The Red Pendant

Prologue

A woman was running, with no hope in sight. She was carrying two babies; a small, precious boy, and a tender, lean girl. The baby girl, only a newborn, had dark, shiny hair as brown as an oak tree, and ocean blue eyes. The boy, of only one year old, had curly, bleach-blonde hair with the same blue eyes as his sister.

Their mother ceased, out of breath, and retreated to a small cave, hidden from the rough outskirts of the trail by several towering pines. She knew this was her last chance, or it would be far too late. She looked at her two children, who were blinking at her, oblivious to all that was happening around their little world. She was saddened by how she would never get the chance to raise them, and how they would never get to know her. A single, silent tear slipped down her face, silver as the moon that illuminated the damp space she had been hiding in. At least they will be safe, for now, she reassured herself. She looked into those shiny eyes, sparkling, so innocent to the treachery of the land they live in. They would never get to live a normal life or be free of the burden she gave them when she bore them.

Time was running out, and she knew it, could feel it in the rapid beating of her heart. She pulled out a necklace, which had a shimmering, heart-shaped pendant on it. She slipped it around her daughter's delicate neck. She was unable to stop the tears from flowing down her face at that point, a silent reminder of what she was going to have to do.

"I love you, my sweet, sweet children," She whispered to them softly.

Her young boy then started to cry, and the newborn followed suit shortly after.

"Shh, be calm, my sweet babies. There is nothing to fear, for mommy is here," She soothingly spoke to them while stroking each of their smooth faces.

But not for long, she thought to herself. She kissed her babies, and set them on the cold forest floor, just outside the cave.

"Don't worry, my children," she consoled. "Mama is sending you somewhere safe."

She then used the last of her dwindling power to muster up a portal, which was sending them to an old wizard, who was also her closest and most trusted friend. She knew that he would protect them and that she would now inevitably meet her end.

Only a moment after the weeping mother parted with her children, a man appeared and walked calmly up to her. He was a striking man of tall stature, who could bring great fear and admiration to one at just a glimpse.

The woman glared at him, all traces of sorrow gone, and declared, "You will never get my children, nor will you use them. I have sent them far away, where you will never find them, and I cast a protection spell upon them. You cannot touch them."

"We will see," he simply, but forcefully stated, his voice as deep and enchanting as the trenches found at the deepest, darkest points of the never-ending blue sea. He slowly reached out his arm, and with a glint in his serpentlike yellow eyes, he uttered a silent, deadly word, and a blinding white bolt of light streaked out of his arm. The woman fell to the ground, never to rise again. She was gone, forever.

Another woman appeared, as if having been summoned, this one the sister of the man.

He strode up to her and commanded, "You will search the kingdom of Adhen, through every town and every city. You will search every forest until you find the children. They will be mine, and I will use them and the power of the pendant to do my bidding. If you are unsuccessful in getting both of them, at least make sure you get the girl. For she is the holder of the pendant and is the key to everything. Hide the body, and go."

He then disappeared into the shadowy night with a puff of black smoke, not to be heard of again for over a decade.