As Frederick gawked at the blood-stained dagger his unknown host carried, three explanations came to mind. Either the blood came from whoever he now lurked around, whoever they had attacked, or both. He didn’t know which option he preferred, as all three made his stomach churn. It didn’t help that the stranger’s heavy clothes and surrounding fog made it difficult to see any signs of injury.

His analysis stopped when a question hit him with full force. Where was Lian Hai?

Frederick was about to call out for her but bit his tongue. Firstly, he didn’t know if his new host would react well to someone following them. Second, given the blood’s freshness on the dagger, it had been spilled recently. If the attacker was nearby, Frederick didn’t want to make himself a target. Instead, he focused his vision and tried to locate traces of a familiar green braid of energy.

A quiet voice entered his mind. “Pst, Frederick. Did you make it?”

Frederick flinched and replied in his thoughts, “I’m here. Where are you?”

“Right with you.” 

He was about to ask what she meant, but a familiar presence formed next to him. Unlike their previous interactions, he couldn’t see her or a vague silhouette. Nonetheless, he at least knew she hadn’t lost her way in the abyss. Now, he needed to find answers regarding his current whereabouts and situation.

“Where are we?” Lian Hai asked. “I’ve been to this layer before, but not this spot. And who are we riding along with?”

Frederick frowned. “I was going to ask you that. You’re the expert between the two of us.”

“I wouldn’t call myself an expert,” she replied. “Besides, the astral plane is massive. Do you know how long it would take to study it all?”

Before he could respond, movement to the side made him freeze. Even with the thick fog obscuring his surroundings, he spotted the rustling in the nearby shrubs.

Whoever he was tailing must have noticed too, for they shrunk behind a tree and used some loose snow on the ground to clean off their dagger. The way the whole bush trembled indicated that something large lurked behind, but without a clear view, Frederick couldn’t distinguish more details about the culprit.

Since natural vision didn’t work, he closed his eyes and focused. Heat formed behind his eyelids, but he ignored it and reached out for any surrounding energy trails. Even with an incomplete understanding of the land, the pitch-black splotches that absorbed surrounding light grabbed his attention.

Lian Hai whispered, “You can see it, too, right?”

Frederick nodded. It occurred to him that she might not be able to see his response, but he switched to watching what the Cloaked Figure would do instead.

Aside from their hands, outfit, and dagger, he’d yet to get a clear view of who he and Lian Hai were following. The red glow coming from their hand indicated this was another astral traveler. That explained how he and Lian Hai were drawn to them, but that begged the question of why they detected this one specifically. 

Additionally, the scarce clues Frederick gleamed on the Cloaked Figure gave little indication of their goals, either short or long term, or personality. The blood on their dagger suggested that they had gotten mixed up in some sort of fight, and the steady way they held it implied this wasn’t their first time using it. However, who they were going after and why remained unsolved.

Frederick’s speculation ended when the Cloaked Figure shot up and raised their dagger.

A low growl rumbled a few feet behind within a fallen bush. Then, two glowing eyes appeared in the fog and cast shadows.

Frederick cursed and tried to raise his hands. To his horror, he discovered he couldn’t move the rest of his body.

Lian Hai’s muttered curses suggested she was in a similar position.

Memories returned of the first time he astral projected, and he tried to recall what he did to break free. In the past, waiting did the trick, but he feared that if he waited much longer, both he and Lian Hai would be done for. Instead, he fought against the paralysis until invisible pins and needles stabbed into his whole body.

Suddenly, the Cloaked Figure charged. Frederick’s vision blurred as an invisible force dragged him along. Despite that, he watched as they raised their dagger and stretched out their hand, which was now glowing with blood red light. A matching light enveloped the monster's jaws and clamped it shut. Despite losing its ability to bite, it leaped into the air with its claws outstretched. 

The Cloaked Figure stopped and leaned to the side. Razor claws slashed three long gouges into the thick leather, but none of it left any damage.

While the monster flew through the air nearby, they swung their dagger through the side of the monster’s neck. The blade cut left a deep gash in its throat that began spurting blood. Even with its jaws sealed shut, the monster’s howl rang through the silence.

It collapsed to the ground, and the Cloaked Figure dashed over to their downed foe. They raised their dagger, poised the blade down, and plunged it toward the monster’s heart.

However, their blade made it around halfway when a second shadowy beast leaped in from the side and knocked them into a nearby tree. It dug its claws into their shoulders, ripping through cloth and skin, and opened its jaws wide.

“No,” Lian Hai exclaimed.

Frederick didn’t scream. Instead, his heart raced, and time slowed to a crawl as he eyed the razor-sharp teeth poised toward their host’s jugular.

Before he could react, the Cloaked Figure slammed their free fist into the monster’s jaw. A hollow crack followed, and the monster recoiled.

It started to reel back, but the few seconds of reaction allowed the Cloaked Figure to reorient their blade and drive it into the monster’s throat. Blood gushed from the wound onto their clothes and hand, but they didn’t react as they shoved the monster off, yanked the blade free, and delivered the same fate to the earlier wounded monster.

