Riley`, a gypsys curse.

[Aeri`]

The folds of her deeply lined skin hung slack around her eyes, but the eyes themselves glinted sharply with knowledge as she peered into her crystal ball. An ordinary person might see a hint of swirling smoke in the crystal, but for Ada, it was an opening to another place and when she wished, another time. As her hands waved slowly over it, the image she had been seeking became clear.

Bony fingers pulled the shining gold of a necklace from the corpse of an ancient wyrm. The necklace's holder cackled in appreciation, obviously feeling at least the slightest hint of its power. What was left of the party after the trip to Destard to retrieve the artifact congratulated one another on their success. Ada rasped her own congratulations at the ball, one they would never hear. They had made her job at least somewhat easier.

Waving a gnarled hand once more over her crystal ball, the image began to dissolve and change. In its place a new image formed - that of a small pond surrounded by immaculately manicured hedges and inviting benches for sitting. In the darkness of night surrounding the pond lay a thin gypsy girl, sleeping peacefully on a worn bedroll. As Adelle began tapping a long, curved fingernail on the top of the crystal ball, the gypsy girl started twisting and turning.

She rose with a start and peered around in the semi darkened room. The nightmare had come again to Riley. She drew her long lean legs up and rested her chin upon them. Tears of fright had slipped from sapphire coloured eyes and trailed along her cheeks and she wiped them quickly with the back of her hand. Her chin lifted in determination."It will not come to past..it can not!" Her small hands balled into fists as words escaped her lips.

She would escape. It was the only way. Her meger belongings stuffed into a bag and she took flight from her home. All her cherished memories would be lost in the folds of her mind. She could not remember them, any of them...for their lives were held in the palm of her hand...

Through the forests she traveled from afar till she reached the outskirts of Mirken Wood. It was a fresh start, a new beginning. The girl would find the stables within the town and steal up the ladder for the night. Perhaps this would be her new home till she found suitable means to move on...