Chapter 16 The 6th pendant of power

the 6th pendants location revealed.

Chapter16

The 6^th pendant of power

I stared in disbelief as Amelia removed the hat that had hidden her female face in shadows her blond hair fell down it was now only at her shoulders and looked like it had been cut with a dagger. “That them I showed into the castle” the man beside Amelia who was obviously the leader looked from me to Amelia and back again.

“You must be good to survive entering how you did”

“Just give us out money and we will leave” I said keeping my voice level. The leader laughed.

“Or what?”

“Or I can take it by force” The leader laughed again at my answer.

“You and your friends are surrounded”

“I’ll take on all your people by myself and win” I said calmly “give us our money or I WILL take it by force”

“Come and get it then” the leader said I drew my sword as kids wearing rags surrounded me some as young as 7 others as old as 18. A guy in front of me came forward fast and I swung my sword behind me parrying a blow from the girl who thought she had snuck up behind me the guy was already going back to his position from his faint a 10 year old girl was the first to fall as she came at me from my right. I slammed my sword hilt into her nose then hit her on the top of her head with the flat of my blade she crumpled out cold. Next were two boys about 16 and 17. One came from the left the other from in front. Both had proper swords I swung mine in a wide and high arc as the boy in front of me came at me sword high I hit his blade bringing it down in time for his blade to catch the other mans sword then with a couple of blows I had 2 more on the ground in about 3 minutes every one who had opposed me was groaning on the floor some were crawling away all I had to show for it was a slight sweat and a long scratch on my cheek it wasn’t deep but it was painful. Suddenly Amelia was thrown at my feet on her knees. I looked up to see the leader with a sword in his hand pointed directly at Amelia’s neck

“Step back” he growled and touched the point to Amelia’s neck lightly to make the point. Amelia whimpered. I stepped back.

“You would kill her so you can have the money she stole?” I asked “wouldn’t it be more profitable to keep her? Seeming as she seems to be able to steal?” Amelia lifted her head and I saw something hanging from her neck that must have slipped out of the baggy top she wore. The leader smiled “yes that’s true” he said and grabbed an 8 year old boy and girl who were side by side he threw them at the floor beside Amelia. Would you really go from petty thief to child murderer?” I asked. He smiled cruelly “I’m already on the other side of the law”.

“Really? How interesting now please drop the sword before I have to kill you I hate blood” said a sickly sweet voice that I knew only too well. The leader dropped his sword as Amy appeared behind him with a knife of her own sticking rather hard in his back I grabbed Amelia and dragged her back with us lets go I said handing a struggling Amelia to Emily who had activated her pendant. As I followed I noticed Ryan getting out his bow and before I was out of hearing I heard the surprised exclamation of the man I turned to see him hit the ground an arrow in his forhead Ryan walked up to me

“He was gonna kill those kids anyway” he told me. I nodded I knew it to be true I had seen it in his eyes like you do after a while of living in a war. Then I ran to catch up with Amy who was walking just behind Emily and Daniel.

 

“B*****d’s!” Amelia screeched as soon as Emily removed her hand. The rest of her complaint was cut off as Emily’s hand clamped over her mouth to silence her again. “Amelia if you would listen you wouldn’t be saying that” Daniel said calmly.

“Amelia!” I said suddenly loud and firm. She stopped struggling and looked at me silently eye’s wide. “we want to help you” I said in a much kinder voice “look at what you wear around your neck and look at what we wear” I said pulling out my pendant and showing her. As I had been talking Emily had slowly removed her hand from Amelia’s mouth so now she gasped and pulled out the pendant around her neck it was like the S shaped weapon Ryan had made with his staff with the Black circle where the handle was “Amelia you wear a pendant of power like us there are only six pendants and all the fighting that is going on is around us weather you travel with us or not you will end up fighting the enemy will come to you. But if you travel with us you sleep in a warm bed get a good meal proper weapons and apart from learning how to use them you go to the enemy instead of them coming to you which is always better” Amy said kindly smiling. I turned away as a smile (which was in response to Amy’s smile) crept onto my face but Daniel still saw it and swung his hand at the back of my head I ducked and moved around to put Ryan between me and Daniel. We had taken Amelia to a quiet square called texcwey (texts-way) square which translated means Centaur square the only people around were at the fountain which had a centaur with water spurting from the spear it was holding as if in a great victory cheer. We had stayed back in a corner and put Amelia’s back to the wall. “If you don’t want to come with us then we will force you to come with us and I will be more than happy to hit you over the head so Emily can carry you... I’ll even let Amy tell me to knock you out” Ryan said and was immediately regretful when Amy replied with

