Jason Linder
03-04-04

"The Orb"
Chapter 1
Tikal Haze had just gotten the campfire started when a mysterious stranger, carrying a sack, walked into her campsite. He was a big man; he wore a black hooded cloak over his head, so Tikal couldn't really see his face. A sword was strapped on his back, but Tikal wasn't scared.
"Can I help you?" she asked, brushing her red hair out of her eyes. He didn't respond, he just stood there.
She shrugged and began to poke at the fire with a stick. "Actually," The stranger said later, breaking the silence, " I could use a place to camp tonight."
She agreed to let him stay the night. She was always a very nice girl, for as far back as she could remember. She was always willing to lend others a hand.
She had finished cooking her venison steak sandwiches. And while she sat, eating her supper, she couldn't help but wonder what was in the sack he had with him. She tried to not let it get to her, by staring out into the nearby river. The light of the moon shone down upon it making it look like a passage had opened underwater.
After a while, her curiosity got the best of her, and she asked, "Excuse me, but I was wondering, what's in that sack there?" He didn't reply. He grabbed the bag and held it protectively, a faint glimmer from the fire reflected off his eyes. She immediately backed off, "I'm sorry, it's not my place to ask," and she went back to eating.
Soon, he did speak, "Something very important to my people rests within this sack."
She gave him a questioning look; "you're people?"
"I'm not from around here," he explained, "I come from the far away village of Moonshine." "Really?" she politely asked, eyeing him suspiciously, this guy was crazy. Although the name had sounded vaguely familiar to her, Tikal had never heard of the village of Moonshine. There was no such village known anywhere in the world, at least to her knowledge. And Tikal knew her geography pretty well, for she loved to travel around the globe with her adopted parents, Anita and Maxwell Dramya, and locate ancient artifacts. She didn't know the real reason, but she had some sort of 'mental attraction' towards treasure and artifacts. She had this inner desire to seek out and find lost treasures, so it didn't surprise her that she was so interested in what this man had with him.
"Crazy I am not," he growled, almost as if reading her mind, "My village exists and you know it."
"I do?" she asked, wide eyed, " no really I don't. But I do believe you."
"The truth you do not speak." He replied in a mystic tone of voice that sent a chill down Tikal's spine.
"No really," she insisted, "I'm being honest. I've been all over the world with my adopted parents and I've never seen nor heard of your village at all."
"That's because it is very well hidden, but you know where it is. You come from Moonshine, Tikal Haze."
She froze and stared at him, her green eyes were wide with shock and fear, for she had not yet told him her name.
"Do not fear me," he told her in a kind soothing voice, "I know a lot about you. and you're past."
Tikal spoke slowly, "..ab-"
"-About you're past?" he interrupted, taking the words right out of her mouth, "It's hard to explain,"
"Humor me."
"Well," he said, "It does have something to do with what's in the bag." She started to ask if she could see it, but he spoke up before she could even open her mouth, "You may not be allowed to gaze upon the treasure that lies within this bag." He gave a knowing grin at the look on her face, "You look disappointed,"
"Yeah," she replied, "So what."
He chuckled, "You haven't changed a bit Tikal."
"What?" she gasped, whirling around to face him.
"Oh nothing," he replied. "Just promise me that you won't look in the bag." She switched her gaze from him to the bag several times. Finally she said, "O.K. I promise."
He moved in closer to her and removed his hood. Tikal saw his face for the very first time. He was a real handsome young man in his early twenties, around the same age as her. He looked into Tikal's eyes for a long time. "O.K." he said after a while, "I believe you."
"How can you tell?" She asked for some reason.
"It's called trusting you're gut," he replied with a grin, as he extended his hand out to her, "I'm Demetrius Shadow." She shook it, his name sounded somewhat familiar to her. Later, they both went to sleep, Demetrius slept on the ground covered with his cloak. Tikal lied awake for several hours before she fell asleep. She couldn't get over the nagging feeling she had that she had met Demetrius before.