I meant to update sooner, but for some reason this chapter was hard for me to write. There isn't much action or romance in this one, but it's important nevertheless. Next chapter we will meet some more characters.
Please review and let me know what you think, your feedback is what keeps me going :)
"Your amulet?" Jade narrowed her eyes in confusion and astonishment, her fingers still clutched around the golden necklace, that was now shimmering in the sunlight as they stepped out of the building. The pendant was rather big and oval-shaped. A few green gems beset the rim; Jade assumed they were emeralds, even though she had never actually given much thought to it. Most importantly, the back and front side of the amulet met in the middle, giving the impression that something was hidden inside the pendant.
Beck's eyes were firmly fixed on the piece of jewelry in Jade's hands. He nodded. "Yes, I'm sure it's–" His explanation was interrupted when suddenly, the amulet started glowing. Jade's eyes widened.
"There!" she exclaimed, pointing at the object in her hands. It was the most excited Beck had ever seen her. (Not that he had known her all that long.) "It's doing it again! This–" She lifted the amulet higher in the air. "This is what happened yesterday. I was wearing it, and suddenly it started glowing exactly like this. That's when I lost my focus, because I didn't know what was happening and stuffed it in my bag. I think it might–"
But Jade didn't get to finish telling Beck about her theory, as the amulet, just as fast as it had started glowing, now started moving. It wiggled in her hands, and with a sudden gasp of surprise, she let it go. It flew out of her hands and flopped against Beck's chest with a thump. He was quick to catch it before it could hit the ground, but the expression on his face was just as startled as Jade's.
They exchanged a glance. "It didn't do that yesterday," she said, eyeing the amulet suspiciously.
Beck glanced around. They were still on the grounds of the old building, and he didn't like this neighborhood much, either. He closed his fist around the pendant. "I think we should go back to the Institute."
/ / /
"So," Jade said as she plopped down on the bed in Beck's room. It was still unmade from the night before, just as they had left it in the morning, when they left for the abandoned house. Beck was already lying sprawled out on the bed, holding the amulet in the air just above his face to examine it. Jade was right beside him now, eyes on the amulet as well. "What makes you think this is yours?"
Beck turned to look at her, interested, and raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think this is yours?"
"Well, for instance, I've had it for almost ten years. Hanging round my neck, to be precise. I never took it off - until yesterday," she told him, unfazed. Letting herself fall back, so she was lying down next to him, she shot him a challenging glance, awaiting his response.
But his expression looked rather startled than impressed or intimidated by what she had just told him. "Ten years?" he asked, and the sudden vulnerability in his voice made her drop all playfulness. She gave him a quick, worried glance and just nodded. "Where did you get it?"
"I don't really remember," she admitted, eyes fixed on her hands now. When she noticed that his expression was mixed with some kind of disbelief and confusion at her words, she sighed and started explaining, "There was a fire in my village, we were under attack. I don't remember all that much of it –everything happened so fast– but after I had managed to flee from the demons and was a fair way off, I noticed that I was holding something." She gestured at the gleaming jewelry in Beck's hands.
His eyes had widened with every word she said. For a short moment he just stared at her, unable to speak as he was trying to make sense of the clutter of thoughts in his mind. He thought he felt the amulet in his hands moving again, but when he glanced down, he realized that it had just been his imagination playing tricks on him. Still gazing at the golden necklace, he asked, "What did you say you were from?"
Jade hesitated. Sharing personal information with strangers wasn't exactly her favorite pastime, and she hadn't even known Beck for a full day, but eventually she answered nevertheless. "I grew up in a small village in the north of Idris," she said.
"Can you tell me more about that night?" He sat up, giving her a stern look.
She furrowed her eyebrows and returned the look. "Some demons somehow managed to get into the country," she told him, now gazing at her hands. "I think it is still unknown how they did it. It was in the middle of the night, when they suddenly started attacking us. Within minutes the whole village was burning. I could get out of my house just in time. Many people weren't that lucky. I was alone. I just tried to get away as far as possible, I was way too young to fight." She paused for a short moment, thinking. "That's about all I remember."
