Private Tales An old friend of the old king.

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

It was a small village with a population of a few hundred nestled right between “No.” and “Where.” With nothing but a few small houses, farm land, cattle, and of course a tavern.

In laymen’s terms? It was a back water shit hole, but a peaceful one. Farmers and shop keeps mingled together at the tavern for a rousing drink to end their day of hard labor. Things were quiet, the ale was pouring, life was good.

“DAD!” The patter of feet approached the door of the tavern as a voice cut through the noise. Most halted their chatting to turn in time to see a boy throw open the door and rush in.

He cast his gaze around the room desperately searching each face until his eyes met his fathers as he set down his tankard and dropped to one knee allowing his son to run to him. “Nicholas...What’s this about?” He asked as the child fought to gather his thoughts.

“I-It happened again dad. I seen it...” He said shakily as the room went deadly quiet. “I don’t understand..” the boys father said as a frown creased his previously merry expression as he looked around the room.

“We paid those hunters to kill ever wolf and predator for 2 miles..How could it happen ag-.” “It was a monster dad! Not an animal!” The boy finally said peeking up slightly and cutting off his father.

“We’ve talked about this Nicholas. A monster hasn’t been seen in this valley in generations. I know wolves look big and scary but they-“ he was cut off once again as his son shoved his hands into his pockets and dropped four heavy, black rocks on the table in front of him. Hooves. Four cow hooves to be exact. “That’s all that it left..” He said quietly. His father sat quietly for a moment. His gears turning.

“Ok listen up men. I need someone to put the word out. The closest job boards we can get to. We can all chip in and pay what they want and if they can get the job done so be it. Until then I need men watching the fields...Now!” The man said as the others suddenly jumped to attention and began paying tabs and leaving.

“Get home now son.” He said as his boy nodded and left. “What yah thinks out there?” The bar keep asked as he began clearing away tankards and coin left in payment. “I’m...Im not sure Joe..” He said finally before he turned and left as well. The word went out. The job was posted, and the villagers waited with baited breath for a savior to ride to their rescue....

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Such a savior just so happened to be in a nearby village. Word of the problem spread quickly to all the nearby villages and job boards and Kalia Oro Khastan happened to be in the right place at the right time. A simple extermination shouldn't be a problem, perhaps a troll or wendigo had wandered in from the mountains, Kalia didn't feel especially threatened by the prospect.

A day later he arrived at the village in question, marching down the main street and asking about the origin of the request. The man was told that an adventurer had arrived and came out of a shop, he saw the bronze armored man. With a relieved smile he rushed to meet him, but as he drew nearer his pace slowed as the man seemed to grow larger and larger until he had finally reached him and the adventurer stood at about eight feet tall, bigger than even the largest of orcs.

"Fear not, my good man. Kalia Khastan the adventurer is here to relieve you of your monster problem. Just give me the details and I'll have this settled in no time."
He had to crane his neck to look the giant in the face, and when he did he was met only by a bronze metal mask that gave his voice an odd echo, and seemed to only have painted eyes. Kalia spoke with the boisterous tone of a man with a large ego, a trait that made people incredulous, but this also helped to lessen the tension.
"O-of course... The beast comes and attacks our livestock, leaving nothing behind but the barest scraps. We've hunted the wolves out of this area, so we have no idea what it is but we cannot deal with this ourselves."

Kalia nodded sagely as he listened, "Hmmm... It is good that you did not try to hunt this creature yourselves, chances are this is a troll or Worg wandered down from the mountains for food. You would need a monster hunter, or someone with the skill and knowhow to deal with those sorts of beasts."
He opened his arms with a flourish, causing his ornate shoulder cape to flutter behind him.
"Lucky for you, I have the skills you need to deal with these monsters. Let's just talk reward and I'll have this creature dealt with by tomorrow morning."

They agreed upon a sum of ten gold and a hundred silver pieces, a tidy sum for such a village. Payable upon completion, though of course he asked to see the money first just so he was sure they could actually pay him for his services.
He disliked playing this part of the adventurer role, but people trusted an intimidating stranger more when they knew they could be bought with coin. Being a shrewd business man for simple personal gain is a skill he was forced to acquire since beginning his new career, no more was he working towards the wealth and prosperity of an entire nation... At least not yet.

He walked to the grazing fields where he was told the creature made its first attack. Several of the village men stood watch around the boarder while their cattle grazed. Kalia looked around, it was daytime and the men were still on the alert, so the monster must have no compunction for attacking in broad daylight. Perhaps not ideal for the creature, but a surprising trait which eliminated Worgs and trolls and wendigos from the list of possible monsters.

He had the leader call the men back to the village, if he was going to catch this beast he needed to draw it out first and couldn't do that while they were discouraging it from making an attack in the daytime. He stood well out of sight in the shelter of a barn so the sun didn't glint off of his armor and give him away. He wasn't worried about being detected by scent, his body emitted no odor, not even of death. The only scent he gave off were the herbs and perfumes used to in the burial rites with his wrappings. Any creature would simply not be able to detect a living or moving creature by the smell alone.

Pulling up a chair he consigned himself to waiting, sitting absolutely motionless while the painted eyes of his mask watched the cattle grazing.

