In the beginning

After about twenty minutes of following the cart and its passengers along the edge of the road, the cart came up to a bridge, much wider and longer than the first manned by what looked like town guards and a watch tower on the left hand corner of the bridge. The bridge was a large stone construction with a tightly packed cobbled road surface polished probably from all the years of the townsfolk crossing back and forth. The cart headed over the bridge, glancing to one of the guards who, in turn, gave the passengers an affirming nod of approval. The iron shoes of the horse clapped noisily on the cobbles as it crossed.

I needed to get across. Somehow.

I could place an arrow between each of the guard’s eyes, easily, but the repercussions would be unfavourable. There seemed to be no narrows in the river narrow enough to cross without being swept to a watery grave. I checked that my hood was firmly down over my head and that my blades were hidden by the bottom half of my cloak. I took a deep breath and stepped out into the road when the guards weren’t looking. I kept my head down, keeping my face out of view, and walked over to the bridge. I saw the two guards slowly slip a hand for their sheathed swords and another atop the tower slipped into view with an arrow held against his bow as I drew close.

It took me a few minutes to get myself together again after I reached the waters edge, I had never been afraid of water in any of my previous forms but now abhor overwhelms me, irrational, there is food in the water that will sustain me. There will be fish which will be difficult to catch, or hopefully the shelled cray fish which does not move as quickly, though is a little harder to get to the meat, especially as I lack the utensils I was bought up with in my world.

As I am worrying about how I am going to catch and eat the fish, a movement off to my left catches my eye.. it was pure luck it caught my attention, the flick of the head of a deer. There is some slightly longer grass just off to the left of me, and now as I look closer I can see that the deer are grazing on the clover leaves at the bottom of the grass which has not yet flowered, with a stone of the correct weight I am confident I will be able to render the deer unconscious long enough for me to slit its throat.

The levee of the river is scattered with stones, most of then are not suitable for a throw of this distance, whether it is size or shape preventing them from being suitable, there is one stone which is approximately the best size and shape for the shot required.

Beside the stone for throwing is a stone with an edge so sharp it must have been placed down by someone else who had done what I am about to do, except there target was on the river edge rather than in the field, the blood from the slit throat has long since been washed away from the river bank but the blood that was on the stone had dried, confirming its use, raising my confidence in the stone.

With the stone in my hand, the slightly thinner edge resting on my palm, and the flatter sides running up my fingers, I test the weight of the stone by bouncing it in my hand, it only jumps a few centimetres into the air, before falling gently back into my hand, the deer has not noticed I am looking at it with hunger in my eyes, my stomach growls audibly yet the distance I too great for it to alert the deer, though it could cloud my judgement or have weakened me sufficiently that my throw will not be accurate, causing the stone to hit the deer in the wrong place or even to miss all together.

The deer lowers his head and the stone is thrown, the stone flies through the air with the slightest of whomp whomp noises that is produced from the spherical shape of the stone.

The deer lifts his head obviously having heard the rushing air and whomp noise of the stone to have the stone smack it square in the temple, as expected the deer fell over unconscious. I have a few seconds, a minute if I am lucky to cross the distance, 20 meters, before it comes round and runs off. This distance seems immense under these circumstances and I almost don’t move, instinct being the saviour of the day gets me to the deer before it awakens, instinct is what overpowers the impulse to be sick as I slit the deers throat reassuring my hunger food will not be too long.

I have never killed an animal before, I was never one for hunting, and thankfully my older brother used to have loads of food and his wife would cook for me as well as them and there 3 children, I would return the favour by doing work around the house, fixing chairs, chopping wood, or building new beds as the children got older, well I did until the unfortunate incident of changing shape.

Combine my haste for food and my lack of experience I failed to have the fire ready and now have to store my deer somewhere safe, out of sight of scavengers.

There was a shallow cave further down the river, in the bank which looks ideal for shelter from rain, but not really deep enough to hide my deer, though it is the only place I can see that looks even fairly reasonable.

Grabbing the hind legs of the deer so as if anything undesirable gets into the gaping cut in the deer throat it would push it towards the head and not toward the consumable part I drag it towards the cave. My new body is very muscular, my old body though toned would not have been able to move this dear, I am currently putting all my effort into moving this deer and the dead would have woken and run off before I arrived to slit a throat.

The sun which was high in the sky when the stone hid the head of the deer, now is nearly touching the horizon, the deer is now in the shelter, I feel weak and my reflection in the water shows I am as pale as if I had seen a ghost. The last thing I can afford to do now is sit down, as much as I want to, it would not do as intended, I will not feel better for it, I would just run the higher risk of never being able to get up again, being too tired to be able to find wood for a fire, to cook, keep warm by and fend off biting bugs.

Being on a river I have to walk back towards the forest for wood that will be dry enough to light a fire, wood on the river bank will have absorbed too much water, the wood on the ground in the forest will be too wet as the sun would not have been able to get to it to dry it would, and so if the humans I suspect this land holds have left me any logs and twigs to light a fire with I will be looking on the open fields between the river and the trees.

There is not a great deal of perfectly dry logs, however my hope is that with the ones that a suitable burning the heat and the smoke will dry out the rest of the logs I have collected. It takes me 5 trips to have enough logs to last the night with the expectation a few of them will not dry sufficiently for use.

I use the stone to put a hollow in the driest log, I have made a bow out of a bendy stick and a clump of grass, I use the bow to move the stick quickly in circles forwards and backwards in the divot of the log to create enough heat and friction to start my fire. Once it has caught I can add the logs up over in a willow tree shape, protecting the fire from wind and drying out the wetter logs so as they can catch once ready, which will hopefully be after the centre log is virtually burnt out.

