As my village faded from view in the distance, the rolling, grassy hills loomed before me. Our village enjoyed being quiet and secluded which meant that all other civilization was a long distance away. The nearest place was Greenwood (or Mirkwood) which was a two day journey away. I was headed in the opposite direction to find answers. There was an old man who knew many things and lived in the middle of another small forest. I was not sure, but I thought it would probably take about a whole day's ride to arrive at the forest.

When the sun shone right above me, I halted my horse for lunch. I had hastily packed a small meal consisting of an apple and some bread. Although it was small, it boosted my energy and I was soon ready to continue riding.

After several hours, the forest came into view. It was nothing like the dark and sickly Mirkwood forest but was almost the opposite. Very lush and green, full of color.

When I came to the entrance of the forest, the sun had gone down as the light quickly faded. I hurried to make a fire and set up my camp. The sparks quickly set the dry wood blazing and I settled in for the night. With my hatchet by my side, I laid down by the warmth of the fire and closed my eyes.

An abrupt sound jolted me from my sleep. My eyes flicked open and I looked around. Confused by what I saw, I blinked several times. Was I still asleep? There were three men sitting around my fire, laughing. I began to sit up but was stopped. My hands were tied behind my back and to a tree! The rough bark scratched as I jerked back and forth to be released. What was going on? What had I gotten myself into?

One of the men turned to me as I tried to move. He alerted his buddies and stood up. All three of the weirdos walked over to me. Two of them had a smirk on their face and the other one, who seemed to be the leader, was serious. They were bandits and I was being robbed.

"So, our little boy is finally awake, eh?" The man that seemed to be the leader joined his men by grinning. I just glared at them knowing that there was nothing I could do. I was out numbered and at a huge disadvantage considering my hands were still tied.

"You must be wondering what happened..." one of the men seemed overly amused. If I get untied, you are the first one I will kill. Wait...what am I thinking?

The men made a half circle around me and the tree that I was stuck to. "We were just minding our own business along the forest when suddenly, we spotted a fire through the trees. There, laying by the fire and sleeping peacefully, was a young boy all by himself. We couldn't just let this opportunity pass up so we thought, 'Hey! Let's go have some fun!' So we quietly entered your little camp and you din't even wake up when we put you over here! You must have been really sacked out to be that hard of a sleeper!" The three goons laughed at the story although it was not amusing to hear at all. I could not believe that I had so easily been captured.

I readjusted and took a deep breathe. "Just...take what you want and leave."

"Oh don't worry, kid. We'll take what we want eventually, but first we need to teach a young kid all out on his own how cruel the world can be."

"Wha...what? Aren't you just bandits?"

"Bandits? What a cruel name! We're not bandits! We're not bad! We steal from the rich, well from everybody, and give to the less fortunate, which is us!"

I snorted. "Nothing about you is good!"

"I'm starting to get tired of this kid's attitude!" The dude in charge stepped closer. He walked right up to me and before he could react, I reached back my foot and kicked him in the shin. Obviously not expecting that, he jumped back, clutching his knee and yelling like a baby. Apparently taking that as their cue, the other guys approached me.

I swallowed realizing that I had done something incredibly stupid. In one swift moment, they grabbed my legs and tied them together. Now, I was completely vulnerable and in trouble.

After that, they began kicking and hitting me. I was just about to pass out, when I faintly noticed something different. One of the men were on the ground, unconscious. Quickly, both of the other men dropped also from an unknown source and the beating stopped. I coughed and spit to rid my mouth of the taste of blood but to no avail. Without really thinking about what had happened, I leaned my head against the tree and closed my eyes.

Two Hours later

Without realizing that I had passed out, I woke up to a pleasant surrounding. I was in a soft bed with several bandages around my body. Looking around, I appeared to be in a small cottage or cabin. It seemed to only have one room and was very cozy. There was a warm fire in a fireplace opposite the door with a chair and table near it. To the left of the fireplace was a small kitchen area and across from the cooking area was the bed that I was currently in. Before I moved, the door opened and in walked a older looking man. He had a long grey beard and wore a tattered, dull red coat.

"Good! I am glad you are awake. I was beginning to worry." He spoke friendly to me as he laid a stack of firewood beside the hearth.

"Where am I? Who are you? How did I get here? Where is my horse?" I sat up beginning to worry.

