TRANSFIGURATION

And so the day finaly came - a day long planned for by only one, and a day of great need by all.

He came from the north - a land of bitter trials, scarred by battle after battle. It was a place men died in day after day, and have for more years than any living can remember. The most recent wars there changed all the maps his world held sacred, and changed him as well.

Something had happened there to the man that he was yet to truely understand. Something wonderful.

Through a mountian pass he arrives, walking like there's not a care in the world. Yet a storm rages about, rolling from the highest peaks in clouds as dark as ash that spill their load apon his massive back. Thunder peals, lightning flashes, hail beats the titan raw, and the rains soak him to the bone - yet he continues on undetered.

Should there be another out in this hell, they would see his dark form grow from the storm to take on substance. A once wide-brimmed hat of deap grey still dons his head, but is now useless; a cloak of the same fabric hangs lifeless at his shoulder except when the winds buffet him with enough force to lift the sodden garment. He wears what once were surely fine black leather boots with matching gloves of the highest craftsmenship, breaches of deap green padded for the elements and studded every inch with silver, and a silver breastplate that although now shows his history like a badge was once worth as much as the finest team of horses for 100 leagues in any dirrection.

From the north he came. New...

"Kaylee, what are you doing out of bed child?" Having turned at the familiar sound of the loft ladders creak, the woman can't beleive the sight she now beholds.

"Ohh, mother - worry not. My fever has broken, and I feel much better now."

Grabbing the willowy form of her eleven year old daughter into her arm, the mother is almost shocked to silence by the sudden transformation. "H..How...How can this be child? 'Twas but two hours past that the healers were here, and they said..." Choaking back the sob of releif all the woman could do was gather her daughter closer and send a prayer of thanks to the heavens.

"Yes? What is it mother? What did those men tell you?" Wrenching herself away, the small child gives her mother a look she had never seen before, and then stalks over to the table grabbing up the crust of bread and a small chunk of cheese before heading for the front door.

"Kaylee!!! Where are you going? What is wrong with you? You are barely out of bed, and yet ready to run off to play?" Dispite her protests, the door slams in the shocked face of the small childs mother never to hold her frame again.

::: CHAPTER #1 :::

Even though the shadow from the Mountian of Freull brings dusk to the small town early this time of year, there are still no lanterns lit or hearth fires showing through the windows. The only sign that there is life at all left in the meager little village is the candle in the window next to the door of the inn.

This is fine with the stranger as thats his destination anyhow.

~ Needs oil. ~ The man notes as the sqeeky hinges complain that he dares open the door. Entering the main room, a smile crosses the newcomers face dispite the barely perceptable change in temerature. The short pudgy innkeeper - a constant in small villages like this - looked up at his entrance with an unappreciative scowl on his face, and stepped forward to meet the stranger.

"Tis not the season for travellers comming from your dirrection sir, and we want no trouble here."

"Nor do I my good sir. I seek only a warm meal and a corner to lay my weary head if that be possible." Noting that the innkeeper seems to have been informed of his approach, he prays it won't be held agaist him. It has been a long road for the traveller, and a good nights rest would be most welcomed.

"Well, you leave your arms with me and I suppose I could see my way to providing what you seek... at the right price of course."

Producing a gold peice from the small purse at his waist, the newcomer sees his first smile from the innkeeper. "I'll assume this will cover everything?"

"Aye, that'll do nicely friend. Is there anything else you might be needing durring your short stay?"

"No, nothing more. I'll thank you for your good hospitality alone sir." With the small quip he starts laying on the table next to him the assorted weapons found scattered around his person. Humbled a bit, the innkeeper just watches on nervously.

Rising just before dawn as had been his costom for more years than he cared to remember, the man quickly prepared for a new day of travel. Having finaly been awarded his first night of rest since this sojourn had begun, he had actually just lain on his bed all night and could have started the day at any time in the hours before.

Leaving the crampt room, he found the innkeeper and his wife busy trying to prepare for the imminent group of villagers who would use breakfast to learn what they could about the newcomer who arrived the night before. His offers of help being most unappreciated, the stranger decided to go see about a horse instead while he waited for the morning meal.

"I supose you'll be on your way south again soon then?" As the innkeeper joined him in the stalls, he noted the continued discomfort the little man seemed to exhale with every breath, and the hope in his eyes that the news would be good.

"Aye, a short breakfast if you'd be so kind, and I'll be quick on my way." Smiling back at the innkeeprs obvious delight over the news, the traveller tightened the last strap on the horse he'd been able to purchase rather cheap and headed back to the inn with its owner leading the way.

