A/N: So as the beginning of this story is based in Wales there are a few slang terms I have used that I will leave a guide to, along with pronunciations, below. This is because they will occur a lot in the coming chapters and to prevent having to translate in italics I thought I'd give you a handy guide. The slang words are Welsh terms used day to day.

Slang

Cariad = Sweetheart

Blodwyn = Flower

Bachgen = Boy

Pronunciations

Rhydian - Ri dee en

Gelert - Geh lert

Seren - Seh ren

Cwmtref - Coom tref

Brynddu - Brin thee

Chapter 1

The doe raised her head, smelling the wind nervously. I forced my muscles to stay still, crouching lower in the undergrowth. The earthy smell of the forest filled my nostrils, the gentle patter of rain hitting my anorak amplified in the oppressive quiet. My calves were screaming in protest but I my stomach hurt more, and we needed this kill. I moved as carefully as I could so I had a clear shot of her head. My hands were slick with rain as I slowly drew the bowstring back, levelling my gaze down the shaft of the arrow. The doe resumed her grazing, and I took a deep breath in, steadying my hands. Releasing the bowstring the arrow rushed away from me with a muted whooshing sound.

I recognised a clean headshot from the sound it made, a thunk and a crunch as it connected with the fallow deer's skull. The animal staggered a few paces before collapsing in a heap in the undergrowth. I sprang upright, the life returning in a tingling rush to my legs and arms. No longer concerned with stealth I jogged down the small rise I had been perched on towards my kill. I gave a small smile at the size of the doe, this should keep us out of town for at least a week. The animal's large, brown eyes stared blankly up at me, kneeling down I took a firm grip of the arrow shaft lodged in her head.

"Thank you." I murmured respectfully as I yanked the arrow out of her. A small spray of blood erupted from the skull as I stowed the missile safely away in my quiver. The rain was starting to intensify and I was conscious I had been out here pretty much all day stalking the doe, so I swiftly set about preparing her to carry back. Tying the legs with strong twine, I hoisted her onto my back, the wetness of my anorak making it hard to keep her in place. Once I was certain I wasn't going to drop her I made my steady way back to Tobias.

As was often the case I had wandered further than I realised in my pursuit of my prey. It took me a good twenty minutes to retrace my steps to where I had tethered him. He was waiting patiently, his head hidden in amongst a bush he was currently eating to death. His black coat was shiny with rain and I felt a pang of guilt at leaving him exposed to the elements for so long.

"Hey there lad." I called softly as I approached him, not wanting to unnecessarily startle him. The stallion lifted his head, bits of bush sticking out of his mane. I stifled a laugh at his ridiculous appearance. "You look very fierce." I chuckled fondly as I picked some of the leaves out of his inky black hair. With a low snicker he pushed his head into my side, he could be a real gentle giant when he wanted to be but was a formidable partner when he sensed we were in danger.

"Stand still now." I chided as I moved to his rear and carefully wedged my prize behind the saddle. Lashing the doe in place I let out a small, weary sigh. Hunting always took it out of me, but it was worth it in the long run. I untied Tobias from the tree he had been fastened to for most of the day and heaved myself into the saddle. I always liked the way it felt to be so high of the ground; it made me feel powerful, safer than being on foot. Tobias pawed at the ground impatiently, sensing we were about to turn homeward. I gave him a nudge with my feet and he eagerly began walking back along the faint forest trail. The rhythmic motion of Tobias and quiet clam of the forest made me relax and my thoughts began to drift.

It still baffled me how quickly the world had changed in five years, and how quickly my life had changed along with it. I was pretty certain that my small corner of it was one of the few places in the western world that had remained unaffected. That was largely down to the fact that it was one of the few places in the western world that didn't have any Internet or phone signal what so ever, and so it had been the perfect place to hide for all this time. Sometimes I couldn't deny the irony of a once infamous and highly skilled hacker now residing in a place where coding a computer was as useful as a chocolate teapot. However, it had left me free to find new skills, ones that were much more appropriate for our way of life now.

