I stopped my writing a moment, looking over to Zan, as he watched out the window. All sharp angles and edges, his shape was meant for fast perfect... Killing. I just couldn't get over that simple realization. That was Zan's purpose before the cataclysm... To kill, to fight, to destroy.

War was truly something of madness.

Zan flicked his gaze to me, and shook his head once, 'All clear' he was saying. I nodded back and dipped my quill again.

I wrote.

I woke up a little later, my head feeling as if little people were doing roadwork inside, tiny jackhammers a-hammering. Opening my eyes, I remember at first a blinding radiance, the noonday sun I guessed at first, only to find it was Angel leaning over me, the noonday sun behind her.

Maybe she was really an angel? But I banished the thought as new ones pushed their way into my head: what happened? Where am I?

Voicing my questions, Angel helped me sit up, and pointed to a cave. I knew this place, as my father and I used it often for camping. My second question she answered by putting one palm upwards, and using the other hand to mimic writing.

Yes, it was something my father was really proud of. Pixie are naturally intelligent, and easily soak up information. Few ranchers take the time to teach, or any monster for that matter, how to read. Fewer still to write. Mother and father did both with Angel. I nodded at her hand signs and struggled to get to my feet. Holding my head as Angel helped me up I felt a little bit of moist crumbling, dried blood.

I looked around for my backpack, waving Angel away returning her 'write' gesture as I did so. With a nod she left my side and headed into the cave. Taking in my surroundings, familiar as they were to me, seemed different today. The cave seemed a little darker, despite the sun overhead. The tiny clearing, just big enough to hold a small campfire safely seemed too small. The forest around the clearing, normally filled with little noises of wildlife, seemed muffled. I remember thinking this as I failed to spot my backpack, and wondering how far away from the cave I fell, knowing that Angel would have carried me the distance, I wondered how much she had to leave behind to do it. Only being about as strong as myself, I found it a little difficult to picture her with me, my backpack of outdoors men things over her shoulder, and the few sacred discs we had as well, and running while doing it too.

Abandoning my search I walked/stumbled my way to the cave. There I saw my backpack. Okay good, I thought. I saw Angel writing next to it, kneeling as if at a low table, on a small pad of paper. She looked up once, concerned for my unsteady walk, but I shook my head and waved away her concern. She nodded and returned to writing.

With a little bit of a sigh, I looked around the cave. Almost as clean as it was left last time I was here, I walked slowly to the very back and looked for a boulder. Finding it, I smiled. A fond memory of my father echoed in my head. 'Ya see son? You can hide things here for your next visit. Always make sure you bring enough the next time you come back, to replace what you use.'

With a couple of deep breaths, I gripped the small boulder and half lifted, half dragged it away. I looked into the small pit under the rock, and started taking out the things inside. A couple of well made torches, a quiver of arrows, twenty to be exact, an unstrung bow to go with it, and... This was new... A small box, made of metal, and locked too.

I wondered at this, holding up the box, and nearly dropped it when I felt a small hand touch my shoulder briefly. Turning, I set the box down and held out my hand, accepting the small pad of paper Angel was writing on.

'Master.' It started, and I could feel the colour drain from my face. As smart as she was, able to read write, and even grasp the concept of money and trade almost as well as my father, this unsettled me. I was always 'young master' to her. I continued reading.

'Master. You fell on the way here. I hid the discs, too heavy. You hurt your head. I carry you here. Home burn down. Your father gone.' I paused and took a moment to realize the word 'gone' was smudged slightly by a drop of water it seemed, a tear. Another moment, and I realized it was mine. Father was no longer 'master' to her... He was dead.

Angrily, I wiped my sleeve over my eyes, and looked up at Angel, kneeling in front of me her hands on her knees. "You knew, didn't you." The anger in my voice made it sound like a fact, not a question. She nodded, sadly. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?" I started, feeling the pressure of a yelling fit coming on, but I felt my words fall back down my throat when I saw the helpless look in Angel's eyes.

My father told her not to tell me, I realized. And though I didn't understand then, I understood through the look Angel gave me, it was not an easy decision.

My anger almost crushed out of me, I looked to the metal box. "Open that please." I said, and again felt my anger smolder as not only did she open it, she did it with the proper key too! She took the key, painted the same white as her fur, from a thin white thread tied to her arm. Cleverly hidden, I thought. Planned for, too, I thought sadly.

Inside the box, were only three things. A note, a piece of a shattered sacred disc, and a small pouch that 'clinked' as I picked it up. Handing the small bag of money to Angel, I picked up the note.

'If you are reading this, son, then I must be dead or in the town prison. I'm sorry for not warning you of this, and I hope you'll forgive me some day. My assistant, before he left, knew of Angle's uncanny life span, and must have told the wrong person the secret I made him swear to keep. I knew it would happen soon, that's why this box is here, and Angel has the only key to open it. The money here is for travel, for you must leave this place, the people will not accept you now, thinking you work 'black magic' or some idiocy, to have kept Angel alive so long.'

I paused and shook my head in disbelief.

'Ask... No. For once you might have to actually order her, to take you to the shrine. She will know what you mean when you show her the disc fragment contained in this box. She may also be reluctant to do so, but you must go there. In the next town, you should use one of the discs you took with you to create a monster better suited to a dangerous journey.'

I read this part out loud, and Angel nodded, quietly standing and walking out of the cave. "Hold on!" I called, "Take my cape, it should be in my pack." I thought of the villagers who may or may not be wandering the forest around my house. I want back to my reading as she unlaced the string on my backpack and rummaged around in it.

'Be careful. You know Angel cannot fight, so you must also train your new friend as well. I'm sure you'll think up ways to do so on the way to the shrine.' This last word was underlined, obviously this was more than just a little important. 'I know it must be difficult, but you MUST leave here. Even if by some chance I am alive, you must leave and go back to Angel's shrine. Something important is there, waiting, and even though I do not know what you might do with it, I trust you, as my son, and hope you use it the way it was never intended to be used.'

This last line puzzled me. 'How it was never intended to be used.' Odd... It sounded like a bit of the lost civilization. The kind of things little boys and girls are told as bedtime stories. I read the last bit.

'Remember what I've taught you, and continue to learn. To what ever your new monster is, remember to teach it as well. Remember your lesson with Cypher. Good bye my son.'

I remembered little of the next hour. Holding the crumpled note in my fist, crying. My next clear thought, I remember, was again that light tap on the shoulder from Angel. Her face was a mix of concern, and shame. Under one arm was a single disc, not the three or four she had taken with her, and in her hand she held up a note: 'Others gone, only this one left.'

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