"Blast it! Where is the Inn at?" Killey mumbled.

The aching in his right arm was getting worse. Ever seance that rune imbedded into his arm a slow but steady pain was moving up his arm. "Maybe I should find a doctor or some one who sells pain killers." He said. He was cradling his right arm as he moved though the city. Being new to the city was not helping him find what he so desperately needed right now.

Eventually he walked his way to the upper part of the city.

"(Sigh) A pharmacy isn't up here…"

He was about to turn around and head back down into the city when Killey realized that they built a cathedral in the upper side of the city. The out side of the cathedral was more ornately carved than he expected in this mostly roughneck town. It looked like a notch or two below the truly grand cathedrals back at home.

"Hum, isn't this place just full of suprises?" Killey pondered. He paused as an old memory passed his mind. "I'll go in a say a prayer or two. It's been too long sense I have spoken to the lord in his house. Getting some peace of mind should help out now a days."

He walked to the front doors and as quietly as possible opened them. Sounds of an old catholic song came to Killey's ears. He slipped in and slowly closed the door behind him. It took about less than a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darker interior, but when they did, Killey noted that he was in a forurae room. Unhooking his traveling belt his new weapons were hanging off on and as discretely as possible, he hung them on an empty peg hook covered over by his long jacket to hide them.

"I really don't want to bring weapons in here but I don't have any other place to put them. This is holy ground anyway." Killey thought. He put his hat on the peg and his bags just below it as well. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of people in here now, it's too quiet for a daytime service."

Walking into the main chapel room, there was a small choir young children singing in a subdued manner led by a non descript middle age pastor. There was a handful of sitting people in the pews near the altar. All were women and all of them were bent forward praying with rosaries. Their faces were obscured by black vails but what Killey could see of the wrinkles on their hands that many of them could have been around their mid 40's. A few of them were obviously much older, however no one noticed him.

Quietly walking to a side nook that held a small altar, Killey kneeled down and prayed silently. Only the flicker of the many-lit candles alerted him that another person kneeling next to him. Without turning his head, he looked to his right and saw a beautiful young woman praying next to him. Her long very golden blond hair reached down the mid back of her purple satin dress. Her tanned skin was flawless but she too had a black vail over her eyes.

"Hello stranger. I hope you like our city here. Are you going to be staying for awhile or are you just passing though?" The woman said quietly without turning her head.

"She's a bit nosey, but somehow I feel something seems out of place with her." Killey thought. "Maybe, just how did know about me? What do you want with me?" He replied just as quietly.

"Oh, the sight of a lone traveler dressed in red walking into and around town does spread gossip you know." She answered.

"What do you want with me Mrs…" he trailed off.

"It's MISS Alison sir, and I heard that you were holding your arm. Did you hurt your it?" She said quietly. She finally turned her head to face him. Killey could tell at this distance that she had green eyes.

"Well, let's just say I had something jab me in the arm real hard. It just hurts a lot." In saying that, he remembered the pain again. Wincing from the pain, he could swear that it's spreading to his shoulders and up and down his back. Alison mouth opened up a bit in surprise.

"Are you ok? Are you bleeding? Do you need a doctor?" She asked. Concern filled her voice as she bearly able to keep her voice down.

"No, no. I'm not bleeding; I don't need a doctor. But I am aching something fearse. Come to think about it. My whole body hurts right now. I guess I have been though a lot."

Alison paused. "I guess you just need a rest, that's all." She shifted her sitting spot so she was nearer to Killey.

"Yes, I guess so. I don't have a lot of money left now. I don't know if I can afford a room right now." Killey remembered that he gave Zed and his family the majority of his cash reserves. He sighed on the inside, but at least it went to a good cause.

"Here, take this." She reached inside the front of her dress and pulled out a small pouch of money. "This will more than pay for a few days in the Inn." She hands it to him. Killey gave her along look.

"Thanks but no thanks. I know all to well that there has to catch with this." He said. Turning his eyes away and closing them in prayer.

"No there isn't, I swear! I have plenty of…"

Cutting her off, Killey said. "First of all, I don't do killings on demand, theft, bodyguard work, or be the 'entertainment' for you tonight. Second, I have never seen you before, so how can I really trust you?"

