I race up the mountain towards home as fast as I can without actually running, my thoughts filled with questions about what I had found and just who was the man it belonged to. After about an hour the sun, which had started its decent behind the mountain not long after my departure from Isthmus, sets fully, leaving me in almost complete darkness for a moment until my eyes adjust to the light from the moon. I quickly grab what I need to start a fire and in no time have a small one going in a clearing just out of sight of the road. I roll out my sleeping bag as close to the fire as I dare and sit down on it.

Quickly glancing around the clearing to make sure I truly am alone, I pull the object out of my pocket and hold it in front of the fire, getting my first good look at it. Earlier all I had been able to tell was that it was about the size of my palm and disk shaped. I had caught a quick glance at what appeared to be some bronze colored metal and something that glinted green. Now, with the light of the fire illuminating it I can see that It does in fact seem to be bronze and the flashes of green I saw came from the large gem about as big as my thumb from the point to the knuckle situated off to one side, as well as three smaller ones clumped together roughly opposite the large one. I rub my thumb over the largest one, marveling at how smooth it is. It’s so smooth I would think it was glass except something in me is telling me it was not made by simple craftsmen. I finish rubbing the jewel and run my finger along the raised spiral of bronze that raps it self around the gem from the center until it returns and splits into many ridges that fan out until reaching the edge. My attention then turns to the smaller gems nestled into a slightly recessed area bordered by a ridge around the edge that pushes out of the main surface of the disk similarly to the spiral around the larger gem. Separated from these gems by another large ridge, this on connected to the spiral shortly before it splits, are several symbols, many of which resemble intricate knots that appear to be worked into the metal itself. On the other side of the spiral are what appear to be words in some ancient language carved into the metal. I don’t know how I know it is an ancient language and not my own, it’s not like I’ve ever been taught how to read, but I just know they’re old in the same way I know that the gems were not created or shaped by any mere mortal. It feels like the gems existed first, and some ancient peoples created the rest of what I can only think to call an amulet around them. I doubt the people who made this even decided the placements themselves. It feels like the stones are practically alive and rather than let someone decide where to place them, guided the people making this to placing them where they wanted to go.

a sudden chill runs through my body, and I realize I’ve been siting here staring at the amulet for so long there has nearly gone out. I pull my eyes away from the amulet to reach next to me and grab one of the extra logs I collected earlier, when I notice a bush on the left side of the clearing swaying, as if an animal had just passed through. But at this time of year any animals small enough not to care about the fire, and the human who made it, have already settled down for the winter.

I sit there, frozen, staring at the bush that had moved, as a feeling of being watched settles over me and I feel my body preparing for action. What action I’m not entirely sure of yet. Just as I start to feel like I might have imagined what I saw and am being to jumpy, a man jumps out from behind the bushes an runs at me, full speed, with a wicked looking hunting knife as long as my forearm and a hook on the end in hand. I barely have time to process this information before he swings it down at me, point first, and my body reacts.

Before I even realize I'm moving, I’ve rolled away towards the edge of the clearing. I scamper to my feet, making my way even closer to the edge of the clearing and am just about to make it to the safety of the trees when I see an arm coming out of them to stop my escape. I duck under it and escape into the trees. My feet seem to take over control of my body as I duck and weave myself through the trees. Behind me I vaguely hear the sounds of my attacker shouting out orders to follow me and far more men than I can count moving to do just that. I’m vaguely aware of the amulet cutting into my hand from the death grip I have on it. I see the road ahead of me and head toward it, hoping to leave my attackers behind as they comb the woods for me, but before I can reach it I hear the sound of hoof beats coming from the road behind me and turn away, plunging myself deeper into the mess of trees.

Run. Don’t stop. Stay hidden. If they catch you you’re dead. These are the only thoughts that go through my head as I run through the forest. Why I am running, and why I am being chased are irrelevant. Survival is all that matters. Any questions about why these people decided to attack me, or who they are, are far from my head. There is no time for thinking about these things. Any hesitation, any mistakes, could mean certain death. If I stumble they will be on me in an instant. If I pause to think about where I’m going they will catch me. All I can do is run, and dodge trees, and try not to be caught. If I stopped to think about it, I would realize how pointless this all is. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where I’m going. I am running from an unknown enemy with unknown numbers. And I am beginning to tire. There is know way out of this for me. How did I end up here? Why is this happening to me?

Suddenly I feel the sharp bite of the cold winter wind blowing full force around me and have just enough time to process that I have broken away from the forest behind me, when the feeling of being weightless runs through my body, and I fall off the side of the mountain.