The Medallion

Nilla: Creatures of the Land

I went out to my favorite spot with a desire to just enjoy the day and clear my head. It was sunny and there was a gentle breeze that I hoped would drive out the pain. I think things were finally starting to settle in, but I still wanted things to be the way I wanted them... don't we all? I wanted my life to be unbelievably perfect and anything that took me away from Jace didn't fit into those plans.

As I sat watching the clouds float gently by, a young woman approached me. She was extremely beautiful. We had almost the same skin color, but her hair was straighter and she wore furs on her wrists and calves. She also had a strip of fur for a belt. What was it about this place that caused so many strange and interesting people to just appear at random?

"Hello," I said. Her eyes narrowed.

"You have something I require," she was very blunt.

"Do I?"

"Where is he?"

"He who?" I started to get angry herself.

"You know who, the one who stole the medallion."

I tossed my arms up in frustration. "Why is everyone accusing him of stealing the medallion? It belongs to him!"

She gave me a curious look. "Who else has come looking for the medallion?"

At first, I was reluctant to answer. She charged at me and grabbed around my collar forcing my undivided attention.

"Who else?" she shouted.

I was terrified she might start hitting me. "S-someone claiming to be mermaids."

"Mermaids?" She looked confused.

"That's what they told me."

"How many were there?"

"Three."

She released me and shoved me down onto the stump. The woman slowly walked away while talking to herself.

"Why would the mermaids want the medallion? They have no use for it."

I watched her pace and mumble. I wanted to go but was afraid to draw her attention again. I hoped that if I held very still, the woman would forget about me, perhaps lose interest and leave.

The woman moved quite gracefully. I noticed the impressive muscle tone all over her body. She wasn't large, just lean with lean muscles all over. I started to wish I was that fit. Her abdomen was so flat and tight. I started to get jealous. She was everything I wished I were: graceful, strong, and beautiful.

I moved as quietly as I could deciding it would be best if I snuck away. This woman didn't seem like the type to be as kind as the mermaids had been. I was afraid that it was only a matter of time before I didn't answer fast enough and she would start to smack me around, or worse, smack me around just for the hell of it.

I reached out with my leg and touched my toe to the ground. As quietly as I could, I moved my weight to that foot and stood slowly backing away. After a few steps, I bumped into a person who had been standing behind me the entire time. He grabbed my shoulders and I let out a startled yelp.

"Calm down," he ordered. "I have no plans of hurting you."

"Thank you, Will. Put her back on the stump there," the woman said dismissively. She didn't even turn around to see what happened.

Will forced me back to a seated position. He was extremely large, handsome, and also very fit. Something about my face made the corner his lip go up in a lopsided smirk. Possibly because my mouth was wide open like a shocked fish. His rich brown eyes sparkled as he smiled right before he winked. Wow.