When he grabs that hand, it grabs his wrist back, with a strength that is unexpected, a grip that's stronger than what a human should be able to manage. And for a second--

It's a battlefield, a slaughter, a confused clash of a ragtag army that is somehow managing to overcome the might of the knights of the kingdom. In life, he had been a soldier, proud to serve his king, determined to do whatever was necessary to honor the glory of this city, with its walls of white chalk--

Only to be cut down by an interloper, a monster in human form, dressed all in black, a half-skull mask over his face. The monster's arm is overly long, clearly inhuman despite the human shape of the rest of him.

And as he falls, he sees, standing just behind his murderer, a young girl with red hair, watching him as the world goes dark.