With nowhere to hide and nothing to aid me, I ran between the barren, dark hills. However, the semi-darkness hid one small rock that tripped me up. Falling to my knees, I desperately tried to regain my footing. With a chuckle that only renewed my fears, Nightmare grabbed my arms.

"Why struggle so much, Kizzy?" His voice echoed off the hills. "You should be happy that we are together again after so long a parting."

"Let go of me! I do not want you touching me. Let go!" I barely recognized the harsh scream as my own. Fear had crept into every part of me, causing my voice to rise higher than normal.

"Come on Kizzy, do I detect terror in your voice? Don't scream; after all, we're the best of friends . . ."

"I am not your friend, and I never will be. I am now his child and I never will fall prey to you again. You hear me? Never!" I broke free of his grasp with that exclamation.

Nightmare stood there for a second and then sneered. "What do you mean you're his child? That's impossible, no one who falls to me can ever turn to him, and I will not let you break that chain!" He angrily thrust out his hand to catch hold of my shirt.

Suddenly, a host of shining winged warriors dressed all in white appeared, glaring at him with swords drawn ready to kill.

"What is this?" Nightmare stood with mouth gaping. "How. . . How is this possible? He should be repelled by you not protecting you!"

Realizing what Nightmare said, I turned my head to look up at the warriors that surrounded me. "Is it true? Did he send you to protect me?"

One of the warriors put away his sword and helped me to stand. The warrior nodded in affirmation.

To my surprise, the ground gave a little as I stood. New grass rapidly covered the ground like a wave of green, and trees sprang up, dwarfing the myriad flowers that grew at their roots. Yet all of these things paled in comparison to the Savior who now stood between Nightmare and me. With a cry, I jumped into Savior's waiting arms.

Laughing, he smoothed back my disheveled hair. "For someone that doubted my existence, you sure don't act like it."

"How can I possibly doubt you are real?" Smiling, I gazed into his face until I noticed a smudge of dirt just under his chin. I knew that dirt came from me, a filthy creature that cowered whenever Nightmare showed up. How could Savior even look at me?

Seeing my shame, Nightmare started to jeer. "Heh, what's the matter little one? Did you only just realize how repulsive you are. . . "

"SILENCE!"

Savior lifted up my downcast head. "Don't listen to Nightmare, Kizzy. He's only jealous that you are now my child." He cocked his head and smiled. "Besides, I think you are quite beautiful."

I glared at him, thinking he only said that to make me feel better. However, what I saw reflected in his eyes puzzled me.

Looking back with green eyes opened wide in surprise, I looked like a bewildered princess. With green silk as the trim, a cream dress modestly covered my body. On top of my brunette hair rested a simple circlet of silver with seven dainty emeralds embedded evenly around it.

Savior laughed. "You just now saw yourself in my eyes, didn't you?"

"Ahh, what?"

"You saw a girl that looks like a princess. . . Right?"

Everyone else had disappeared, so I stood up by myself and absent-mindedly brushed off stray pieces of grass. "Right, but you said I saw myself, and that wasn't me I saw."

Savior started to chuckle but then stopped. "Come. Come follow me."

Morning sunlight created a rosy glow in the forest as I followed Savior, and shafts of sunlight shone down between the trees by the time he announced that we had reached our destination, an enormous tree with French doors set into its base.

Walking through the doors, I could not help but look up as my gaze followed the staircase that wound up the inside of the tree.

Savior motioned to a picture of a young mother sleeping on a hospital bed with her newborn baby painted in an alcove at the bottom of the stairs. "This is you when we first met." He pointed up the stairs towards the next alcove. "And that one is when you said your first prayer." Leading me up the stairs, he stopped at random pictures along the way to reminisce. About halfway up, he let me pass him.

Peeking into the next alcove, I sighed with disappointment. I had enjoyed hearing Savior remember all the little, funny details of my life as we walked up the stairs, but this alcove only had a mirror in it. "Does this alcove not have a picture in it because I have not reached this stage in life?"

"To the contrary. This alcove has a mirror in it because of this stage in your life."

"I don't understand."

Savior nudged me in front of the mirror. "Remember why I brought you here."

"Because I did not believe… oh." I laughed as the meaning of the mirror sunk in. Savior knew I would not believe that I had turned into a beautiful maiden. He had to bring me to a mirror so I realized I had really transformed into that girl. Even though Savior had not finished Nightmare while we stood in the barren hills, I knew Savior would vanquish him when the time came. In the meantime, I could trust him to save me from anything, even my own disbelief.