They sat in council for a long time, looking often at each other with a question in their glance, looking for reassurance of one position or another, moving shiftily away to gaze at the open window or one of the beautiful dancers around the fire, pulling the flames up like strands of molten glass, winding the sparks into a rhythm unto itself, cascading and fading with the music. One man spoke slowly, as if breath itself was a hard to find thing, carefully expressing each word. “And all the same, our theories and probabilities are all shattered, foresight cast to the fire as if worthless for all the good it has done us, our hands are tied to the…” he struggled to find the correct wording, “.. Amulet, every time it is taken out of the confines of our community something unexplained happens, like it is a token of bad fortune.” This statement was instantly followed by a chorus from the others, enthusiastically proclaiming their approval to the old man’s words, and he continued. “How can all these wise men sit around, getting fat off of our lambs and drunk off our wine, making predictions and accusations that are never to be resolved… And this … Thing.. slips by their wisdom!” At this the group stood up and applauded , hoots and whistles coming from the circle around the fire , as the old man had risen to quite a temper and was now audible from a distance. Obviously the commoners felt similarly about the mystics who huddled in a small group near the edge of the flames, hoping to remain ambiguous. At this another man spoke in a strong but gentle voice “You who have all this knowledge and insight, come forward now and tell us your true feelings on this matter!”, his eyes glinting in the firelight, the fingers of one hand gripping a well used staff, the other raised up pointing towards the hooded group of cowering magicians. “Let us hear the whole story now..” And they assembled into a line and sheepishly came to the council, incense wafting from a large urn carried by one, saturating the air with the sweet scent of wood resin and oils, who placed it at the edge of the circle and another began speaking in a confident, yet cautious tone “The boy talks vividly of two apparitions, repeating this vision he had while apparently sleeping in the desert while tending sheep. It sounds like a dream to everyone here; I assure you it is not just his wild childish imagination. We feel there is some truth to the boys words, after the events as of late….” At this his voice trailed off, overwhelmed by the booming shout from a man who suddenly stood up and flung himself towards the group. “Now you say that? Why did you not tell us you had feelings about that when we counseled last week! Does it take catastrophe before you can predict anything?” At this the old man again spoke in a quiet yet commanding voice “Oh now, I doubt we need to cause more problems now, please, let the men speak.” And he motioned again for the magi to resume their explanation.
“But here, the doubt of the beings existence is at a loss, the team we sent to where young Amman grazes his flock, they returned with news that the sand is indeed greatly compressed in areas, unlike anything they have seen elsewhere. It is quite possible the story of this boy is true, as outrageous as that seems to be. But now if you combine that mystery with the strange events of the last days, I cannot doubt we are carrying a powerful token, but of good or evil I am unsure. Its intentions are unknown, for it seems to be inactive in our presence. Our understanding is that Amman was gifted this as a burden to carry, to carry but it has its own protection, as witnessed by the unfortunate Kassad who we will miss greatly.” At this the fire erupted in a shower of sparks along with a powerful grumble from the eavesdropping tribesmen. But the magi continued “However, it is now known that Kassad acted in selfish ways, trying to gain possession of the token by ill practices, trickery. It is our suggestion that if the token is treated with care and respect, as a .. holy and sacred thing.. then no harm will befall its carriers.” And with this final word they again took a place in the shadows around the edge of the fire.