Excerpt: Rags

Reality was never so real. The bearded ambusher Thug lay limply at my feet, surrounded by a gooey pool of dark liquid. Something glimmering was stuck into his back… my stomach turned upside-down when I realized it was my dagger. I swayed back and forth on my feet, barely keeping myself upright. Looking up, I could distinguish that the person who was staring blankly at the corpse was the Thug I rescued the previous afternoon. But he was nothing similar to how he was when I first met him. Splatters of blood were on his tunic and face, and his expression was the most stupefied I’ve ever seen. He stared at me then looked to the dead Thug, and finally stared back at me.