This prologue is to help me gain a perspective on where I want to go with my story.
Please read and review, I'd be ever so grateful for your feedback.

Kim

Prologue

The final memory of my mother is of the day she died.

You see, when I was but a child, my mother begged for my life; she begged that I be saved and taken to a place where I would be safe and protected. That I could live a happy and normal life.

It's a complicated story and I wish to tell you all about it before my fate is determined for me, before I am snuffed out of existence by the very force which vowed to help me. Please listen carefully, there is a lot you should know about the being I am.

The world I lived in was a dark place, the Barrens; icy mountains towering the land beyond the eye, a sterile land with little hope of life. The land is stricken often by blizzards, wiping any life from the ground, vegetation does not grow here. Any life that lived here migrated beneath the surface long ago. Food was non-existent in the Barrens, and my mother gone, it was a harsh existence. Thankfully for me, I was not meant for this world any longer; those last months were the last I would see of the world I hardly called home. My mother passed the bitter trials of the land to seek out the human. I have not a name for this human, nor have I seen his form, but his voice was so deep and powerful, it moved my very bones. My mother had nothing to offer, but her own body; a self-sacrifice to save her only living son. It was not enough, the human wanted more. In return for his aid, he wanted my own soul. My mother, so desperate in her grief, accepted this deal in return for a long prosperous life that I was to live in peace until the day of my collection. And so, the human took my mother. He instructed me onwards, into a future I had not anticipated.

The journey was a treacherous one, the wind bit sharply at my body; I was a small creature, 16 earth years, about a foot in height, my body was layered with feathers as white as the snow, but hardly defended me from the bitter cold, stick-like legs with little strength, which only served to make my journey much more laborious, and wings that spanned no larger than the width of my own body - I have changed however, I am now much larger ... Very much larger. I stand now seven foot in height; changed by my journey. I have taken on a human form; I have limbs - a body. I am a muscular creature, with bare skin, but I retain the feathers on my now powerful legs. At first this form was sickening, they changed me, my journey changed me; but I see now, this body has given me new purpose. The walk was made most difficult by the guide - my guide. He was assigned to me by the human. My then small frame was towered by this unfamiliar creature from a distant land, he was very similar to my current form, but his lower body was covered by scales, thick green and blue scales. I had never seen such a form, a magnificent beast. He pushed me harder than I have ever been pushed. I seemed like a number to him - he had no regard for my life and grew weary of my frail form. He never spoke, but I could see how weathered he had become, he looked like a young man, around 25 earth years, but his presence, his aura, both told a different story. I understand now why he seemed that way; I also understand his frustration at the young, tiny, and insignificant form before him. I am now 263 earth years, and I have seen more than any human will ever seek to imagine. I have made this journey three hundred and seventy six times, not counting the times they have given up - the Yung'uns. These are the children who are given the chance to ascend, but fall at the last pass; they have no desire to go farther. We do not mourn those who do not fight.

As I struggled over the ice, and through the blizzards, the guide shielded me and pushed me further; his mission was simple - get me to the veil, from there I would make my own way to my designated world. I did not know where I was to end up, but the human promised that I would be delivered as safely as my guide would allow.

Once I had passed the trial of the land, it was my turn to push through the veil into my new dwelling. I had no idea where I would land, but my mother had hoped that wherever I would settle, it would bring me happiness.

And for a time, it did.