Food has never tasted this good, I cut the hind left leg off of the deer and held it over the fire, the meat cooked to perfection inside the skin, the skin prevent the juices from running and the meat remained juicy. I was so hungry by the time it was ready, that I grabbed the remains of the fur on the top of the leg and peeled back the skin, sunk my teeth into the meat. The juices ran down my chin dripping onto the floor. I did not care that the juices were so hot they were burning me, I did not even wipe them off, the meat was sliding down my throat barely chewed.

I had finished the whole leg even sucking clean the bones before I noticed that whilst I had been eating a wild dog had been drawn to the my shelter by the smell of the cooked meat and was edging closer, hoping I would not attack it.

I stepped from the wet dirt road onto the stone bridge. I could smell the smell of food being cooked and eaten as well as the sound of laughter and music, probably emitting from the local tavern.

‘Halt!’ The guard by the tower shouted with a firm sense of authority. ‘State your name and purpose’. I stopped just beyond arms reach from the guard, head still lowered. ‘Answer me peasant, by order of the lord Davril!’ the guard roared, stepping forward and shoving my shoulder hard. I straightened up, dusting my shoulder with my hand. ‘I am a traveller from the wastelands of Eryll, come to seek refuge and supplies as my journey is still young.’ I softly replied. The guard let out a bellowing laugh, ‘Haha Eryll? It is said to have been erased from existence aeons ago. Your time in the wastelands has crazed your thoughts fool. I suppose we can let you in…if you pay the charge of ten gold pieces!’ I sighed in anger at the corruption before me. I rummaged around in my pouch for the shining discs, finding only three. ‘Here, that is all I have’. I handed them to the guard. He looked them over and pocketed them. The guard reached out and grabbed for my throat but luckily only grabbed cloth as his hands looks as big as a bear's. He pulled me close; I could smell his hot stinking breath against my face as he spoke. ‘We will let you in with your pittance this time, but you have until tomorrow to come up with the rest or you WILL pay with your life!’ he threw me to the ground. I hit the ground hard with a clatter. A sharp pain shot down my side. I started to stand back up.

‘What’s this?’ the guard enquired curiously.

I looked down to see that my kiri had fallen out of its pouch. ‘He’s armed, kill him!’ the two guards on the ground quickly unsheathed their swords charging towards me with short quick strides. I quickly picked up my blade and made a dash for the town. The guard in the tower released his straining bow, sending it’s projectile speeding in my direction. I felt the breeze of the arrow whiz past my cheek and clattered against the stone bridge. I reached the other side of the bridge and to the outskirts of the buildings. Luckily most of the town’s folk were inside, either trying to sleep or drinking in the taverns. I saw a dark and dingy alleyway and sprinted towards it as another arrow struck the building, narrowly missing my head. The alley way was dark, not quite pitch black, the humans will struggle through here though they will have knowledge of the area. I took each turning as they came up; left then a right followed by another left, buildings just a blur as I passed them. As I rounded the next corner I bumped into a group of ladies; ladies of the night, scantily clad in cheap imitation velvet and silk. I slipped past them bouncing off the wall of the building, apologising as I passed. I could no longer hear my armed followers and I decided to slow to a walk to keep inconspicuous to the rest of the public. I looked at the building to my right and saw that I had stopped outside a tavern. It was a grubby and dingy building with the sound of general chatter and drunken ramblings. The pub was called ‘The Raven’s Claw’ and the sweet smell of meat cooking wafted through the open window. I walked up to the door and looked around before entering.

Watching the thing look at the river, watching it look at the fish and other habitants of the river.
Pulling my cloak closer to my body, melting into the shadows, my eyesight narrowed to watching this....Alien being on this planet.
Ears alert for any unnatural sound, contantly scenting the air.
Slightly surprised it managed to down a deer with a rock, surprised it moved with such speed, how it slit the deers throught with apparently nothing.

Following silently as it draggs the carcass to a cave, slipping comfortably into the shadows like a second skin.
Resembles a primitive human, hunched over logs, rubbing two sticks together. A smile tuggs at the corner of my mouth. Too easy a target, so defenceless...
One kick to the head, a nail to the throat....Or would it take more to down this alien being?
Food for thought...

The soft padding of the four footed kind drew my attention to the mouth of the cave.
A starved wild dog, its bones producing from skin that looked to taunt over its small frame.
Glancing back and forth between the two, is the alien going to offer food to the dog? Would the dog try for the deer?
Try for the alien, a sick two for one deal?

Another smile tugged at my lips, such morbid thoughts, the smile turned into a brief sneer.
Sending out a pulse of power. Searching, seeking the life of this planet. What was close, who was closer.
The warmth of the fire mattered not to me, thought the alien had liked its reasurance of light, warmth, safety.

Giving in to the illusion, I stepped forward from the shadows, startling the dog causing it to skitter backwards with a rumbling growl.
Kneeling down opposite the creature, keeping my featured concealed, black silk gloved hands resting on my knees.
Taking in a breath ready to speak.

"Gusano....."

I have just finished my deer leg, the dog that has been creeping around the corner, eyeing up my dinner is gone, ran off, as if someone had put and lit a firework in his bum, though he did not make a noice. I know I have not gone deaf by the fact the river is still rushing by, the fish are still breaking the surfice for the flying bugs that are close to the waters surface.

Now I know why the dog had run away, at the enterence to this shelter has appeared a dark hooded figure, if I was back in my world I would have thought death was after me. The creature has snuck up on me so quietly I could not hear its feet on the gravel, the cloak was not swaying or flapping in the gental breeze.

My fear means that everything has frozen.