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca prowled inside the long grass that lined the fences of the fields the farmers let their cattle graze in.

She was still hungry...But as of late the farmers seemed more determined than ever to catch her. They left guards out day and night and while it would be a simple matter to slaughter them along with all in the village despite their number would be no problem for the girl. She’d eat well for years..

The thought made her stomach growl and a bit of drool drip from her mouth in a long rope before touching the ground. Acidic smoke began to rise where the drool landed.

The plant life and ground around it melted and decayed as it bubbled into nothingness sinking into a small crater it melted in the ground.

She shook these longings from her head with a slight shake. That monster wasn’t her anymore.

She needed to remember that no matter how hungry she got.

Her tail pooped slightly and she smoothed it absentmindedly as she waited for a chance to strike.

Suddenly her opportunity came. Much earlier than expected. The villagers suddenly turned and fell back with a call from what she guessed was their leader. She silently waited until the field was clear before making her move.

She cloaked before entering the open field. Her scales flared up reflecting the light around her and shrouding her figure as she climbed the fence and dropped down on all fours. Rebecca’s eyes turned red as they locked onto the closest cow. The large bovine paid her no attention as she made her way nearer silent as the grave.

The spilt second of sound that followed her jaw unhinging and claws extending was all the creature had before it was lifted with a desperate moo and torn in half. Blood covered her cloaked form revealing her outline.

This realization never occurred to her however as her hunger took over and she began to eat the front half of the poor cow in large animalistic bites.

She paid no mind to anything but eating. Now that the prey was her food she could flee before anyone got close enough to try anything.

Her sense of smell and hearing would warn her of any real imminent dangers before her eyes would anyway.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia didn't have to wait long, maybe thirty minutes tops after the men vacated the fields. It was a regret able strategy to have to sacrifice one more of their livestock to draw out the beast, but it was the best strategy he had... Which was saying something.
In life he was both flattered and recognized as a genius in military and strategic maneuvering. While a sacrifice was regrettable, the rewards justified the means.

However, he expected to see some towering beast lumbering out of the woods to attack the cattle, He did not expect the creature to sneak through the grass. Anything he thought large enough to feast on a cow were too large to be concealed by such means. But his eyes still caught the slight flickers of motion as the creature crept out of the grass and into the grazing grounds, proceeding to stalk a cow and then rip it apart, the blood giving the invisible creature shape for a brief moment.

"So that's the one you picked. Let's see which of you can eat the other faster."
Summoning the necrotic powers from within him he cast a silent spell. Green wisps of smoke floated from his hands and then crept through the grass just as silently as the predator had until it reached the dismembered corpse of the cow. The smoke entered the body and the cow suddenly began to move, it's dead eyes rolled back in its head till they were white orbs, its teeth cracked and became jagged and sharp.

With a horrible sound like the moaning of the underworld, the front half of the cow turned its head to attack the creature, its zombie mind ravenously craving the flesh of the living to fuel itself.
Kalia was not idle. He took this opportunity to leisurely make his way towards the fight while the other cattle ran past him towards the safety of their pens.

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca m felt a shift in the air that gave her pause as the cow began to jerk with a guttural moan. It’s white orbs staring into her blood red.

She let out a lion like growl as she jumped back. Her tail whipping quickly through the air as two venomous spines buried them selves into the shoulder and neck of the prey turned predator.

The venom’s paralysis seemed to have no effect at all. The venom’s acidic effect however seemed to be the only thing effecting it simply by making it harder for it to move and it melted through bone leaving the cow hobbled as one of its legs was now a stump quickly melting away in a bloody bubbling puddle.

Still it charged her as she caught it by its open maw.

Holding the jaw open with her bare hands Rebecca let out a nasty roar before picking the creature up and slamming it to the ground repeatedly. She kept slamming it until nothing but the still living head remained in her hands. It’s jaws still trying to close shut on her.

The demon cat eyes narrowed as she suddenly yanked the creatures bottom jaw from its top tearing the entire bottom half of the head away before dropping it to the ground and crushing it to pulp with a mighty stomp. She uncloaked. Hands to her knees.

She had been living wild and looked it. The blood splattered on her form did little to cover her matted, taggled mane of what was normally beautiful straight, blonde hair. Her garb had been very nice once but was now stained and torn doing little to cover her very human figure and her semi styled hair told of a time it wasn’t so dirty and tangled.

She sank to her knees as her breath finally returned before trying to stand. Unaware of the stranger now right behind her having plenty of time to make his way over calmly. Her tail hovered back and forth flicking restlessly.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He watched as she destroyed the zombie cow just as savagely as the first time she killed it. He was much closer now and had a strange doubled bladed scepter in his hand which he drew from a back sheath. One end had a spears head, the other like a glaive. He idly held it in his hand as he watched her finish off the undead animal.
He stood directly behind her, which was a comparatively bad place to be with that dangerous projectile firing tail. However, she now had a far more human aspect as her camouflage was lowered, though blood stained and out of breath she was the picture of the Annunakean goddess Al-Qut.
For a moment he thought she looked familiar but he dismissed it just as quickly.

