Author Intro: Had to up the rating to R because of the blatant scene fo slaughtering that takes place. I will probably get flamed for how I let certain kinds of people die but I’m ok with that. Enjoy the story. (I hope...)

Awaking from our nap we can see that night has now fallen over the peaceful village. Sleep they say is good for the body and soul and at the moment we are inclined to agree. The slight breeze in the air is cooling and with well-rested minds we are ready to attend the meeting about to take place. Below us we can still see the village Elder’s hut where the village’s only light this evening shines. A silhouette is in the window; undoubtedly we can guess the Elder is awaiting the arrival of Rosa’s mother eagerly as are we. We have dire interest in this woman as well as her daughter. From the distant side of the village we see a door open and close silently as a female figure steps out doing her best not to disturb the little girl asleep inside.

Gliding down once more we enter the hut via the glassless window and await her arrival near the Elder whose piercing daze has already spotted the woman despite her distance. As we wait we can see a small smile play across his lips.

* * *

Analisa walks with quiet footstep across the dirt path through the center of the village. Her Light brown hair flowing gently around her beautiful in the slight breeze forming a makeshift picture frame of her features. For her meeting with the Elder Analisa put on a traditional dress garb of the village. The dress is simple in its basic design. The light brown sleeveless dress flows down her body hugging slightly at the hips where it contours to her legs and nearly brushes the ground at the frayed edges. The colorful pattern around the hem and neck is an alternating Hunter green and darkened red. The chest area is decorated with her Guide Creature, the Great Macaw.

Analisa knows this cannot be about the incident with Rosa earlier in the afternoon. She knows the Elder far too well to fall for that though the little girl may have.

“No, this is more than that. I’m sure of it.” Unaware that she has spoken aloud to herself Analisa continues on until she reaches the Elder’s hut, her sandaled feet making slight scratching sounds in the dust. She stands before the door undecidedly before she finally knocks lightly twice. Almost immediately the door swings slowly and silently open where the Elder’s kind face greets her. Analisa greets him in the traditional act of placing the fore and middle finger of her right hand up out in front of her face then nods lightly. The Elder returns the gesture and beckons her inside. The door closes silently behind her.

The two sit in the bamboo chairs that have been placed opposite of each other in the center of the hut. Next to them is a small table whose only occupant is a lamp that provides the only light for the hut. Analisa looks down at her hands, which she is currently twisting nervously in her lap as if there is a wrestling match between the two and she ahs, a keen interest in its result. Analisa has always been nervous around the elder as are most of the village’s inhabitants, but she knows it is a bit more than being nervous of the Elder’s authority whether she wants to admit it or not. After several minutes of silence with the Elder staring at her calmly and the Wrestling match still continuing in her lap she sees a gnarled hand lightly placed upon her own finally bringing an end to the war between the hands.

“Welcome, Macaia. It has been a long while since the two of us met like this has it not?” Analisa gasps at the use of her secret name and slowly raises her head to look into the gentle eyes of the Elder. Thinking to herself she believes she sees something in those eyes. Something that ignites an old feeling deep within her heart. *No...I...I can’t still be...*

“In love with me?” The Elder finishes the thought for her and her eyes widen slightly at his words. “Yes Macaia, I still share that bond with you from oh so long ago...” The Elder rises slowly from his seat and returns to the window, his gaze focusing on nothing in particular, just chasing shadows one might say. AS he stares off into the abyss of night the man she once knew in more ways than one could count begins to recall a tale they both know so well...

* * *

Horando Montuve Morenden is walking down a dusty path in a village he does not realize will one day look upon him as their guiding light in times of trouble and despair. However, thoughts of trouble, despair, and the future are far from his mind; he is going to see the love of his life, a young girl named Analisa. Both are nineteen and Horando has decided to make this the day. The day he will finally ask of his love to join with him in a Great Bonding. The Great Bonding is more than a wedding ceremony it joins to beings’ souls together as one. They share their lives, their hearts, and minds with each other equally for the rest of their time on this terrestrial plane.

A few hours later Horando is sitting next to his young love. Her hair flows around her face much the same way it will when they meet secretly like this again in the far future. The pair is seated upon the bank of the river tributary just outside of the village kicking their feet in the slow-moving water and laughing as they discuss the subjects all kids of their age discuss when alone. After the laughter the mood quiets down slightly as Horando finally brings up the courage to ask for Analisa’s hand in Bonding. The shocked girl stares back into his nervous face. Her frown soon turns into a beaming smile as she hugs him tightly and agrees. The hug soon becomes a kiss.... and the kiss...an undying love that seals their lives to each other in a way that the Great Bonding never could.

