The Amulet of Parell
an excerpt

The sound of a coming storm shrieked on the horizon. The sky was dark and filled with rage. Clouds rolled over as lightning streaked across the violent darkness and the rain began to fall, pouring down in a sheet of large drops. Dark figures could be seen running through it, disrupting the even flow of the rain towards the muddied ground.

Lightning flashed again, illuminating the pale face of a young woman. She was drenched from head to toe; the cloak she was wearing was plastered to her skin. Her green eyes stood out the most, as she turned her head to look behind her.

Two others were following her. Dressed in dark clothing, they blended in nicely with the night. Unfortunately, the cracks of lightning gave away their presence, as well as the woman’s. Her hand was wrapped tightly over an object around her neck and she seemed to be squeezing onto it for dear life. Her small knuckles were white and she could feel her long nails digging into the palm of her hand.

“Return!” She called out over the darkness, thunder rumbling overhead and drowning out her words. She yelled it again. “Return!”

The two figures stopped, but were not frightened. They stalked closer, moving slowly. The woman had stopped for a reason and they knew that she could not escape them. Behind her, the drop was incalculable, down to an abyss of darkness. Her head turned to the side to look down as the men stepped closer. The sound of her heart beat was drowned out by the sounds of nature; hidden, but fast and loud. Her breath was coming heavily.

“There is no escape. Surrender.”

One of the men spoke, his voice husky and tired. The woman knew that if there had been only land stretching behind her, that she would have been able to escape them. Out run them. The other, shorter man, stood around dumbly, waiting for some kind of sign from the taller. She knew of them, but she had never met them before. Especially the taller one, She had heard rumors of his ferocity.

“I will never.” She replied, a mere whisper. Her eyes turned down to the object wrapped in her hands. When she let them go, a bright glowing pink began to emit from the object. It was an amulet, made of crystal. It was glowing vibrantly, illuminating the woman’s face.

“I thought you had it! You said you had it!” The shorter man started spurting, sputtering, and lisping. There was fear in his voice and the woman could not help but smile. “She will not be happy. Not not not.”

The shorter, bustier man began to ramble and pace, but the other stood still. The taller man was cool and collected, where his partner was not. He would never understand the reasons behind being sent with the rambler, or the idiot as most called him. He would not have to worry much longer.

“The magic within is damaged. She knows this.”

The woman glared at him, knowing that he was right. She had been hoping to scare them off at the mere thought of being destroyed by a powerful object, but she had come to realize that it was now impossible. The amulet burned brightly, but its magic had burned out.

The taller man released a long sword from his sheath as lightning crossed the sky. The woman had no weapons on her, but she was not going to go with them lightly. She let the amulet rest on her chest against the beating of her heart, hoping it would send renewed vigor into the magical object.

The man came closer, his steps sounding squished in the mud as his boots sunk deep inside it. All that crossed his mind was the reward for the capture of this woman. All that he was thinking about was bringing her back: dead or alive. Either made no matter to him.

The shorter man was still pacing, but he was all but forgotten by the other two. The rain was alleviating and the drops were falling less frequently and with less intensity. The woman was breathing heavily and nervously. She was beginning to feel lightheaded and deep down she simply wished that she would fall into the abyss behind her.

Their eyes were locked, brown on green. The woman brought her leg up and kicked out, years of training showing in her movement. The man stepped to the side and swung his word, nearly missing her knee. He cackled, shaking his head as they began to circle each other.

“Do you really think you can win?”

She did not answer. Instead, she balled her hands into fists. She was small, much smaller than him, but she was not stupid. She brought her leg up again between his legs, letting it connect with his crotch.

His face twisted in pain and she grinned in victory. “Yes.”

The man bent over and moaned in agony, his hand resting on it and his sword fallen from his grasp. The woman picked it up and threw a threatening glare at the other, turning back away from the cliff. She was running now, as fast as she possible could. All she could think about was returning home and telling her father what had happened to her.

Part way through the field, she began to hear humming. The thunder was far off now and the lightning had not streaked the sky for a long time. She slowed, her feet slamming against the wet mud distracting her from the song. She listened and looked down at the glowing crystal across her neck.

She stopped and grasped her hands around it, holding it up to her ear.

“You have returned to me...” She breathed, a small smile crossing her face.

She took a step forward, dropped the sword, with her heart soaring as she disappeared from sight.

The woman found herself walking from an open, muddied field into a snow covered forest. Her clothes were still drenches and she hugged herself, rubbing her hands up and down over her cloak. The place was unfamiliar and she was not sure what had happened. The amulet had never teleported her from one place to another before and she knew that its song was possibly an indication of its renewed vigor.

The song was gone now. And the amulet was no longer glowing.

The woman walked, her bearskin shoes soaked through from the previous rain and now the snow. She tucked the amulet into the top of her dress, eager to avoid any awkward questions from towns folk.

Though, as she walked, she could feel the forest thinning. She thought that maybe in an open field she would be able to figure out where exactly she was. As she got closer, she heard the sound of a raven cawing. It seemed as if the sun had just begun to rise and as she walked out of the forest, she saw a dirt road in front of her, a fence behind it, and large crops.

A man in jeans and a heavy jacket was walking by. He was leading a cow that had gone astray from his farm as he noticed the woman that had come out of the woods. Her hood had since been lifted from her head and her dark red hair could be seen curling, but wet, around her shoulders. He noticed that she was small and thin and as she looked at him, his own blue eyes could not escape hers.

She bowed her head to him and he laughed, placing a strong hand beneath her chin and lifting her head up so that he could stare into her eyes.

“I did not mean to happen across your path, sir.” She replied meekly, knowing that she was completely alone and unarmed with any weapon. Her eyes glanced over him and wondered who in the world had tailored his clothes. His own eyes were drinking in her attire as he dropped his hand from her chin.

“Don’t worry. I don’t even own the road.” He was grinning, joking with her, but she did not understand.

“Who does own this road? Perhaps, I may know him and pay respects for being allowed to cross it.”

The man laughed again, ruffling his curly brown hair and shaking his head. “I’m not sure anyone does. Its only a road of dirt.”

She bit her lip a bit and crossed her arms, looking up and down both ways. At the end of the road to her left, she could see a house and another large barn. There were contraptions and machines in the yard that she had never seen before.

“What is the name of this place?”

The man lifted an eyebrow curiously, wondering how the woman could wander, dressed as she was, into an unknown region. “Rural Pennsylvania.”