It is not more than a few second after it has entered and said my name, that I responded but in that time I had paniced as to why has this creature I know as death appeared before me, surely it is not my time, and then how will I know before I respond to it? To shorten the delay of my responce and hope to not anger it in case it is here to take me to the next place, and no response will make it take me in a more painful way, i say "Yes that is what I am more commonly know as," and then an idea occurs, is this death stuck in the land and hungry the same as me? "I have some deer left if your hungry, the fire is warm, if that effects you." now I regret this last bit, why would I say that? What if it is not death and gets effected by the cold, what if it is a traveller that is just light footed? I strike the worry from my face and look up at the creature to see if it takes me up on my offer.

Fear, seeping out of every pore, an intoxicating smell.

Deciding that acting human would calm him down, i slowly peel off my gloves and place them on the floor, holding my hands near the fire as if to warm myself.
I take a slither of the deer meat and slowly chewed, savouring its rich flavor.

" Do not panic little one, im not Death, he is currently indisposed" I chuckle softly to myself, knowing full well that 'Death' would not be waking up for a while after our...activities.

In one swift movement i push back my hood, then turn to fix my now warm dark chocolate eyes apon him.

A friendly smile is forced to my lips, my voice a husky soothing tone.

" How did you get here? Are you aware that you do not belong here? Have you met any of the local people?"

Tilting my head slightly to one side, i wait for his answer.

This being having entered my shelter crouches without a word and removers her gloves, I can tell she must be a girl as her hands as soft and delicate, small and agile, very smooth, the lack of calluses on the fingers near the pad of the hand, show she has not done much manual labour, though they do not look weak.

She is warming her hands against the fire, they do not look cold, she starts to eat the deer, small slow chews, and she eludes grace and style. Her voice is soft, husky, it relaxes me, and I realise how badly I was hiding my fear.

“How did you get here? Are you aware that you do not belong here? Have you met any of the local people?"

My fear even though having subsided somewhat is still prominent and it causes me to speak really quickly, if it was not for the fact that this being before was as human as me I doubt she would have understood what I was say.

“I don’t rightly know, I was talking to my friend who had learnt a new ability of teleportation when the air became all tingly and the next thing I knew I was in this world” I barely pause for breath “I had been travelling this world as the worm being I had been when a native of this land saw me, I promptly changed into this form you see before you and I have been travelling trying to survive, I surprised myself in how I killed the deer, but no I don’t belong here and would be happy to go home” all of this must have been pent up worry as now its released I feel as if my problem shared is a problem halved. Though what this being will do for my situation and me I have no idea.

Now as I have food in my belly I can clearly see my situation.

This trees does not feel safe, your homes in Orome are thousands of years old and reinforced with song, these little saplings, are not very big, and the wind does not have any problems in blowing them almost double. Thankfully i have a high level of balance and manage to sway with the trees whilst remaining perched in it.

The humans are oblivious to me here, walking by mere feet below my on the path around their town travelling in the general direction of east to west. Horses tethered to wooden boxes on wheels I have heard them call carts in the past trundle past, each person wrapped up in there own lives they don’t realise they are being watched and observed have their nature memorised.

As I am sat here, I try to help the birds and the plants around me and I gently hum a tune. The humans do not even seem to notice, the bird which are flying past come to rest on branches in this tree and sing there song with me, the tree slowly starts to raise its branches from its slumber, if I was here for longer I am sure this tree would be the first to bloom near this village.

The humans have not noticed the tree standing taller, the bird singing, they have not noticed these changes which I can see, they grumble as they pass about the notice the birds are making and at how the road is dirty with there poop, but they do not notice the good. Could this town have been corrupted by something, is there something that has resulted in this town being so resentful of natural things?

I do not want to go into the town, I am almost ashamed to have come to this town when my town is at such an important time, the feelings I had been struggling with earlier seem to have subsided slightly however my feelings of concern for the humans well being has heightened.

The humans never seemed to be quiet this wrapped up in there own lives, though they were never vigilant I feel as if they have not developed the skills to use there eyes to look rather than just see where they are going.

Could the appearance of Gusano be connected to the humans lack of awareness?

I pushed the large wooden door open, amplifying the noise of chatter and group in the corner all singing drunkenly and half out of key. The room was quite large, big enough for nearly a hundred people, with round tables scattered about the room filled with groups of people surrounding each. Glasses and plates covered most tables; some were absolutely littered with empty glasses with its occupants highly intoxicated. There were three huge oak barrels at the far end of the room, fronted by a large bar and several stools, mostly occupied. To the left of these barrels was a large arch with a constant stream of steam rolling over it. Must be the kitchen. I stepped in and pushed the door to, trying not to slam it. The door latched silently. As I turned back round to the room I found that the room had been consumed with silence and almost every pair of eyes were pinned on me. I looked over to the corner over by the right of the barrels to see an empty corner table, free from clutter. I made my way over to it, gliding through the mingle of tables, feeling every glare burning into me. I reached the table and took a seat on the rickety looking bench. As I sat the staring eyes returned and the noise rose back up again to it’s usual conversational drone.

‘I guess they don’t like strangers’ I mumbled to myself.

It felt good to finally be seated in the warm and dry after weeks of traversing through the forests and hills. The corner I was seated in was mostly shadowed and hidden from prying eyes. I carefully slid my pack and bow off my aching shoulders and leant them against the wall in the corner. A quick glance to check for prying eyes before I started to unbuckle the worn black leather belt around my waist and the sash belt across my chest. They came off with ease and shortly joined company with my pack. The feeling of being so unrestricted and lighter was a blessing. I pulled the blanket from my pack and spread it over my things to hide them better still.

‘Can I get you anything hun?’