"My my, you have a numerous amount of questions! Don't worry, I will answer them all. You are in my humble home and my name is Old Man Saelas which was given to me by the elves. Do not worry, young man. You are safe here. I rescued you from those hooligans and carried you here in my wagon. Your horse is in the stable along with mine currently eating an apple. I just checked on him." The man smiled and began approaching me, "Now, let me look at your wounds. Lay back down and don't move." he commanded. For some reason, I trusted him. He certainly had a calming effect about him.

As he began to clean my wounds again, we started to talk. "Are you the one my village calls the wise man?"

He chuckled softly, "My boy, I am indeed the one you are searching for. My very name is Wisdom. The elves named me Old Man Wisdom many years ago. I suppose your village has just slightly changed it."

"Oh...well I am indeed glad that you have saved me. For more than one reason because I was searching for you when I was captured. Mmh..." I slightly clenched my fist as he rubbed a very sore spot.

"Why were you looking for me?" He ignored my subtle hint of pain and continued rubbing.

"I have a problem and I was hoping you would be able to help me fix it." I reached for the stone that was in my coat pocket only to descover that my coat wasn't there! "Where is my coat?" I realized that my coat, shirt, and vest were all missing and the only thing covering my chest was a large bandage. Blue and purple bruises stuck out around the edges of the clean bandage.

"Calm down! Your coat is over there with the rest of your belongings. I needed to take off your shirt to clean your stomach." I calmed down slightly. He stopped cleaning for a moment and brought me my coat. I quickly reached in and pulled out the stone. Realizing that was what I wanted, he put the coat back.

"I was given this by a strange man on the road two days ago. He was a beggar so we gave him some food and in return he gave me this. It seemed like he wanted to get rid of it. Lately, it has been glowing unusually and causing me to feel strange."

"Strange how?" He interrupted.

"It makes me angry and then I feel like hurting someone." He reached for the stone but pulled back at the last moment.

"Are you normally like that?" he calm demeanor had changed as we talked and now he looked fearful.

"No! That's why it is so weird! I have never had such thoughts before."

He walked over to the table and searched through a stack of books for a moment. Finally, he pulled out a large, dusty book and brought it over. "I think I know what it is."

He flipped to a certain page and looked up at the stone as if comparing it. "Long ago, there was an incredibly evil man who was covered in darkness. He was a king that loved power. Every day, his lust grew as he ignored his subjects and hoarded his money. Finally, a wizard decided to do something about this evil man.

Now remember, this is just a legend so I do not know how much of it is true, if any. But, this wizard took a stone and cursed it. Then, he gave this stone to the king. The king at first thought it would help him gain power but eventually began losing his lust of power. As he tried to attack more villages to gain more power, he realized that it wasn't working. He called the wizard and demanded to know what the stone had done. The wizard said, 'This stone was given to you as a punishment. It does only one thing. It causes the heart to act the opposite of its true nature.

Because your heart is incredibly evil, it is making you good. You will lose your lust of evil things and no longer become king." Supposedly, everything happened as the wizard had said and no has heard of the king since. But, if that is the same stone, it would explain why you are acting abnormally. If your heart is truly good, then it is making you the opposite of that."

"It's making me evil? If that is true then tell me how to get rid of it!" I reached out my hand for the man to take it but he didn't accept it.

"No! Don't offer it to me. There is a way to rid it of yourself that is listed in this book. It says that if someone willingly helps you in anything, without you asking them, then the stone will detach itself from your heart and you can give it to that person, but that is horrible! Only a kind person would help someone without gain and to give it to a kind person would doom them! That is why I cannot take it, because I have freely helped you." He closed the book and returned it to the table.

"But I do not want it!" I pleaded.

"You must go to the elves. They will help you. I cannot help you anymore."

"But..."

"No! Rest now and in the morning you can leave. That thing is too much of a temptation here." After that, I knew the conversation was finished. I sighed and closed my eyes. At least I could get a good night's rest.

Yay! Third chapter posted! This was kinda long! I hope you enjoyed it guys! Also, so sorry it sook my forever to update, I have literally not had a chance to update this week. It has been so crazy busy, but thanks for your patience. Please, vote, comment, and spread the word about my stories! THANK YOU ALL!

Ithildaeforever