Chapter 10 (Part 11) is finally here! dances on spot Hope you guys like it…more coming as soon as I have more time!

In this chapter, they (finally) gain access to the Amulet of Phasma Mortuus, in the stone tower at the centre of the field of flowers. God, that sounds corny…ah, well. But guess who they meet there? Warning: Chapter ends in suspense…

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story; only the setting is mine. Jonathan Stroud rules the world!


That Is One Hot Amulet

"Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable." – Jane Austen

Nathaniel awoke early, troubled once again by his strange dreams. Who were the figures in that field, waving to him? He frowned, the details slipping away as they always seemed to…it was almost as if there was something he should be remembering…

Kitty was already awake. She smiled at him and gave him a cereal bar.

"Again?" he said sarcastically. Then he noticed she wasn't eating anything. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Well…" she paused. "It's really the last one. We might have to eat grass or something on the way back."

He started. After having gone through all they had, Nathaniel could hardly believe that he would be returning to London, to the life he knew.

He frowned, suddenly feeling odd. Going home would also mean that he and Kitty would probably not see each other at all. Not only that, they would have to choose which of them would bring the amulet back, should they find it. After being in her company and – he could scarcely believe this – falling in love with her, in a way, he would deeply regret their coming re-separation.

"Penny for your thoughts?" said Kitty amusedly.

"Nothing," he replied. "But why are you giving me the last one?"

She laughed. "You need it more than I do! Lose any more weight and you may as well be someone's shadow!"

Nathaniel stowed the food in his own pack.

"We'll save it and split it later," he said. "Let's get over this hill and take a look at where we're going, first."

To his surprise and delight, she leaned forward and kissed him on the nose.

"You're really getting into this adventure thing, aren't you?" she said. "Let's go, then."

"Don't you think we're moving a bit too fast?" Nathaniel said breathlessly as they trotted uphill to where the two djinn sat waiting for them.

"No, I like a brisk walk. We'll get there faster."

"No…I meant with, well, us. Do you remember that only one of us can return with the amulet? We're practically enemies, Kitty."

She stopped.

"After all this?" she said incredulously. "I don't think so. We'll work it out when we have to, but personally, I think we can have all the time we want together when we go back to London."

"But – I'm a magician!" he spluttered. "You're a commoner!"

"Does that honestly stand between us? I do really care about you, Nathaniel."

They were silent for a moment or two as they reached the hilltop (where Bartimaeus and Queezle stood in identical positions, hands on hips and one foot tapping impatiently.) The splendour before them was remarkable.

Every square inch of field before them, up to the very edges of the surrounding forest, were white flowers. In the light cast from above (they were still not certain it was a sun), they shone radiantly, like feathers on the wing of an angel. About a mile away, Nathaniel could see a small stone building.


The humans just wouldn't stop gaping at that field. Honestly, you'd think they'd never seen flowers before! I had to admit, however, it certainly could be compared with some of the most beautiful gardens of the world (like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; that took a while to build, and my back is still sore from it.)

We started off immediately, with both Queezle and I leading as there were now no more imminent dangers behind us. She seemed very happy, and it sort of rubbed off on me; soon, we found ourselves practically skipping along. I was sort of glad no one else was watching us.

As for Nathaniel? He was really surprising me. Kitty seemed to have uncovered that part of him he had tried to keep hidden, ever since he had become Ms. Whitwell's apprentice; it was the part of him that tended to be rather suicidal, but I appreciated it all the same. He was basically letting me do as I pleased here; then again, I think he was distracted enough with Kitty. I was surprised at how quickly their relationship seemed to progress; I was forced to conclude that the air on this island must have been making them giddy. I kind of missed the sniping, though.

Queezle suddenly stopped.

"What's the matter?" I said. "Afraid of squashing too many daisies?" She frowned.

"I felt something, just now." She was looking around us apprehensively. "Someone's here."

The back of my neck prickled. Call it intuition, but I could feel something weird going on as well…something or someone here with us. Even an ordinary human with some kind of talisman would register on my senses here. I looked back at Nat and Kitty; no problems there. They were chatting, both smiling…not that I didn't think of that as a problem, but it wasn't the kind of thing I was worried about.

"Let's just keep walking," I told Queezle. She shrugged and we went on our way.


As they approached the stone tower – it looked more like a chapel, in Kitty's opinion – her feeling of apprehension grew. She knew she shouldn't be afraid – there was nobody in there – but what if the Amulet of Phasma Mortuus wasn't there? To have come all this way for nothing was not a pleasant idea.

But was it really nothing? Kitty glanced at the grinning young man beside her. She was glad he had come, and shown her that other side of him she never would have guessed at, from their previous and rather disastrous meetings. She even wondered if she was really in love with him...a silly thought, but one she thought that Rose back home would appreciate. Kevin might even be jealous.

The door of the 'chapel' looked to be made of solid bronze, but Kitty knew it probably wasn't – where would demons get bronze on an island that didn't even have real rocks? It was very ornate, and decorated with strange designs that looked like Egyptian hieroglyphs. She could see Bartimaeus scanning it with interest and Nathaniel frowning as he translated in his head.

"What's it say?" she asked. Queezle looked eager; evidently she hadn't been to Ancient Egypt either.

"Nothing we don't know," said Nathaniel brusquely. "Just something about how great and powerful the marid spirits inside the amulet are."

