She walked towards the village her short legs covering the ground surprisingly well as she set her pace at a fast stride. The path started sloping and she stopped suddenly as she found herself on the top of a hill overlooking the village below.

The ground spread out below her and from her vantage point she saw how small the village was, barely twenty cottages surrounded by rows of fields. She knew they wouldn't take a shine to her as her father use to say when people were too close minded to see who she really was instead of judging her on first glance. She felt a sharp pang of sadness at the thought of her father but pushed it aside and pulled out another scarf from the one around her waist.

She twisted back her hair and wrapped the dark scarf around it until not even one strand of the golden strands shown. Then she pulled out a stick of charcoal from her scarf-sash and darkened her golden eyebrows until they were almost black. Her light brown eyes and light skin were a bit unusual but they wouldn't bring her the attention she would have got walking into the secluded village with her unusual blond hair.

Usually she wouldn't have hid her hair she would have taken the chance that someone would think she was a demon but today she was in a hurry to find her horse and get the demon off of the road. You can't really do that when people are running in circles trying to kill you. She sighed before heading into the village ducking her head to draw the least amount of attention a stranger could get.

Kee-Ara didn't even think she had any demon blood in her and if she did it was a very small amount. Her mother and father were immigrants that came here to get away from the prejudice of their people. This was before I was born but I think they didn't run far enough because here they didn't care if you were a witch or a priestess as they called it, but you should pray very very hard to whatever your gods or goddesses are for help if they decided you were a demon.

With her much practiced disguise on Kee-Ara crept into the town acting as if she knew where she wanted to go and belonged there. She walked through the streets looking for someone who she could tell about the demon. Kee-Ara had barely walked through half of the village when she found someone who looked as if he was in charge if only by the fact that everyone looked as if they were trying to avoid him.

He was taller than Kee-Ara by a few incheswhich made him short by man standards. He looked as if when he was younger he had been someone to fear with a warriors physic but as age had set on him he had let it go, as shown by the paunch in his gut and was now trying to pretend he was still impressive. He was walking through the streets watching people with a small sneer on his face. Kee-Ara looked at him in distaste but knew she didn't have enough time to find someone else even if she wanted to- very badly. Her heart tightened as she looked at him before bowing to the inevitable.

She sighed and bowed her head as if she thought he was someone to respect and walked towards him, "Excuse me. I am sorry to bother someone as important as you but I thought you would like to know that there is a dead demon down the path." Kee-Ara watched him from under her lashes as if she was awed by his presence and like she was just a meek woman not worth his notice.

When Kee-Ara had started speaking he looked angry at being approached by someone as low as her but he was quickly mollified when she told him how important he was. Of course he already knew it but it was nice to be told, she thought sarcastically trying to keep it off of her face.

He puffed up and started posing like a peacock as he pushed his chest into the air. He looked ridiculous and Kee-Ara lowered her eyelashes farther trying to look as if he awed her when she was really just trying to hide the laughter that was for sure showing in her eyes.

"Of course I would need to know, woman. I am in charge of things around here and I protect this village. Of course I would know soon anyways because everyone reports to me." He told her boasting, as he put his nose so far in the air that if it had started to rain he would have drowned. Kee-Ara couldn't keep her laughter contained for much longer and she tried to find a graceful exit for retreat. All along his huge exaggeration of his importance she nodded solemnly as if she believed every word.

"I almost run this village in fact. I could be the leader but I decided that wasn't for me. You were right to tell me about the demon." At that she saw her opening and she looked up from her eyelashes and prepared to fluff his ego some more so she could leave but she was cut off by a high-pitched scream. Kee-Ara forgot the man as soon as she turned away from him and met the sight of a young girl in the arms of what looked like the village militia.

Kee-Ara strode away ignoring his protests,not even trying to look meek anymore as she headed towards the struggling girl. She was small and she looked close to six or maybe younger. She had dark round eyes and the round cheeks of a child not yet grown. A small part of her dark brown bangs was pulled into a sideways pigtail on the right making her look that much younger but at the moment her face and eyes were full of fear as she struggled in the man's arms.

Her white and orange checked kosode had a green sash around the waist which reminded Kee-Ara of her own blue sash and Kee-Ara felt a pang at the small connection. Kee-Ara started toward the men holding the small girl as she squirmed in their grip trying futilely to get away. The men laughed cruelly and the villagers near them turned to see what they were doing to see if it would bring them any amusement.

"This girl is a demon! She was found with two other demons but they got away," They told the villagers and they quickly backed away from the girl as if she had some sort of disease. To them she did. It was the prejudice against demons something Kee-Ara couldn't understand. She had grown up surrounded by demons and humans peacefully together in the settlement Taraslenden that her parents had founded and named after her mother. Her home was so different from the world she now found herself in as shown by the looks of hate sent towards the little girl.

