Prologue
Trying to stay on her feet, she stumbled down the broken pathway. Leaves in her shoes, twigs and ferns scraping her knees and calves, she tripped and crawled a short ways. Her eyes welling up with fear, she whirled around to face her attacker. The enigma walked slowly down the pathway, moving flawlessly. She got up, fumbling on her own skirt. In a heartbeat she was down the path. Slowly the attacker pulled out a small spherical object the size of a ball of lint. The man also took out a similarly sized needle, and by forcing the needle though the sphere, the roots and bramble began to part. Soon the parting reached her heels, and then the movement started ahead of her. The pebbles behind her began to quake. The man, formerly a dot, was now gone. Feeling slightly relived, she slowed to a stop, but, still feeling anxious, she moved off of the trail into uncharted territory, despite her better judgment.
Given this brief respite, the girl began to scan her intriguing surrounding. The magnificent trees towered over even the tallest buildings in the city. There were only a few patches of undergrowth in the small beams of light that filtered through the tremendous tree branches. The few clearings were small and filled with insects that obviously protested any interference in their business. So she stayed in the shade relishing the obscurity. She continued walking hoping to find a running stream. Among her studies of math, astrology, and metaphysics, she encountered few survival courses, and those that she had come across were obviously helpful at this point.
Walking a little ways out off, she found a clearing filled with tall dry grass. As she walked into the middle of the field, she found that the grass was both loud and resinous making it a difficult journey to the center of the clearing. Pausing for a moment to savor the sights, sounds, and smells, she sighed. It was not every day that you could leave the city, let alone enjoy it. But there was something irregular in the sound. A scraping of metal against wood. Before she opened her eyes she knew what was coming. The scraping stopped and there was a loud rustling from behind her. Calmly opening her eyes, knowing that her death was not in vain, she turned to face her attacker. Sadly this cloaked figure was still a mystery. Hopefully she won't have to find out who it is.