The forest started to thin and the path continued on a sharp incline. I leant forward in the saddle, giving Tobias an easier time of lugging me and the dead weight now on his back up the hill. Even though I had seen it a hundred times before, I still couldn't help looking at the view that had now opened up before me. The intimidating beauty of the Welsh mountains was hard to understand; there was little colour to them, mainly shades of brown, dark green and grey dominated. The peaks cut a jagged line through the moody, iron-grey sky and large rain clouds rolled across the highest points down into the valley below. There was a wildness to them, an untamed aura that meant you never felt completely safe, as if at any moment nature itself would reek havoc on you.

The wind began to pick up as we neared the top of the rise. Down in the valley tiny white specs floated amongst heather and fern as a herd of sheep grazed, a river cut the valley in half, a thin silver ribbon in the murky afternoon light. I was at home here, this was where I had grown up and it was the closest thing I had to home now. The rain and wind was starting to make me uncomfortable so I urged Tobias into a brisk canter, hoping to shorten our journey time.

When I had returned here five years ago I had found it hard at first, it was a massive culture change from the metropolitan, elite lifestyle I had become used to. True, I had never really fitted in at all, but I had grown used to the busyness and the danger my previous job had thrust me into. Wales by comparison was slow and quiet, nothing note worthy tended to happen here but that had been partly why I had chosen to return. It was also painful for its memories, I had grown up here with my parents but they were long gone now.

Gradually the pain and the boredom had subsided, I had moved in with my Uncle on his farm and being put to work had helped with the bad thoughts. Seren helped too, having a person who depended on me had been a shock to the system. Honestly, I had doubted whether I had done the right thing taking her a few times, but soon loving her had come as easy as breathing and now I wouldn't be without her.

We passed over the top of the hill and my Uncle's farm came into view in the dip below us. It was the perfect place to hide; it was surrounded on all sides by mountains and thick forest. There were no other farms in a thirty-mile radius, and the nearest town was fifty miles away. It was a natural fortress protected from intruders and any outside influences. Tobias let out an excited whinny at the sight of home, I grinned at his enthusiasm feeling his gait quickening in his eagerness.

"Okay lad, take it away." I loosened my grip on the reins and with a quick glance behind me to make sure my kill was still secure, I kicked him into a heart stopping down hill gallop. The wind whistled past my head, tearing my hood down, the rain began stinging my face as we rushed headlong down the hillside. A small herd of ewes were grazing on the slope and they scattered in panic at our thundering approach, bleating loudly in terror. As we got closer I saw a tall figure exit the rickety farmhouse, it was my Uncle Rhydian likely on his way to scold me for scaring his flock.

We took the fence on the edge of the field at a flying pace, I gave a small whoop as Tobias cleared it easily and we landed in a shower of muddy water. I slowed the excited stallion to a bouncy trot as I advanced on my Uncle, he didn't look impressed. His sharp hazel eyes bored into me, they were two pinpricks in amongst his messy mop of curly grey hair and a grisly salt and pepper beard. His arms were folded across his chest, even for a lean man he still managed to exude a sense of wisdom and authority. I had always been slightly scared of him as a child.

"You bothered my ewes. If they don't lamb this year it'll be on you." Rhydian Williams was a pragmatic man of very few words, and when he did speak it was usually to tell you to do something or to scold you for doing that something wrong. He rarely gave praise, and affection was a bad word in his house, that was unless it was concerning Seren. Even for all his foibles my Uncle was a kind and big-hearted man, evident when he had taken in his orphaned niece and her mysterious child without a second thought.

"If they don't lamb after I ran my horse through them months before, you need new ewes." I quipped back, giving him a cheeky grin. He harrumphed and turned away from me, squelching back into the house.

"Make sure you gut that doe properly. Don't want rats getting into my store." With that he tramped into the house and slammed the door behind him. I rolled my eyes and dismounted Tobias, as gracefully as someone who had been hunting all day in the pouring rain could. Stretching my arms trying to loosen my shoulders, I led Tobias towards the food store round the back of the house. Depositing the dead deer in it, I turned my attention to Tobias.

"Come on then bachgen. Let's get you dry." I was on my way to his stable when Seren came flying out of the back door.

