Jon threw up his hands as the armed men approached, their swords glinting in the forest sun.
"Who are you?" demanded the leader, a muscular man with a bushy beard.
"I'm...uh...just a traveler," Jon stammered, unsure of what time period he had landed in.
The men looked puzzled. "A traveler? Dressed like that?" one asked, pointing at Jon's sleek white jumpsuit, so different from their ragged medieval clothes.
Jon tried to think of a convincing lie. "Yes, from a faraway land. Please, I mean you no harm."
The leader narrowed his eyes. "Search him," he ordered. Two men grabbed Jon's arms while another rifled through the pouches on his suit.
"Some kind of sorcerer's clothes these are," the man muttered. His eyes lit up when he found the maple leaf. "And what manner of strange item is this?"
He held it up to Jon's face. Jon couldn't let them damage the leaf, his whole mission depended on it. He had to get out of this situation, fast.
As the men argued about what to make of Jon and his odd belongings, he noticed a steep ravine to his left. If he could just break free and leap into it, the men would struggle to follow in their heavy armor...
With a burst of desperate strength, Jon wrenched his arms free and dove toward the ravine. He heard shouts of surprise as he plummeted down into the rocky gorge, the men peering over the edge above. Scrambling to his feet, Jon took off running down the shadowy canyon. For now, he had escaped.
But he was still lost in an unfamiliar world, with angry medieval men after him. Clutching the precious maple leaf tight, he pushed onward through the ravine. He had to find the right place to plant this leaf to try and change the bleak future ahead.