Alison fell silent. She lowered her head in defeat by his logic. "You are right, you have no reason to trust me. But at least let take the money, I know you need it. I'm, I'm sorry to have bothered you sir." She gave out a little sniff that sounded like she was holding back tears as she got up and left. Killey's view kept on sliding down to the pouch of cash that was left next to him on the floor.

"Well don't expect me to do anything for you." He said under his breath.

He quietly picked up the pouch of money and pocketed it. Looking around the chapel to see if Alison was still around, he made his way out of there, pausing only to drop a few coins into the offering box. Stepping outside, Killey adjusted his weapon belt and bags as he buttoned up his jacket. Even though the sun is still up and his warm jacket on him, he felt a chill pass over him.

"Who ever that Alison woman was, I have a gut feeling she is trying use me as a pawn in some one's game." Killey thought.

He proceeded walking down the stairways back to the heart of town. Killey didn't notice Alison peering at him from around the corner of the church. She started giggling, and as she was giggling her form and color shifted and flowed like water. Her body finally reformed into the half dragon body of Achika.

"He's a cold one on the out side that Killey, just like master Zohar told me he would be. But at least his rune is bonding well into his body. At this rate, it should be finished by morning. (Sigh) But I wonder if he really does have a heart left inside him." Achika said.

She leaped up into the air and flew up the sky to trail after Killey.

Wandering though Tinto agein, Killey restarted his search for the inn with more calmness than before. He stopped at an opening of some narrow, old equipment strewn, darkened alleyway when he heard the sounds of a struggle. On instinct, he turned and entered the alleyway. He couldn't go very far in due to some old mining equipment barring is way. He tried looking in the deep darkness of the shadows to no Advil.

"It's too damn dark in there. I can't see a thing, what is going on in there?" Killey thought.

To his suprise, he felt the warmth of flames build behind his eyes. The darkness of the alleyway brightened up just as if sunlight was pouring into the alleyway. Killey saw a pack of 4 grubby street thugs surrounding a gagged and bound young girl in torn green dress. Her carrot orange hair and the rest of her body was smeared here and there with dirt from the ground. She didn't even look ten years old and she definitely did not want to be there.

"I can't believe our plan worked dude! We actually got her!" one of the thugs said.

"This little bitch's pop is loaded with dough. We'll be living the good life once we get the ransom money." Another thug grunted out.

"He, he, he. Why don't we have a little fun with the little whore until we get the money." The third thug said.

"Sounds good to me! I'm going in first." The forth thug said.

Two of them held down the girl and pulled her legs apart. The forth thug started to pull his pants off all the while fumbling at rip off her cloths.

The poor girl knew what was going to happen to her. She struggled, but they held her down. She tried to scream, but the gag prevented that. All she could do was to cry.

Seeing that was the final straw for Killey. His anger was building at seeing and over hearing the kidnapers, but this last thing was too much. He felt his body filled with unearthly power, his rune started to glow with a pale red light. With ease, he hopped over the tall pile of old junk and landed gently on the other side. Doing a leap like that would have normally suprised the hell out of Killey, but he didn't even acknowledge it then. The thugs stopped what they were going to do to the girl and looked at him.

"Let. Her. Go. Now." Killey said in the strongest voice that he has ever made. It barely hid the rage he felt inside.

The three of the thugs faced Killey while the forth held the girl.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Some jerk who wants to be a hero. Let's get him!" A thug said.

One of the creeps picked up the girl and tossed her off to the side into a pile of garbage while two of the brutes charged Killey with a large club and axe respectively. He didn't even flinch as they closed in on him. As soon as they were a few feet away, Killey grabbed his weapons and unsheathed them with inhuman speed. With the rune's power coursing though his body, he sliced both of the thugs faster than the human eye could see.

The kidnappers stopped in mid stride and coughed up mouths full of blood. The thug with the axe's head fell off from a super fine cut while the one with the club's body split evenly from crotch to his head. Ignoring their corpses, Killey continued to walk towards the remaining thugs.

"B-b-back off man! Back off or I'll kill the bitch!" One of the remaining thugs said.

