Instinct. A caravan guard depends on it. A guard’s duty was to ensure the safety of the caravan and that meant that he needed to be alert to the dangers of the road. A good caravan guard knows that no matter how mundane and boring it seems, danger lurks and bandits could be waiting around every corner. A good caravan guard needs to have good instincts, and instinct was what saved her.

One moment, Lexa was trudging the caravan when she felt danger. It wasn’t the first time she felt this and like always, she moved. Flinging her head aside, an arrow that would have pierced her face slammed into a barrel on the cart. Sorrow filled her heart as she saw the ale trickling out of the wooden cask. The sorrow only last a moment before she turned to the danger.

“Ambush! Guard the caravan!”

As the warrior unsheathed her twin short swords, the enemies burst out of the undergrowth and Lexa silently cursed all merchants and their ridiculous non-existing sense of survival. The fool was worried about losing his goods when he should be worried about losing his life. Instead of rough men in shabby garb, the enemies appearing around them were much worse.

They were monsters.

Lexa had heard the tales but she was seeing them for the first time. Man-sized wolves who walked tall like men; a tough-looking creature that had the horns and face of a goat; two smaller creatures that had the heads of rats. A rustle of the leaves caused Lexa to look up and she knew they were dead. Several man-sized monkeys hung from the trees and all of them had weapons. The carvanan was surrounded, and the guards were heavily outnumbered. The smart choice would be to surrender but everyone heard the stories of how the monsters took no prisoners. Poor as it was, there was only one choice.

“Attack!”

At the roar of the chief guard, everyone moved forward. Lexa could see that the monsters were surprised by the suicidal action. Taking advantage of their shock, the warrior leapt at her first enemy. Steel flashed as her twin blades slashed at the monster. The wolf monster avoided her attacks with amazing agility, dancing just out of the way of each strike. Ignoring the dread in her stomach, Lexa pressed on. Her attacks flowed into each other like water but the wolf monster just kept on dodging.

“Don’t go too far!”

Lexa had no idea who shouted the warning but she instinctively knew it was meant for her. She leapt backwards and was rewarded with a smile from the wolf monster. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that the monster approved of her skills. Lexa warily moved back to the caravan and realized she was not alone. One of the guards was laying on the ground with his guts all over the place, but the rest of them were still alive. Why?

The answer came to her when the most amazing creature she had ever seen appeared. Walking from the trees as if it was part of the forest was a giant white fox bigger than Lexa. Full of grace and beauty, the fox was snow-white in color and had five beautiful tails at its back. The tails were spread open and the air began to feel light. A globe of white light suddenly surrounded the caravan. One of the guards was a mage and whatever the giant fox was doing had caused the mage to take action. Lexa was looking at the fox the whole time and it did not look worried at the globe of protection. In fact, it looked as if it was smiling. Lexa quickly discovered why. Her legs buckled and she had to use her blades to stop herself from falling to the ground. The white light was no protection at all. Lexa saw the light disappeared; the mage guard no doubt being overwhelmed by the air. As she finally succumb to the air, she had only one thought.

“How did they know we were here?”

***

He saw the last guard fall to the ground and the creature formerly known as Guardsman Arnel walked out of the cover of the trees. The Kin crowded around the caravan with some of the Monkeymen even jumping down from the trees. Arnel walked towards them, his feeling in flux. The Kin had been delighted when they found out that he was a senior Guardsman and knew of the trade routes going to and from the city of Yachium. Arnel had been surprised that the Kin would bother with trade routes and shocked when the Kin allowed him to follow them on a raid. They didn’t even bother with a guard, confident that Arnel would not try to escape. They were confident that he was theirs after his change.

Change. Oh, how has he has changed!

His mind still aches at how his life had changed in the past ten days. The crystal. His Creator. Ten days ago Arnel met it and now he was…different. He’s still not quite sure what he was but the Kin told him he was no longer human and that was something Arnel can’t argue against. He felt his face change shape as he remember the power that was within him. The Creator had thrown the energy into him and changed him into something different. The Creator called him a ‘mutant’ and he was not the first. According to the Kin, although he was the Creator’s first mutant, there had been other mutants made by another Creator to the south. Called the Red Creator, that Creator was the one that ‘invented’ the mutant race and they had been so impressive that the Creator decided to make it’s own.

Another Creator.

Arnel almost laughed. All along he had thought the Kin were made by a dark mage; a human dark mage! Instead they were made by a sentient spirit matrix. He never thought that was even possible, and now he knew that there were two of them!

“Your face is changing again.” Arnel didn’t bother to look at the Kin who spoke. The Alpha walked up to him. “Takes a while to get use to. It took me weeks before I could change my form.”

Arnel smile at the kind words and force his face in place. “Thanks for the concern but I’m alright. It’s not hard to keep my face from changing but it’s like having to constantly clench my fist. A lack of pressure and…” Arnel’s face changed from his own to the image of one of the guards; one of the female guards. That was the gift given to him by the Creator. A face that could change shape into the image of anyone else he knows.

The Alpha laughed. The Alpha had taken a liking to Arnel and had made a point to make his transition to a mutant as smooth as possible. It was hard to imagine just a few days ago, Arnel would have stop at nothing to kill the Werewolf leader.

“Your powers are a little different than most of ours so there’s not much we can teach you but don’t worry, you’ll get it in time.”

“I just wish I know why the Creator gave me this…blessing.”

“Who say there has to be a reason?” The Alpha chuckled, as if this wasn’t the first time he had this conversation with a new Kin. “The Creator blessed you. It gave you power. What you want to do with that power is up to you.”

“What if I do something bad with it?” Arnel couldn’t help but ask. “Some people are just suited for power.”

“And some humans are more likely to cut themselves with a sword than their enemies. Doesn’t mean humans are going to stop making swords right? If you worry about abusing the power you had been given, then don’t use it. It’s up to you. The Creator gave you power; the rest is up to you. It’s your choice.”

“Some of the others had said the same to me. I guess it just seems strange to me...but then everything does.”

The Alpha just laughed louder and gave Arnel a big and painful clap on the back. “Then welcome to your new interesting life! Just don’t die till you find your purpose.”

Arnel found himself laughing along. For some reason, he felt that he was going to enjoy his new life with the Kin.