The voice was young, sweet and innocent with a clean and clear accent possibly of elven blood. I slowly turned round, seeing two young, smooth toned female legs. As I looked up she had a brown knee length skirt with a small piny apron tied around her waist, her white shirt was tight fitting, half buttoned up revealing her cleavage. My eyes gazed up to meet hers and her friendly, inviting smile all framed by her wild shoulder length blonde hair. ‘You ok hun? You look a little out of it, can I get you anything?’ she asked again. I snapped out of my trance like state and a small half smile emerged at the corner of my mouth. ‘Err yeah erm, could I err get something to eat and a drink please miss’ my voice cracked, half out of thirst. ‘Course ya can hun, is beef stew ok? I’m afraid for drinks all we have at the moment is local ale or whisky’. ‘Err an ale will be plenty fine thanks’ I answered; now smiling. ‘Coming right up, I’ll be back in a sec’ she went off through the archway and returning a few seconds later with a bowl of stew in one hand and a plate with half loaf of bread in the other. She placed them both down on the table in front of me. ‘I snuck you out the last of the bread so shhh’ she whispered, giving me a small wink as she left again for the ale. The smell of the stew was better than any other smell to enter my nostrils for the past few weeks. I spooned the first mouthful of food into my mouth, tasting all the flavours, though it was almost burning my mouth. She returned with a full glass of ale and gently placed it down on the table in front of me. I reached for it, wrapping my hand around it, only to find that she was still holding onto it and my hand was wrapped covering hers.

Thinking about the lack of awareness, there are some birds in these trees, there are the common bugs about and yet I did not notice the lizards scattered across the branches. Two that have caught my attention are spiky, and sandy in colour, about 30 centimetres in length and under there chins they are black, and very puffed out.

They are both quite close to the main part of the tree on the branch lower than me, though one is closer than the other, they are bobbing their heads at each other, I guess you notice what ever you want to open your eyes too, we can not see everything and so what we can focus our eyes on is what we will see, if we care to not just look at it.

This lizard bobbing its head, and then running towards the other, with a small jump is on top of it, pinning it to the branch. The one underneath crawls out from under him and turns slowly around a pins him down before running to the main part of the tree and around to the other side. Where the sunset is barely touching the braches. This is where the sun will rise in the morning.

The dragon left over here does not seem happy with the result of there little tussle and chases the other around the tree but sits quietly next to it, both of them will sleep now until morning, when they may continue there play, or search for food, or just Basque.

Maybe I should go back toward my town, night is neigh and a lot has happened today.

My mind snapped back to reality, realising what had happened. Pulling my hand away sharply, nearly knocking my stew into my lap, my mouth stumbled mixed words of apology ‘sorry…I’m…errr…. I didn’t mean to…I….’. I could feel my embarrassment rise. ‘Don’t worry about it’ she smiled. She sat down opposite to me at the table and peered down at my cloak-covered gear.
‘You’re not from around here are you? Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?’ she asked curiously.
‘No’ I replied. ‘I come from a place far from here, the town of Eryll to the north to be precise. A place that no longer exists.’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that’ she lowered her head in respect ‘But wait, Eryll? No that can’t be right. The place hasn’t existed for hundreds of years, not after the Great War at least. You’re too young to have been born there….’

‘How old do you think I am?’ I questioned ‘I am over five hundred years old, though I had stopped counting many a year ago.’ Her jaw dropped and she just stared, trying to find words to express her thoughts, but none came to be. I picked up the glass of ale and drank heartily, as if I hadn’t had a drink in forever. I placed the empty glass down on the table in front of me and finished off the last of the bread and gravy from the stew. I looked up to see that she was still struggling for words. ‘Can I help?’ I asked. She looked at me and slowly shook her head from side to side before finally opening her mouth to speak. ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. But may I ask what happened?’ I broke out a little pained smile as the suppressed memories of the pain and suffering spread throughout my mind, clouding it over with a rekindling of burning hatred. I took in a deep breath and exhaled, releasing most of the angered hatred with it. I started telling my story from the beginning, about what happened that cool summer, when a sound of commotion started up outside interrupting my story.

A small fidget to get comfortable upon the hard floor, Thinking slowly and carefully over the words exchanged.
" What did the natives think of you Gusano?
My line of sight returned to the fire, a small pulse of power and it reared up into a blaze of heat and light. No doubt causing the mouth of the cave to look like a glowing mouth of horror.
" I will not lie to you, you are unnatural to this world. It could be very unfortunate for you that you teleported here while im on my vacation" Taking in a small breath, turning back to face Gusano, the fire ignored.
" I cannot send you straight back home, you will have to return with me to my home"
Reaching for my gloves I deaftly pull them back on. Flexing my fingers to mold them to me.
" But im still on vacation" A wry smile twists my lips. " I would advise you not to mingle with the natives of this world from now on. You have already caused an imbalanced to this world, i'd rather you not cause any more. I would not like to have to...." My voice deepens in to a half growl "Harm a creature such as yourself"
Hand lightly rest on my cloaked knees, awaiting a response.

haha, ha, did this thing before me say it would harm me? If I spoke to the natives?

"I’m ... um .... sorry, but you would harm me?" I am struggling to get my head around this, why? "How long are you on holiday for?" I mean how long am I supposed to keep away from them? "I would have to go back to your world?" oh my god what have I stumbled onto?

I was very happy in world, i just want to go back, but is this being saying I can only go back if I go … go via her world? "How long will I be in your world for?" suppose the time line is different here, will those in my world still be the same or is this just what science fictions TV shows what you to believe? Do alternative realities really exist?

I guess I could almost believe anything now! Or do I really believe any of this is happening, is it just a weird dream?

