Since I'm a Mod, my submission isn't up for vote, but I couldn't resist putting in a non-voteable submission. (Not that I'd win, any way, looking at the other submissions so far!) And the image insisted its story be told.

And as I staggered across the glen, I spied my salvation. Jutting out from the verdant green, the rune worn Eternity Stone beckoned me onward. Whispers of peace caressed my ears as the promises of riches had months before. What garish gold had stolen from me, solid stone would return.

The medallion seemed to grow lighter each step, as if it knew it's time had come. It had slaked it's thirst for blood a thousand times over; there would be no thousand and first.

I was but a few arms lengths away when the sky blackened and the gentle breeze died. The medallion blazed in fury, searing my chest as the spirit burst forth in front of me.

"If my master is freed of me, I am freed of my master," she said. Her face curled into a sneer. "And I could feed on whomever I chose." She held up a glowing orb in each hand. "Does my master chose life or freedom?"

I made the only choice I could.