Prologue

Wulf sat in Rogue's Tavern feeling uneasy. He was trying to be inconspicuous, which wasn't easy when you were an 8-foot, 600-pound mecha-beast monster in a found and battered trench coat and fedora. This bar was crowded. Wulf could feel the sharks circling. It was all he could do to keep himself from freaking out and smashing everyone and everything within a 100-mile radius.

Wulf forced himself to sit at the corner of a table, pull his hat over his face, and put his head down on the table. He hoped he looked like any other over-served customer, dosing and sleeping it off. A sudden hand on Wulf's back made him jump and take a swing with a quarter staff.

"Easy, Wulf." Cav said, dodging the attack, "Are you trying to kill your brother?"

"We need to leave!" Wulf hissed. "Now!"

"In a minute," Cav placed a bundle wrapped in blankets on the table and pushed it towards Wulf. Proud, he said, "go on, and take a look."

Wulf stared at the bundle and Cave in confusion. Then the bundle moved. Startled, Wulf jumped back. Wulf wanted to shapeshift into a kangaroo and hop away as fast as possible.

"Relax," Cav soothed Wulf. "It's okay. Congratulations!" Cav beamed at Wulf's baffled stare. "You're an uncle." Cav moved a bit of the blanket revealing an infant.

An eyeball stared out of a mound of purple flesh. Wulf stared back, baffled.

"Alien." Wulf grunted, assessing the child's appearance.

Cav chuckled.

"Mother?" Wulf asked.

"Died in childbirth." Cav admitted, soberly. "I was forced to flee with the child. I had to leave my wife behind."

Wulf paused for a moment, out of respect. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." Cav snapped his attention back to reality.

"Name?" Wulf grunted at the child.

"My wife and I haven't had time to pick one." Cav explained. "We had been on the road for months. Running and hiding. My wife and I stopped to seek shelter and sanctuary at an old Monastery. They agreed to take her in, but not me. They didn't want to involve themselves in our conflict. I understood. I didn't want to be involved in our conflict. But, we had no choice in that one." Cav admitted, feeling bitter. Wulf grunted assent. "The people at the monastery were merely providing aid to a pregnant lady in distress. Nothing more. My wife stayed in the monastery, I camped in the woods nearby."

"Go on." Wulf said in a simple voice.

"Well..." Cav teased, "If you really want to hear it..."

. . .

As I said, the monastery took my pregnant wife in, but they wouldn't take me. If discovered, the monastery could pass the story that they were performing a charitable action by helping an innocent woman in need. A pregnant woman traveling 'alone' could qualify as a woman in need. My wife stayed in the monastery, while I was forced to camp out in the woods, nearby.

Camping wasn't too bad. I was accustomed to taking care of myself and roughing it. Cooking over an open fire, sleeping on the ground, looking up at the stars and the like. Physically, I was fine. The only hardship I faced was being without my wife and unborn child. Never once, in the entire time I was in those woods did I not think of them.

I figured that we would need money, for when the baby comes. For diapers, clothes, and the like. So, I started hunting and trapping animals in the area. I would sell the meat and pelts in a nearby town. I would share a little of the money with the monastery to cover their costs in taking care of my wife. I had built up a stash of 5000 in gold. I hoped it would give the baby a good start.

A Page from the monastery came to an old at the edge of the forest where I camped. The Page would bring me food and take whatever money I left for the monastery every day. That was the routine, at least.

One day, the Page didn't show at his regular time to drop off my food and take the money back to the monastery. I waited.

The boy usually showed in the mornings, and when he didn't show up by late afternoon, I had a feeling something wasn't right. I hoped the Page was just running late. I waited some more.

5 minutes past.

10 minutes past.

20 minutes past.

I couldn't hold my concerns back any longer. I equipped my best fire spell and set off for the monastery. I kept to the shadows, unsure of what I was getting myself into. My only concern was getting to my wife and making sure that she was safe. I didn't want whomever or whatever was attacking the monastery to discover me too soon before I had a chance to act.