Both of them pulled out a sword. One pointed his sword down at the girl who was partly buried in junk and couldn't see what was going on. Killey continued walking towards them in a slow steady manner that was visibly instilling fear in the kidnappers.

"You will not live long enough to do that." Killey said in a voice like ice.

He thew his weapons at the remaining two thugs with all his might. The blades turned dark as they flew though the air, just as if they became a shadow. The one with his sword at the girl was hit square in his chest. The force drove the blade hilt deep into his body and knocked him off his feet and down the alleyway. He was dead before he hit the ground. The last thug dodged the blade aimed at him and it imbedded into a crate beyond him. The last kidnapper took off down the alleyway to get away from Killey.

In Killey's head he heard the voice of that man of fire once again.

"Let me handle this one." Said the voice.

The glow from his rune flared and real fire erupted from his hands. The fire formed into an orb and streaked after the escaping kidnapper. The thug reached the end of the alleyway and ducked behind the corner in hopes that the fireball would miss. The fireball curved around the edge of the building and hit him with right in the head. He screamed in pain as the fire burned his face off. He died a slow and painful death.

Killey heard the voice of the woman of fire in his head.

"Don't worry, I will not leave your side." Was what she said.

The blades freed themselves from where they were and floated back to Killey and slid themselves back into their stealth.

Turning his attention away from the dead kidnappers. Killey thew the old junk and garbage off of the girl with ease. She looked up at him in confusion and fear. She was crying out of control. He could still feel the urge to kill strong within him.

"She's weak, helpless, easy prey…no! She is innocent. She does not deserve this. I must return her to her family, no matter what." He thought.

The murderous rage faded away. Killey reached down and picked up the young girl and held her close while he carried her out of the alleyway, hoping that she wouldn't see the carnage that he did to her kidnappers. After running for felt like an eternity, he stopped in an out of the way stop in the city and set the girl down.

"It's ok little girl, those bad men won't ever hurt you again." He said to her.

Killey untied and ungagged her but she didn't say anything. She sniffled at bit as she stopped crying and she looked at him in confusion. He realized that he would have to calm her down and show her that he meant no harm to her. Going down to one knee so that he could talk to her face to face.

"I know that you are scared little one. I mean you no harm. My name is Killey, and what is yours?" He said in the most calming way possible.

"Lilley…(sniff) I want to go home! I want my daddy!" She said.

"I'll take you home, but you will have to point out the way though. I don't know where you live." Killey said.

"Oh, ok. (Sniff)" Lilley said.

Killey shifted his bags around so that he could carry Lilley on his back too. It was about five minute walk back up the mountainside to a large building. Normally this hike wouldn't be much to Killey, but the fire inside him had faded and gone out. It left him totally exhausted. He let her down as they approached building and she bolted to the front door and let her self in.

"I wish you well little Lilley…" Killey said.

Exhaustion finally over took him and darkness was the only think he knew.

Achika landed on top of a nearby building and looked over the passed out body of Killey.

"Now I am beginning to understand why Lorelai fell for you. You really do have a large heart and a determent soul. Boy did she ever lose out…" Achika said.

She ducked out of sight as a flood of people came out of the house Lilley went into. Many of them were Tinto elite guard troopers. The surrounded Killey and picked up his limp body. A rugged looking middle aged man wearing a slightly wrinkled but still stately uniform walked and a haggard look on his face walked out of the house carrying Lilley in his arms. One of the troopers walked up to the man and saluted.

"We found an unconcouse man nearby Lord Gustav." The trooper said.

"Bring him here, I want to see him." Lord Gustav said.

"Yes sir!"

The troopers dragged Killey by his arms up to him and held him up for both Lilley and Gustav to see his face. Gustav looked at Lilley with a lot of concern in his eyes.

"Is this the man who saved you from the kidnappers dear?" he asked Lilley.

"Yes daddy, he's the one who saved me. He brought me home." She replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Gustav paused in silence as he decided what to do with Killey.

"Bring him in with his bags and put him in one of the guest rooms. He saved my daughter's life. I owe him much but I guess he's had enough today."

The troops did as commanded and everyone went back inside. All except for Achika who waits and watches with great patience as the sun goes down over Tinto.

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"Killey" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami This chapter was posted February, 2000