"What did the natives think of me?" I remember her first question "if don’t know, my only encounter was with Elwe and besides learning her name? i really could not say what she thought, or are you on about the other animals who saw me turn, whose thoughts and feeling i could judge no better than Elwe's?"

This being before me has infuriated me, could she not be so authorative? Could she not have approached this a different way?

The illusion of humanity left my face. My skin a deathly pale, my eyes, emotionless, endless black pits. My skin, freezing to the touch.
"This is no laughing matter alien, I see what you made of, your genetic make-up"
I gestured at it, " You are not immortal"
My voice was now a raspy harsh tone, devoid of emotion. Empty.
"The length of my vaction is up to me, your friend teleported you here? Not you yourself?"
I gesture to leave the cave, then make my way out, smelling the ozone in the air.
Rain was comming.

"As i do not know the location of your world of the top of my head, I will have to return home, taking you with me. You can either treat it as a prison, or somewhere new to explore as few ever go there alive."

I give it a few moment to think upon what i had said before continuing.

"The time spent with me...You will not notice...There is no time there, an endless...." I glance back. " The time will halt, and resume once you get home."
"You will return home as if you never left, and it would be....Prefered if you and your kind found a way to limit your teleportation powers to the one person, I would not prefer to find another one of you lot, and send them home"

Another intake of breath.

Reading its scattered thoughts. " I can assure you, this is not a dream, this is very real"

"Elwe? A native? ......She was not shocked at seeing you?...."

This speech, this being has thrown at me has startled me, I get up and follow her out of the cave, though I walk to the waters edge, having scooped up the deer skull I bend down and full it with water, I turn back to dowse the fire which has burnt down to barely glowing embers, which in this environment of a stony embankment and the muddy overhand of the shelter would not set the anything alight, but needing an excuse to think a little longer I walk back and put out the fire.

Dropping the skill idly on the ground I turn to this being "I am sorry, this whole thing has had me a little shaken, may I ask your name?" I don’t expect a response and so give it a few seconds before carrying on "I never thought of teleportation to be real, I have never known any of my people to do it, as to what my friend knows she can do since I have gone I don’t know." again I pause, needing time to get my thoughts together "I ... no.... as much as I don’t belong here, I know that, I do not want to go back home, my new form will not go down well, the reflection of myself in the water shows I do not look the same, and someone who is different trying to be someone you once knew...well I don’t see it going down well. I would have to start a new life for myself there, which I believe will be harder than starting a life here. I would love to see your world, but if you don’t mind, if I am to go there upon my demise in any other world I travel too I would like to leave it until then."

I do not know where this came from, previous to this conversation with whoever this is in front of me, her anger at my humanity, my obviously small minded selfishness, when she has extended the greatest helping hand anyone could ask for, especially when she seems to have the power to just do as she wants, and when on holiday? I should not be so silly as to try and decline, but I guess my human selfishness creeps into all aspects whether you want it or not.

"I will be forever in your debt, if there is every anything I can do to help." I feel as if I have ended myself, as if the wrath she was holding back could explode at any second, I just hope that she can see I am sorry for causing hassle and that if she really really wants I know there is not much I can do to stop her.

Here goes hoping I have not exhausted her generosity.

My name? Of all the questions he could of asked, it was my name?
A deep throaty chuckle escaped beofre i could stop it.
The smile still remains while i bring my body back to life, flooding my skin with colour, my eyes going back to the warm deep brown.
Giving a small bow " Kitsune, under different circumstances i would say i was pleased to meet you"
" And for you wanting to stay on this world, we would have to speak to the leader of the natives, they may be your salvation in all this mess"

"You would have no hope starting a new life in my home, there is no life there as there is no life here" I place a hand over the place where my heart should of been beating.
"Im as much as an alien as you are here"

"if you wish to attempt to intergrate yourself here, we will have to seek out the natives, where did you meet Elwe? We will retrace your steps, and hope she is around."

Kneeling down, i placed my left hand flat on to the ground, sending a larger pulse through the earth, searching, seeking for the nearest native. Standing back up, looking around.
Where was this rain i smelt a few moments ago?

" May i suggest that you gather any meat left, and water for this trip, as i do not know if you will have a chance to rest, other than to sleep....Do you need to sleep?"

I pulled an empty flask made from animal skin, submerging the flask untill it was suitable bloated, popped the cork in and tossed it to Gusano.
"You will need this more than i do."

I have no idea what she is, or why she wants to help me, but she seems to be very powerful, she almost eludes that mummy thing.

I am really tired, I have not slept since night before last, though i do not want to sleep in this shelter, i was planning to find somewhere in the forest to sleep but now, and its for the first time in more years than i remember i am going to walk to the leader of the forest dwelling people and ask to live among them. its like walking into school for the first time at the age of 5, holding your mothers hand, and asking the other children if you can be there friend.

Its weird I am 137 years old and I feel like I am 5, at least with her powers and persuasion I should be able to sleep in safety and hopefully relative comfort.

I catch the skin of water and loop it around my waist, the possibility of covering myself was quickly outweighed by the pain I would be sure to experience, beside she has not been fazed by my nakedness of yet.

“kitsune, I am ready to travel with you to there settlement, the female I encountered was a few miles west of here, though Elwe ran north.” I have stood to my full height, stretching my back, un-cramping my muscles. I turn towards the bank, now feeling life seep through, the food satisfying every muscle, my brain relaxing with the promise of energy and nutrients. I can feel the smooth surface of the stones under my feet, the rounded edges jabbing into my feet as I trying to walk over them. Its uncomfortably but the grass is only a few steps away.

