The blonde-haired man kept walking absentmindedly when he suddenly felt a shadow loom behind him. His instincts flared, but just as he turned, a dagger gutted his side.
The man groaned, letting go of the deer over his shoulders as his knees buckled, causing him to fall heavily to the ground. He looked up, and then his eyes widened in fear as he saw Cedric standing over him with a dagger dripping with fresh, hot blood.
Groaning, the man clutched his side, then raised his other hand and trembled as he whispered, "Cedric? Wh-why… why are you…?"
He was shaken and could not even complete his sentence. The illusory Cedric, on the other hand, also seemed to be shaken for a different reason.
'What did I just do…'
He could not believe what he had just done. It was almost as if something had possessed him and guided his hand with a mind of its own. His heart began to thump against his ribs like a trapped bird, and he took a step back from the bleeding, groaning man on the ground.
