The Cerulean Amulet

For the first time in weeks, Dari slept soundly. She woke up at around mid day when the sun was highest and most savage. She walked bare feet to the back of the cave. There was little sign of anyone living here. The pictures on the wall caught her attention and she tried o make sense of the story they told. As she strolled leisurely along the wall, she touched and traced images etched into the wall. Dari barely understood what they meant but she felt a chill from the image of a demonoid challenging a single girl. She shivered and moved hastily to the mouth of the cave where she imagined she would find warmth.

At the mouth of the cave, she saw the bowl of water but her tart saviour was missing. While she replayed the events of the previous night, she involuntarily clutched and unclutched the front of the huge shirt she still wore. A button came off and from down below she heard a warning.

"It is in your best interest not to destroy that shirt. Nothing else I own will suit your scrawny frame and your clothes are not yet quite dry."

She heard the voice but she couldn't see the owner. Of course, she had already grown accustomed to Therion's brassy charm. Dari couldn't believe he heard a button pop off a shirt. She moved closer to the mouth of the cave and peered down towards the sound of his voice. To her right was the path that he must have brought her from the Wretched Forest. To the left of the entrance was a lush green precipice. She peaked over.

"Also, try not to fall. Dream walker or not, you are still human and necks aren't replaceable." T

Therion unexpected words of caution startled her and she instinctively jumped away from him grappling at her thigh for her dagger. She would have fallen down the precipice were it not for Therion's lithe, muscular arm pulling her to him. She fell hard in his thinly clad chest before he tossed her to the ground.

"What did I just say?" he asked harshly without actually expecting a response.

Dari had not been admonished since she was with Janga. Back then, she was still a child and always remained respectfully quiet. Now, she was just as mute under criticism.

Therion softened a bit. It can't be easy travelling alone and practically blind to fulfil a prophecy hints at her potential death. He looked at her sullen face and decided then to see her through her journey. He, like his ancestors before him made a promise in his heart to protect this half-witted dream walker. He held his hand out to her.

"Come on, let's eat," he grumbled beneath his breath.

Dari slapped his hand on her way up from the ground with a grin on her face.

"Just point me to the food," she said a little too excitedly.

He marvelled at her emotional bounce-back rate. The look of petulant child had been replaced by a mischievous nymph. His heartbeat became irregular for just two seconds. He ignored it. They both walked further back into the cave were Therion had fish roasting over a wood fire.

This explained why his clothes seemed a bit wet but when did he prepare this? Dari scrunched up her eyebrows a little. The left dipped low and the right eyebrow stood eye in question.

As if to answer the thoughts that currently occupied Dari's mind, Therion began, "When you were desecrating the walls of my home by picking at the ancient images, I came brought food back and started a fire."

Instantly defensive, Dari opened her mouth only to have it stuffed with an unknown fruit.

Therion ordered, "Sit down and eat. I washed your clothes in clean water. Aside from the poisonous residue form the Incanta tree water, your clothes were filthy. You will have dry, clean clothes in an hour. You are not welcome."

Therion's tone wasn't harsh but it was so matter-of-fact that Dari, who was usually very assertive, barely mumbled, "I didn't say, 'thank you'."

"What was that?" Theriod heard her but dared her to repeat.

"Nothing," Dari replied.

Therion chuckled and, as they busied themselves eating on the floor, he took the opportunity to get a better look at her. Her skin was darked from over-exposure to the sun, she has shoulder-length curly hair and light freckles appeared and disappeared as rare singlets of light streaming through cracks in that part of the cave played with her face. Something blue glittered just below her collar of the shirt wear the button had popped off.

Therion stopped chewing.

"Why are you staring at me, Kitty."

He came back to his senses and grunted something near inaudible.

Dari did not push. She had not eaten this much food in a long time. She was also appreciating that Therion was such a good cook.

"Where did you get that necklace?" He finally asked.

"Janga gave it to me."

"Janga, huh."

"You know Janga?"

"I know the old goat alright. How's he doing?"

"He's dead."

Now, Dari stopped eating and took on a faraway stare.

The silence between them was stifling.

"Rest while you can. We leave in an hour," Therion broke the silence. He had changed tie subject because he saw the pained look on her face when she spoke of Janga.

"He died in his sleep," she continued. "I saw it. I first saw him in a dream when I was about twelve. I didn't actually meet him till I was fourteen. He's the only parent I had ever known. He tried to teach me all he could. I knew he was holding many things back because he didn't want to burden me. I took it all for granted. When I was a little past eighteen, I had gotten lost in the woods and it took me three days to get back. It rained on the two last days and I was holed up in a small cave the whole time. He always told me to avoid sleeping outside of our home so I didn't sleep. It turns out that he was out looking for me day and night without rest. He was old. He became tired and on that third night he sought shelter in the woods near our home. He fell asleep under densely canopied trees. I couldn't stay away either and had fallen asleep too. I had a dream that I was being chased by Scunta. I haven't had that dream since I was fourteen when I Janga took me in. That night, outside of our home, he attacked me. Somehow, Janga was there. As Scunta and I wrestled, Janga showed up in the dream and hit him over the head with a thick piece of wood. Scunta stopped moving and I ran.

"Girl wait," Janga grabbed my hand. "Are yah okay. Where are yah?"

"I'm in a small cave but I don't know where exactly in the woods it is," I told him, still frantic.

"I'll come find yah so don' leave. I'm want ta give you dis here amulet," he said as he lifted it out from inside his shirt."

The blue jewel at the end shown almost iridescent in the dark cave. It caught every available light there was and reflected them on the cave walls.

"Dis jewel will help protec' you. I'm sorry I did'na give it to yah sooner. It will tell you if dere's danger near by glowin'."

As he said those last words, he fell forward into my arms. Blood drained from the back of his head, down the side of his face and unto my shoulders. I looked passed him to see Scunta standing with the big piece of wood Janga had used to hit him. Scunta smiled a sinister smile.

"Look's like I won' be able to find yah. I'm in a cave 'bout 300 leagues left of d' river behind our 'ouse. Fin' me and take d' amulet. And, fo' God sake, wake up."

I saw Scunta raise the wood to bring it down on Janga's head again. I remember opening my mouth to scream before feeling a searing pain on my left arm.

"Wake up, wench," was the last thing I heard Janga say before I jumped out of my sleep.

I cried into the next morning but I did not sleep. Eventually I went home. Janga was not there. I tried to find the cave he told me about the next day. He was there, already so cold. He had the amulet clasped in his hand so it was a little difficult to remove it.

"So that's how you got it," Therion's tone was uncharacteristically gentle. "He meant for you to have it. Keep it safe; It's more special than you think.

Dari nodded solemnly.

"Therion added, "If your story is true, Janga was a dream walker."

Dari stopped eating. She didn't eat a thing more of that meal.