The noises outside grew ever louder and clearer as the voices got closer. Most of the occupants of the pub quietened down their own conversations to get a nose at the commotion outside, though none daring to move or go outside to investigate. I could tell that most knew what the sound was and that it was about as some skulked back down, with the mild expression of dreariness and depression. I managed to listen in and pick out five individual voices, though none quite close enough to put voices to faces or have understanding in what seems to be an argument. I looked to my seated companion to see that she too had some idea of what was going on. As I opened my mouth to ask, a familiar voice rung out from outside through the crack in the window.

‘Where’s MY money, huh?’ the voice exclaimed. It was the guard from the bridge and he didn’t sound like he was alone. Another voice, now clearer but still barely audible stuttered ‘bb…. bbuuu…but I haven’t got any more money, y yyou took it all.’ It was Greg. I jumped up out of my seat, almost knocking the bench over behind me. I pressed up against the wall beside the window and peered out. I could see five shapes in total, three towering over Greg and another, pushing and shoving them to the ground as they tried to crawl away from their bullies. Cold-burning rage rose up inside me at this irresponsibility of power, this corruption. I looked back into the room to see eyes pinned on me, some in surprise, some in disdain. I looked back to the waitress to see her shaking her head and hands furiously, silently mouthing the words ‘don’t do it’. I could see the pleading in her eyes but I knew what had to be done. I returned to my table and quickly reached over to my belongings. I put my hand behind the blanket, deciding against the bow or long sword due to the narrowness and tightness of the alleyway and swiftly pulled out the sash belt. The blade attached glistened and shimmered in the candlelight, it’s intricate detailing catching her eye. I quickly slung one end on the strap over my shoulder under my cloak and tightened it to its usual gauge. My eyes absent mindedly wandered around the room, seeing eyes flashing backwards and forwards to and from me as not to be caught staring, the odd murmur between men and the sound of coins changing hands; gambling a cruel reality. I checked that both blades were ready, my kiri and the intricate blade both slipped from their safe holds smoothly. I pushed them both firmly back into place. I was ready. She was staring, mouth wide open, ‘y…you…. you’re…you…. you’re a…. a…’ she whispered, trying to get the words out.

I slowly walked passed her without looking, placing a hand on her shoulder and whispered quietly back ‘Watch my stuff. I’ll be back.’ I walked across the room, in front of the bar towards the kitchen archway. As I rounded the corner into the dank kitchen, the cook was franticly fumbling around the worktop, trying to seem inconspicuous, as he had previously been away from his chopping board peering around the arch. I looked past him to the old wooden door to the outside. I walked towards the door, brushing past the cook, causing the cook to flinch spectacularly, his knife clattered noisily against the tiled floor followed by the pitter-patter of vegetables.

I reached the heavily battered, rat-chewed door. I stopped to peer through the gap in the door to check it was clear before taking a deep breath, quietly slipping open the door and disappearing into the shadows.

After the day I have had I am debating going into the humans village for a drink, they have this really amazing drink that it is as sweet as nectar, it has an effect of light headedness, and the humans are prone to adverse effects when they consume too much of it, frequently it makes them more of what they already were, more upset, angrier, it can make for some entertainment.

There was a big battle a while ago, in which all able bodied members of my city went off to fight in, I would have gone but our people needed their leader and so my husband went. He had been the commander of the military for over 100 years, not many battles had taken place under his command, previous commanders had fought off dragons, had taken on invasions and the humans, The latter providing the majority of the problems. In this particular battle my husband lost his life to an over zealous swords man on our side, human of course). My daughter could not cope with the loss and left our town to live among the humans, she started up a bar, then after a couple of decades she had to move on, because we age very slowly in comparison to the humans, they started to notice and shunned her, she moved on so as she could start fresh about a year ago to this town I have found I am sat in a tree outside of.

When ever things bother me, I find I end up outside the town my daughter resides in.

I spring forward, grabbing hold of the branch just in front of me; it bends down gently resting me on the floor. The night has finally started to settle in and so the humans have already made there way home for dinner so non of them saw me come out of the tree when they had not seen me going into it, nor would they approve of a women especially one with the looks of one who is In her thirties being so.

I stepped out into the alleyway at a maze like junction taking long hard looks down each, checking that I was not going to be pestered by any other beings, innocent or not. The alley was lit by moonlight creeping over the rooftops that cast shadows at the edge of the buildings, pitch-black shadows. I crept over to the corner of the pub wall keeping low and checking around constantly. It was definitely clear. These men must’ve deliberately made sure that they weren’t going to be disturbed, especially by anyone of authority. I pressed to the corner and slowly peered an eye round. They were maybe thirty feet away, moving slowly herding the two men down the alley, their backs all turned to me, busy in their actions. Perfect.

