Artifact

The cottage huddled in the valley's embrace, swallowed by the thick forest. Harper, a shadow against the encroaching dusk, watched from the hill. The faint, happy sounds of children echoed from within, a painful counterpoint to the turmoil in her own heart.

Two years. Two years since she'd fled the Society of Ra, a stolen artifact clutched tight, leaving everything behind. Her name, once whispered with reverence, now carried the morbid curiosity of a great disappearance.

She ran a hand over the small, cold box in her pocket. 'Just this once,' she whispered, pulling her hood lower as she descended the treacherous hill. The faint lamplight from the windows offered a deceptive warmth.

Beth's eyes, wide with shock, nearly popped from her sockets when she opened the door. "Harper!" she gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "Are you... you're not here to—"

"No! It's not what you think," Harper rushed to reassure her, even as a painful itch shot up her arm, a familiar harbinger of the quasar's toll.