1 Prologue **GORE WARNING**

XX/XX/0089

Deafening silence filled the old inn. Not a single living soul could be seen or heard wandering through the wide darkened hallways that flickered with the dim light of the dancing candle flames that sat burning along its walls. Eight large oak doors lined the corridor in evenly spaced intervals; four on the left and four on the right, each being an exact replica of each other. One might say that the perfect symmetry and the flickering candlelight, alongside the eerie stillness was the picture-perfect set up for something horrific to occur. Yet, behind the farthest door, barely visible through the ever-wavering shadows was a reality that anyone would have thought possible only in fiction. The door swung slowly on silent hinges to reveal a scene that could only be described as… well... there were no words that could describe what could be seen. The room that had looked like the typical run of the mill room merely hours ago had now been destroyed beyond repair. Large claw marks were etched deeply into the four surrounding walls, as if they were made of softened butter. Wooden furniture had been obliterated into small splinters that were now scattered around the floor and a few could be seen sitting on the other damaged yet surviving furniture within the small room.

Within the center of the chaos, a singular bed was occupied by a lone soul; the figure did not move, let alone breathe. For he could not. He was dead and one could be certain of that fact due to the state of his now pale corpse that was contrasted by the black oily liquid that oozed out of every pore on his body. His now empty eye sockets pooled the substance like a cup holding water that overflowed out of its container, dripping down his face and burning through the cream bedsheets laid underneath him. The man's mouth had been fully cut from the corners to the edge of his jaw, just barely reaching his lower ears and leaving him with the permanent visage of a gruesome grin. That would be so if he had the tension to hold up his lips. Due to this lack of tension, the flesh had peeled downward to reveal a dark crimson jawbone and crusted brown teeth. The same corrosive oil-like substance seeped out from the back of his throat and dripped down his face only to be mixed with the red rose blood that blossomed from his external face wounds. The once white blanket was flung over the edge of the small bed in a mass of wrinkles, revealing the rest of the man's mutilated corpse. One could see that his once broad chest had been brutally clawed open by the way his skin was reduced to jagged slivers that barely hung onto the parts that were still intact and revealed his ribs that had been forced open to display his once hidden organs. They were still in his state of death while also being covered in the dark viscous gloop as it acted as a protective layer from the outside air in replacement of the shredded skin.

A ticking noise could be heard as it shot through the darkness of the near silent room. The time between each tick was unnervingly uneven yet it was distinguishable enough to be recognized as the ticking of the broken clock that laid shattered on the floor at the foot of the bed. Underneath the sounds of the ticking, the silent flapping sounds of the thin curtains billowing gently in the night breeze indicated that the lone soul was not so alone after all. Pale silver moonlight highlighted the outline of the figure who stood facing the window, their back embraced in coal black shadows that seemingly dispersed and danced around their feet; if one didn't know any better, they might have mistaken the figure to be made of pure shadow itself. Long, near black, blue hair fell in thick waves along the specter's back and slowly faded into a purple and blue galaxy that seemingly shifted within the hair follicles itself. Poking out of the wavy hair were two ram horns that curved from the top of their head to the front of their face, only to curve back out and point sideways. Two large galaxy filled wings sat atop their shoulder blades and fell to the floor, fading into the black mist with their darkened tips. Twin blades sat in their sheaths strapped to the figure's legs, glinting in the moonlight and from their sharpened tips dripped the same mysterious fluid. Small droplets fell towards the floor and disappeared into the mist with only a subtle hissing noise indicating that they had hit the floor, eating away at the wooden panels below. The head of the figure turned back towards the gruesome scene and two glowing light cerulean blue eyes glared from over their left shoulder. "Hell lies in wait Baron Skiel, your crimes will be judged, and your punishment dealt, so don't keep the devil waiting and walk towards your eternal torment. May your corrupt soul perish and never find the stream of reincarnation and return to this world". A sudden heavy gust of wind caused the curtains to frantically wave around, obscuring the figure behind their semi-translucent cloth and dispersed the shadows that lingered. As the wind died down and the curtains settled, no trace of the figure's looming presence could be seen, leaving only the sight of the mutilated body sprawled on the bed in their wake, left for anyone to see.