“Oh Ryan that’s so sweet of you!” her voice was thick with sarcasm and I saw Amelia’s face twitch slightly with a smile if we can get her to laugh... “Amy Ryan” I said in an ‘I’m going to tell you off’ voice “a word if you please. I led them away slightly. “Amy you have to pay Ryan out in the funniest ways you can and Ryan you need to respond like normal”

“Shouldn’t be hard” Ryan told me sourly.

“If we get her to laugh she will be more trusting of us. Her face twitched slightly before” they nodded and we headed back to the others. “ so what’s your decision” Ryan asked and Amy started paying him out this went on for the next 10 minutes until finally Amelia laughed I smiled and offered her my hand “travel with us” I said when she was standing. She nodded “I will”

 

Daniel signalled for some drinks and we sat down. I studied Amelia quietly none of the others talked either. They were looking around or studying me studying Amelia or studying Amelia themselves. Every now and again Amelia would look at me or whoever else had decided to study her then look away (blushing if she was turning away from me Ryan or Daniel). A serving girl brought over some drinks. “Anything to eat?” she asked eyeing Amelia’s underfed figure. “One meal please” I said and she hurried of to comply. I turned to Amelia “any good a sword?” I asked her. Amelia shrugged.

“Maybe it would be better to ask if she has ever held a sword first Matt” Amy said. I nodded and turned to Amelia “what she said” I indicated Amy “ever held a sword?” Amelia nodded “didn’t use it though did I, stealin’ it I was.”

“What about a bow?” Ryan asked. This time Amelia nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m good with a bow”

“Can you fire with accuracy at 220 yards?” I asked she shook her head.

“Doesn’t reach” Amelia mumbled looking down at the table I looked at the others.

“Ever used a longbow?” I asked she shook her head.

“You got your work cut out for you Matt Amy Emily Daniel” Ryan laughed.

“Why only us Ryan” Amy asked.

“Because you all have something to teach her and I don’t” he laughed again and lent back on the chair as the serving girl reappeared and placed a plate down in front of me I handed it to Amelia and indicated to the serving girl that would be all.

“Ryan you have thing’s to teach Amy is the one that probably doesn’t have to show Amelia Anything” I told him glancing at the girl who was now shoving food into her mouth at a fast rate.

“WHAT?!” Ryan said and sat up. “Oh no I’m doomed to teasing now.” He muttered hoping Amy didn’t hear, he wasn’t that lucky.

“Sure are!” Amy said brightly.

“S**t” was his simple response.

 Amelia echoed it “s**t. scuse me but I’m here ya know, care ta let me know what’s goin’ on?”

“Let’s work on how she speaks just to begin with” I said completely ignoring Amelia’s complaint.

“Hang on...” Ryan said “why doesn’t Amy have to show her anything?”

“Amelia’s a thief Ryan what do you think?” Daniel said sarcastically

“He doesn’t it’s beyond Ryan’s ability to think!” Amy said brightly. Ryan still looked puzzled.

“She’s a thief so she already knows how to be quiet and sneaky” Emily said and Ryan’s expression cleared with realization.

“Of course” he muttered.

 

“I’m going ta tha shops”

“I’m going TO THE shop’s” I said correcting Amelia in the way to speak. We had all agreed the street accent had to be lost if were to escape notice, someone speaking the way street rats did in fine clothing and carrying weapons was bound to draw unwanted and negative attention. “Give her break Matt” Amy said walking into the room and sitting herself down on the end of the other bed. She handed Amelia the glass of water she had fetched for her. “Can I see your pendants please” Amelia asked us after draining the glass. I took mine of and handed it to her as she got out hers she compared them.

“There different” she said after a single glance at mine. I nodded and Amy gave hers to Amelia.

