1 Chapter 1: Where am I?

I slowly regained consciousness, but I wish I hadn't. The air around me was stiff, and I was lying on something hard and wet. A cold breeze brushed up against my exposed skin and I shivered from the impact. My head hurt like crazy and there was an intense pain coming from somewhere above my right hip.

I then began to remember what had occurred. I was driving home from dinner and a text popped up on my phone. I only took my eyes off the road for a second, but the next thing I heard was a loud skid and then a crash. Then my car rolled onto one side and I hit my head against the pavement.

Maybe that's where I was now?

As my eyes began to adjust to the surrounding darkness, I realized that the wet liquid under me was blood. Presumably, my blood. I wondered where the ambulance was. Why had nobody dragged my body out of here? Had the other person driven off? Even so, surely someone would have called 911 by now...

I heard nothing. And I couldn't feel the remains of my car around me. Very slowly I attempted to lift my self off the ground. It took a couple of tries but eventually, I was leaning against cold stone, clutching my side. That wasn't right either. Shouldn't it be my head that was hurt? But after checking my head for injuries I found none, while there seemed to be an open wound on my torso.

Thinking back to all the dramas I'd seen, I realized that I should probably try to bandage it and suppress the bleeding.

I took note of my bloody clothes and realized that I did not recognize the white robe I wore. Cautiously, I ripped the cleanest looking strip of cloth and wrapped it tightly around my injury.

What the Hell? My head was still spinning but none of this seemed to make any sense. I focused on my breathing and after a while, my head cleared enough for me to take in the world around me.

I was in a dark cave. It seemed as if there might have been an entrance to this cave at one point. However, there must have been an avalanche of some sort because large rocks covered the supposed entrance. I nervously bit my lip and looked to the other half of the cave, a long path stretched farther into the cave and I could not be sure of where I would lead too.

I don't have much of a choice, do I?

A part of me wanted to just stay still and wait for help. Another, much louder part of me said that this was not a normal situation and that I had to keep moving. So I began my journey into the depth of the cave.

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After what I thought was about an hour, I felt a pulling sensation in my gut. At first, I thought it was my injury acting up. But this somehow felt deeper. Like my very soul was being tugged further.

Picking up my pace I tried to get closer to whatever it was that was drawing me in.

The further I went the more it tugged and the weaker I felt. It was as if a suppressive aura was pushing down on me from all sides. My breath became haggard and yet I continued forward. Finally, the narrow path of the cave opened to expose a large dome like room.

The room had several empty bookshelves around the walls. Tiny stones were scattered across the floor along with broken glass and a series of other things I couldn't quite name. In front of me was a wooden table with four objects placed on it.

I approached the table, though not without caution. An eerie feeling began to creep up my spine. This all seemed like something out of a fantasy novel, but I was simply too muddleheaded to think properly.

The first object was a beautifully decorated sword. At least I assumed there was a sword inside, all I could see was the hilt and scabbard. It looked very extravagant, with many precious gems embedded into the hilt. I was excited to see a sword, however, it seemed almost tacky to me. I thought that a sword should be more practical than showy and...I knew that it was not what had drawn me to this room.

The second object was what I guessed to be a potion. Dark purple liquid swirled around in a small glass vial. I watched it for a minute, entranced. I wondered what it could do. Maybe a healing potion? That would be useful. I shook my head, no. It was hard to describe it but there was a domineering aura emitting from the vial and I doubted a healing potion would have such an aura.

The third object was a snow-white flute. Blue swirls were engraved on the instrument. I didn't bother to inspect the flute for long. I knew it was not what I was looking for and besides I had no musical talent what so ever.

Finally, I looked down on the fourth item on the table. And found a completely ordinary-looking journal. There were no embellishments and unlike the other objects it was unimpressive and unassuming. One could easily overlook something so simple looking.

I wasn't fooled. I knew by the pounding of my heart that this was the most powerful object of them all. Without hesitation, I picked up the small book.