Raena knelt down onto the bed of trampled grass and scanned the track with a practiced eye. The prints told her that the deer had passed through here barely a half hour before. Her target, a small doe with a pronounced limp in her left forefoot, was still with the herd. She was amazed that the deer had made it so far without being caught by wolf or bear.

The night sky shone clearly overhead and a soft wind blew through the trees. A thin fog hung around Raena, it's edges glowing from the light cast from the moon that stood cradled between two peaks. The misty fog blew down along the valley floor, making it difficult for her to see her feet.

Raena was fifteen. Her dark hair was strung loosely in a braid that hung down her back, shorter wisps of her hair that had fallen out of her braid framed her brown eyes that were etched like the bark of the trees. Her clothes were worn and a hunting knife was sheathed in her boot. A wood-framed pack carried her necessities as she hunted through the dense woods.

The deer had led her deep into the Spine, a range of untamed mountains that extended up and down the western edge of Alagaesia. Strange and dangerous things came from the mountains. Despite that, Raena did not fear the Spine. It had become like a second home for her, one of the only places she could be herself. She was the only hunter in the area that dared venture into it's feral recesses.

She had been out here for three nights now and her food was diminishing quickly. She could not afford to return home empty handed. Her family was depending on this meat as they could not afford to buy it in Carvahall.

Raena continued into the forest with confidence, following the deer trail until she came upon the glen. She strung her bow with practiced ease, then drew three arrows, knocking one, she held the remaining two in her other hand. The light from the moon shone down on the grass revealing the deer who lay in its embrace. Her doe lay to the edge of the rest, her leg stretched out awkwardly in front of her.

Raena krept closer, her bow at the ready. She aimed at her prize and took a deep breath only to be interrupted as an explosion shattered around her.

The herd of deer bolted. Raena followed after them, running with all her might. Her throat grew cold and dry causing great pain as the wind surged past her. She aimed for the doe while running, letting the arrow grow in desperation she cursed as it missed by a hair.

She stopped running, but automatically knocked another arrow and turned to assess the damage from the explosion. A large circle of smolted grass and trees now stood where the deer had been. Smoke rose and the breeze carried the smell of charred and burnt wood into the air around her. In the center of the burnt circle lay a polished blue stone. The misty fog of the forest snaked over the stone as if drawn to it like a moth to flame.

Raena stood there for what felt like hours, waiting for danger to appear. After a while she cautiously released the tension from her bow, stringing it back in its place around her shoulders, and moved forward. Kneeling next to the stone she reached for the knife in her boot and used it to nudge the stone. When nothing happened she warily felt its surface with the tip of her finger. Curiously, the stone radiated a soft warmth, it explained why the cool mist floated around it in such a strange dance.

Raena carefully lifted the large stone into her arms. Never had she seen a stone so polished and smooth as this one. Its surface was a dark blue with thin veins of white webbing across it. The stone was so smooth and frictionless that it made it difficult to carry as its slippery surface slid through her hands.

Raena wondered what to do with the stone. She pondered if it would be safe to keep the stone as the only possible way it could have appeared out of nowhere was through magic. If anything Raena had learned from stories was to treat magic with great caution.

She almost left the stone after that thought but something kept her from that action. ' At the very least, it might pay for some food,' she decided and tucked the stone into her pack.

The area was too exposed to make a camp so she retreated back into the forest and spread her bedroll under the upturned roots of a fallen tree. After a cold meal, Raena wrapped herself in her blankets and fell asleep pondering on all that had happened.