Prologue

Ten Years Ago

When the child washed up at the docks of the Navy outpost on Saboady, it was assumed that she was the survivor of some shipwreck. Perhaps she had been traveling with her parents and their vessel came under attack by a Sea King; perhaps it had been set upon by pirates. Whatever the case, the marines who found the small body determined she wasseverely malnourished; certainly not a threat. Two marines dove into the water to extract her, and she was carefully laid out on the dock as another marine was sent running for a medic.

One of the rescuers who had hauled the child from the water quietly approached his commander, who stood back from the crowd of curious soldiers observing the scene with hard eyes. He spoke softly to his superior, showing the older man his hands. The officer nodded once before barking orders at the ogling men clustered around the unconscious child. In response the girl was carefully turned upon her side so that her back was made visible.

Instantly the air was filled with cries of outrage and shock. The back of the tunic which the child wore was nearly shredded, as was the flesh underneath. Thick bloody welts took the place of skin; so deep were the marks that some continued to bleed sluggishly, though it was clear that the wounds were several days old.

A medic appeared, pushing his way through the growing crowd of men until he stood beside the bloodied victim. One look at her and he was moving towards the commander, shouting to be heard over all the voices.

"Sir, we need to get her to the Navy hospital!She requires treatment immediately!" Just after he had finished speaking, he turned around; presumably to rush back and pick up the child so that he could take her to the aforementioned hospital.

His mission was waylaid, however, by the splatter of blood that immediately soaked his front from head to toe as the circle of men surrounding the child exploded in a shower of guts and limbs.

Scarlet rain poured down upon the docks, splattering the stunned survivors as the child woozily rose to a sitting position. Those closest shrank back in fear as they registered: her eyes were glowing black.

Monster! She's a monster! The thought flashed through the medic's head over and over, even as his eyes took in the carnage around him and the commander yanked him to safety. The order was given to stay at a distance. No one was to approach the girl until they could determine what this meant. Meanwhile, the child - the monster - was sitting where she had been laid, hugging her knees to her chest and trembling violently. Her eyes had changed from the blackest pitch to a blue-green that reminded the commander of the sea upon which he made his livelihood. There was fear in her eyes as she looked around herself, followed quickly by tears when she registered the gruesome mess. She raised her little head slightly, and by chance happened to lock gazes with the commander.

"Did...did I do this? Did I make it rain blood again?"

Shocked by the brutal deaths of so many of his men, even more so that their murderer - a tiny little girl-child - seemed unaware of her actions mere moments after performing them, the commander found himself nodding in the affirmative without conscious thought.

The girl burst into tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, I promise! I didn't mean to do it again! Please, I'll fix it, I'm sorry! Please don't tell the shaman, please, I'll fix it! Don't let him hurt me! Look, watch, Mister, I'll fix it I promise - "

The girl proceeded to wave her arms frantically through the air, sobbing for all she was worth with her little face screwed up in concentration. Without warning, the area within one hundred yards of the Navy docks was engulfed in blinding white light. Those inside the perimeter were briefly blinded. When later interrogated about this event, the afflicted marines would swear to a man that they had felt warm, safe, and protected from the moment the light had struck them until the moment it vanished.

After the commander on the dock regained his eyesight after the disappearance of the light, it was to see every single man he had just witnessed explode standing healthy and whole in front of him once again, clustered in a circle around the sobbing little girl who had apparently just brought them all back to life.

The astounded medic promptly fainted on the spot.

A/N: This story will be beta'd by Tomas the Betrayer.