• Shido woke up one morning on his pallet. He sat up and rolled out of bed to look outside. Bright sunlight rolled in through the window. The warm glow flashed across his face. He crossed the room to a weather-beaten wooden door. He gently tugged on the handle. Sunlight entered the room revealing a thick layer of clutter which seeped across the room in an even consistent dust-like layer. Shido walked out of the room into a grassy yard there was a tree that towered over him casting a shadow that eclipsed a sizable portion of the shack.

    A figure in a cloak approaches from the distance. He reaches Shido surprisingly quickly with an even stride. As he approaches Shido his appearance becomes more distinguishable. He is of approximately average height with a long dark hooded cloak that covers his whole figure. He throws back his cowl to reveal an strong face with a full white beard and a full head of hair. He walks up to Shido with an urgent stride. "Come with me if you wish to live." He then left at a brisk pace indicating that he wants Shido to follow him.

    Shido runs to catch up with him. "Who are you and where are you taking me?"

    The mans quickens his stride. "Gartharan, and into hiding, for a time. "

    They follow a winding path through a forest. In the forest they hear a plethora of noises they smell many smells. All is normal. They reach a small shack.

    Gartharan knocks on the door three times pauses and knocks three more times.

    The door slams open with a deafening bang. Gartharan ushers Shido in.

    Shido was brimming with curiosity. "What is going on? Why did you take me here? Who are you?"

    Gartharan's brows furrow and he briefly finds a chair. "You have enemies that you are, at this point in time, unaware of. I took you here because you are no longer safe where you were. I am a friend from the shadows. All will be known in time."

    "Well I have be elsewhere, stay here."

    Shido paced the room as he awaited Gartharan's return.

    After a time, Shido heard a rapping on the door from which the reverberations cause the whole hut to shake.

    A stern voice called out "Garth, Garth, come quickly."

    Shido pulled open the fairly ragged door and outside of it stood a woman in a dark gray robe who was holding what appeared to be a gray box of not all that much larger than her palm.

    Upon seeing him her eyes widened and her hand darted inside her robe.

    She pulls out an orb and a split second after Gartharan darts out into sight.

    "Shahan! Stop!"

    She looks quizzically at Gartharan "Why did you bring him here? Who is he?"

    "The conditions have been met. Those who work against us are looking for him. He is the one we have been looking for"

    She hands Gartharan the box that was in her hand.

    Gartharan stowed the box away in his robe and pulled out a short scepter with an orb mounted at the top and pointed it at the door. The door slid sideways, in a single smooth motion, into the frame.

    Gartharan and Shahan walked, in a leisurely fashion, through the entry.

    Gartharan beckoned to Shido who quickly followed.

    Upon entry Shido quickly noticed that the room that that same entry had entered through was not the same that he was entering now; in fact, it was not a room that he had just entered, but a hallway that gradually led into a downwards slope.