"It's a shame to kill so powerful a beast, but I'm afraid you chose the wrong village to steal from. They had the wisdom to call for help as soon as they came across something outside of their expertise."
He channeled some magic into the bladed scepter and the hieroglyphs lit up with a golden glow against the bronze.
"You may choose to run now, but know that I will chase you down no matter where you flee. No hole you hide in will be safe, no lair you make will remain hidden from me. I am the bane of your existence, so spare yourself the suffering and face me here and now."
He was bluffing. He wasn't a skilled tracker or hunter in the least, his hope was to keep the monster here and in his sight to not draw out a long chase. While he was alive he battled with creatures and beasts thought to only reside in myth and legend, so he wasn't worried about this strangely familiar demon... Demon? yes, he might actually have met this creature before... But where?

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca turned on him quickly with a hiss. Her blood red eyes narrowed to slits as she eyed her foe. His size meant as little as the words he continued to say as she sank into a pounce scanning him for a weakness.

It was when her red eyes met his mask that a flash of recognition flashed across her cat like and yet still elegant feminine features.

A look of calm replaced her pure rage as her eyes widening as she sank back to her knees. Her eye shifting from red to pink and from pink to a light blue. Like the sky. She slowly stood at an almost rigid attention.


Her teeth shank back behind her human looking ones and her jaw latched back into place. The girls eyes never left the masked eyes of her new adversary as she slowly approached.

“Kalia..” She whispered in an almost trance like state. Her younger sounding tone replaced and twisted by a tone of someone much older.

“I thought you were los-“ She purred with a seductive and yet submissive smile playing across her lips. That was when the pitch fork buried itself in her stomach. She didn’t flatter or even flinch as she looked down at the blood spreading from her middle. Her trance broken her eyes shifted back to pink then red in moments.

“Did I hit her!?” The farmer asked from behind Kalia. He had been creeping up letting his own curiosity get the better of him. Rebecca roared as her jaw unhinged and her teeth and claws extended. She rushed past Kalia in a blur of speed so close her tail dragged past his hand for a moment.

If he was fast enough he could grab it possibly if he wasn’t she would pounce on the hapless man before his friends could pull him back to safety. Her tail hovering over his face with ever intent of spearing his head through the eye socket.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Her reaction caught him off guard, at first hostile and then obeisant. The changing colors of her eyes were also familiar, but the face wasn't quite right... However, could it actually be?
Long ago he had made a list of everything that would be dispelled with his death, the summoned demons and devils that would be freed from their contracts, the spirits that would be allowed to return to their rest, the slaves that will be freed from their shackles.

But it never occurred to him that the gods that cursed him would have no such jurisdiction over the creatures that were no longer in his service. And he remembered this particular servant well, a demon summoned from the realm of Pandemonium. The bone demon of slaughter he contracted to protect him while he slept.
She had once more taken a physical form, a different face but the same memories combined with whoever she now inhabited.

His reminiscing was interrupted by the pitchfork. In his undead form he didn't have the chemical ability to feel anger, but in his mind he could feel the sense of an injustice done to him, orders disobeyed.
As the creature launched herself at the now terrified villager he was about to let her have her way with him. He wasn't cruel, but he felt no need to prevent the demise of another who decided in his heart to attack one who wasn't fighting.

Her tail was poised, about to come down and end the incompetent villagers life, but Kalia suddenly remembered why he was there, who he was, and that he currently was king of nothing, and the orders the man disobeyed were not explicitly given in the first place, only implied.

His voice boomed with command as he turned to face them, "Kaly Yizyr, release him at once! This is my will!"
He hoped invoking the true name of the demon would force her to obey, but he knew that doing so was much less effective when the demon had bound with a mortal host that has accepted them. She had her own name now, and that might take precedence over the name she held in the past.

He turned his mask on the other villagers that stood a healthy distance away. Even though his mask never changer or expressed emotion, somehow he managed to make his face appear to darken with anger as he called out at them.
"Fools, you nearly got your man killed! I told you all to leave the field and let me handle this! This creature is beyond your ability to kill or command!"

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca blinked.

A name.

One unfamiliar to her. Yet it stirred something deep in the back of her mind.

Her eyes returning to their usual pink color as she set the man down gently. Obeying without knowing why exactly.

Yanking the pitch fork from her chest she would then snap the thick shaft of the tool in half with a single hand like a dried twig. Hurling it back at him it landed beside him in two pieces.

She then sank back down over the prone man pinning him to the ground before letting out a guttural roar of absolute hatred right into th poor man face blowing back his hair.

The color drained from his features and he began to shiver violently. His eyes never leaving the 4 inch teeth inches away.

Seeming satisfied she then looked to Kalia and walked gracefully over on all fours before circling him a couple of times and finally settling to sit at his right hand.

Rebecca didn’t know why but after he spoke that name everything she did afterwards simply made sense to her..

She snapped from her almost trance once again seeming to realize what she had done she quickly stood and turned to face the man. Her stance was aggressive but her eyes remained calm and pink.

“Why did you call me that..?” She asked. Her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Was it a spell?” She demanded. It felt wrong to be standing in front of him aggressively.