"Ma! Ma! Did you get anything?" I beamed at the small girl barrelling towards me, still trying to pull on her boots. Her light brown hair was tied back in a plait and it whipped from side to side as she finally finished dressing and closed the distance between us. Colliding with my legs as she wrapped her arms around me, I let out a winded grunt. Her strength always surprised me, mainly because it got stronger day by day. She was only six and she could already lift a hay bale above her head and wrestle a fully-grown ram to the ground. There wasn't an once of malice in her however, and she was always careful not to hug me and Uncle Rhydian too hard. She lifted her face to me now and I stared lovingly down into her strikingly blue eyes, every now and then it struck how much she looked like him. Her face getting longer every year, her cheekbones becoming more prominent as she lost her baby fat, and her skin and eyes getting paler almost taking on an ethereal glow. Each year it got a little harder to look at her and not feel my heart pang in longing.

"I did cariad. I got a deer, enough for Uncle Rudy's famous venison cawl for a week." Seren jumped up and down in glee, and I gently extracted her and held her hand as I continued walking towards Tobias' stable. I herded the child and horse inside the stall, and set about taking his saddle and bridle off. Free of his burden Tobias shook his giant body scattering water droplets everywhere. Seren squealed in delight at the deluge and broke down in a fit of giggling as I stowed his tack away, and began rubbing down the sodden stallion. She chatted to me as I tended to Tobias, patting the beast with a tiny hand absentmindedly. I smiled as I let her tales of the day wash over me, losing myself in my task.

An excited barking suddenly started up somewhere outside the stable, and Seren quickly forgot about filling me in on her day to rush outside. "Gelert!" She called as she flew past me like a whirling dervish, I sighed in exasperation the girl never stopped. The barking intensified as the friends were reunited; I glanced over the stable door to see her hugging the shaggy, grey and brown sheepdog that was her constant companion. Gelert belonged to my Uncle technically, but in reality he belonged to Seren. They had been inseparable the moment I had arrived at the farm with the tiny one year old; the old sheepdog had sniffed experimentally at her and the wide-eyed baby had looked uncertain for a brief moment before grabbing his ears and laughing ecstatically. The rest, as they said, was history.

My view of the heart-warming pair was blocked by a thin, dark figure. My Uncle leant on the stall door and stared at me pointedly, his expression communicating the nature of his visit. I finished up with Tobias, making sure his hay net was full before leaving the stall. Uncle Rhydian moved out of my way as I shut the door behind me and glanced at the dog and child in the yard.

"Seren, take Gelert inside a minute. He deserves a warm fire after being in the rain all day." The girl was giggling as the sheepdog licked feverishly at her face. I knew my Uncle disapproved of the close relationship, Gelert was a working dog not a pet he would remind me on a regular basis. But I wasn't about to deprive Seren of one of the small joys I could afford her. She nodded at me and grabbed the dog by the collar.

"Come on boy." She crowed cheerily as she guided the animal into the farmhouse, a rare luxury for the hard working mutt. Once she was out of earshot I turned my attention to my Uncle. "What's wrong?" His brow furrowed as he thought about how to break the news to me.

"I saw a drone." I had grown accustomed to his limited word usage, in some ways it reminded me of another man who didn't like to say too much, but sometimes it infuriated me.

"Where? Near the farm?" My Uncle shook his head, his curly hair starting to dip into his eyes as it soaked in the rain. I began to walk towards the food store in a pointed way, eager to get out of the weather. He followed as he continued to talk in his thick Welsh accent.

"No. Beyond the forest, but it was high enough for me to see it from the edge of the South field." My heart stuttered in fear, at least it hadn't got past my barrier, but it would have still got a good look at the obviously farmed land beyond the thick forest. Someone was looking for us that much was certain.

I entered the small wooden store, holding the door open for my Uncle, my look vacant as I thought through our options. "What time was this?" I hauled the deer carcass I had discarded earlier over to the butcher block in the corner. Uncle Rhydian handed me the skinning knife as he replied.

"Around three. I was checking on the herd when I saw it, reckon it got a good look at me before it flew away." I ran a hand over my sodden face, this was the last thing I needed. I had hoped the attacks were slowing, that people were giving up finally. Evidently I was wrong. I slid the skinning knife deftly into the doe, letting out some of my pent up frustration on the corpse. My Uncle watched silently as I quickly skinned and strung up the deer, taking a larger knife to cut a slit from stomach to neck letting the guts spill out on the floor. He flicked an unconcerned glance at the macabre mess on the store floor before returning it to me. My Uncle had never been one to feel squeamish, part and parcel of being a farmer I assumed.

