He was of average height, but his chest was as wide as a blacksmith's, and his torso tapered sharply down to a quite narrow waist, atop spindly legs that looked too thin for the weight they supported. His hair was wild and unkempt, with a long bone stuck through it. But the most startling thing about the stranger were his eyes. Covering where the eyes of a normal person would have been, were two dull, black shells. No one could see if normal eyes lay behind them, as they were totally opaque, yet he did not appear blind. Some way off from the stranger, a group of men stood in furtive conference. Apparently reaching some decision, they approached him as a group. An old man with white hair, the village elder, addressed him.
"Who are you, stranger, and what is your business here?" he demanded sternly.
After a moment of silence, he replied:
"I seek lodging for the night." He smiled, revealing teeth that were sharply pointed, like those of a carnivorous animal. "I will not disturb you. I simply ask for a bed for the night, and food. I am quite willing to pay, and will be on my way in the morning."
The gathered men appeared dissatisfied, and the old man frowned deeply. He spoke again, sharply, white bushy eyebrows drawing together and forehead wrinkling. "But I ask you, stranger, who are you, and what is your business?"
The stranger smiled, again showing those animal teeth. "I am a traveller. I seek the city of Hulien. I tell you again, I will not trouble you, if you do not trouble me." The men jerked visibly, and the villagers began muttering uneasily.
"Silence!" commanded the man. He stared defiantly at the stranger. "First you evade our questions, and then you threaten us? We do not take kindly to threats from strangers, traveller," said the elder scornfully. "Have you not noticed? There are many of us, and you are alone. You have given an answer - of a sort - as to why you are here, but you will not tell us who you are. What do those masks over your eyes hide, stranger? Some mark, which may identify you? Perhaps you are a criminal, fleeing from justice. Why do you wish to conceal your identity? Answer these questions, and we will not run you off like a mangy dog, which your tail between your legs." The assembled group laughed, but the laughter died away quickly when the traveller smiled, again revealing those unnatural teeth.
"Do you think I am threatening you?" The stranger chuckled wryly. "You accuse me of making threats, but you respond with one of your own, however veiled. No matter - I see your minds are set." The stranger paused, considering. "Have you heard of the fate which befell a nearby village not two days ago?"
He waited for an answer, but received none. "I thought not. You might have been a little more respectful, if you had. It does not matter, now." He snorted derisively. "You humans. Always so fearful and suspicious. I did not threaten you, but you threatened me. I simply asked to stay, volunteering to pay for your trouble, yet you rejected me, for no reason other than my eyes. But as you will see, I am not as powerless as you think." A look of reasonless terror crossed the faces of the elders at these words, and a red glow, like that of hot metal, shone from the eyes of the stranger. A few of the quicker villagers lifted a foot to run as a nimbus of flame surrounded the figure, but a heartbeat later a wall of flame exploded outward. The blast of flame moved faster than thought, and with the power of an avalanche.
A second later, silence hung over the village. Smoke rose in many places, and black ash lay thick for a mile around, save for an area a pace wide around the stranger. He stood for a moment, considering, then shrugged his shoulders and went his way, his feet making stark tracks in the black ash.