I silently darted across to the cover of darkness. It was as if I wasn’t there. I slowly moved towards them hearing the pleading and begging clearly. ‘Please, I…I can gget the money. I jjust nneed a few days that’s all’ Greg pleaded. ‘He will, honest he will’ the second voice cried, the voice of Sven. ‘Yeah, I ca..’ Greg was cut short. ‘THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH’ the leader boomed, causing Greg and Sven to wince. The large ogre of a man stood maybe at a good six foot nearly seven, a good two foot over his victims. The three guards took up most of the alley, blocking most of my view though I saw something get thrown to the floor in front of Greg, something small, short, thin and glinting in the moonlight. A boot knife. ‘Pick it up’ the guard calmly instructed. Both Greg and Sven looked stunned as if they had been asked to perform an explicit act. ‘I said pick it up!’ the tone in his voice grew evermore demanding. Greg and Sven looked at each other in shock and took a step back, only to find a wall of a house blocking them in. Their situation had gone from bad to worse. I started moving towards them with slightly greater pace still silent as a shadow. Fifteen feet. The guard reached down to his waist and slowly raised his arm. The sound of sliding metal slowly rang out. ‘This is the part of the job that I love’ piped the smallest guard, cackling as he spoke. The leader span round sharply to his right and shoved the smallest against the wall, pinning him. ‘SHUT YOUR FACE OR DAVRIL WILL SEAL YOUR FATE’ he bellowed, releasing his subordinate harshly. He straightened himself out before asking again in his most authoritative and demanding voice for them to pick the knife, which would seal their fate if they dared to. I could sense that that was going to be the last time he asked before hacking his victims to shreds. I broke out, crouched, almost into a run towards them. ‘Fine then, you shall die where you stand!’ the other two simultaneously drew their swords as they started to march towards determined bloodshed. As they did this I launched myself at the guard on the left, who had fallen slightly behind due to the narrowing of the alley, whipping my kiri out from its pocket tied round my lower back, singing clearly as it left and cut through the air before plunging deep into the back of his neck. Then a feeling of warm ran slowly across my hand; liquid. The blade had pierced perfectly between the top vertebrae in his neck, causing a quick set of convulsions before the weight on the blade set in, the bittersweet smell wafted into my nostrils. I glanced to the front of his head to see the stone cold dead gaze of his eyes. Looking down to his lips I saw the tip of the blade protruding through, slowly trickling with the blood of a dead man. With the sound of their comrade’s sword clanging to the floor, the other two spun round with unconceivable agility before sporting a sudden sickened shock across their faces.

‘Remember me?’ I slyly asked, with a half smile spreading across my hooded face, still holding the body up with the blade.

The human villages are very small, the houses have these over hangs, and the streets are covered in waste, indescribable stench that hurts my nostrils, I can not tell what it is, but I miss the forrest and as yet have not completed one street of this town.

As I entered on the road the humans were passing my tree I passed a sign with a crest of a sword and an axe forming and x shape, and written in black in below was the warning “upon entering our settlement, behave or your actions will be punished” some clever fool has written underneath in a barely legible manor “death be for you” I can see this turning people off entering with out need. In my minds eye I can see the guards being intolerably self-righteous, with greedy hands, which have learnt to punish harshly for the smallest things.

The only good thing that comes from having a society living in absolute fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time is there is frequently only one person who needs to be taken down a peg or two and you will not be bothered any more. Sadly there is always someone who is willing to stand in his or her place.

The moon does not manage to reach the streets here, the stars are barely visible, the humans have all hung lanterns on there doors, all of them to the right, above the bell which is above the residents number. These lanterns light the street suitably to see the cobbled floor, the cobles are not the same as the last village I saw Mika in, the cobles in the last village were made of stones compacted into the mud, here it is bones, sheep and cow bones, they seem to have buried the leg bones into the ground leaving the knee joints just above the surface level providing the floor with the same stone cobble effect, just its not has painful on the feet, it has a more natural feel.

Further inspection of the village reveals that this town uses every bit of the animal it kills, door handles are fashioned out of bone, the houses are a mix of wood and clay. A lot of houses have flowers growing in these containers, wooden containers, willed with mud, and the flowers are growing in this artificial garden, the container and the amount of flowers in the contain are restricting there growth. The flowers look the same as the ones in our forest however, miniature, a tenth of the size I am used to seeing them. They do bring little pockets of pleasant aroma in the surrounding stench of this place.

I have never been to this village before, I do not need a map to find my way to Mika, she is the only elf in this village, the houses which the towns folk drink this lovely nectar in are very well lit, are very loud and there are not many of them. The energy that pulses from these places matching with the energy Mika radiates I can navigate my way through these streets.

A lot of these humans have animals in there homes, or tied up outside there homes, canines and felines and fowl, the intelligence of these animals is pitiful, they are off guard, they act as if they will not get attacked, they do not mind there captivity, they tolerate the silly witter the humans send there way, they would not survive with out the humans meeting there needs, though there skins are in a bad condition, flees have manage to get onto nearly every one, they don’t even notice the inevitable itching, they do not even flick there ears at them, the majority of the captive animals are thin enough to see there bones protruding their skin.

All the minds start to mingle into one as I get deeper into this village until I can see the house Mika is running when a conscious jumps out at me, one more intellectual than the drivel I have been passing in this village, it’s a mind sharp and aware, I do not get to feel it for long before it retreats away, but Mika and I are not the only bipeds here, the saloon doors are now in front of me, the wood warm beneath my fingers, the grain strong and weathered, many a story could be told if wood could be heard, the oak is heavy but swings open with ease on its hinges which are well tended with oil.

The public house is well lit, lanterns on the tables, lighting the peoples faces sat around them as they turn to see who has entered, boredom on there faces as they realise I am not there to join them, or there is error and need showing my place.

I am barely through the door when I can hear Mika’s voice ring out from the corner of the room, she is sat at one of her tables with a drink in her hand, it is not for her, she has it ready for me.

The two remaining guards were still staring, transfixed on the fact that their companion had just been killed just feet from them without any knowledge of the assassin’s proximity as they were about to do the same to two innocent bystanders. Rational thought seemed to flood back into their minds and their swords slowly began to get more aggressive, the tip rising to head height, definitive and assertive. Still holding my puppet up with the kiri in my left hand I reached under my left arm with my right to the blade attached between my shoulders. As my fingers touched the grip, hundreds of whispered screams flashed out through my head before silence consumed again. My hand wrapped round the grip, it was warm, almost hot, releasing a warm tingling up my hand. The blade was thirsting for the blood of the corrupt. I slowly pulled it forward, bringing it to just below eye level. I could feel it smiling in it’s own way.