Like some deep ceded voice in the back of her mind cursed her for her disrespect of this massive person, and demanded she grovel and sit at his hand as she had been.

She ignored this feeling however, puffing out her chest with a defiant glare. Her ears pulled back but her fangs and jaw remained normal along with her eyes.

Her tail flicked restlessly back and forth as she waited for an explanation.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia calmed down a little after recovering from the shock of meeting with someone from his past out here. He thought that everyone who wasn't buried in the tomb of Djedi Akhmis either vanished forever or perished in their own way.
Her confusion at her own actions was apparent, it seems Kaly Yizyr had found a prime host after all and their consciousnesses were very nearly the same entity.

Well, she may not understand her actions and she may not remember her past, but he will remind her. By taking her under his wing once more he will have gained a powerful ally, and removed the threat from the village at the same time.

He turned his attention to the openly defiant creature before him. This girl that Kaly was inhabiting did not possess any previous loyalty to him, or any knowledge of his existence or who he was and this made perfect sense because he was probably many centuries before her time. Perhaps there has been enough time after the fall for records of his existence and his crime to have completely passed from memory of todays world.

"Once many centuries ago I called you by that name, and you called me Lord Khastan. You may have no memory of me in your new body but I remember my guardian well, and I am pleased beyond words to see you again after all this time."
He turned to face the villagers as they slowly gathered up their terrified friend.
"As promised, I am ridding the village of this creature. Though I am not going to kill it I have kept my end of the contract, she will torment your village no further."
He turned his mask and painted eyes back to Rebecca.
"You can share your new name with me, if you are willing. More than once I've desired aid in navigating Arethil and you are now in the best position to help me once more, old friend."

"That is..."
He presented the bronze bladed scepter and his voice took on a slightly more threatening tone.
"Unless you intend to defy me further..."

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Her brow creased in further confusion but while every word he spoke should be flooring her with the insights into her transformation it simply seemed..right. Like being reminded of something she had read once and forgotten. Familiar and yet entirely new.
It was when he spoke his own name however that things really changed for her. No memories came flooding back to her, no recognition of who he was, but what did come flooding back where emotions. She suddenly had a deep respect for this masked stranger, not to mention pride ring her masters protector and extreme loyalty. She had no reason to feel these emotions and yet in the back of her brain the voice whispered approval.

“O-of c-course not my lord.” She said her voice losing its gravelly growl and returning to that of a young girls. Her slender, light frame groveled in a deep bow as her ears popped back up and her tail went between her legs as she looked down at the ground.

“P-please f-forgive my insolence...I am c-called Rebecca.” She said before standing back up on all fours and quickly sat under his right hand. Her ears and nose on alert for any possible attackers.

It seemed her old instincts were still firing some where in her brain as she was back on the job as protector. Why she was doing this? Even Rebecca couldn’t tell you.

It simply felt natural.

Like something she had been doing for a long time and suddenly stopped. Her tail seemed to move with a mind of its own as she sat and listened to him speak to the villagers wrapping around his leg like a cooling snake.

It wasn’t something she did with any thought but it was something Kaly had always done to keep her close to her charge without having to focus on him leaving her completely free to repel other threats.

“Oh yeah!?” One villager piped up from the crowd. “How do we know it won’t get away from you and come back to start eating our livestock again!?” “Yeah! And I say you seem awful chummy with that thing!” Piped up another.

“Who’s to say you didn’t let that wretched...” The voice paused as if deciding what to call Rebecca before continuing.. “that...thing loose on us for a few days so you could “ride to the rescue.”and scam us out of our hard earned gold!?” Came another as more began to join in. Rebecca growled.

She, much like Kaly before her, did not like the “It” and “thing.” Words being used to describe her. And on top of that questioning her masters morals. In her eyes it was beyond unforgivable. Her tail tightened around Kalias leg like a steel vice. Her ears flattened and her hackles began to raise along with her teeth beginning to extend.

She had been through a lot in the past few months and these people questioning her new master after he saved them from becoming her dinner was really beginning to anger her.

While she would not dare make a move unless commanded she did make the crowd shift backwards when she sank into a pouncing stance. She never left her masters side however even when having every ability to do so.

She looked at him pleadingly. Begging him to let her eat. She was starving and they all looked so...flavorful.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

They were suspicious, of course they would be, this was an outcome nobody would expect least of all Kalia. But it seems they were too suspicious for their own good. Rebecca is her new name, and she was becoming angered at their words against him, looking from them to him and back, begging for a chance to end their insolence.

Kalia shook his head... A king might have ordered the insolence cut out of them by sword or claw, but even in life that wasn't the kind of king he was. He was fair, and in all honesty the reward was secondary to what he just gained.
He reached down slightly and put a hand firmly on her head.
"Be at ease, she will no longer torment you or your village, if she does I will come back and kill her myself, for free."
His mask tilted downward a little, causing his brows to overshadow his eyes which created a terrifyingly intimidating gaze. His voice echoed with equal menace behind it.
"Ten gold and a hundred silver pieces is hardly a dent in your collective 'hard earned gold'. However, if it will please you then I am satisfied to take half and the knowledge that you are safe will tide me over till my next job. If that is too complicated for you to understand, I will break it down for you. Pay me five gold and fifty silver and this whole ordeal will only have cost you that much and take the rest in payment for the cow you lost in the subjugation of my out of control feline guardian."

