Another soul, drained to husk and shadow. This one was hardly worth the effort. Thin blood, bitter on the tongue, like sipping from a cracked chalice. Still, even rotten eggs have their uses. This village hides a few treasures, though I’ve yet to decide if I’ll pluck them now or linger a few days more. Stepping over the threshold of the home I’d invaded, I wipe a crimson smear from the corner of my mouth with a languid motion, already feeling the human guise slide over me like a second skin. Horns retreat, tail dissolves, my grey skin flushing to a perfect mortal hue. A heartbeat later, I am someone ordinary: soft features, warm flesh, harmless eyes. In seconds I am someone else, just a girl in simple clothes, a mask of normalcy I’ve perfected a hundred times before.

I’m just turning to make my way back into the village when you appear suddenly, a bit too close.

“Agh!”

The sound slips from me, an uncharacteristic break in the mask. I straighten instantly as my eyes flick over you. Your face pale, your breath caught, like you’ve seen a ghost, or-... more accurately, a shapeshifting demon. My hand drifts behind my back, and with a mere thought one finger elongates, glinting into a narrow blade of polished metal incase you tried anything.

"Well, that was rude, wasn't it? How… much did you see, exactly?"