He didn't say anything else, but remained stood in the store with me, the pause growing more and more pregnant between us. Finally, after enduring the awkward presence for long enough I sighed loudly and turned to him. "Is there more?"

"Seren was with me." I froze, my grip tightening on the knife in my hand.

"What? Why? She's not to go near the woods, you know that." My Uncle's expression didn't change, but I could see from his stance he was sheepish.

"She was bored and I didn't think the herd would be that far south. She didn't go in them, I made sure of it, although I could tell she was curious." My hand began to shake with fury, and I had to take deep breath to control my rage towards my Uncle.

"What if she had run away from you? You know you wouldn't have been able to catch her. Not to mention the fact that if that drone saw you, you can be damn sure it saw her too." His head bowed suddenly and I felt a pang of guilt at the way I had spoken to him. I was very aware of how much I had inconvenienced him since showing up, unannounced on his doorstep all those years ago. I had practically insisted that on top of taking us in and sharing his meagre means with us, he should cut himself off from the outside world and turn a blind eye to a lot of shady shit I had had to do. In my mind it was justified, to protect Seren, but to an outsider, even a relative, it was a lot to ask. Still I couldn't help feeling righteously angry at my Uncle's flagrant disregard to the rules I had set out to keep Seren safe.

He grunted, obviously embarrassed, turning his gaze away from me. "Thought you needed to know. She's been talking about nothing else since she saw the drone, and I thought it would be better if I told you first." I placed my head in the crook of my elbow and growled into it.

"Fine. I'll deal with this later once I'm done here. Meanwhile, we'll have to stay on alert for any alarms being tripped. I have the feeling company is on its way." My Uncle nodded once, an unspoken apology in his eyes. My shoulders sagged as the rage slowly left me and I softened my expression towards him. "Thank you for telling me Uncle Rhydian." He gave me a small smile as he exited the store, and I was left alone, just the dead deer and my thoughts.

I had been terrified with how fast the world had changed after the events in Satu Mare. One minute the world seemed like a rational, relatively sane place the next it had been taken over by businessmen and politicians clearly under the thumb of Cicada. The microchip law had come into affect just three months after the Asylum, and that was when I had fled back to Wales and my only remaining family member. It was safer, not for me but for Seren. Out in the world she could be manipulated or worse killed because of the tiny piece of plastic inserted into her brain. But that wasn't the worst of it; only six months after that horrendous place had been destroyed I had learnt that we hadn't been successful, that the research and some of the clones had survived. The changelings weren't common knowledge of course, just like the ICA hadn't been but to anyone who knew where to look they became a formidable, sickening force in the world of assassination. The only difference was that it was Cicada pulling their strings not the agency.

Child assassins became the new elite killers, the ultimate in discreet killing and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I left here Seren would likely end up one of them. The name changelings had been given on the criminal grape vine, it came from the project name Wechselbalg, German for changeling but it also suited them. If Seren was anything to go by their abilities were pretty much unequalled, I doubted if even 47 would be able to beat a fully matured one.

My heart twinged painfully as my thoughts drifted to my former agent. I tried my hardest to keep him from my mind; it made it easier that way, but from time to time I slipped and I found myself reliving my past life. I had done the right thing, I had followed that man blindly into a world I didn't belong in and had lost everything for my troubles. I wasn't naïve, I had known from the start my ill placed affections would never be returned, but I hadn't bet on my life being destroyed in quite the way it had. Seren had been a ray of hope in a dark time, and I had made my choice five years ago to forget about him and all he stood for. Start afresh.

I snorted humourlessly, that had really worked out well hadn't it. Here I was living a life without any modern technology, scraping a living off the land with my cantankerous Uncle, and struggling to keep my family safe from mercenaries and hit men intent on killing us. Yeah, that fresh start was really working out well for me. I pushed my reminiscing to the back of my mind and finished preparing my kill, chopping the deer's head off with a decisive swing of my knife.