“They all are” Amy told her “the problem is we don’t know how to activate yours” Amelia handed our pendants back.

“May I?” I asked holding out my hand for her pendant. She clutched it tightly for a moment then nodded slipping it over her head. I took it from her turning it about in my Hand, closely inspecting it. Amy came over to the bed where I sat and dropped down on the edge behind me.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed as she slipped of the edge of the bed onto the floor with a loud thud. I sighed with mock exasperation and she punched the back of my shoulder then peered over at Amelia’s pendant I held in my hands.

“I’ve never seen this before. Amy have you seen something I missed and seen this mark before?” I asked.

“No” I shivered at the feel of Amy’s breath on my neck. Amelia noticed.

“Are you two...?” the door burst open And Ryan threw me Amy and Amelia jackets then more carefully handed Amelia belt with a sword in a sheath that was hanging from the belt.

“Put that on” he said. After he handed her a quiver and bow. She had asked that if she had to carry a bow and quiver that she have a hip quiver Ryan Daniel and Emily had found her one that held arrows and bolts and could hold a cross bow too. She fitted it and then took the Bow which was strung. She began trying to unstring it.

“despite the fact that it weakens the string we keep our bows strung you will carry extra string” I said “It’s often that we are attacked unprepared and bows can be useful if some men haven’t yet reached you or your friends Our strings have a spell on them so they can’t break, by the sound of it your string does not” I looked at Ryan to confirm this. He nodded “we will get someone to do the same to yours in the next city just change your string every night for now” she nodded and put the bow over her head with the string at the front and wood at her back.

“What are the jackets for?” Amy asked.

“They are what will finally rid us of you Amy” Ryan said “by bursting into flame and incinerating you” Amy stuck her tongue out at him as Emily answered.

“We want to find ‘The writers’ so we must go to the city of Gliffandlock. All the stories say to travel in the direction of the city Kana (cu-na) to get to Kana we have to travel through the ‘tomg mpxg’ which means ‘cold land’ it’s so cold that we put these jackets on and when it gets to a certain temperature they catch alight and without burning us keep us warm and stop us from being frozen solid.”

“Useful” Amy commented.

“Very” I added.

 

“Why are we here again?” Amelia asked me. By now she was speaking well but we found that when she was stressed she would slip back into talking like a street rat. While not the best she was now good with the blade only a little behind Ryan who excluding me was the best swordsman in the group she could now fire the long bow with accuracy up to 210 yards at the full range of 220 she could hit the target most of the time but not in the bullseye. She did hit it once but we spun her in a circle once so she wasn’t dizzy then asked her to do it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, she fired and that arrow had missed completely. It was now 2 weeks after the fight in the ally. Which means we had been in Mlgi 2 weeks longer than planed (it also meant that Amelia was a fast learner).

“We are here for help” I said and knocked on the door of Dylan’s house. He answered and asked us in taking in Amelia’s clothes and hat that covered her feminine face. We had tried to get her to wear clothes like Amy and Emily but she had refused. Eventually she had said she would wear what Amy and Emily wore in the other cities but only if we let her wear the clothes she was used to wearing until we left Mlgi. We had agreed seeing no reason to refuse at this point, but if for some reason a fight did occur she would be impeded. Dylan sat us down in the same seats we had sat last time and reached over to Amelia hand outstretched. She shrunk back instinctively, then realising he only meant to shake her hand put her hand in his. “I’m Gjmpx. Dylan to those that know the translation” he said “and you young thief are female but wear clothes that make you look like a boy. Why?” Amelia slowly drew her hand back eyes wide. Then she answered.

“There be some...” she corrected herself “there ARE some rough men who take advantage of street rats. How did you know what I was?”

“That’s what we are here to learn” I told her. I had arranged it with him a few days ago when Ryan had been teaching her how to use his dirt bomb’s I had come back to the inn we were staying at to find Amelia swearing profusely and washing her eye trying get a piece of dust out. “This Dylan is Amelia”

“Nice to meet you” he said “shall we start then” he asked and when we all nodded he got out a severed hand. Amy immediately turned green and rushed outside when he heard Amy vomiting he said “she can’t handle blood that well can she” I shook my head “not unless she causes it Emily said Dylan nodded and retreated from the room returning a couple of minutes later the hand he held was covered where it had been severed Amy returned warily.

