Tom ward was dead…it was a simple fact, buried alive, pinned to the ground by stakes by the Kobalos assassins while their last high mage watched in sickening satisfaction, enjoying every second of it from the sicken crunch of bone being broken to the sound of Tom's screams and pleas filling the air, he enjoyed it all…

After Tom's screams had finally died down leaving the Kobalos in silence they finally filled the hole and left preparing to return to the stone city and remake a new god far more powerful than Talkus to succeed in there question of enslaving the females of the human race and killing the men to finally build their city so it spanned the whole world.

They never got far before stopping, there sensitive ears hearing the noise of something digging out of the dirt causing them to turn to see the grave they'd tortured Tom in was shifting, as if something was trying to escape.

''Hm…what's going on? He's dead I couldn't hear his heart beating.'' One of the assassins growls out in his native tongue watching with the other as the grave continued to shift as something made its way towards the surface, finally after several more minutes a hand finally made its way out much to the shock of the Kobalos watching who quickly drew there sabre's preparing to fight Tom when he submerged.

Watching the ordeal, the high mage prepared to chant a quick spell to hold Tom in place, without the star blade he'd be defenseless from his magic, he wasn't going to risk not doing so, a broken man Tom may be but Broken men could easily spell your end if you weren't ready for them.

Finally, out of the grave Tom stared ahead looking out at the river he'd been bathing in before the Kobalos arrived he took a look at his still damp clothing and frowned before turning his eyes to the Kobalos who'd tortured him and raised a brow as two of the immediately fled with terror in their eyes while one of the assassins ran at him with uncertainty in his and the high mage stood stone still a look of horror on his face.

Looking back at the charging Kobalos Tom's training kicks in seeing him directly in front of him with a spear in hand ready to plunge it into his chest, and that he did as Tom had no time to dodge but it did not stop him from grabbing the assassin's neck and digging his hand under the skin and flesh before pulling out his throat making the assassin drop to the ground dead almost instantly.

Looking down Tom effortlessly pulled the spear from his chest and threw it to the side before setting his eyes on the mage who was already chanting a spell to keep him away, it did nothing as Tom instantly rushed him with the intent to kill him as he had the assassin laying in the blood stained grass, with a shout of rage Tom speared into the mage instantly knocking the wind out of him as his back made contact with the ground leaving him defenseless to Tom's onslaught off attacks using everything from his nails to his teeth tearing the high mage's face into pieces as he screamed in pain the whole time, even pleading making Tom smile in a sadistic fashion seeing how the tables had turned

Tomas has lost track of time, he didn't know how long he'd been beating the high mages dead body but all that was left of the head was a pile of red paste and bone, his armor was torn to bits from what looked to be talon's from a witch, what made Tom pause however was the many bite marks and chunks of missing flesh and the taste of blood in his mouth…he'd eaten him alive before killing him…

Normally Tom would have instantly vomited from the thought of having eaten a Kobalos but for some reason he wasn't even bothered, his mind was in an odd state of calmness despite what had just happened.

Standing up Tom walked over to the lake he'd been bathing in and looked in reflection with wide eyes seeing his eyes were now a bright crimson red color that glowed, everything else was the same besides the new scars where the stakes had been punched into his body, opening his mouth Tom frowned slightly seeing a set of dull sharp teeth, most likely dulled due to his recent activity of biting into armor and flesh, in his maw and quickly shut it not wanting to look at the red stained teeth any longer.

Tomas defiantly wasn't human any longer, something had happened after he'd spoken to his Mam, he didn't know why but moments before he'd awoken he felt as if the fiend was standing behind him, he could have sworn he even heard it laugh!

Putting those thoughts to the back of his mind Tom got up and started to put his still damp cloths on before picking up his bag and staff and heading towards Chipenden once more ignoring the may thoughts plaguing his mind all the way, instead he'd thought about his Father and Mam, how it could be some sort of curse or a blessing…but all he knew was that it had saved his life and most likely would again.

By the time Tom had made it back to Chipenden the sun was high in the sky once more, however that did little to stave off the cold he could feel surrounding him, it wasn't a natural cold it felt as if it was coming from him rather than the cool country air around him.

Walking through the small village Tom was finally home looking at the entrance to large house Tom cracked a sad smile before entering, he'd be alone again, no John, no Alice…no Jenny, he didn't know how long for but he'd think about that later after he'd gotten something to eat and some proper bed rest…

Walking into the Kitchen Tom found it empty, after all the bogart only cooked breakfast, dinner and supper, so he walked over to the cupboard he knew food would be in and opened it to find some stale bread and vegetables, with a sigh Tom grabbed a carrot seeing as it was the only thing he'd be able to eat there and not get sick and took a bite of it…and promptly spat it out seeing as it tasted horrible.

''Odd…'' Tom mutters to himself leaving the carrot onto the counter and sitting on the table to rest his legs a bit before looking for something else to eat. Looking around Tom could see the kitchen was fairly clean and ended up spotting the bogart in its friendlier form, a large ginger tomcat laying on a chair sleeping clearly tired from cleaning, rather than disturb it Tom instead got up and headed for his bed feeling tired himself, without changing out of his damp cloths Tom fell into his bed immediately falling into a dreamless sleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

-=TOM=-

I'd woken up groggily to the sound of the kitchen bell ringing, at least Kratch knew I was here, getting up I put on the clothes I'd used yesterday, they still stunk a small bit but that was mostly the blood that had gotten on after he'd forgotten to wash himself after killing the Kobalos, he'd have to clean it and himself again after breakfast.