…

"I saw it hovering ma. Uncle Rudy said it was a special helicopter for people to see far away. What do you think they were trying to see?" My eyebrows were pulled together in a worried frown as I stared at my dinner. Seren had been wittering on about the drone all evening, and I was struggling to find answers that would placate her curiosity. Uncle Rhydian looked at me sympathetically from the head of the table, as he slowly inserted a forkful of venison taking himself out of the conversation. I shot him a glare as I arranged one of those careful smiles parents wear when they don't want their children to know the truth.

"Maybe they were looking at Uncle Rudy's sheep cariad." It was a weak excuse, even by my standards. Seren frowned at me, her eyes distrustful. She was far too smart for her own good this one, she reminded me of myself when I was her age.

"Why would they use a special helicopter to look at sheep? There are tons of sheep here." I pinched the bridge of my nose, taking in a calming breath. It wasn't her fault, she was curious as a child should be and I couldn't just say why she shouldn't go into the forest or what the drone was really looking for. That wasn't a truth a child of her age needed to hear. She persisted though, her dinner forgotten. "I saw the forest as well ma. It is big like you said." Slowly I placed my cutlery down, this was definitely not a topic I wanted to go onto.

"Yes Seren, big and dark and dangerous. That's why I say you can't go in there." My tone held a warning note to it, but the wilful girl took no notice ploughing on in her quest for answers.

"I'm sure I wouldn't get lost. I never get lost in the woods by the stream; it's just a little bigger. Couldn't I go in there ma, I promise I'll be careful." I placed my hands on the table, a headache starting to build behind my eyes.

"No Seren. You know the rules." My voice was hard, holding no argument. But Seren was nothing if not a perfect copy of her male counterpart and she loved to rebel.

"But ma I'm strong, I-"

"Seren, I said no!" The cutlery and dinner plate jumped as I slammed my fist down on the table. It made a clanking sound, Gelert let out a startled bark by the wood-burning stove and Uncle Rhydian paused, fork frozen in front of his mouth, his eyes locked onto me. Seren stared at me stunned, her bottom lip quivering slightly, her blue eyes starting to glisten with frightened tears. My headache throbbed uncomfortably and I averted my gaze from her as I muttered in a low voice. "Go to bed."

I had lost my temper, but only to keep her safe. She didn't listen, she never did, but I needed her to. Still, I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of guilt as the small girl slid slowly off the dining room chair and started tiptoeing silently to her room. Just as she reached the door Uncle Rhydian unfroze and stood up, placing his fork next to his unfinished dinner.

"Come on blodwyn, I'll read to you." The grateful look Seren flashed him didn't do anything to improve my guilt, but I let the old man take her tiny hand in his and lead her to her bedroom. Once I heard their footsteps disappearing upstairs I lowered my head into my hands, rubbing my sore temples. I would make it up to her, I resolved, but how I had absolutely no idea. I knew I had effectively trapped her here, but I was trapped too. The farm was large, two thousand acres of fields and woodlands surrounded by a ring of mountains and a large forest. The latter was the only thing she couldn't enter, she had free rein of the rest, a child's dream. However, little Seren had always wanted more, and that was something I couldn't afford to give her.

I heard the low rumbling of Uncle Rhydian's voice as he started to read, I strained my hearing to find out what tonight's choice was.

"To begin at the beginning. It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeback, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea." I smiled a small smile, Under Milk Wood, a firm favourite of hers. She brought out the best in Uncle Rhydian, he had been lonely before we had come to live with him. He would never admit it of course but he thought of Seren as the granddaughter he never had, his wife, my Aunt, had died young before I was born. They had never had children and he had never re-married, his farm had become his life and now I was wrecking all that. The guilt returned afresh, sometimes I thought they would all be better off without me.

I listened to my Uncle read Dylan Thomas to Seren, his rhythmic voice lulling me to sleep as much as her. A calmness seeped through me and I laid my head onto my folded arms. My eyelids were just beginning to droop as a loud ringing bell cut through the quiet of the farmhouse. I immediately sat bolt upright, adrenaline pumping through me. Uncle Rhydian had paused in his reading as well, listening for the dreaded second ring. The suspense became unbearable as the silence dragged on, then it came, an abrasive, gut wrenching sound. Signalling an intruder in the forest, coming to find our home.