor over his thigh. Time stuck for a moment as I tried to move, and in a blink, I was standing before him again.

He chuckled, whirling the sword beside him. “Good. Your art is different than mine. You have realized this.”

“Without armor, I had to improvise.”

“You are using the Kindred Bladedancer style. You carry very little armor to keep your body light and your moves fast. I use Delosian infantry style.”

I hadn’t realized there were different methods to fighting with the same weapon. Now it made lots of sense. After all, there were separate martial arts, all of which used the same body. Additionally, we weren’t using the same weapon. My sword was a light one-hander. His was a giant two-hand broadsword.

“Dodging isn’t your only defense, however. Hold your ground.”

I didn’t have a chance to respond before he swung up and over. I brought my blade up, managing to deflect the blow to my right without taking too much shock to my arm. The block threw his sword awkwardly sideways and left mine right and ready. I thrust forward sharply, driving the point into his midriff.

I was standing away from him again, and he chuckled in approval.

“Are you afraid?”

I checked and slowly shook my head. “It happens too fast. I just gasp and react.”

“You hold a gift, champion. Use your nimble feet and your quick hand, but be wary. The Kin choose their fights wisely.” He sheathed the sword and walked to the table. I went to look at the large paper sheet, finding myself a map. He’d nearly sliced a corner off of it with that slice. Sitting at one edge was a small compass. I saw the land, seeing that where I stood was barely a speck on the map. The continent was broad. I saw that the mountain town was a long way from here, but Kiraku wasn’t so far off, on the bank of the river. The diamond marks were Human towns, the circle Kin. Kiraku belonged to the Kin.

I picked up the map and held it, watching the disk twirl once before locating magnetic north.

“You know the next step. Moon goddess bless you.”

I blinked, and I was standing in the ruined hall again. I looked around, seeing the broken weapons and the armor sitting there. I went over and poked it again, but the metal was now cold. Casper had left.

I was still holding the compass. I clutched it and closed my eyes. “Thank you.”

I wasn’t quite ready to leave. There were places to scavenge through. The lower floors were hard to get down into, because it was so dark and I was obviously short of a light. However, as I roamed the kitchens, I did have the fortune to locate another of those tin-base glass lanterns. Drawing the matches from my pocket, I struck one and got the lantern lit much quicker than the first time, taking it with me before beginning to scour some of the darker corners of this strange place. I located nothing of terrific significance, until in the basement I came across part of a tapestry. It was pretty badly damaged, but the graphic was about a band of warriors. The only surviving block of text referred to the one female, the light-footed lioness called Samara. The broken link of text called her “-compassionate lioness Samara, whose ears never missed a thing and her swift hand brought down those-“

After reflecting for a moment, I remembered with a start that I had to get moving. If night fell while I was still on my way to Kiraku…

I made my way hastily back through the Abbey, trying to find any bits of equipment I could salvage. Again, I had no good way to carry the lantern, and the flame had begun to spatter and duck as it ran out of oil, so I abandoned it and kept on. The weapons that lay about were mostly broken, and the few that were still in reasonable condition were crude and I found that my dagger and longsword were far superior to anything I found. I took one last visit to the grave of General Casper, stopping to thank him and kiss my fingertips before placing it on the cold steel.

I took a final check through the kitchen and picked up something I thought was a scrap of cloth when I’d first passed. It was a leather sack with a corked end, obviously meant for carrying water. In my exploration, I hadn’t found any water, but I was sure to pass that creek again. I reached the charred gates and passed through, taking a moment to look back at the Abbey.

When I turned, it had abruptly changed. The doors were gone and all that was left was mossy stone. The fragment in time had shifted. I sighed and pressed on.

“Man this place is messed up.”

Tell me about it. From the sound of it, you’re here for a reason though.

“Like I can fix all this.”

I wouldn’t be so sure you can’t. When was the last time you could wield a sword like that?

He had a point. I wasn’t exactly a master of swordcraft, yet I seemed to be more than just intermediate with this one.

“I really don’t know anything, do I?” I muttered. “Strange world. Strange self.” Sigh. “I would say I want to go home, only I don’t remember what home is like.”

There was only one thing to do now, and that was walk.