Armored Drifter
(C) 2003 Gren Remoz (gren_remoz@yahoo.com)
http://www.outfoxed.net/~gren/

	John brandished the great sword, swinging it towards the large creature
that stood between him and the mounds of treasure that was no doubt behind the
huge gates he saw.  It once more connected, ringing off the creature's armor.
He had to find a weak point and soon or he would die of exhaustion.  The
creature seemed most unconcerned and had made few attacks itself, those spread
apart as though the creature was avoiding becoming tired.  There seemed to be
no way to strike through the armor, it was as though it were a shell of pure
force.
	Yet again he looked up at the creature's helmet, that monstrosity of metal
that served to hide its face.  Earlier he had hit it several times, being
rewarded only with a rich tone.  The noise had seemed to daze the creature,
but it was tiring swinging the sword so high, and he had little strength left
for such.  Still, that seemed to be the only way; nothing else had had even
that much of an effect.
	He braced himself and swung that final blow.  If it didn't work, he was
too exhausted to continue.  More than once he thought that he should have left
his own heavy armor back home; the creature had yet to lay a single blow on
him, happy to simply push John back.
	When the creature, not even noticing John's latest strike, turned,
presenting its heavily armored back, and its wings.  There was a brief surge
of regret, then realization; particularly the realization that there was no
armor on the wings!  Not only that, but they were now in the direct path of
his sword.  He wouldn't need to do anything; it would have been impossible to
avoid hitting it.
	John's sword cut into the flesh of the wing, striking the bone and
shattering it.  The creature screamed, the sound echoing around the cavern.
It twisted, trying to grab the spot John had struck.  All it succeeded in
doing was hitting the sword, causing it to bit even deeper before falling to
the floor.  This made it collapse whimpering to the ground.
	Once he had caught his breath, John took up the sword once more, dragging
it to where the creature was now kneeling.  Once there he reached out to
remove the helmet, but the creature's head jerked, nearly skewering him on the
spike on its top.  Dodging this, he grabbed the helmet and tore it off the
creature's head.  It was stuck more solidly than he expected, and soon the
cause was revealed; the helmet had been held on by leather straps under the
creature's snout.  Straps now broken.  Tossing the helmet aside, John readied
himself to deliver the final blow.
	Straining to lift the sword, John held it above the creature's head then
let it drop downwards, cutting into the creature's skull.  The creature's body
spasmed, than lay still.  Turning towards the great gate against the far wall,
he started towards them.  He stopped as the gates began to swing open of their
own accord.
	A human man stepped out of them, shaking his head as he walked.  His long
robe dragged along the floor behind him.  He carried a wooden staff with metal
caps that rang against the floor with every step.
	"I should, but have known that no creature could be free of such
weakness," the man said.  "Tell me, young knight, how is it you defeated my
guardian after so fierce a battle?"
	"I am not yet a knight," John said.
	"With that armor you appear as the knight, in the guise of those who rule
yet to the south."
	"I am but an apprentice of the blacksmith for a town only a few miles from
here.  My family and I have kept such as this as we could so that I might go
forth and do some great dead to prove my worth to the knights who rule yet to
the south."
	The man shook his head.  "Such foolishness this is; what could you expect
to gain by slaying my guardian?"
	"I knew not of your guardian, but of hoards of gold hidden within these
caverns, such that I had sought to claim as my own."
	"There is no gold here," the man said taking a few steps towards John.
"So you have slain my guardian for that which is not.  This I cannot condone,
nor the attempt to steal the gold which, had it existed, would have been mine,
and so for this I shall make you think before you act forevermore.  You shall
be as you have slain, and my guardian will have your likeness.  You will be
allowed to leave with only that you see upon my poor guardian; nothing more.
Never will you be able to speak again of who you are; to the world you will be
but a monster; a freak of nature."
	"You're going to magic me into a monster?" John asked, backing away.  He
stopped after a couple steps; seeing his sword in the creature's skull, he
knew he couldn't leave it; his family would disown him.  He started towards it
slowly, trying not to let the man see what he intended.  Perhaps if he could
move fast enough he could kill the man before anything happened.
	"No, no, no," the man said, causing John to freeze.  "You already did
that; I will just make it more apparent.  Perhaps from this will you learn
what a monster is."
	John knew he wasn't a monster; he was human.  From a poor family, he was
no different then anyone else in his hometown.  "I'm not a monster!"
	"Then what are you?  Hardly a shining example of humanity; stealing from
an old wizard as you were.  None too bright either or we wouldn't be having
this talk would we?"
