Chapter 1: My Cover Is Blown.

Fallujah Iraq

There are three key rules that as an immortal must be followed in order to survive on Misgard.

Rule # 1: Never get too attached to an identity, it's okay to be John Howland but you really need to change it after a certain amount of time or it will leave a trail.

Rule #2: Stay On the move, never stay in one place more than a couple of years; Misguardians tend to get suspicious if you don't age like them.

Rule #3: Avoid using Magic in front of Misguardians; personally learned that the hard way In Salem. Pull a few harmless pranks then suddenly you are being accused of being a WITCH and they try to hang you. Stupid humans.

Rule # 3 is the hardest for me there are days my magic seems to have a mind of its own; which is never a good thing in a war zone. Usually it's pretty minor stuff that can be overlooked, the enemies bullets that should have hit and killed me instantly, mysteriously miss, my patients heal a lot faster than normal that sort of thing. Most of the guys brush it off, calling it luck and coincidence. They also believe I'm just a gifted field medic, and if I had it my way that is how it was going to stay.

Fate on the other hand seemed to have a totally different idea. It was our last mission before we deployed back home. The Mission itself was fairly routine; check this area , check that area, talk to the residents, make sure everything was running smooth, then we would go back to base pack up our stuff and grab the last flight out. Simple right but then again sometimes the simplest task have unexpected mishaps…

We walked right into the ambush; the news about heading back to the states and talking about things we would do once we got home made us less cautious and unobservant than normal.

David Smith, one of my closet friends in this cycle, was ecstatic he was going to see his little girl come into this world, and on top of that he and his wife were going to visit family in Massachusetts; He took a bullet to stomach before any of us knew what the Hell was happening. After that It was a haze of gunfire, we managed to get David and take cover behind an abandoned house. I remember how fast he was bleeding out and despite my magic the bleeding wasn't stopping as fast as it should have. That's when I heard it; a pop and a shrill whistling sound; Mortars and they were going to hit us dead on. Without consciously thinking I threw up a shield so strong it bounced the bullets and mortars back at the enemy killing most, then in a fit of anger I shot lightning at the few who survived killing them instantly.

Then there was the worst silence I have experienced on Misgard for many many many years. The squad was staring at me in shock, fear, backing away from me and David who lay staring at me through hazy eyes. The first to speak was Sean Jones; he was always the boldest even when frightened "W-W-What in the Hell Are You?!" He demanded gripping his gun tighter. Sighing I finished the task of healing David, "Look there's no time to explain, lets finish this mission and go." I said to them; feeling absolutely drained. I helped David to his feet; glad when he didn't flinch away from me and started to walk him leaning heavily on me. The rest followed a short ways behind us. They did not press me again surprisingly but I could feel their eyes burning into my back.