"It doesn't even say why they did it," Bartimaeus said oddly. "I mean, honestly – if I was dead, would I want to imprison myself in some old piece of jewellery, just for the hell of it? I don't think so."

"Maybe they were bored," said Queezle. She giggled in a rather creepy, inhuman way.

They opened the door and went inside.

It was old and dusty, as if it hadn't been touched for many centuries, but the air around them was freezing cold; she shivered, realizing she hadn't even brought a coat on this expedition. Their footsteps raised clouds of dirt and dust almost as high as her knees, and beside her Nathaniel sneezed.

"Bless you," she said, looking around.

She saw the altar almost immediately – what was with this sudden religious turn on a demon's island? – And, on it a cloth covering something small and circular. She walked towards it carefully and slowly brushed off the cloth. It was the amulet.

Kitty vaguely remembered the Amulet of Samarkand as she had seen around Bartimaeus' neck; a great gold pendant with a green jewel in the centre. Much too gaudy for anyone to wear as a fashion statement, and this one didn't look a lot different.

It was about the right size to fit in her palm, a perfectly smooth circle about the width of slice of bread. Unlike everything else in the chapel, it shone as if it had been polished only yesterday, with what looked like a bright piece of sapphire in the centre. She touched it gingerly with one finger, but then yanked her hand back.

"What's wrong?" asked Nathaniel, coming up beside her. His eyes grew wide when they saw the amulet, and she wondered what he was thinking for the second time that day.

"It's hot," she said, surprised. "I don't understand. Everything else here is as cold as ice."

"Whoa," said Bartimaeus, standing on the other side of the altar in the form of the Egyptian boy. "That aura is huge. Sure Nouda or someone isn't in there?"

"Nouda has most definitely not been killed yet," said Nathaniel, shuddering, apparently at the very thought of that demon.

"Twenty marids, at least," said Queezle breathlessly, her little girl's eyes as round as saucers. "I can't believe I haven't heard about this before."

Kitty looked at Nathaniel, and he at her, and she could see fear and apprehension in his dark eyes. She felt the same; what would happen if she so much as held something of such great power?

Bartimaeus broke the silence, as per usual.

"Well, let's not grab it all at once," he said cheerfully. "Here, Kitty, I'll put it in your pocket for you."

Deftly clasping it by its long, thick chain, the djinni lifted the Amulet of Phasma Mortuus from the altar where it had always lain, and dropped into the pocket of Kitty's trousers. She could feel its heat in waves of power on her leg. Nathaniel watched her, his eyes worried – for me again? She wondered.

"Well, now, this is nice and cozy," came an unfamiliar voice from the doorway, "but I'm afraid I'll have to break up this little party."
She and Nathaniel turned slowly to where the two djinn, normally annoyingly placid, stood gaping at the doorway where a tall man stood. He had a long, dark beard, wore a long, dark, travel-stained cloak, and strange-looking boots. He clutched a silver disc and seemed to radiate an aura of malevolence Kitty had never seen before…


I guess I should have known he was behind all this. The mercenary always seemed to catch us at a very bad time, and this was no exception.

"Still wearing those boots, are you?" I said, trying to buy time. But he wasn't the sort to talk for long hours. His eyes glittered evilly as he surveyed us all.

"Still looking after this whelp?" he replied mockingly.

Well, I knew that comment would get to my master quicker than greased lightning. Face white with fury (which is pretty much as white as it could go…I swear, he was almost blue), Nathaniel took a step towards the mercenary. I could see his thin hands were trembling.

"You are under arrest," he said firmly.

"Nath – John, who is this?" Kitty asked, surprisingly remembering not to say his birth name in front of strangers.

"That's what you said last time, Mandrake," the mercenary said casually. "Remember what happened?"

"As I recall," said Nathaniel coldly, although he shook with fear and anger, "we stopped you from creating the second golem and knocked you out of a window."

Score one for the kid! The big guy frowned.

"Be that as it may, it will not stop me from killing you today," he said. "Or her, at least."

"Do I know you?" said Kitty, narrowing her eyes. Oh, things were heating up.

"I believe you have met my master," he said icily. "He set up the destruction of the Resistance two years ago…unfortunately, you escaped to create another."

"The benefactor? The man in the theatre?" The girl looked furious; this was most definitely not her favourite subject.

"That's right. You," he continued, speaking to my master again, "were not even supposed to make it here, but since your little girlfriend dragged you along you shall have to die, too. My employer cannot afford little children running off to tell on him." The smile on his weathered face was terrifying, even for a seasoned djinni like me.

"I think it is time," the mercenary said carefully, "for you to be introduced to my companion, summoned by my master and several of his friends for my convenience…I wonder if you have heard of him?" He motioned behind him. I checked the seventh plane; to my horror, it was the very marid who had created the Compression earlier on. Worst of all, I knew him from a battle with the Iroquois.

"Morgral," he said. "Your masters ordered you to follow my orders, did they not?"

"Yes, master," said a deep voice that came, to me, from the darkest depths of the Other Place.

"Then here is your charge; destroy this building and everything in it. If the dead djinni's essence survives, capture and hold her until I get enough silver to make her an appropriate tomb."

With these rather unsettling words, which caused the colour to drain out of Nathaniel's and Kitty's faces, the mercenary left the room. He was miles away in seconds, but we could hear the marid's horrible laughter from outside.

There was a loud explosion and the stones began to rain down upon us.


Okay, hope you liked that! I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP, but I've been neglecting my other fic so I might do that chapter first. Thanks for reading, please review!