* * *

The Elder wipes a stray tear from his eye continuing to stare out into the night’s darkness. The tears are simply allowed to flow down Analisa’s face. Now she remembers why she loved him so much. Loved him enough to put her life on the line more than once. The Elder takes a deep breath and sighs.

“Never thought the past could hurt so much,” he muses, and with another sigh continues the tale.

* * *

For two years the couple had lived together in a little hut on the edge of the village. The same hut in fact that Analisa and Rosa would one day share. A part of the Great Bonding ceremony between to individuals was to share their secret names given to them when a child comes of age and goes on their enlightenment quest. From then on forth the pair were to refer to each other by those names when not in the company of others as a sign of their trust for one another. Analisa was Macaia, a special word referring to the Great Macaw of the rainforest and a symbol of her virtues being as diverse as the colors of the Great Macaw’s feathers. Horando was Halcón, the Spanish word for falcon. A symbol of his high spirit and cunning skill.

Analisa was a wild spirited youth and actively opposed the burning of the rainforest, the home of her Guardian Creature. In an expedition in the deep forests in the Amazon region where Analisa had heard of illegal cutting, she found an old Amerindian fortress that housed a temple. It was this place that would change her and Horando’s lives forever. Within the crumbling temple she discovered a room that despite the condition of the surrounding complex seemed in near perfect condition and untouched from the outside world. Inside there rested a single object on a platform. An orb that glowed with a white light. This was the resting-place of the power that once belonged to the ancient Inca goddesses. She had always believed it to be just a story but here it was and before her was the legendary orb. Reaching forward in reverence Analisa touched its glowing surface. The orb instantly exploded.

The shower of light spread out through the room making it glow with the resonance of a thousand suns. The light began to be absorbed into Analisa filling her with power. She could feel the energy flowing through her, and when all was said and one she look up to see the faces of the Inca Goddesses looking down upon her. It was they that bestowed the name of Kini-Ahai upon her as the guardian of the rainforest and all its inhabitants.

It was this power that brought her and Horando to the attention of the Realm Secrets organization. Tryangle was the member sent to ask them of their help in aiding the secret organization, a young man who soon became good friends with the pair. It was this friendship that coaxed them into joining with Tryangle in helping control the evil that runs rampant through the Realms. It was in those realms that fate finally dealt a cruel hand to the happy couple.

In a confrontation with a witch by the name of Malvagita Analisa was caught by the last spell the great witch had energy left to cast before she slinked through to another dimension never to be heard form again after her defeat. Analisa soon fell deathly ill and was rushed back to the Earth Realm. The witches spell had condemned Analisa to never be able to enter the portal through realms again, if so she would fall ill once more and die gasping for breath that would never come.

In what was the hardest decision of his life Horando left Analisa in the safety of the village to continue his journeys with Tryangle. After six years together, four of which they had spent fighting along side one another, Analisa and Horando were separated from one another. However, Horando left one small gift behind. He left their daughter. The greatest gift he could possibly leave the woman he loved.

It was nearly a year before Analisa and Horando met again. Rosa was only several days old when the village was viciously attacked by creatures form the depths of the forest. Analisa was still too weakened by her pregnancy to fight against the onslaught. The village Elder and several of the village’s strongest men took up their arms to fight. The Elder fought valiantly wielding his staff that was engrafted with ancient runes of magic to combat the monsters. The Elder was struck down when a black of fire shot forth from the mouth of one of the creatures. There was nothing left but dust of once was once the proud leader of the village.

Without the Elder’s guidance the other fighter were soon torn limb from limb by the monsters that would then eat of the flesh of their defeated enemies. The creatures, that the apparent leader eventually identified their identities as a race of creatures called Wargs, Then turned their vicious gaze to the helpless. Soon the elderly were bludgeoned by the Wargs’ thick clubs that they swung with deadly accuracy. The most horrifying sight was the killing of the children. Babies were actually eaten whole after they were torn from their mother’s arms. Countless other children were simply crushed to death by the Wargs’ clawed feet. It was then when a final hope arrived.

