The Eclipse Empire (Might rewrite this someday. It's terrible.)

Chapter 1 (Samuel's Perspective)

I sat at the dinner table and poked at my food with my fork. I didn't feel like eating at all.
"Honey, stop playing with your food," my mom said. "I thought macaroni was your favorite."
"You don't tell Caroline to stop throwing her food across the table, and that's way worse than just poking it!" I replied, trying to make a point.
Mom sighed. "Sam, dear, we've been over this before. Caroline is just a baby." She told me for the billionth time. "Besides, it's not polite to just sit and poke your meal around at a dinner table."
Here we go again, I thought. As Mom babbled on about how I should behave at the table, I fidgeted with my necklace that my aunt Kenny had given to me before she passed away. Aunt Kenny was one of the people in my family that I was closest to. When I was able to sleep over at her house, she would let me stay up extra late and play video games with her. She always made me feel loved. Then an unidentified illness took over her system and killed her. A few days before her death, she gave me a necklace with a sea foam green amulet on it. "If you can find him, give it to Ipanel." I still have no idea what she was talking about. I've never heard about anyone named "Ipanel" in my family history, so I figured that aunt Kenny was talking about one of her hallucinations or imaginary friends. The necklace she gave me was the only thing that kept her in my memory all of the time.
As I was remembering aunt Kenny, I had realized I was starting to tear up. I quickly wiped the tears out of my eyes, trying to make sure that Mom wouldn't notice. "Hey, Mom," I said in a slightly shaky voice. "Can I go take a walk?"
"As long as you come back before eight, then yes." Mom replied, with a hint of annoyance.
I dismissed myself from the table, and without a word, I walked out the back door. I headed towards Whitebark Woods. Maybe seeing the birches would cheer me up. Aunt Kenny and I had both shared the same strange fondness for birch trees.
As I entered the woods, I was barely aware that the knot that kept my necklace around my neck was coming loose. I was paying more attention to what sounded like a second pair of feet crunching the leaves behind me. I didn't dare to look back. I've learned that from multiple horror movies. Never look back.
Once I got into the heart of the woods, my necklace slid off. I swiftly bent down to pick it up, but before I could grab it, something slammed into my side and pushed me into a tree with so much force that it stunned me.
Something in a cloak was holding my possession. Not human. Definitely not human. It started to run away, it's robe flowing behind it.
"HEY!" I yelled. "GET BACK HERE!" I got up, determination strengthening me. I had to get that amulet back.
I ran after the creature, dodging trees and jumping over as many roots as I could. I was gaining on the thief.
If only I had had the courage to grab that thing's cloak. I could've gotten the necklace back and returned home.
The mysterious being summoned a bright, shining portal and jumped straight into it. I'm definitely not going in there, I thought. I wasn't paying attention, apparently, because before I was able to stop, I tripped over a large root sticking out of the ground like a human hand grabbing for nonexistent money.
I was sent hurtling through the air. I yelled at the top of my lungs as I was sent flying into the colorful portal, never to get back home before eight.