The Medallion of Tyringe

Chapter 1

Xander Davis woke up in the middle of the night from a horrendous nightmare, or so he thought. He walked out of his room to check and see if what he dreamed was there. To his greatest fear it was. It was a suspicious looking man who he thought was a killer or something of that kind. He then decided to speak to it and see if it was nice or not. To his surprise it happened to be his father who died almost ten years earlier.

"Son," his father said, "you must listen closely to what I have to say."

"Yes, father," replied Xander.

"You see this here? It is one of the most prized possessions of mine, but it must be delivered to a place far away from here. It will be extremely hard to get it there because many people know what it is and the family it came from."

His father then handed him an odd looking thing. He could not make out what it looked like in the middle of the night. It appeared to be the color silver but he wasn't sure. He thought that it may be a key to something or a medallion. Whatever it was it was very valuable and it was the kind of thing he could be killed over and for that he was scared to accept his father's favor. He wasn't even sure if his father was alive or not.

"Father, are you...are you a...a gho . . . "

"Yes son, I am a ghost. Do not tell anyone that you spoke to me at all. Not even your mother. You hear me?"

"Yes sir. Will I ever see you again . . . I mean after this?"

"I'm not sure son but if you do it will be permanent if you deliver the medallion to the Castle of Tyringe. Now go, go!"

So Xander grabbed his necessities and then set off east in the freezing cold of winter. He was happy to have spoken to his father for the first time in ten years and he was right now 18. The last time they had spoken was when Xander was only eight years old. Xander was an amazing archer for his age. Although, he wasn't the best, he could certainly match up with the best. It was a plus that he was skilled in a fighting style. Otherwise he would be defenseless against anyone who wanted the medallion. He set up camp under a huge oak tree in the middle of a forest. The trees had no leaves at all because of the cold. It was not a very good place to hide but he was extremely tired and wanted to get as much rest as possible.

The next morning he woke up very early. He opened his eyes startled by another human that he did not recognize. The man was pasty white with a long beard and very short hair. The man examined Xander's face to make sure that he was alive. He started faking sleep so that the man would leave him be.

"Wake up you pathetic excuse for a man," the man said. "I've never seen a man sleep for so long in my lifetime. Are you injured or sick or can you just not survive the cold? I bet that's it. That is always the problem. Get up I may be able to help you for whatever reason you are out here. You do know that these forests are thriving with thieves and bandits and . . . what is that?" He was gesturing toward the medallion with vast curiosity.

"Step back, old man," barked Xander, "that belonged to my father. I am supposed to take it to the Castle of Tyringe for some reason. Whatever the reason it will bring my father back from the dead. Or so he says."

"That is the . . . the Medallion of Tyringe? How did you get a hold of that? That is worth more than anything in these lands. May I touch it? Just so I can say I have. You can trust me. I will not steal it. I may look desperate for money but that thing would get me killed around these parts of the woods."

"You may. Did you say killed over this thing?"

"That is right." He grabs it and caresses it gracefully as if it were very fragile. "It is the key to many secrets only the king himself know."

"Wow. This must be an extremely valuable medallion. I've never seen one that can do so much. It will be hard to deliver it by myself. Didn't you say you trained with a sword? You probably didn't but I need one so if you have had training with a sword. Will you join me in delivering this medallion to the Castle of Tyringe?"

"Yes, I believe I will help you."