The smell of blood contaminated the air. The walls were dyed with red. The banners of the Alician were torn, and none of the souls that once fortified this outpost were breathing. A young man was holding a dagger stabbed into the liver of a person. The young man’s eyes were cold. His eyes showed no hint of light. Behind him, where the blood that was brushed on the path he walked.

The soldier of the Alician Family didn’t falter. He stared at the young man’s eyes without flinching. Fear? The soldier didn’t have any of it as his heart stops beating. None of the soldiers that he fought have died screaming in pain. Almost as if there was nothing in this world that would make them fear.

“Ah,” he heard a hoarse voice. Gael Jag turned his attention to where the voice was. A ghostly figure waded his way through the course. The translucent color of his body flickering as he approaches Gael Jag.

Gael Jag readied his blade. Still, even though he had lost his fear of slaughter as he has been killing. The ghostly man before him was an unknown he could not comprehend.

“Ah, a Bleak Walker that possessed the variable of the wolf?” The ghostly man said. “I remember you, ah, not like that it matters isn’t it?”

“Who are you?”

“Just an Old Wraith and you are a new pup? Look at you, killing, slaughtering, and making sure that none of them are left. Ah, effective, but not that effective when it comes to these Alicians who have applied the doctrine of those who walk bleakly. You, this won’t do. Killing them is going to alert them, and if you want to cut the throat of the Alician. You got to find the head and slash its throat.”

Gael Jag shook. His eyes dilated. “That’s impossible, I’m no Kaiser.”

“That’s right, it is impossible for a bleak walker to even dent a War Maiden who has reached the peak. You know, if your people don’t attack, and grovel their heads, then this War would be over and the only thing left would be the fight. Though, prepare for an island to be wiped out. Those two monsters fighting would do this nation well.”

“So what? Are you here to stop them?”

“You could say that, Walker,” Old Wraith said. “But this Old Wraith is merely trying to stop a certain war maiden. She’s the sickness, and the disease that pains me dearly.”

“You despise the war maiden?”

“Despise? Far from it, no, there’s no way that I could do that, no, it would be more like I simply wanted to end the story of two that have stayed too long. But you, you are trying to save a home that has been plagued by foreigners and invaders, I can tell that your desire is rich, and your delusions grandeur. Still, it is admirable for someone like you to kill so many, not knowing anything, still fighting for. You seem like a good lad and seeing you fall to this state. Is quite something...”

“What do you want from me?”

“A proposal, I will be your shadow, a guardian wraith to watch over your back. You see, I am rather spent, and if I could assist you until the day you face the monsters that plagued your land. I will gladly assist you in your coming days. You don’t need my help, you have become a predator in a few days, but, if you truly want to save the land, then why not team up with this Old Wraith?”

“You are going to use me?”

“Yes, I do not need to hide. And...It’s not like you have a choice in this matter. You do realize that you walked into a trap?”

Gael Jag didn’t want to look back. He knew that he was tricked into coming here. These men showed no fear and they fought as if it didn’t matter; they had a mission to accomplish. Gael Jag could feel his heart thumping loudly. The noise that he could hear was enough to put a stop to the unrelenting courage that he had. Fear that was lost crept in when the realization strikes. His senses were telling him that a group was coming to his location.

“Will you consume my soul?” He asked.

The Old Wraith smiled. “I don’t do that. I can suck only the life force of others to use my power. I am only using you like a rope that I can use to pull myself out of a well.”

“To ask for cooperation while saying all these things. Do you think I will?” He asked.

“You will. After all, you’re going to die if you don’t, Walker.”

Gael Jag frowned. He looked at the tree line and saw figures slowly approaching. He returned his gaze to the Old Wraith. His fist clenched, his face stiff.

“I will cooperate, but what will you do?”

“Help you kill them, is that what you want?”

“I, no, if your words are true, then I need to avoid them.”

“What for?” He said. “You already killed many of them, why stop now?”

“And get killed?”

“Like I said,” Old Wraith’s voice went cold. “There’s no need to fear!”

The Old Wraith entered Gael Jag, his eyes burning red, his left part of his body transparent with smoking black. He didn’t know how or when but by the time he got his consciousness back. He standing in the middle of a forest clearing with the Alician Forces swimming in their pool of blood. Their trucks were wiped out and the only thing left was a few who had their mind broken. They were screaming, their eyes unfocused as they destroy their throat just by shouting alone. It was as if they were stuck in a perpetual nightmare.

The bodies were torn by something inhuman. Gael Jag hesitated, thinking, whether he made the right choice of accepting a Wraith inside his body.