	John wasn't sure what he resented most, but he knew he didn't like this
wizard.  As he replied incoherently, the wizard removed his sword from the
creature's skull and dropped it on the floor nearby.  Then chanting a few
words, he waved his hands over the creature's skull.  The deep gash slowly
knit itself together as the creature's body seemed to flow like water until it
was a duplicate of John, wearing armor three sizes too large.
	"Now, for you." The wizard looked into John's eyes, "as I have spoken, so
it shall be.  Now."
	The world vanished, the cavern was gone, silence reigned.  John couldn't
even feel his skin.  It was like he had become a disembodied spirit in the
reaches of space.  He seemed to hang there for eternity before the world
returned.
	The cavern seemed brighter than before, although that could have been
caused by the absolute darkness he'd been in.  The colors of the cavern were
less vibrant, less visible.
	Finding himself laying on the ground, he pushed himself up until he was
kneeling.  His body was sore everywhere.  It was this soreness that told him
that the transformation was complete; the wizard had made him into a monster.
	The duplicate of his body looked as washed-out as everything else, even
the bright-red ribbon his mother had tied to the spike on the top of his
helmet.  It was unnerving to see just how foolish he'd looked in the
mismatched armor that now adorned his duplicate.
	"Leave us," the wizard said to John's duplicate.
	The wizard turned to John, tapping his staff on the ground, creating a
loud noise that seemed to echo in John's head more than the room around him.
	"You shall have a couple of hours to prepare yourself, then you are to
begone.  One of the lesser servants will bring you food.  If you are still
here at the end of your time, I'll have you dropped in the volcano."
	The wizard turned and left the cavern, the huge gates slamming behind him.
Only moments later, a human, presumably a servant, brought out a cart with
food on it then left once more leaving John alone.  Although it didn't smell
appetizing it filled his stomach well, and not long after he finished eating
he fell asleep.

<hr>

	When John awoke he was initially in a state of panic.  He had no idea how
long he'd been asleep and so no idea when the wizard would return to kill him.
The cart was gone; there was no sign it had even been there.  Although John
was having no trouble making out these details and others, there was no
apparent light.
	Panicked though he was, John felt considerably better for the sleep.  The
soreness was gone and he felt considerably more clearheaded then he had
before; even more than before he'd entered the cavern.  It was as though
someone had lifted a fog from his mind.
	That wasn't to say he could remember everything clearly.  Although he
remembered his life well enough, it seemed more distant, as though it had
happened to another, or like a dream that was insistent about sticking around.
	When he stood he immediately realized that he was still wearing armor;
although it seemed built for this new body rather than his old.  He was still
examining it when he heard a voice approaching the cavern.  It wasn't one he
recognized, but he wasn't sure that he would recognize any.
	"Stand forth and do battle foul wizard!  You hast committed atrocities
beyond number on my people and I shall stand no more for this!  I warn you
fell wizard, your days of evil are ended!  This armor I wear, forged in
distant forges, can within stand all magics that you may possess and this
sword shall slay all I apply it to!"  The voice was deep, stern and sounded
like it meant what it said.
	Desperate to avoid the inevitable confrontation, John looked around for
someplace to hide.  There was little enough shelter and he decided that one of
the thick stalagmites provided the best protection and ducked behind it.  Just
as he did so he heard armored boots enter the room.
	"Stand forth vile wizard ere I force my entry!"
	A moment later John heard the gate open.  There was more metal boots on
the floor.
	"I stand the wizard's guardian; all who seek his presence must pass me,"
said a familiar voice.  It took John a moment to realize it was his own; or at
least it had been until a short time ago.
	"Stand side least I be forced to smite you!"
	"I will not."
	There was the sound of metal on metal.  Again.  Then a scream and a moment
of silence.
	"I shall slay all who bar my path, yet still I shall pray for their
souls."
	The gate opened.
	"What do you want?  You realize this is the second time someone has slain
my guardian today?"
	"I have come to pay retribution for centuries of abuses of my people, foul
wizard!"
	"You know what I did to the last fellow who came in here?  I turned him
into a monster and he came only to rob me-you've come to kill me."
	"There is nothing that can turn me from this path.  My armor is from the
most distant of forges and is immune to your most fell magics."
	There was a moment of silence, then another scream.  Silence again and the
sound of metal hitting the stone.
	"You are the one I was sent for; destroyed by this most fell of magics
that should turn you against your own.  I shall bring your body home so you
may rest amongst your family."
	After a moment John realized the unseen speaker must have been talking
about him; having found a body that looked like him, the speaker must have
made the obvious connection.
	Why would his parents have sent someone after him this soon?  He couldn't
reasonably have returned yet, so either they learned the truth after he left
or knew before and didn't tell him.  Either way, they would now receive his
dead body and he would be declared dead.
