Beginning

„What a day…“, Mike said to himself. It was already quite late when his last lecture finally ended and he was hoping to get home to his dorm without further delays, because there was still work to do for him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he overlooked an elderly lady strolling across campus and walked right into her, hurting himself at some of the jewelry she was wearing. Usually he could keep his temper, but today was just one of those days and after the endless lecture marathon he was simply on the edge.

„Watch out where you are going granny!“, Mike shouted nonchalant.

„You should respect the elders“, the woman replied calmly but with a hint of a threat in her tone.

„You should go back to you retirement home instead of helplessly creeping over the campus.“

„Watch your words young man. I am neither in need of a retirement home, nor am I helpless. But you should decide now what to do. Apologize for your rude behavior or face the consequences.“, her tone becoming warning.

Mike was getting more enraged by the second. This old woman could have simply left but now she is provoking him. He didn’t know but he was about to do something stupid.

„Apologize? I would rather sit in another boring lecture before apologizing to such an old hag. Now get out of the way!“, he said and tried pushing her away.

The woman was not thinking about stepping aside. Instead she stared at Mike with a sinister gaze, that sends a cold shiver down your neck. „You would rather…, well I can work with that.“, with a quick movement, that seemed impossible for a woman of that age, she pulled a small card out of her pocket and threw it at Mike. The card stuck to his jacket but Mike did not realize it, as he was forcing his way past her at the same moment. He did not pay any attention to her anymore and made his way home.

His rage subsided when he entered his dorm room. He took a deep breath after closing the door and hopes to finally relaxe a little bit. When he took off his jacket the card fell to the ground where he noticed it for the first time. It was a bit bigger than a card from a usual playing deck and had a dark blue color with golden ornaments. Curiously he picked it up and inspected it further. Ok the backside was a strange symbol he had never seen before. It looked like an old rune. When he turned it over he could see a text written in delicate golden lines.

„Would you rather…“