He lifted his head sharply and gazed fully at the villagers that seemed to shrink under his shadow and the stare of his painted eyes.
"Or do you intend to cheat ME out of my 'Hard earned gold'?"

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca calmed at her masters touch and her tail loosened its vice like grip and her teeth sank back into her mouth as her now quite human face formed a pout.

Her tail flicked annoyed for a moment before she finally seemed to get over it and her expression shifted to one of a watchful apathy.

Watchful for threats but now that the towns people were off the menu by decision of her master they were beneath her notice. With the monster calmed the crowd relaxed some what returning to the point they had drawn back from.

“Of..Of course not..sir.” The apparent leader said.
“We only wanted to ensure our safety. Such a thing as that..” he said gesturing to Rebecca who gave him a slight growl at the “thing” word referencing her seemed to be back in fashion.

She hissed at the man narrowing her eyes but that was the extent of her retaliation.

“Y-Yes well if half is what you wish for the creatures capture and the replacement of live stock lost I can only thank you and accept.” He said pulling open his purse and removing half before handing it into the mans massive palm.

Rebecca then waited for her lord to take his leave.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia seemed a little colder and indifferent to the villagers. Up to now he'd been of good repute as an adventurer and hadn't run into problems such as this. He took the coin and brushed past them. "A pleasure doing business with you."
His voice was almost a growl in itself, again he was undead so the chemical reactions that were emotions to the living weren't present in him. But he felt anger burning within his soul all the same as he sheathed his bladed scepter and marched out of the village.

He knew Kaly would follow... No, Rebecca now. He knew she would follow him though it may just be habit on his part, in life he had rarely gone out without her maintaining a constant vigil over him and he had missed that during his journeys through Arethil as an undead.

He walked in silence for a long while, every time his undead nature seemed to make an active effort to erase his emotion it was simply rekindled immediately. He walked till they reached a stone dais and climbed the steps to the top of it. Looking out from the top one could see the landscape before them, looking just above the tree line to see where one stood in the world.

He shook his head as he slowly calmed down of his own accord. Then he turned to Rebecca.
Though he knew her while he was alive, that was a different host, a different woman who was a loyal servant who volunteered for the ritual to be inhabited by the Pandemonium demon to serve her king. This new girl, Rebecca, was a different being with a different life and memories. It would behoove him to get to know her, and maybe explain their relationship to her a bit better.

He knelt down, but even then he towered over her crouched posture if she sat down before him. Otherwise he was more comfortably close to her level to speak with her.
"So you are called Rebecca. I am Kalia. I am sure this must all be confusing to you so I will do my best to explain."
He reached out a large hand and placed it on her head again, not firmly this time, but he gently pet her hair flattening out some of the matted and bloodstained locks that stuck out.

"I don't know how long ago it was, but when I was still alive I formed a contract with the demon that has bound itself to you, and you with it. She served as my guardian and now you feel that same obligation even though my death freed you from your contract with me. The continued feeling of obligation may be a result of the curse I was placed under, which made it so I was cursed to not truly die."
He kept his hand extended and slowly began removing the heavy glove. Underneath the glove was a hand completely and thickly wrapped in what looked like gauze, as if he were covering some horrifying wound that consumed his whole hand. But as he unwrapped layer after layer of the gauze his true hand was revealed.
Bones, the huge and dense bones of a large creature such as he, completely cleaned and bleached of any sign of flesh. But everything that gave his hand the appearance of still maintaining flesh on his body was an illusion created by the layers upon layers of gauze that he just removed to show her.

"I am an undead now, and this curse prevents me from going to the paradise I have prepared for my followers that they now enjoy. Seems I've achieved a form of godhood, and when the gods found out they were displeased."
He wrapped his hand again, reapplying the illusion of hidden flesh to his hand and replacing the glove over it.
"But back to you. You are no longer bound to me, so you are free to go your own way, though I will uphold my promise to the villagers should you decide to return to them and attack their livestock.
Or, if you prefer, I will renew my contract with you and you will be my guardian once again."

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca took this information in slowly. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, but would occasionally close when she let out a soft purr at being pet.

She would then move under his hand letting him stroke up the spines in her back to her tail before returning it to her head. When he finished she simply nodded.
No memories had suddenly returned. She didn’t remember him, and never would in the same way her demon half would, but in him she saw something.

A kindness, a gentleness and an anger at injustice.
These were more than enough reasons for her to join.
As a demon she needed a master and it seemed a new one had presented himself. Far be it from her to turn down a boon granted to her by the gods.

“I...I have no one in this life..My appearance frightens people and my powers only attract evil low life’s seeking me to bring ruin to some other evil low life. I’ve done what I needed to get by but..” Her purring stopped abruptly as she now sat before him. He towered over her as she looked up into his mask. “I got tired of it and ran from my last job. I’ve been living off of cows and other animals...” She finished with a sigh.