As I approached, I noticed a figure lying prone in the main path. It was the Page. He was still. There was my usual meal tray, but any trace of food that might have been on that tray was gone. As if magicked away.

Typically, at this time of day, the monks that lived and worked in the monastery prayed and chanted in the early evenings. Just before supper. Thanking God for the bounty to which they were about to receive. I heard silence.

After seeing the dead Page and hearing the deafening quiet, I picked up my pace. I ran to the monastery and stopped just before reaching the main entrance in front. No sentries were posted. Lack of guards wasn't all that suspicious, the monks and clerics were peaceful, after all. However, the dead Page and the quiet felt a little too sketchy for my tastes. I didn't trust going in the front, so I crept around to the back. Where the cellar and the kitchens were. There was another way into the building here.

My first attempt at melting off the lock with my fire-spell was a failure. I barely heated the metal on the padlock. My second was a perfect success. The molten lead fell into a puddle and fizzled out on the ground. I opened the cellar door and entered the murky depths therein.

The basement was pitch black and smelled like hot musty death. I covered my nose and mouth with my shirt collar to keep from breathing the rank stench. The monks used the cellar to store massive casks of sacramental wine that they used for their ceremonies. I would be entering a dark maze full of twists and turns. I lit a match with one hand and kept my trusty fire-spell ready. I entered the labyrinth.

The shadows of the maze screwed with my sense of direction. My owned footsteps echoing back at me had me fearing attack from all angles. I wandered the shadowy maze until I came to a clearing.

The open space was a few paces from the stairs that led up, out of the basement and into the kitchen. I almost broke into a run for the way out... when my foot kicked an empty tin cup. There were spots on the cup that glistened red. A red that was not wine-red.

The cup flew and rattled across the floor to land in the clearing between the steps and the maze of wine casks. Something hissed just as the cup came to a rest. I jumped and glimpsed a serpentine tail disappearing between two casks in the labyrinthine walls. I had to get out of here and get to my wife.

I had to chance a dash, but I needed something to distract the creature. I patted a wine cask. Wine is alcohol. And alcohol is flammable... I needed to time this just right.

I moved into position to a spot next to a cask at the exit of the maze. A low purr and slither told me the creature was close. The wood of the barrels well treated. It'll burn, but not before causing the wine inside to boil and explode like a cannon with no ball. I placed a hand on the cask next to me... and cast my fire-spell and I pushed the cask over behind me as I propelled myself towards freedom. I felt a small satisfaction to hear a bloodcurdling screech as I bolted up the stairs and into the monastery.

In the kitchen, I braced for impact. The fiery cask below exploded, shaking the whole Building. The main floor of the monastery was deserted. I nearly lost my footing when another cask exploded below. I needed to get to my family.

I raced through the monastery, screaming "FIRE," as loud as I could. The wine casks exploded below, pitching the floor as I went. I lost my footing twice before I reached the stairs taking me up to the second floor. I clung to the banister and dragged myself up, to avoid being thrown down, again. I spilled onto the landing at the top of the stairs. A woman's scream from the hall on the second floor brought me back to the mission at hand. I ignored the explosions rocking the house and forged ahead.

I followed the woman's cries to the end of the hall and burst into a room. There were stained sheets on the floor, a chair, a bed, a Cleric, and my wife. My wife appeared to be in distress upon the bed. I approached, "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"Just hold her hand and make sure she's comfortable." The Cleric answered,

"Got it." I went over to my wife's head. I patted her cheek and brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. "I'm here, my love. We'll be okay." I took her hand right as a wave of pain struck her. She squeezed. My hand was crushed. My wife brought me to my knees. I let go of her hand to pull myself back onto my feet.

"Here it comes!" The Cleric announced.

I made the mistake of looking in the direction of the Cleric and I went down on my knees, again. I crawled over to the only chair in the room. I crawled into the chair, woozy. I stayed dazed until a wrapped bundle was placed in my arms. I stared at the Cleric, dumbfounded.

