Prologue 4 Part 1: The Lake

With the parchment in a fixed position, the expert began to read the writing. What she found was the monologue of a man's unfortunate but fortunate encounter.

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April 23, 2020

Knowing the truth about what happened on my 21st birthday would change how humans view their lives in the grand scheme of things. Everyone wants to live under the assumption that the only thing that matters, is what happens next. Decisions are made for the record and are not looked back upon, until consequences are around the corner. Loved ones aim to keep everyone together. The very idea of change has been disputed upon throughout history. Although it sounds cliché, you don't know change until it happens to you.

My perception of the world changed the day light and darkness collided. You might wonder what that means but would never fully understand the ramifications. The Council did all they could to blind side the rest of the world, and succeeded. Knowing the secret came at a price. I had to leave everyone and everything I knew behind.

The transition began the day I decided to run away from my birthday party. I drove into the woods until the gas tank was dry, and the engine was running on fumes. Sitting low to the ground in my '98 Honda Accord, I stared at the red dials on the dashboard as "Friends" by Marshmallow & Anne Marie stared playing over the radio. I plucked the aux cord out, and tried to keep myself from thinking of Art.

Keeping my breakdown at bay, I opened the silver door letting the damp rain climate into the cabin. As I stepped out on the loose gravel on the shoulder, I could hear thunder booming over the horizon. Step by step I started following the path leading off into the surrounding forest. The longer I kept my steadfast pace into the trees, the damper my clothing became thanks to the atrocious humidity.

The forest path brought me to the lake. Crystal clear shallows for the kids and depths for the fishing enthusiasts, the freshwater was a meeting spot for everyone. Looking down at myself, I decided to take off my sweat drenched jacket, shirt and jeans. The soft beach sand welcomed me as I waited for the clothes to dry on the rocks. With my back to the ground, and my eyes to the sky, the storm clouds began blocking the setting sun. The shadows of the surrounding trees grew until the only light was from the phone in my hand.

Flashes of silver drew my eyes past the tree line and to the sky over my head. Like a painting, the silver laced the heavier clouds as they moved across my eyes. Lightning came down on my peripherals, making me jump up onto the loose sand. Falling back down onto my butt broke the spell of depression I was in. I took in the lake clearing, gathered my things and began sprinting to the tree line. Just as I began thinking I was far enough from the clearing, a massive force from behind threw me to the ground.

Turning over onto my back, I felt a sharp pain in my left leg. I looked down at my foot and saw a piece of wood sticking out of my shoe. I pulled it out and began jogging into the woods in an attempt to get to my car on the road. Thinking that it was my car headlights, I turned toward a bright light I could see to my right. As I finally got close to where the trees opened up, I realized that the light was way too bright to be my car. I slowed my pace to a cautious walk, and hid behind a tree with a tall bush at its base.

As I peered into the clearing, my eyes adjusted to the blinding light, and I realized that I had circled back to the lake. Using the tree as a support I crouched there looking out at the lake. It seemed like I was watching something from a sci-fi Harry Potter film or something. Lightning was striking the center of the lake, but the water was not exploding like I had seen on YouTube. The lightning acted as if it was being funneled to a certain point on the lake.

Slowly the light around the stream of energy began to shimmer into all the colors of the rainbow. It was like seeing an aroura borealis up close. Soon the air in front of me began to refract, showing me the thinning funnel of light. The only word that I could think of to describe the phenomenon was "mesmerizing." My thoughts began to stray from being cautious to just wanting to walk toward the lights in front of me. I stood up from my crouch behind the bush, and took a step forward.

A sting of pain broke me out of the spell, and I regained composure. Looking down at my foot, I thanked the gust of air that gave me the injury. Crouching back down behind the bush, I decided to sit down with my back to the tree and legs stretched out. My head was just high enough to look at the lake over the bush. From my point of view, I could see the path leading out of the clearing about 20 meters to my right. Acknowledging that I could not walk using both feet, I started looking around for a branch I could use to get back to my car.

There were no branches that I could use in my immediate surroundings, so I decided to stand up on one foot and hop around until I found one. Gradually I made my way around the clearing, hopping from one tree to the next like a flying squirrel. Keeping a safe distance between me and the clearing, I managed to make it about half the distance where I found a branch big enough to be used as a staff. Balancing myself, I continued to hop through the forest until I could see the foot path through the brush.

Just as I was about to step out into the open, I heard a voice behind me. Slowly, I pivoted to see where the sound came from. Looking out at the lake, a dome made of what seemed like light itself had appeared on the water surface.

At the edge of the dome a pair of men, standing 2 meters tall, stood alert looking at the edge of the lake. In front of them, a man in full medieval style knight's armor, minus the helmet, began using his sword to trace a circular pattern in the air before him. When he finished his motions, a circular pattern that radiated all the colors of the rainbow floated in the air where he had used his sword on.

"You must be joking me. Is that magic" I thought as I slowly hopped backwards, while keeping my eyes on the knight and his magic circle. Knowing that such things are supposed to be fantasy, and actually seeing such things with my eyes, I began to get nervous. Just as I was about halfway between the lake and my car, I heard myself step on a dry twig.

The instant I heard the twig snap, I also heard a commotion in the direction of the lake.

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As the expert was reading and transcribing the parchment's contents, she found 2 pages that were stuck together. Slowly, she used the robotic arms and other tools in her lab to separate the pages carefully without damaging the artifact.