On my way down the stairs I'd looked into a mirror to check if my appearance had gone back to normal, sadly it hadn't I still had those sharp teeth and red eyes that glared right back at me through the mirror, it was unsettling to say the least.

Still I was surprisingly calm about the situation…if anything I felt more confused. Finally reaching down the stairs I felt my mouth water at the smell of breakfast prepared for by Kratch, walking in I could see the table was set for one with the fire on to heat up the room, the house was a still a bit chilly but that was likely just him.

Taking a seat at the table I instantly dug into the food and immediately stopped at my first bite of the bread, it tasted just like a carrot from the day before, putting the bread down I tried to eat the vegetable stew and got the same result, though my hopes were not dashed as the bacon tasted the same, but everything else tasted as if it'd been dipped into candle wax…

I knew if I left just eating the bacon I'd come back to a burned dinner to I mustered by strength and will and ate what I could before saying I was full to the bogart and leaving my compliment to the chef, with that out of the way I left the kitchen grabbing some money to go and grab some fresh food for Kratch to make later.

The moment I walked out of the door I noticed something was off, the air felt hotter than usual, it was a bit uncomfortable but not unbearable so I went on heading to grab the sack of food as I had when I was first made the apprentice of my old master, those were days I'd give anything to have back.

The trip had been eventless as I'd been woken up at an early hour allowing me not to bump into anyone as I got the sack of food, on the way back I stopped looking to the spot I'd first met Alice, the most beautiful girl in the world who'd broken his heart twice now, shaking my head I trudged on up the hill to the house.

Dropping the sack of food into the kitchen I noticed the room was cleaned up, no doubt Kratch's doing, and so I ignored it and instead walked to the library, although it wasn't as grand as it used to be it was getting there and would take a few more years at most to look remotely like it had before it was destroyed.

With a frown I looked down at one of the pocket's attached to my cloak and pulled out Jenny's diary that she had written the notes about what'd I'd been teach her about in, although it was no use to me the library could use a new addition, it was the least he could do for her… with that in mind I placed the book into one of the many shelves with a sad smile on my face knowing that Jenny should be here now with me training her in the garden how to throw the silver chain around witches…but she wasn't and it was my fault and it would be remain that way forever.

That's when I noticed something wet on my cheeks and placed my hands on them to see they were tears…I'd been crying it seems, crying for a girl whose future was taken away by me…

With a sigh I thought of Grimalkin the assassin witch, she'd most likely be in the dark seeing as she couldn't leave during the hours of day and when night came she'd most likely be off pushing the Kobalos farther back to the north and help save the female slaves, a noble cause that he was surprised by when she'd first told him, I never really took Grimalkin as the type to care for others especially slaves but you can' judge someone by appearance or character it seems.

I was broken from my thoughts at the sound of a distant bell, it seems spook business was calling, before I knew it I already had my staff in hand walking towards the bell as fast as possible, people tended to lose their nerve waiting for spooks, they didn't have the greatest reputation with people, this was good and bad, it kept people out of our business but also made it so business was hard to find.

Eventually I reached the clearing where the bell was located to find a woman who looked scared out of her mind, her appearance reminded him of a farm hand like himself before he became a spook, I frowned slightly as I approached the girl, as I got closer it was easier to make her out, she seemed to be around my age maybe a year older, a freckled face and ginger hair with deep ocean blue eyes, she would be very pleasant to look at had a look of fear and anxiety not been plastered on her face.

''What do you want?'' I asked looking at the girl who looked as if she was about to collapse, ''M-my Mam and Da have gone!, some lady with pointed shoes broke into the house and took em' she did!'' The girl says in a mix of stutters and sobs, I frowned knowing to well I was dealing with a witch, possibly a bone or blood witch.

''Alright I'll be right back with my supplies, don't go anywhere while I'm gone.'' I said walking back towards the house to fill my supply bag and bring something for the girl to eat, seems she ran a long way to get here and he didn't want her slowing him down while he headed to deal with the witch and save the girl's parents, though at this point they may already be dead.

Arriving at the house I packed the bag with the usual stuff I'd pack into before traveling long journey's around the country and took some crumbly country chess along with some bread from the food bag for the girl, hopefully Kratch would stock the food in my absence.

''Still here I see.'' I greeted seeing the girl was still standing in wait and getting her attention, at least she hadn't run off having second thoughts about getting his help, ''A-are you going then!?'' The girl says loudly making me nod. ''We're going yes, lead the way to the home and tell me everything you can while we walk, oh and this is for you.'' I said add on the last bit while handing the bread to the girl who quickly took it and began to eat, must have really been starving.

''Anything you can tell me about the woman with pointed shoes?'' I asked breaking the silence of our walk and getting her attention. ''She looked as if her face was dipped into boilin' water, long black hair and she stunk.'' The girl says making me nod, defiantly a witch.

''What's your name?'' I asked once more before the silence around us got awkward. ''Oh its Megan Higgins.'' Megan says making me nod slowly. ''Names Tom ward.'' I say back getting a small nod from Megan quickly followed by silence in our walk, it was definitely going to be like this most of the time Megan didn't seem very talkative then again if our positions were swapped I wouldn't ether…

As I suspected the walk had remained silent with Tom occasionally slowing down for Megan to catch up when she got tired, luckily they hadn't needed to walk far, it'd taken half a day which was good. ''We're here?'' I ask prompting Megan to nod with a look of fear on her face.

''Are there any caves or anything like it nearby?'' I asked making Megan nod and point towards a dense tree line. ''There's an old cabin in there.'' Megan says making me nod. ''Stay here, I'll try and get your Mam and Father back.'' And with that I began heading into the dense tree line, I could already feel the hairs on the back of my neck raise as I entered…