Returning to the dinning room at the inn, they found two 'costomers' had already arrived. Although there was some chatter to be heard through the door, everything seemed to go deathly silent as it was opened, and stayed that way throughout the short meal that was supplied him.

Little more than an hour later the man tied his bags to the saddle and mounted.

"What name do you go by stranger? Should any ask I'd much rather being able to give an answer, and I think our hospitality deserves at least that." It was plain that the innkeeper was very uncomfortable asking, but that his need for that much outweighed it.

"I had a real name once, much like yours I suppose, but I can no longer remember or care what it might have been. From here on I'm to be known as Proseltee.

A few hours later the innkeeper found his wife in the room the stranger had visited the night prior. Apperently she had gone in to clean, and had passed out from the shock of finding four gold pieces laying on the pillow...

Three days down his road, Proseltee finaly notes the absence of his once-beloved weaponry. Glancing back over his shoulder as he pauses at the crest of a hill, he gives a gentle shrug and then turns with a smile new to his face back in the dirrection of his future. Laying just a few miles away and below him stands the second 'village' he is to find shelter in durring this journey, and someone special as well...

::: CHAPTER #2 :::

In the middle of the afternoon, and on a beautiful bright midsummers day, few people will take notice of a child skipping through the town of Fincroph. Today is such a day, and when Kaylees mother begs everyone she passes little more than a day later if they had seen her - none will be able to say for certian. The child is after all just one of the many found at play each day throughout the bustling crossroads.

There is one who takes notice however, and he slips unnoticed through the city gates much the same way she had just minutes before. The wretched soul who practicly cowers under the clothes drapped about his immaciated form has a dark hunger in his eye that would turn the stomach should one care to look so close. No one does of course, and he is left to his own devices as he skitters momentarily into the open to head down the road after his intended pray.

Sitting in a small clearing just off the road, Kaylee waits for her persuer knowing full well that he's already found her again and is watching from behind a tree just over her left shoulder. To him she seems but an innocent little girl, but THIS child has planned every last detail out and now waits. Kaylee, once the beloved daughter of her widowed mother Marta, is no more...

The soft snap of the mans boots on an errent twig seems to bring the childs attention to him, and playing her part Kaylee slowly turns. The smile she gives him when their eyes meet though is far from what he had been expecting, and his hand pauses a moment before resuming its original path.

As the arms of her would-be attacker twine their way around her, and one callused hand covers her tiny mouth - an incredible grimace of pain contorts the scarred face of the man who was hunting her but moments before. Kaylee continues to watch as she is dropped to the ground and the man stumble back several feet in shocked surprise and agonising pain.

"W... who... WHAT ARE YOU ?" Practicly screaming the last words, the man springs to his feet and finaly pulls the rusty old knife from his belt. He crouches low and his eyes flit from left to right looking for his best way of escape.

"WHAT I am is none of your concern Johad. I have need of you though, and you will follow."

"You are mad - I will gut you where you stand and have... How? How did you know my name?" Finally catching what the strange child had just said, Johad starts to gain an understanding of the fear his past victims must have felt.

"I know many things about you Johad. I know your first victim was your dear cousin Rebessa, and an accident. Kinda got the taste for it right there though - didn't ya?"

"Who... who ARE you?"

"You will hear me called by many names on our road together, but you will call me by only one: Master. Be a good boy though, Johad, and there WILL be rewards... special rewards." As she utters the words, the small shift she wears seems to disappear revealing the child-body underneath, and the frightened man before her is strengthened with renewed hope at the site of his favorite fruit.

"Mmm. As you wish... Master."

The snearing grin showing like a beacon for the demented that covers the mans face does not fool her though, and the child once know as Kaylee warns as she turns to walk away: "I know you are yet to be properly broken Johad, but that will come in its own time. For now you need just follow."

For the next three days Johan and his child master traveled westward in an uneasy quiet broken only rarely by his hushed grumblings. Even though Kaylees first pet often lagged behind in these first days, they were still able to make good time toward the next stop on her road, and she often surprised him by knowing what he needed or wanted before he could say anything.

If not for the knowledge of his possition in all this, he would actually be rather happy. He was being well cared for, and enjoyed this change to his empty life. Even without the occasional peeks she seemingly accidentaly supplied him of the child underneath, he would have found himself most content in these travels. Being forced as he was into this role had a dampening effect on him though, and there was now a rain cloud hanging over his metaphorical head for most of the journey as a result.

Still, their speed brought them almost a hundred miles after the three days, and late in the afternoon of that last day they came within sight of the small fishing village of Crestceal. "Smile Johan, for there ahead - that village you see there - is rest for you, and another traveling companion."