Beginning Anew

Final End

The streets stood dark and empty. Wind rustled through the leaves as everyone on the block lay asleep in their beds, except one man.

He walked slowly down the sidewalk. To anyone watching, he looked quite ordinary with his good quality clothes, even gait, and neatly combed graying hair.

His slow footsteps echoed in the quiet street.

He opened his eyes, and all appearances of normalcy vanished. His yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. "Alberto," he greeted. "When do you intend to stop following me?"

A hiss emanated from the nearby tree-tops. "You've been leading me in this direction, Stricklander," a voice replied, another pair of glowing eyes shining down from above, these amber.

Walter didn't deign to look at Alberto. With a shrug he replied, "And you followed. Alberto Daumier, I accept that you have very good reasons for hating me. Your wish to see me suffer is more than justified. But now, you've threatened my family." He finally looked up, meeting the troll's eyes. "That, I will not forgive."

Alberto hissed again and jumped down, landing right in front of Walter with a loud thump. Alberto rose to his full height, towering over the human. "You intend to fight me?" he asked. "You think the small bit of strength you've regained will be enough?"

"No," Walter admitted. "I am far more human than troll, and as such I would stand no chance against you in a fair flight. However, before I was human, I was a Changeling. And I still am. We do not fight fairly, and neither do you. If you did, you wouldn't have attacked my family."

"Well." Alberto snorted. "I learned from the best," he spat.

Walter smirked, his eyes gleaming in the darkness. He looked calm, a sly smile playing on his lips.

Alberto knew better. Tricks – it was all tricks with Stricklander – a master of deceit. Alberto couldn't figure out exactly what he was up to, but why else would the man be walking down an empty street so casually in the dead of night? Alberto narrowed his eyes and raised his dagger, his gaze flickering around the too-quiet road.

Walter looked from the blade to the troll and said grimly, "This is your last chance to listen."

"Listen? To you?!" Alberto growled through clenched teeth. "I spent hundreds of years listening to you and look what that brought me!" He lunged at Walter, plunging his dagger toward the infuriating man.

The sharp clang of metal on metal ripped through the night as another troll, her body formed of pink stone, darted out from behind a car and blocked Alberto's blade with her own.

Walter hadn't moved an inch. His stern eyes still glowed intense gold as they locked on to Alberto.

Alberto's anger rose as he looked up to see a pair of green eyes. "You," he hissed. "So, you're alive too."

Nomura nodded, pushing Alberto back before retreating a few steps. "Stop this madness, Daumier. The war is over. Gunmar lost... and so did we."

"So, you're hiding behind a goon, Stricklander?!" Alberto scoffed. "Afraid to face me by yourself?"

"I'm just being sensible," Walter countered, pulling out a knife and giving the weapon a casual once-over. "If I were to face you alone, the odds of my survival would be slim." He traced a finger down the blade. "Death isn't something I can afford at the moment. I have a wife and child to consider."

Alberto uttered an annoyed growl. "And why would you defend him?!" he asked Nomura. "They're all dead! Because of him!" He pointed at Walter. "For all these hundreds of years, he talked about the glorious future of the Changelings, but then, he turned his back on it – on us. Now he's even turned himself into a human. He's a disgrace," Alberto spat.