She had been a servant to monster hunters, kings, and warriors yet here she was reduced to a dirty starving animal. Her once gorgeous mane now a tangled birds nest of dried guts, tangled knots, and blood.

She was so skinny her ribs were showing under the rags she wore for clothes. Her pretty face smeared with dirt and grime. She knew it was the demons memories and feelings she hosted when she felt a comfort and familiarity wash over her mind when she looked into his painted eyes but Was grateful for them all the same.

There was also confidence in the fact that he could take care of her and she would not be led astray by his command. This confidence was a combination of her own feelings and that of her demon meaning it was twice as strong and made her heart swell slightly.

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Running down her face and dripping to the ground leaving small acidic, puddles on the ground that refused to absorb the harsh liquid and instead melted into tiny craters on the ground.

“I-I have waited for a new master for so long...A real master...I would like to renew my contract with you. Please.” She sank to her knees. Her eyes never leaving Kalias painted ones.

“I beg you to accept me as your protector once more. I will serve you until you wish me gone.” She sniffled.

Her pink eyes so different from Kalys sky blue.

Yet they held the same desperation for direction and affection Kaly had shown in those early years before becoming the flirty, confident woman that had served him so faithfully.

She wiped her nose, and sat trying to dry her tears as a blush slowly spread across her cheeks.

She was ashamed.

In her eyes a master had finally arrived worthy of her and instead of putting her best foot forward she was instead a sniveling, starving wretch only being offered a job because of some one she had been at one time.

For a proud cat like herself this was quite humbling.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He nodded slowly. He believed she was sincere.
"Very well, I'll take you back as my guardian. You will do my bidding and kill my enemies, your claws will never turn upon your master. Behold yourself to me and pledge me your loyalty that non may command you, pledge to yourself that you not dishonor your master in conduct or deed. Pledge me your life that I might pledge mine to yours, and let this contract be bound by our life, as it is broken in death."

He placed his hand on her head. "Let it be known that this contract is formed willingly, both subjects consenting."
There wasn't a magical sign or pop of any kind. The simple utterance of the word is what bound the contract. Now, as the contract stated, only death would end their contract once more.
"Rise, Rebecca. Wash yourself in the stream, take back your dignity and stand by my side again."

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

“Yes my lord.” She said instantly moving past him and diving into the stream near by. She swam with enough speed to rid herself of most of the filth covering her body by the sheer amount of force the water pressure she created when swimming at full speed.

She popped out of the stream like a fish a few miles down shaking herself dry. She made her way back to her master not even seeming to notice she was now completely naked.

It seemed her rags could withstand the water about as well as the rest of the filth covering her body. Kaly had been a very dignified woman from a very proper if not harsh upbringing.

Her father being the captain of the royal guard that had been in place until the demon had been coaxed to agree to inhabit his daughter and form a contract to protect his king.
She would have rather died than let her king see her indecent...Unless he wished to..

Rebecca on the other hand seemed to not notice. While the words “born in a barn.” May not apply...The words “raised by gators in a swamp.” Would be possibly more accurate. She was a girl that had made weapons and traps out of bones after all.

She had been a demon even before the demon had taken her, and clothes had been a luxury even before she had basically become an animal.

Water dripped from her lithe figure as her wet hair clung to the parts of her body that it did cover. Her tail swished casually as she moved to his right hand side once again and sat. Her tail slowly curling around his leg once again.

“So..” She said slowly looking up at the tower of a man she now served. “W-What was she like?” She asked.

“My um..me..Well I mean o-old me..Kaly.” As she spoke a butterfly flew in and landed on her nose. She looked mystified.

Kaly had loved butterflies too maybe they weren’t so- Snap! In one movement it had disappeared and Rebecca sat crunching away looking very pleased with herself before making a face and spitting it out.

“The v-voice said she loved those th-things. I don’t know h-how. They taste a-awful.”

It seemed she was more of a literalist as well. Kaly had been sweet, well spoken, dignified, loyal and precise in her attacks and controlled in her ferocity.

She always applied what was neccisary and no more. Rebecca had no such restraint making up for her lack of cold precision and stuttering with sheer cunning and brutality. Both perfect in their own way for the time in Kalia’s life when they entered it.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

She was truly a different person now. The girl Kaly had inhabited was gone, or rather, she wasn't the person that served him now. To him non of his mortal followers were really gone, he knew exactly where they were at and where they resided, in the heaven that he created for them.
Now this was Rebecca, someone totally new and definitely unique.

Had he been in a living body he may have felt something when she approached him with her rags washed away with the stream, but instead he only felt the need to cover her. He withdrew a cloak from his pack and draped it around her shoulders as she crouched beside him.

"You are Kaly, but you are also Rebecca. The girl that served me while I was alive was a devout follower and loyal guardian. Her and Kaly's name was Lenasia. As deadly with a blade as she was with spine, tooth, and claw. She watched over me while I slept and killed any who sought to assassinate me in my slumber. She was the reason on more than one occasion that my rule did not end prematurely.

"She didn't protect me by herself, of course. But all of my other guardians still sleep, awaiting the word of their master to awaken them. Without my friends and those loyal to me, I would not have ruled for as long as I did."
He smiled at her antics... again if he could have.
"But tell me about you, Rebecca. What is your life? tell me your mind, what drives and exhilarates you, what prompts you to go on living or killing?

