Chapter 1 : The Shield of Baskur

Sweat dripped down Arthur's forehead into his eye as he ran.
He glance over his shoulder and made sure no one saw him or what he held. He couldn't believe it.
How could it be here?
Arthur knew there was no way to get to his world from the Forgotten Worlds.
He was able to do it last time because he was from the (material) plane, the world of his origin.
Even then, it took everything he had and a lot of help to get here.
So how could it be here?
He left it in a vault, under lock and key, protected by enchantments and shimmer-fields, under the care of the wisest person he ever met.
However it got here, Arthur was going to have to find a way to get it back – or his secret, and his world, would be in danger.

He glanced over his shoulder again; no one there.

He was on one of his weekend walks when he saw the shield laying in the gravel of his school's playground.
It sat as if it were waiting for him, patient and obedient, ready to be worn once again.

Was it a call from the Forgotten World? Did Morrigan need him? Could it be a warning?
Arthur had to find out, so he grabbed the shield and ran.

He turned the corner, and ran up the street to his house. He ran through the driveway and around to the back.
He hopped over the broken part of the fence, where the wooden door dug into the dirt instead of swinging open.

He looked to the bird bath in the corner of his backyard. Good, he thought, it's not empty.
It rained last night, so it was clean. A robin sat on the edge, shaking off its bath.
Arthur grabbed a smooth gray rock the size of his palm that sat at the base of the bird bath.
He placed it gently into the water and began to whisper into the air:

"Bring forth the forgotten, remember the hidden, enter the sealed. Askenra hudento!"

The rock began to float to the top of the water. Ripples spread from the center.
The ripples didn't bounce from the edge of the bowl. They disappeared, as though there were no edge.
The ripples came faster and faster until

Ploink!

The rock shot up in front of Arthur's face and rotated in the air.
It hung, suspended, spinning.
The water was still now.
It reflected a red and purple sky.
The smell of wood smoke seemed to come from nowhere.
A voice came from the water.

"Arthur? What ever could you be calling for?"

A young person's face was now in the water's reflection. They had a kind and gentle face, with eyes that seemed older than the rest of her.
Their hair was braided from two rows where the sides met the top of their head, into a long tail draped over their shoulder.
They wore a green, flowing gown and held a wooden spoon the length of a wooden ruler as if they were ready to use it to hit something.

"Morrigan, it's here. The Shield of Baskur, it's here!'"