"You have a daughter." The Cleric stated. "Sit and hold her, while I tend to your wife.

I nodded feebly. The Cleric moved away and I looked the infant over. Holding my child, I felt a mixture of pride, honor, and loyalty. I felt like I would die for this child. I felt like my whole life had been leading up to this moment. A far off explosion brought me back to reality. "We have to get out of here." I informed the Cleric. "There is fire in the cellar. The wine casks are exploding, we have to get out."

"Your wife is bleeding and cannot be moved. I don't know if my skill level will be enough to save her, anyway." The Cleric's cool, calm voice impressed me. "If you want to take the child and flee, I'll understand. I'll still do what I can to keep your wife as safe as possible for as long as possible. For the moment, I must have quiet so I can focus. I'm fighting a losing battle, here."

I couldn't find fault with the Cleric's honesty. I left him in peace and cuddled my child a few moments more. After a few moments, I get up and test my legs, while still holding the infant. My legs hold. I stepped outside of the room to peer over the banister of the balcony in the hall, down at the main foyer. I crouch in fear. Visitors have come to the monastery. I trot back to the room with my wife and the cleric.

"We have trouble." I inform the Cleric, who was kneeling over my wife's head. The stained sheet from the floor was covering her chest.

"Can you tell me who?" The Cleric stood up and pulled the sheet over my wife's face. I pause, a moment of silence for the departed.

"Hard to tell." I explain. "They looked like paladins of some sort. They seemed important."

"The monastery was expecting a visit from some high ranking officials. Some of the monks of our order went out to find, greet, and lead them here. It was just me, the Page, a cook, and your wife here." The Cleric sighed. "I'll go greet them. I'll take them to the basement cellar. Use whatever commotion that happens as an opportunity to escape."

I nodded and let the Cleric leave. I knelt and watched through the slats of the balcony for my chance. I saw the Cleric lead the party away and crept downstairs. Keeping to the shadows, I followed, at a safe distance, to the dining hall. I saw the Cleric lead the party through the kitchen and disappear into the basement. I used the death-scream of the tortured, burnt, creature in the basement to cover the loud crash that occurred when I threw a chair through the dining room window. I jumped out after the chair. Holding tight to my child, I ran for all I was worth. If a sentry saw my escape, I never knew or heard the pursuit. I just kept running. I kept running and running... Until I arrived here. For our meeting...

. . .

"And that's pretty much, what happened." Cav looked at Wulf and noticed that he was holding the baby a little too tight. "Easy, Lenny, remember what happened with the rabbits..."

Wulf loosened his grip on the child. "My name is Wulf. You know that."

"I was trying for a joke." Cav attempted a weak, exhausted smile. "I know we're not related by blood, but I feel us to be brothers. If something were to happen to me, would you be willing to take care of the baby for me?"

Wulf nodded to the baby. "Baby have name?"

"My wife and I hadn't had much time to pick one. My wife liked the name 'Pho.' I like the name 'Teetoo.' Perhaps a combination of the two will work. What do you think of being called Photeetoo, little one?" Cav tickled the infant under her chin earning a baffled stare as a reward.

Newcomers entered the bar. Cav glanced in their direction. He pulled his stash of gold from his pocked and handed it to Wulf. "This is for the baby." Cav stood up. "Take the baby and go out the back way. If I can, I'll follow along. I'll meet you at your secret place. The one you told me about."

Without another word, Cav got up from the table. He went in the direction of the newcomers. He, intentionally, bumped into them, which caused them to notice him. The newcomers recognized him. An incident occurred. The newcomers were Forge Masters.

Wulf didn't see any more of what happened to Cav. He took the baby and the gold and ran out the back door. He didn't stop until he was at his sanctuary.

Weeks later, after no sight or word from Cav, Wulf sent a small animal messenger to find out what happened. The animal messenger returned. Wulf had discovered that his brother had been taken apart and welded to the Forge. Cav's mind was lost in the process of disassemblement.