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

Rebecca seemed confused when her master draped a cloak around her, but she did not remove it seeming to accept it with a shrug. If he wished her in a cloak a cloak she would wear... even if it made no sense to her. She listened as he spoke of her old life. Of who the demon she now found herself paired with had been when paired with another.

It sounded very grand..


”I wish I could have seen it then. Your kingdom in its glory..” She said as you could almost see the gears of her imagination weave sights that the true kingdom could never compare to. Ah the imagination of a young one was a marvelous thing. She paused and pondered as her master then asked to hear of her.

“Their isn’t much to tell lord. I was a slave girl on a pirate ship and I escaped..” she seemed hesitant to continue as s finally ended it with a shrug. There was more she was hiding from her master but it was shame and hurt that kept the secrets behind her lips rather than deceit.

“And I lived in the bayou for most of my life. When I made it to pandemonium...I was one of the few who came back and the only one that came back changed.” She said with a hint of bitterness. After the last utterance she simply stared at the ground. Her tail between her legs and ears drooping, but remembering he had asked about her she decided to move on with answering the rest of his questions..but didn’t know how to. He had used such elaborate language.

As a demon she had to get used to English being her second language as demon tongue had been kind of shoved in there hap hazardly wiping a good chunk of her common tongue out of her head.

“He means what do you like..” The small voice in the back of her head seemed to say with a sigh she couldn’t hear but more felt.. “Oh! You mean what I like!” She said finally perking up and turning to her master.

“I like meat! And bows! Umm naps and belly rubs! Ear scratches, Stories, and..” Rebecca faltered with a blush creeping into her cheeks. “Protecting you..Well...You really.. I like you.” She said her eyes glowing a happy pink as she dumped all of that info in a flurry of happy chatter. She stopped after a moment as she seemed to notice the sun going down.

She stretched from her seated position pulling the cloak along so she remained covered and yawned. It was quite the horrific sight.

Her jaw unlatched with two sickening pops of her jaw unhinging once, then twice. Her teeth extended to their max length of 4 inches and she let out a guttural growl like a beast twice her size would make when in danger. This guttural growl was intterupted by a hack and a painful cough.

Suddenly with a final hack a lump of twisted armor and leather flew from her mouth and landed with a wet thump on the ground.

“Ah..that feels much better..” She said “Sorry about that. I have trouble breaking down certain steel. And that’s what his breast plate was made of I think..” She said with a blush if embarrassment.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He stood up and beside her as the sun lowered, her head only barely coming to his hip. Since he had awakened in the tomb city of Djedi Akhmis he hadn't felt the need for rest or sleep, or even the need to eat. Seems with the way he is now he won't require a night watch over him. Darkness didn't hamper his vision either, neither did seemingly being blinded by his mask and wrappings that covered his face in its entirety, including his eyes. But even so he could see as if he wore nothing at all.

He placed his huge hand on her head and stroked down, flattening her ears to her head as he pet her. With her beside him once more it felt like nothing had changed, even though she was a bit shorter than Lenasia had been and far less than couth as evidenced by the lump armor on the ground. But now it felt like his back was watched once more by a being he trusted wholeheartedly.

He reached down and adjusted the clasp of the cloak around her. It was a rather valuable cloak that he purchased at the first village he came to with some of the gold he brought from the... from his tomb. And almost as a second thought or second nature he immediately commissioned an enchanter to give it a few basic enchantments for durability and shadow movement, and since he was posing as an adventurer no questions were asked.
The shadow movement allowed the wearer to teleport from one shadow to the next without being seen.

He had gotten this done on a whim, but now it seemed a providential choice.
"Rebecca... Why don't you keep this cloak. You will have better use for it than I."
He didn't even consider her modesty when he said this, he saw it as the perfect gift to augment her natural abilities. Besides it's useful enchantment a cloak was an excellent piece of clothing to conceal hidden weapons, or in her case, claws, spines and such.

He turned and headed down the road once again, knowing she would follow. It might be worthwhile to buy a horse at some point. He didn't get tired from walking or running, but he would certainly make better and more efficient time of traveling if he had something to ride on. Of course finding a beast that could handle his weight as well as his ungainly size would be most difficult. His steed that he used when he was alive was ideal, a fine charger raised through a complex bloodline and grown nearly double the size of any normal horse, such a beast was more than adequate to accommodate him. Alas, he didn't know what became of his steed or its bloodline.

So they walked instead. He decided that while they travel he should maybe try to teach her some things. If what she told him was true, then she may not have the best education. And if she was to be his guardian, then she needed to learn how to read her master, which also meant understanding his mind and the way he thought so that she can improvise and adjust her own actions accordingly when the time came.
"Rebecca. We are traveling to Alliria, can you guess why I would want to be going there?"

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

She purred as her master stroked her. It had been a long time since something had touched her kindly, and she very much appreciated it. She squirmed slightly as he adjusted the clasp on her cloak.

His massive fingers still so nimble when manipulating something so small. She was impressed. He then asked her a question.

