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I held the small golden globe in my hands. It felt like for such a heavy metal, but its lustre was as magnificent as any piece of gold jewellery I had ever seen. All around the globe were faint markings of some strange language, foreign or possibly ancient. I was vexed as too why such a unique and valuable artefact came to be in the possession of a band of orcs.

My battle had been short and victorious. By using the creeping darkness to my advantage I had slowly picked off each grotesque abomination as it ventured too far from the safety of the camp. This time the flights of my arrows were true to their mark. One by one they fell. Too drunk to even notice that their numbers were dwindling until it was too late. The land was in balance again, for now.

Searching the desolate camp that the orcs had hastily created for themselves I had come across little of any interest. Only a few coins and odd pieces of weaponry obviously accrued during their previous plundering. That is until I searched what appeared to be the orc captain. In a small plain brown cotton bag tied to his waist I had found the ornately carved ivory box. Wiping away the dried blood that stained the top of the box I noticed that engraved on the lid was a large serpent. The eyes of this serpent were made with two small but perfectly cut diamonds, the clarity of which would take the breath away of the most seasoned jeweller. Upon opening this delicate box I found the globe. My enigma. For even at first glance it was obvious that this was no mere piece of fancy decoration.

Night still claimed the land; it would be several hours until dawn would shower the world in the first rays of the morning light. I decided it would be foolhardy to remain inside this dreadful camp; the events of the last twenty-four hours had made me cautious. I reasoned if there was one band of such creatures abroad there may well be another. I placed the globe carefully back into its special box and slipped it into my trouser pocket. Quietly, like a mouse, I made my way back out of the camp to the hillock where I had first sought refuge earlier. Once I was concealed under the abundant holly bush again I felt a sudden tiredness ease itself into my body and my eyelids started to close. Within minutes I was fast asleep in another world of dreams.