Greg and Sven were both cowering behind a barrel, both completely baffled at how their situation had turned, if it had turned.

The smaller of the two guard’s face exploded with anger and hatred before swiftly raising his sword above his head with both hands, charging towards me, bringing his blade down vertically at me. I darted right of the falling blade, pulling the blade out of my victim accompanied by the wet sliding sound as it exited his neck. The sword missed spectacularly as he stumbled forwards between me and the now falling corpse. I span round anticlockwise crouching, slashing the back of his knee with the blade in my left hand as I span. His leather trousers cleanly separated along the line of where the blade passed, as had the back of his knee. I felt very little resistance as I did. He screamed in agony as he fell to the floor clutching his leg. Blood started to spread over his hands at the point he was holding and his screaming grew louder and more desperate. My eyes flicked back to the other guard, who was now just six feet away and closing with his blade poised to thrust. Still crouched, I launch up and forwards towards his now thrusting blade. Determination for the contact of his blade spread across his face. I slashed the centre of his long sword with the blade in my right hand, knocking it off target to the left. I stepped round to the right of him, slashing out with my left as I passed him, cutting his right bicep down to the grinding resistance of bone. I took a few steps further behind him, putting my back to Sven and Greg. The roar of excruciating pain exploded from the guard’s mouth as he gripped for his bicep. ‘ARGH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?’ he screamed as he span round. ‘You know what I want’ I replied calmly. His face screwed up with confusion, and then relaxed with realisation. I stared silently at him, awaiting my answer. ‘NEVER!’ he shouted wildly, raising his sword well above his head with his one good arm.

‘Very well.’ I pounced forwards, leaping half the distance between us, blades ready. I parried the falling blade away to the right with such force that his entire top half recoiled round with it. I saw my chance. I slashed the top of his exposed thigh, the twang of muscles underneath giving way to the ever-sharp kiri. He stumbled forwards, falling knees first to the ground, dropping his weapon and last defence to the ground as he reached out his right hand to stop himself face-planting the cobbles. I grabbed him gently but firmly by his left shoulder and sat him up. He was heavy, weak from the lack of blood probably. ‘Will you tell me now?’ I calmly asked again. ‘Ne.. Never’ he panted, obviously slowly giving up the fight. I placed the decorative blade tip just at the side of his neck and pushed it just below the skin. A rigid-paralysing shock took over his whole body. The area surrounding the tip started to grow black. His veins surrounding the wound started to grow and swell black, slowly branching out. The veins spread up over his chin, up his cheek and to his eyes, causing them to become bloodshot-black. I could see the searing pain in his eyes, begging for mercy. I quickly removed the tip from his skin causing him to fall forwards, screaming in pain and panting for breath. The blackness slowly disappearing, leaving only a small red wound. I picked him back up and asked again. ‘NEVERRR’. The blade pierced his neck again, just below the surface. Again his eyes showed his pain, he must feel like he is being pulled through hell backwards. I left it in for a little bit longer this time, just before his eyes looked to burst. ‘Ok, ok…I’ll tell you,’ he spluttered. He gave a long low sigh of resignation, ‘He’s at the manor preparing for a private meeting somewhere in the Blacklands.’ ‘Who is he meeting with? And why?’ I asked, tightening my grip on his shoulder. ‘I …I don’t know, he never told me that much. Just that I was in charge while he was gone a…and that it was important.’ The sound of resignation drowned every word; he didn’t have any more energy left.

‘By the cree-‘ I started. He quickly spun his head round, the look on his face filled with daemonic hatred, ‘Say hello to Lord Davril for me when you see him’ he hissed. ‘Tell him yourself,’ I replied, as I thrust the blade. The sound was swift but unmistakeably clear. The screech of metal. The fragile, sickening snap. The wet sliding followed by snap and screech again. He was silent throughout. And forever. The blade had passed straight through his front and back armour as if it were nothing as well as his corrupt heart. The tip was protruding a palm’s width out of his chest, dripping, almost running, with black liquid. His veins in his neck quickly branched out with black, totally consuming his face like a spider nest. His arms and hands were also black, same as his face. The blade suddenly started to glow a deep green, almost black. His body let out one final twitch followed by a soul-curdling scream, a scream that has joined the many others. His blackened liquid ran into the decorative engravings of the blade, being drunk by the blade.

His body went limp, the glowing stopped and his blood turned back to red. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head with agony. I pulled out the blade quickly, as to not get any of his blood on myself. Letting his body fall to the floor. I ripped off his money pouch and took my three gold pieces before throwing it back to the ground. I wiped both blades off quickly on his trousers before sheathing them. ‘He’s getting away’ the voice of Sven called. I looked over to see the last guard crawling down the alley on his front, fear consuming his face with every glance back. I bent down and picked up the bloodied blade that had just been dropped. It was heavy and very blunt. I slowly made my way over to him, he had made it over fifty yards by this time. He saw me and started to crawl faster, tripping over his hands and his chest plate. I put one on my feet firmly on his cut knee, causing him to yelp in pain. ‘Do you know the way to this manor?’ I asked, now not in the mood for fun or games. ‘Nope…. I….’ he stuttered. ‘Fine’ I jumped high in the air, hands above my head, blade tip pointed down. It came down quickly into his chest. The blade sunk between the cobbles on the other side. He slowly exhaled, his last. I stood back up and looked over to the windows of the pub. Many faces were peering through, then quickly with the realisation that they had been seen they scattered from view. I looked over to Sven and Greg, gave them a quick nod and made my way back to the back door of the kitchen.