The Artifact

The man looked like any other man that would have been walking down the street. He approached Eric with the stealth of a shadow. Eric didn’t even realize that the man was standing directly behind him.

“What would you say if I offered you great power?” the man asked. His eyes were hungry for an answer. Eric was amused.

“What are you talking about, old man?”

“Imagine the riches of the world at your fingertips,” the man’s voice was coarse with age. His voice was much older than the rest of him indicated.

“Whatever it is you’re selling, I’m not interested,” Eric brushed him off.

“What about powers? You can have abilities that exceed man’s imagination,” the man saw that Eric’s interest was piqued despite how much he tried to hide it. “You’ll be able to fly, tell the future; you can fly, you’ll have super strength. Whatever you can imagine, you can have it.”

“You’re crazy,” Eric began to walk away. He turned his head to look back at the mysterious stranger to find him gone. As he turned his confused face towards the direction he was walking, there he was. “That’s impossible.”

“The impossible is what I am offering you,” he smiled at Eric knowing that he had found the right person.

“How did you do that? There’s no way you could’ve ran that fast without me seeing you,” Eric tried to reason.

“That’s because I didn’t run. I teleported. Like I said, I’m offering you these abilities, and riches beyond you’re comprehension.”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

“Everything for nothing isn’t exactly an even trade.”

“I’ve got to respect a man who respects reciprocity,” the man unbuttoned his shirt and pulled out a necklace with a decorative, ornate talisman hanging from it. “This is my secret. It was given to me in my travels around the world.” Eric reached out for hit and the stranger swiped it away from me.

“And you want all this for nothing, am I right?”

“That is correct, my good man.”

“Why? What’s the catch?”

“Why, there’s no catch. I have had this in my possession since fighting in Europe,” the man explained. Eric realized that this man did not appear to be old enough to have fought in any conflict in Europe. “I’ve simply enjoyed its powers to its maximum and grew tired of it. I’d like to know what it’s like to live life without this artifact, and offer its blessings to you.”

“Why me?”

“You seem like an upstanding young man. I think everyone deserves a chance to use the artifact, but you happen to be the first person I bumped into today. And after all, you do seem interested. You are interested, aren’t you?”

“Okay, old man, I’ll take the necklace off your hands,” Eric smiled slyly at the man, “As long as I get a chance to test it out, first.” The man smiled a sinister smile at Eric as he took the talisman from around his neck.

“But of course,” he placed the artifact around Eric’s neck. Eric smiled and took off with a shot air away from the old man. He was amazed at the power he had attained and decided to come back to the stranger to thank him. The man was staring at Eric, smiling at him. The stranger’s feet then snapped and he fell to his knees. Eric caught him and saw that the old man was laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Eric asked.

“That artifact makes you immortal. I hope you enjoy your youthful looks. You will be stuck with it for a long, long time. Fortunately, my age has caught up with me and I am able to enjoy the release of death. For nearly a century, I have seen my loved ones grow old, wither, and die. And I had to deny myself the ability to love again lest I suffer that same cycle. But now I can die, I can rest in peace,” and with that, the stranger melted into dust and was taken away by the breeze.

Frightened, Eric took off the talisman and threw it in a trash receptacle. As he walked away, his chest began to burn as if a fire had been pressed up against it. Eric lifted up his shirt and found the artifact had found its way back to its new owner. He looked at the dust blowing around in the street, and wondered how long before he would wish for death to relieve him of the mysterious artifact.