"Nothing else?" His eyes, determined and earnest, seemed to bore into hers.
"Beck, I don't see how this is of any–"
"Please," he said. "I think I know why you had my amulet, but I need to be sure. Tell me everything you remember."
"Fine," she sighed, then went silent for a second or two, trying to remember more details. She didn't like thinking about that day, over the years she had pushed it to the back of her mind. "I saw a demon ripping apart a woman–not a nice view for a six-year-old. There was a man–I believe it was my old teacher, but I'm not sure–fighting a Behemoth demon with a whip. I found a boy about my age in front of a burning house and took him with me, away from the fire. Then there–"
"That's it!" Beck suddenly exclaimed. In his excitement, he let go of the amulet. It landed in his lap. "I knew it, I knew it was you. You–you saved my life."
Jade gave him a confused look, shaking her head. "What are you talking about?"
"The boy– that was me. You saved me that day." He beamed at her, and she sat up, a look of confusion and disbelief still plastered over her face.
"You're from my village," she breathed, more to herself than to him, but he caught it and nodded.
"The amulet–" He picked it up from where he had dropped it and held it up for her to see. "My father gave it to me that night, just seconds before the demons set fire to our house. I held it in my hands the whole time. I think when you pulled me up and led me out of the village, I might have subconsciously handed it to you."
Jade took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. Her blue extensions stood out from the black radiantly. "Wow," she said, the word leaving her mouth together with the air she exhaled. "This is crazy. I haven't seen anyone from my village since I left ten years ago."
"What about your parents?" Beck asked carefully, knowing that over half of the population had died that night, including his own parents.
Her expression darkened. "They were killed."
"I'm sorry." He bit his lip. "Mine too."
They sat in an overwhelming silence for a short moment that almost felt like an eternity. Still, in a strange way, Jade felt understood for the first time in her life. Here, right in front of her, sat someone who had experienced the same she had. The attack, the fire, the loss of the most important people in their life. It was comforting to know that after all, she wasn't completely alone in this world. Eventually, Jade cleared her throat. "So, do you have any idea what magic your dad used on the amulet?"
Beck looked up. "Magic?"
"Yeah, it's obvious under a spell. Not just this weird stuff it's been doing, I've also never managed to open it in all those years, even though it's clearly one of those pendants that you can put something in." Beck followed her movements as she pointed at the golden oval.
"Maybe it's stuck?" he suggested. "It looks old, who knows."
But Jade shook her head. "No, I've tried opening it more than once, using knives and whatnot, but it just won't open. There's a stronger force making sure that no one gets to the core."
He frowned at the amulet, running his fingers over its side, where the front and back formed a slit. He slipped his fingernail inside and lifted it slightly, to see if he would be met with any resistance. But to his surprise, the opposite happened, and with a tiny clink the pendant sprung open. Gaping first at the amulet in his hands, then turning to Jade, he said, "Are you sure you did it right?"
"By the Angel," she exclaimed in amazement. "How did you do that?"
He slightly shook his head in bewilderment, and looked down at the golden pendant, which now showed a tiny old picture of three people. Beck didn't have to look twice to recognize them. It was his parents and him, when he was still a little boy. When everything was still okay, he thought, not without feeling a pang in his chest. They looked perfectly happy and content in the sepia-colored picture. His mothers hand rested on six-year-old Beck's shoulder, and his father looked down at his little family with pride. "I don't know, I just opened it."
"That's probably part of the spell," Jade said thoughtfully, eyeing the photograph. "But there must be more to it. Do you have any idea what your father could have wanted you to do with the amulet?"
He pondered over it for a while, before shaking his head. "I can't think of anything. That was such a long time ago and everything happened so fast..."
Jade crossed her arms in front of her chest, making a face. "Well how do we find out?"
Beck snapped the pendant shut and gave her a triumphant smile. "I know someone who might be able to help us."