"What did that girl do to you?" Kee-Ara asked stepping forward into the small clearing that had grown around the men and the girl. They sneered at her and glared tightening their grip on the small girl making her cry out in pain. Kee-Ara's eyes darted towards her before she looked back up at the leader's face her own hardening as she tried to control her anger.

"It didn't have to do anything It's a demon!" he called to her angrily as if that made it right to torture a small girl who clearly couldn't harm anyone. Kee-Ara noticed how fast a little girl could be turned into an It at the first sign of something different. The girl looked at Kee-Ara beseechingly with large brown eyes but they were sad as if she already knew Kee-Ara wouldn't help her.

If Kee-Ara did have any doubts before, now she knew without a doubt that she was going to save this girl.

Kee-Ara drew her sword from where it had been hiding down a slit in the skirt she was wearing. The men laughed mockingly at the woman who carried a man's weapon but when they noticed that her serious face didn't change the sound turned high and nervous. They knew she was serious. The smarter of the men looked at her nervously as she took a defensive pose obviously realizing she knew what she was doing but the rest didn't notice to full of themselves. Of course she couldn't hurt them. They were men and she was just a tiny woman.

"Did this girl do anything to you?" Kee-Ara asked again her voice cold as she looked at the five men examining them to see if she could win. They looked as if they hadn't had to fight anything with those rusty swords and they held them loosely not blocking their weak points. None of them had their guards up and Kee-Ara smiled coldly knowing that she could take them easily. The only problem was that she didn't want the girl to get hurt.

"Put that sword down woman before you hurt yourself." The leader told her mockingly and she darted in with her sword disarming him with one swing of her longer blade. She stepped around him easily and kicked his feet out from under him as she elbowed another one in the face. Quickly she jumped back out of the other threes reach as the two men fell just now realizing she was a serious threat.

"I'm going to take that girl and walk away from here. No one else has to get hurt." Kee-Ara told them calmly trying to get out of there without shedding blood. She was not out of breath at all the fighting as natural as breathing. The two not holding the girl let out an angry roar and ran towards her their blades swinging wildly not even close to their target but as her father always used to tell her, even a fool's blade is sharp. Kee-Ara ducked under one of men's arms, hitting him in the stomach with the pommel of her sword and he fell to his knees retching.

Kee-Ara backed away from him her eyes locked onto the blade of the other man. He swung crazily at her and she grabbed his wrist stepping closer surprising him. She used his shock to pull him over her leg into the building behind her. They never expected the enemy to try to get closer not run away. Kee-Ara turned towards the remaining man who was holding the girl. He was holding his sword up against her throat and Kee-Ara froze trying not to make any threatening moves.

"She's a demon to!" the man shrieked and Kee-Ara lifted a hand to feel her bare hair and she swore under her breath. Her scarf must have fallen off when she was fighting. Kee-Ara slowly eased towards the man but he pressed his sword harder against the girl's throat making her whimper as blood welled up from the small cut. His eyes were rolling back and forth in his head as he looked for an escape route and his forehead beaded with sweat in his panic.

"I won't hurt you. Just give me the girl and I'll leave the village." Kee-Ara told him her voice low and soothing and the man's eyes snapped onto hers. He stared at her a moment before suddenly throwing the girl at Kee-Ara turning around and running away leaving his sword behind him. Kee-Ara darted forward and grabbed the girl before she could hit the ground tossing her sword to the side so she wouldn't skewer her. She looked just as scared of Kee-Ara as she was of the men but Kee-Ara grabbed her, sliding her sword into its sheathe out of habit, and ran towards the forest anyway holding her tight.

Shouts followed Kee-Ara as she ran the small girl pressed against her chest. Kee-Ara dodged trees frantically trying to put as much distance between the village and her. The shouts were swallowed in the deep forest and for a while the only sound was her rapid footsteps and her even faster heartbeat rushing in her ears. She dodged trees frantically sheltering the small girl with her arms.

The girl got heavier the farther Kee-Ara ran and after how many miles she didn't know finally she had to stop. She sat the girl down suddenly worried about how still and quiet she had been. To her surprise the little girl was asleep and Kee-Ara let out a small laugh in surprise. The sound shocked her and she realized she hadn't laughed in a long time. Kee-Ara looked down at the small child. She didn't look like a monster. In sleep she looked even more innocent and Kee-Ara couldn't believe that she would hurt someone.

Kee-Ara smiled fondly at the little girl and after a few moments of rest Kee-Ara picked her up again and headed towards where she thought there was a stream. It was dark when she finally heard the gurgling of water rushing over rocks. She hoped that the villagers would have given up on catching them by now and that they weren't being followed. She was too tired to run much longer even if the entire village was behind them with pitch forks. With a weary sigh she started to look for shelter.