Excerpt from Chapter 1
I was sitting by a tree trunk, chewing on a bit of dried meat, when I saw her. She was dressed in a robe, of light yet sturdy looking material, finely spun, and trousers that seemed to be the skin of some animal. She was carrying a small basket. She did not walk; she seemed to appear out of thin air, and I scrambled to my feet. Hurrying to pick up the sword, I offered it to her, hilt first, to show I meant no harm. She must have understood the impression I was trying to make, for acceptance danced in her cool green eyes, and she smiled at me. She uttered some words in a strange, lilting language, very like song, and a bird flew from the tree and alighted on the sword as it changed hands. I was reaching into the pocket of my tunic for a handful of honeyed roasted nuts, as a peace offering, when I heard a faint twang. I felt a crushing blow upon my head, as if I had been struck with a hundred hammers all at once, and I fell to the floor, unconscious.