Why? Rebecca didn’t know. She was a servent. Why they were going somewhere didn’t matter. It only mattered that he deemed it best to travel there. However not wanting to disappoint him she began to think.

“Well..” Rebecca responded pondered for a moment. She could never fathom WANTING to travel to a city. The noise and smells overloaded her senses and left her with headaches, but her master was a king. So thinking outside of her personal preference and thinking strategically for a moment she finally answered.

“It’s a more central location and one of the largest cities. If anything I would say your trying to keep your ear to the ground and finger on the pulse of the happenings in the land?” She said with an unsure grin.

As they walked and she waited for his response she let out another skin crawling yawn and climbed up his arm draping herself across his broad shoulders like a scarf. Her pink eyes closing as she curled around his neck.

It had been quite a day for her and young ones need rest. She would listen to her masters response as she drifted off. Sleep being the only monster that seemed to always win every fight she ever had with it.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He nodded as she climbed up to his shoulder, her claws sinking harmlessly into the layers of wrappings and giving her purchase to climb easily.
"A good answer, but off the mark by a slight margin. Alliria is indeed one of the largest cities and a good place to gather information, but it is also the best place to find allies. The city is ripe with three kinds of people, those looking to spill your guts, those looking to save your guts, and those hoping to not get involved."

He walked at a good pace, his long legs carrying them farther with each step as the sun lowered deeper in the sky.
"We are looking for the second type of person. The kind of man or woman that values justice and is willing to fight for it no matter the cost. Have you ever been to a big city, Rebecca? it will be a big learning experience for you. Feel free to ask me any questions you have."

They entered the deeper part of the forest where the road led. The road itself was well traveled and a sign nearby listed the closest locations on their route. Alliria was listed but indicated that they would have to travel to Geralt Village before they begin on the actual road to the big city.

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

“But..” Rebecca said seeming to disagree before she clamped her mouth shut and relaxed once more. In her opinion her master didn’t need anyone but her. It was not her place to decide or interject her opinion. If he wanted it he would ask.

“And yes I have been to cities before. Not my favorite.” She said with yet another yawn before her eyes closed and her breathing calmed.

She was silent and sleeping the sleep of one who was at peace. Her purpose and usefulness restored by the master she now slept on.

After a long while her eyes sprang open once again. Not pink. The blue he had seen before.

“It’s been a long time my lord.” She said in a voice that wasn’t quite Rebecca’s but had a twinge of her voice mixed with it.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He turned his head slightly, "Hmm, Kaly. So you have developed a split personality after all in spite of being so closely bound with Rebecca. It's been a long time indeed, old friend. What sort of new life has the young Rebecca offered you?"
With his quick pace he crested the top of a small hill, from the top they could look out and see lights from a village in the distance, partly hidden by the trees surrounding it.

"These are strange times, a much different era than the time when I ruled over Djedi Akhmis. The different culture and ethnicity aside, the times themselves have changed. What do you know of it?"
He started down the hill, heading towards the lights of the village, perhaps another couple miles ahead.

 

[Rebecca Fourtuna]

“Well..not much of a split. This is actually taking quite a bit of effort.” She said as her sensual tone faltered and showed the strain she was enduring to greet her old friend properly.

But it was worth it.

“While the child sleeps it is easiest to “take the helm.” as it were. I just wanted a chance to express my pleasure at your survival..” she looked at his wrapping remembering what he had shown her host.

“Of sorts.” She said finally “and my deepest thanks for taking me back under your wing. She will need your guidance more than any other. Her manner is most unbecoming, she hates to bathe, she spits, drinks,her grasp of the common tongue is that of a peasant slave, and I haven’t been with a man in years as they find her form both diggusting and terrifying not that we’ve ever even gotten THAT far..” She vented with frustration. “....But..” She said after a moment and regaining her composure.

“She has lost many people she cares for. Quite the mixed up head this one. But I haven’t seen a soul more loyal and clever than this ones in eons.” She said. “So as it is I’d say she’s provided for me fine.” She shifted her position on his back as he crested the top of the small hill.

“And as for the times..I have never seen humans and other races working together before. Many still clutch petty pearls of prejudice, but as a whole I’d say I’ve never seen such a batch of magic users and warriors.

My own people were forced to retreat at their hand if that tells you anything though much of our history has been forgotten by them or it might tell them something as well.” She said with a slight sigh.

“I will return when I feel the need and have the strength my lord but she smells the village and will be waking in a moment.” She leaned down and kissed the cheek of her masters mask.

“She will serve you well. May your second reign be as grand as your first my king. And I apologize for my forward behavior, but i have been wanting to do that since we last parted.” And with that her eyes closed for a few minutes before Rebecca opened her eyes. Her ears twitched as she woke with a start.

“No! Not a bath! Get away from me with that brush!” She squeaked as she thrashed still in the throws of semi sleep before falling off of his back with a squeak of panic landing with a thump before bouncing back up to her feet.

“I’m awake!” She said looking about with her pink eyes lighting up quite literally as they feel on her master. Then the village. “Oh.” She said with a yawn stretching out much like an alley cat after a day of lounging in the sun. “We’re here.” She said rubbing the sleep from her eyes.