A glowing blur resembling the shape of a falcon crashed into the supposed leader of the Wargs. Their almighty leader was disintegrated where he stood leaving a pair of gnarled legs behind. The remaining beasts turned toward their attackers where they found an elderly man with one outstretched, smoking palm standing next to a young black man with three daggers. Tryangle and Horando. The pair made quick work of their opponents leaving none untouched. In the aftermath over a hundred Warg carcasses would be hauled form the village.

Horando sought out Analisa immediately after. He found her in their old home where she had been nursing their daughter for the past two days. To say that she was happy to see him once more would be an understatement, as the happiness more or less exploded from her at the mere sight of him. However, her face faltered as she realized the horrible truth. Horando had aged over forty years since she had seen him when he left.

“How...?” Horando smiled gently in what would become his trademark expression to the villagers.

“Time passes differently in other realms, Macaia.” And that was all he would say of the subject for the time. Now he turned his attention to their daughter. “So, is this my final blessing that I bestowed upon you? She resembles her mother very much. Have you named her?” Analisa shook her head she had not named the child for reason even she couldn’t really understand, but Horando simply nodded and looked at the tiny form in his love’s arms. “Then, little one, I shall bestow upon you one gift as well. The gift of a name. You shall be called Rosa after the blooms of the most beautiful flower, and I promise that when you bloom yourself, you will overshadow all roses.”

The baby Rosa looked into Horando’s eyes and smiled as if in appreciation of the name bestowed to her. And perhaps...just perhaps that really was the reason for her smile.

* * *

The Elder finally turns from the window and looks back into his love’s beautiful face that is now drenched with tears. The rest of the tale needed no telling. Horando had become Elder because the villagers felt he deserved their highest honor for saving them for almost certain destruction. Horando had reluctantly agreed. It had never been told who Horando was, and it was told by Analisa that her Spirit Partner and Rosa’s father had died in battle long ago. The Elder finally decides to speak of what truly weighs on his mind.

“And you know the prediction was true she is a thing of beauty, our daughter. Macaia, I must ask of you a favor. I once bestowed upon you my greatest gift to give, now I ask that you protect that gift from what is about to happen.” Analisa stares confused at her one true love.

“What do you mean, Halcón?” Analisa questioned using the secret name for the first time in years. After all, they had made a vow that when they were not in the presence of others they would always refer to each other as such, and since whenever they met now they were in the presence of others this vow had never been broken.

“A great evil is coming, I can feel it. I would go myself but frankly I’m far too old now.” The Elder smiles a bit as he remembers in this world he should only be thirty-one. “I believe that if Rosa remains here she will not be safe. That is why I want you to do this. I have contacted some old...friends you might say from the RS. The plane is waiting for you. It will take you to meet Tryangle. I trust him to keep you and Rosa both safe and I also know that most all, Rosa trusts him as well. She developed quite a bond with him in his few visits here didn’t she?” Analisa can only nod; this is becoming a bit too overwhelming for her. “I’m sorry Macaia, but I need you to do this. When Tryangle arrives I hope you will tell him everything that I have said. You should also tell him of the troubles the other villages have been having with attacks by monsters coming out of the forests. Please just do me this favor.”

Standing Analisa walks over to the Elder and gazes into his kind eyes. The eyes that first made her fall in love with him. She embraces her love as she did long ago on that day on the bank. And as on that day the embrace becomes a kiss. Breaking the kiss Analisa quietly leaves and the Elder sighs.

“Macaia.... I asked this of you because I know that I will not be here for much longer. I fear this may have been our last meeting.” Touching his lips lightly with one wrinkled hand, Horando looks solemnly out the window at Analisa’s retreating form and adds, “and our last kiss.” With that he snuffs out the fire in the small table lamp and heads to his bed.

* * *

We must wipe our own tears from our eyes. It is time we left this place. As we silently lift up into the night sky we can hear from somewhere in the darkness a female voice whispering.

“I will always love you, Halcón...”

Author’s Note: This chapter had a bit of everything. Violence. Love. And a good little story to boot. This will probably take the cake as the longest of all the chapters and even though I stayed up all night to write it I have to say that it was definitely worth it. This was the last chapter in the Preludes now you can read Keystone itself. Please feel free to read and review, and if you have any requests for stories about characters in Keystone or the preludes please contact me with information on what you want and I’ll see what I can do. Until next time readers, Momentai.