The Travelers
Erik has just finished nailing the horseshoes on the last horse of the day. As the town smithy he is very busy at times as he is the only one capable of wielding the metal. The villagers are forever asking him why he doesn't keep an apprentice to take on some of the work but he has declined every single time someone offered their child as one. Erik keeps to himself as he always has and for good reason: he has unusually ways of altering the metal and most of his neighbors wouldn't understand.
Erik doesn't need the fire to do the work for him, though he knows the conventional ways of doing such things, he doesn't need the anvil either; a power inside him can do all that and even more. Erik can float through the air but he rarely does that. What Erik does most, is keeping his head down. He doesn't want to be noticed; he doesn't want to be considered abnormal.
When Erik's powers became manifest as a young teenager, Erik had been overjoyed. Here he was, a small insignificant boy and he, of all people, had such gifts! He had not been careful and as a result his powers had not gone unnoticed. He had fled. Someone had seen him and his mother on the fields, Erik was levitated and the witness had claimed that his mother possessed an unearthly power and had lifted her son up into the air. Such wickedness could not go unpunished; she had been declared a witch and was consequently burnt at the stake. Her executioner would have given her a chance if she would but hand over her son. She refused.
Erik had not been present when they came for her. He had not been present at the time of her death, but it haunted his dreams nevertheless. Erik had been on a two-days errand; it was the first time she allowed him to be gone for the night. Erik had felt so delighted and grown up, unaware of what was happening in the village at the time. On his return journey a merchant traveling the other way spoke of the execution and he realized what had happened. He never returned to the village of his birth, of his youth. The name of the executioner was burnt into his memory: Sebastian Shaw.
"They are here! They are here!" A group of village boys is shouting in the streets. "The gypsies are coming! The minstrel has news!" Every four months or so a group of gypsies, minstrels and wonderful creatures passed their village. Several of these groups had their own roundabout journeys throughout the land. They were feared and loved alike as they provided council, health, news, but most of all: wonder. Some of these people were said to have powers; some of them were prosecuted in times of starvation, war, or simple boredom. If the cows mysteriously died when a group had just arrived, or left, they were in for it. Yet the odd travelers needed them as well, to find money and shelter.
Erik leaves his smithy and joins the others to see the spectacle. Usually groups stayed for a week or so, but the moment they arrived they gave their first show as a sign of goodwill. This particular group had two new members this time around. A brother and sister. The whispers went throughout the group of villagers. The brother didn't seem like much, he was a cripple and was carried or wheeled around. The sister was a young beautiful blonde but Erik couldn't see why the group decided these two were a good addition. They seemed more trouble than they were worth.
He was so wrong about that! The young woman had been able to change shapes. It was magic; she had mirrored whoever was opposite her and even became a very large and strong man who could lift a tree. Some villagers were appalled, but most were under her spell. Erik had been slightly bewildered at the sight. Her brother was different but equally impressive. He was a palm reader but he didn't so much predict the future as learn people's darkest secrets. It was positively creepy and he would definitely not visit him.