“You have sustained 1 point of bleeding damage. Health below 25%”.

  “I’m going to die,” I thought.

  I was strangely fine with the idea. I knew I should be upset, but since waking, everything had just been insanity. Voices talking in my head. I couldn’t remember who I was, where I had been… Anything!

  “Maybe dying will be a blessing.”

  But part of me rebelled at the thought.

  The two men had passed by again, chuckling over their spoils. I felt sickened at the thought of another person dying at their hands. I felt weak, but if it was the last thing I did, I would get some sort of revenge!

  Then an idea formed in my mind. It was petty, but it was something.

  I eased myself back out of the log.

  There was no pain now, but I kept my arm pinned to my side to minimize further damage. I could see blood leaking out around the wound. My shirt was soaked on one side. I stood and swayed for several minutes as I fought the blackness, trying to drag myself back.

  After a minute, I moved back towards the clearing. Getting over the log took a long time. I eventually lay on top of it and edged myself over. Standing back up was hard with only one arm, but I managed.

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  “You have sustained 1 point of bleeding damage. Health below 20%”.

  I made my way back to the clearing. There was no sign of the latest victim. But a couple of items lay on the ground. I moved closer and saw they were clothes similar to what I was wearing. They were soaked in blood.

  I looked around and spied a large white tree I took to be the white oak the two men had spoken of. I made my way over to it.

  Leaning against the tree, I looked around, eventually spying a small pile of rocks. I knelt and with one hand pulled away the rocks, one at a time. I moved aside some dirt and spied a smooth green object that looked like glass. It was faintly glowing. I uncovered it and then went to pick it up.

  I had it in my hand when it disappeared. One moment it was heavy in my hand, the next it was gone.

  I gasped and looked around, thinking I had somehow dropped it. There was nothing. Then I grinned. I might not have it, but the two men who had shot me didn’t have it either. That was good enough. The plan had only been to bury it some place else they couldn’t find.

  “But how did it disappear?” I wondered.

  Part of me didn’t believe things could just disappear, but another part was saying it was alright. The mental turmoil was a strange, unsettling feeling.

  Suddenly, the heavy male voice sounded in my head.

  “You have a new quest! Return the guardian stone to its rightful place!”

  I shrugged, which caused a bit more blood to flow.

  “Right.” I thought, “A quest. Not in my condition.”

  I needed to get away from here before the men returned. I would die far away, and they would lose twice.

  It was a petty revenge, but it was all I could manage.

  I rose and swayed for a moment.

  I needed to get far from the clearing.

  “And not on the path.”

  I rose and headed off into the woods.