“I got the hands from the dead yesterday this is a male thief hand” he said I took it in a shake hold then the others did and Dylan got out another hand this is a swordsman’s hand he said and I took it again I could feel the difference immediately where the other had been sturdy but light this was hard and callused. “Matt could you put it in your hand and position it so it is in exactly the shape your hand is in when you shake someone’s hand. I did so and then shook the hand again the grip was different it was firm and steady after everyone had held the hand and felt the grip Dylan positioned it how he shook hands “I’ve never held a sword in my life” he said and when I took the hand I felt a difference it was loose and shaky, which I knew was not good for holding a sword you need a relaxed grip true but it still needed to be firm and steady. While I shook the severed hand I thought back to when I had shook Dylan’s hand it felt exactly the same. For the rest of the day we shook severed hands and by the end of the day Dylan could pull out any hand even ones we hadn’t shook and know what it was or, with some at least, know it was a craftsman, sometimes knowing if it was a smith or carver was beyond what we could learn in a day, and Amy succeeded in vomiting at least 5 times. We had dinner with Dylan telling him only that we would travel to another city tomorrow and see what answers we could find there we never told him what the questions were or what city was called.

 

“Who are ya?” the guard asked in a gruff voice.

“I am Dylan” Daniel said from beneath his hood. We had decided Daniel would take Dylan’s name while the rest of us would keep our names translated into the pendant language, except Amelia who was now known as ‘Dylan the 2^nd’

“These two” Daniel said indicating Ryan and me “are hired blades too guard me as I travel to kana” the guard eyed us suspiciously.

“And who are the others?” he asked turning his gaze on the girls.

“This is my son Dylan” Daniel said smiling pulling Amelia into a fatherly hug beside him “and these are my Daughters Paj and Eaimj” Daniel said putting his left arm around both Amy and Emily’s necks and pulling them beside him. Amy and Emily smiled sweetly but shyly. Only we knew that they would be gagging once out of earshot of the guard and anyone who might tell him.

“And what are you doing in Kana?”

“”I’m a merchant” Daniel answered “time is short and time is money so may we go now” he said and started to walk past the guard and out the city. The guard put a hard hand on Daniels chest and pushed him back.

“No! Where is your wagon?

“We were attacked along the road while coming here to Mlgi. We weren’t carrying anything except gold which we had hidden we are buying stock in Kana you see and when we were attacked the wagon which our attackers presumed held our wares was empty, but stolen they left us alone so did not find our gold but we have decided to buy a wagon in kana it will be easier on the road that way.”

“All right you may go then” he said waving us through the gate. Once out of the city we put on the jackets even though we would not reach the ‘cold lands’ for a few hours. Amelia pulled out two pairs of what looked like jeans but had one leg missing so that one half was like short shorts and the other side had a full length leg “by the way does anyone know about what is worn in Kana” Amelia asked. We shook our head’s.

“This...” Amelia said holding up a pair of the strange pants the long leg would be on the left when worn “is worn by the girls who are married while this...” she held up another pair but on these the long leg was on the right “is worn by those who are not married”

“Ok why do we need to know this?” Ryan said sounding irritated.

“Because were not allowed into the city unless were wearing what they wear in Kana”

“Strict” I said we continued walking a talking for a while. Then suddenly it became freezing after a couple of seconds the jacket hood flew up over my head and the bottom encased my legs every one else’s jacket was doing the same but before everyone’s mouth was cover I saw they had blue lips then the jacket caught alight. We walked on through the cold lands then made camp in flaming jackets.

Reviews

[Amy]

matt i realy like this chapter thou it isnt my favoret it still makes me want to know what happens next
love you

[Matthew Ian Herrawood W]

im working on it chapter 17 has alot in it though.

[Amy]

i need to read more ASAP i need to know what happens next

[deeps]

Awesome write here,
I need to read the other chpaters on this.
I like this, You write very well.
Wonderful Imagery in this.
Action, drama in this.
This held me to my seat while reading.
I need to read more.