They continued to look around, but Frederick no longer registered what was going on. His stomach churned hard enough that even in his extra detached astral state, it made him sick. The rest of his body grew numb, and unlike before, he doubted it came from the frigid environment.

When Lian Hai spoke, her voice was shaky, “Holy shit.”

Tree branches above rustled. The Cloaked Figure snapped their head up to look while raising a free hand. In the canopies above, a shadowy creature lurked, and Frederick didn’t need to see it to guess what it was. How had it climbed up so high without any visible means of doing so? More importantly, how could they defend against an attack from above?

Evidently, the Cloaked Figure was trying to decipher that, as they didn’t move from their spot at first.

Then, they crept over to the monster corpses. Scanning them revealed that the usual inky black ooze was seeping out of them before dissolving into the air. The stranger reached down with one glowing hand, and the red light disappeared into the blackness. Given how much contact they made, Frederick could only imagine how much it burned.

They scooped up a handful and smeared it on their face and neck.

Frederick grimaced and detected Lian Hai doing the same. If the icy burning sensation bothered the stranger, they showed no sign of it as they ducked under some shrubs and alternated between watching the two dead monsters and the canopies above. They raised their free hand again, and the red glow disappeared amidst the inky blackness.

Seeing this, the purpose of their earlier task made sense to Frederick, though he still winced at the thought of doing the same.

The air around the monster corpses vibrated, and they levitated into an upright position. Staring into their empty eyes made Frederick’s skin crawl, and the sensation increased when he realized what the Cloaked Figure was attempting. He doubted whether this tactic would trick the hidden third monster and questioned whether the distance and foliage would be enough to cover the ruse.

The Cloaked Figure raised their dagger hand, put two fingers in their mouth, and let loose a piercing whistle.

Frederick winced and was about to cover his ears before remembering he couldn’t. Silence returned to the icy forest as the echoes of the whistle faded. 

Then, the leaves above rustled, and a shadowy beast emerged from the foliage. It sniffed and glanced around before focusing on the two propped up monster corpses. The surviving one howled and charged down to its apparent allies, but as it launched into the air, the space around it began to shimmer.

Frederick’s eyes widened. What was going on?

The monster disappeared into thin air, then reappeared in front of an enormous tree. A sickening crunch emitted as it crashed into the trunk at full speed, and it fell to the ground with a thud. It didn’t have time to rise before the Cloaked Figure sprinted over and finished it off.

Silence returned to the woods. When Frederick searched for any more monster trails, he found none.

The Cloaked Figure must’ve reached the same conclusion, for they slumped against the tree trunk and began inspecting their wounds. Bloody holes in their shoulders showed where the second monster had latched onto them, and smaller but still bleeding scratches cut through their torso. From how their breathing turned labored, the pain and exhaustion was starting to catch up with them.

Nonetheless, they grabbed a roll of bandages and a small box of what looked like a healing salve from their waist pouch and began patching their wounds.

After a pause, Frederick said, “I think this one can handle monsters just fine. No need to linger.”

“Indeed,” Lian Hai replied. “I still want to look around and see where we are. This isn’t a place I recognize, and if it’s a hot spot for monster attacks, I’d like to know more.”

“You want to stay after watching this blood bath?” Frederick asked. “I thought you were just making sure nobody got hurt.”

“I’m not staying for long. Just enough to see if I can find a recognizable landmark.” Lian Hai’s energy flared as she struggled to break free. “You can return to the church if you want, but I want to make the most of the time I have here.”

Frederick was about to respond, but heavy weights clamped down on him from all sides and locked him in place. Lian Hai yelped as the green energy around her shrunk to a thin layer around her. From how she grunted, she was trying to fight back in vain. Frederick’s heart raced, and he searched for a way out, but he struggled to resist against a force he couldn’t even see.

His vision blurred as pins and needles filled his whole body. When both cleared, he was standing in the open next to Lian Hai. He looked like himself again, albeit somewhat translucent and with a faint blue glow around him. Although he couldn’t see it, he detected that the invisible grip on him resembled the one that restrained the monster’s jaw and moved its corpse earlier.

The Cloaked Figure stood with their back to the tree and their hands outstretched. With the black ooze having long faded away, the blood red light emitting from their palms grew blinding. The shadows cast by their hooded cloak concealed most of their face. Nonetheless, the scarce glimpse that Frederick got from the matching light coming from their eyes didn’t reassure him.

When they spoke, their voice was ice cold. “Who are you two, and how did you find me?”

Frederick’s mind raced as he struggled to explain himself.

From how Lian Hai spluttered, even she didn’t know what to say.

Before either could recompose themselves, the Cloaked Figure’s eyes widened, and their hands brightened as they pushed Frederick and Lian Hai back.

However, instead of stumbling a few steps or collapsing on the ground, he launched backward at a speed that left his head spinning and his heart racing out of control. The foggy and icy landscape warped around him before shrinking into a distant pinprick. Then, that too disappeared, leaving only darkness.