	If he returned home now, even after he was restored to normal, nobody
would believe him; he was already dead in their eyes.  If he returned like he
was he would be treated as a stranger; a non-human stranger at that.
	There would be no going home.  Although he still intended to return to his
natural form, he knew he would have to seek his fortune in the world.
	Carefully looking out he saw that the room was empty, but for the wizard's
body and the gates that still stood empty.  He dragged the wizard's body
through the gate and shut it, giving him privacy.
	Now he should have the peace to sort things out; the wizard could hardly
drop him in a volcano, being dead and all.
	The first thing he did once inside was start stripping off armor.  When he
saw that it had been directly against his skin he was surprised; who wore
armor without any kind of padding?
	As he removed the armor it took up residence both on a table and on the
floor.  Once the armor had all been removed and he stood naked, he found
himself a mirror and used it to examine himself.
	What a difference the wizard had made.  There was little trace left of his
former humanity.  His body was covered in dark scales that seemed to glint in
the light.  A tail flowed out from his spine, curling slightly on the floor.
Great wings were behind him, blocking any view of the room beyond them.  And
his face; he had a snout.  Opening it he found dozens of pointed teeth.  Both
ears and horns pointed backwards, behind him.  His eyes had heavy brows that
appeared to be solid bone.  And he couldn't spot a hair on himself.  At least
he wouldn't have a problem with lice anymore.
	Walking back across the room he sat in a large lounge chair, stretching
out as much as the chair allowed.  It was more constrictive then any chair he
could remember, but it was the first he'd sat in since he'd been magiced.  His
wings, especially, seemed to be pressed against his back, and they seemed to
dig beside the seat cushion.  It was only a few moments until he stood once
more.
	After a moment he came to a decision, if he was going to wander the world
as a monster, he at least wasn't going to wander as an armed monster-hopefully
some more casual clothes would make him appear less aggressive (or as less
aggressive as a monster with teeth and claws could look; perhaps casual was a
better choice of word).
	He carefully pulled the slightly bloodstained robe off of the wizard's
body and started putting it on but found that it fit badly.  Although of about
the right size, it had been designed for the wizard, who was human, unlike
himself.
	Well, he thought, perhaps since the guard looked like this not long ago,
maybe he has some casual outfits.  It didn't take long to find the wizard's
guard's chamber, and even less to discover that there were no outfits at all,
casual or otherwise.  What must the thing have worn during its off-duty
periods?  It could hardly spend all its time in the armor, let alone sleep in
it.
	He returned to trying to get the wizard's robe on, and after a while he
did manage, although it was less than comfortable.  The main obstacle, he
discovered, wasn't so much the tail but the pair of wings on his back; the
membrane that connected down his side made most normal clothing a poor fit.
Unless he happened to find enough money to pay a tailor to make some
appropriate clothes (and found a tailor willing to make said clothes) anything
he found would have to go over the wings.  Fortunately the membrane didn't
continue past his waist so he'd be able to wear relatively normal pants (he
figured finding a solution for the tail would be easier; it only connected in
one comparatively small spot).
	After a brief search he found what most have been the wizard's quarters.
Unlike the guard's room, the wizard had many, many outfits.  Enough so that
even ruining some trying, John managed to get a pair of pants that fit his
rather usual anatomy.  To cover his upper body he found himself a light jacket
and made a pair of slits from the bottom most of the way up to allow his wings
through.  Not an elegant solution, but one that would have to work for now.
	He also found a small bag of coins in one of the coat pockets.  That
prompted him to perform a search of the area to see if he could find anything
more.
	Hidden in various places throughout the wizard's cavern home he found a
small fortune in gold, gems and jewelry.  At least he wouldn't be running out
of money any time soon.
	His impromptu search showed him he wouldn't be able to stick around long,
though, since the wizard didn't have any stores of food.  Whether the wizard
had magiced some up or went daily to the market (John figured the first more
likely) he certainty didn't store anything.  There wasn't even anything left
over from previous meals; perhaps neither wizard nor guard ate, even while
still alive.
	Prompted by his growing hunger John knew he was going to have to set out
soon and find somewhere to buy himself a meal.  Pocketing the wealth he'd
uncovered he was about to leave when he tripped over a piece of the armor.  It
took only a moments thought to realize he might want it, (where else was he
going to get a high quality suit of armor designed for his anatomy?) but he
didn't know how he could transport it.  Eventually he ended up simply putting
the armor back on for lack of any other way to carry it.
	Taking anything of value he'd managed to find, John walked back out of the
wizard's cave and into his new life; that of the armored drifter.