56

You awake to see Sam peering down at you, concern written across their features. "Hey, he's up!" Sam shouts, and Esme and Abdul rush over. You sit up groggily; they have brought you back out to the main central chamber.

"What—what happened? How long was I out?"

"'Bout fifteen minutes, boss," says Sam. "Those stones started glowing real bright. You went into some kind of trance for a few seconds, then just collapsed."

"How did you do that?" asks Esme. "Make them glow like that? I've been touching the wretched thing ever since you blacked out, and not a bloody thing happened!"

You see that Esme is clutching the breastplate tight. Tentatively, nervously, you reach out your hand and touch the stone. Absolutely nothing happens. Whatever power the breastplate manifested seems to be spent, or at least dormant.

"The glowing's the least of it," you say. "The breastplate—it spoke to me. Or at least it showed me things. I couldn't make much sense of it but…but I think I saw the future."

"The future?" asks Sam, incredulous. "How is that even possible?"