The Pendant

The Dream

The second part of this nonsense. Once again, leave feedback regardless of your opinion of my amateur writing. 100% appreciated no matter what.

The wind whipped her black hair around her face as she stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking a bay filled with ships. Some were anchored farther out while others were in the final stages of sinking. Looking around, she saw a battle unfolding in every direction. Men with steel swords and bronze armour were trudging up the shore and out of the sea while others were waiting up on the cliff she was standing on with thick bows. At the command of someone with a deep, thunderous bellow, the men lit the tips of their arrows in a small flame next to them. They notched their flaming arrows, drew them, and released. She watched with a detached disposition as some arrows met their mark, falling men errupting on the shore, as others sizzled out in the wet sand. This happened over and over again but the steady stream of men pouring out of the ocean never seemed to stop. The wind picked up again and the scene changed until she was standing on the shore itself. She felt a low quaking and the base of the cliff that she was previously standing on split with a tremendous roar and the most terrifying creatures that she had ever seen poured out. Their black, scaly skin reflected the starlight as they silently obliterated what was left of the men coming out of the sea. For some reason, she hoped that the demons would win. A slight tugging sensation pulled her attention to the right ridge of the cliff, and Kaelinn craned her neck upwards until she saw the most beautiful man she had ever seen standing right on the ledge. He was holding something in his hand, making small ciricles above it with the other one while whispering something seemingly into the device. To her, it looked like he was looking at the few ships still tethered safely in the bay. A rumble started low in the sand and grew and grew until an explosion sounded from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and the ships were on FIRE and some pieces were still splashing into the ocean. She looked back at the man, and to her horror, he was staring right at her. The wind picked up again and the next time it died down, she was standing right behind the beautiful man. It was if nothing had ever happened between the two. He was still chanting his words and his hand was still making circles above the object. Kaelinn stood on her tiptoes and looked over his shoulder at what he was holding. To her surprise, but it also wasn't that surprising, was the pendant she had found earlier that evening. However, it looked bigger than what she remembered and the most intricate chain she had ever seen was looped around the mans neck and through an eyelet at the top of the pendant, connecting the two entities. Kaelinn wasn't sure how long she watched, but she did notice that the wind never changed and this was the last time the setting shuffled. Eventually, the sun peaked over the ocean and her trance was broken from the pendant and his hands motion. She saw a sight that truly astounded her. All the invaders were lying dead on the beach, and the dark creatures were, how she could best describe it, feeding off them. As she looked on, the dead men would shrivel up, dessicate, turn to bone and finally ash, right before her very eyes. What got her attention of the scene in front of her was the prickling sensation that she was being watched. She averted her eyes back to the man she was with and to her alarm, he was looking right at her once again.

"You've been chosen. It is up to you now to be the keeper of Carnage. It has been far too long. Do not forget."

And with that, the wind picked up and once again the scene changed and, strangely enough, she was standing at the foot of her bed, looking at herself sleep.

Kaelinn awoke with a gasp. Sitting up, she felt her skin stick to the sheets from all the sweat she had accumulated from her sleep. What? Can you blame her for sleeping naked? Everyone knows the best sleep is bareskin sleep. She checked her iPhone, seeing that her alarm was set to go off in two minutes. Kaelinn groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She had that feeling where she had a really weird dream, but couldn't quite remember what it was.

She forced herself to put two feet on the ground and stumbled her way to the shower. Even after the steaming water beating on her back, Kaelinn felt like she wasn't quite awake, so she quickly turned the knob all the way to cold and had to repress a scream as the fridgid water pelted against her back. Once she got used to that, she had to muffle another howl as the glacial stream hit her front side. Finally, Kaelinn decided she was thoroughly frozen, and stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. After scrubbing her hair somewhat dry and forcing on some clothes, she laced her boots and stomped her way outside to breakfast. Some sort of oatmeal sludge was provided, which Kaelinn deeply appreciated after what felt like the longest night of her life.

Finishing her meal, she noticed she still had a little over an hour before her shift technically started. She made the short trip back to her room and about jumped out of her skin another three feet when she saw Felix sitting on her chair for the second time in less than twelve hours, but this time she concealed her fright and greeted him less friendly.

"Felix."

He already had a sheepish look on his face that gave Kaelinn great satisfaction. "Kae--" He cleared his throat before continuing, "Kaelinn. I'm really, really sorry about last night. I acted one hundred percent an asshole. Forgive me?" Felix grinned a grin that he knew she could never not forgive. Kaelinn slumped her shoulders and sighed, "Of course I do, Felix. You're my best friend. How could I not? I'm sorry I came back so late. I honestly lost all track of time." Felix strode over to her, they gave eachother a quick embrace, and after letting go, Kaelinn gave him a wry smile. Slugging Felix in the shoulder she said, "I dunno why you always have to be so dramatic, though." He chuckled his agreeance and sunk back into the chair. Kaelinn stepped into the bathroom to fix her hair like she had planned on, and began braiding her long, inky black locks down her back. She saw Felix step behind her through the mirror and he asked her, "So what did you find that was so importand last night?" His smile was mocking her but at the same time genuinely inquisitive. Kaelinn tied off her braid and rushed to pluck the pendant off her bedside table. "Look!" She exclaimed. She held out the pendant so that Felix could see. "Isn't it beautiful? The skeleton I've been digging had it in his hand. I'm not sure what that symbol means, but I'm completely sure that he's way older than World War Two. The skeleton had bronze armour plates, and I'm pretty sure by 1941, the world had developed better protection than that." Felix cocked his head to the side and leaned in closer, before reaching out to take the pendant out of Kaelinn's hand. Before she had time to know what she was doing, she snached it back to her body. "I, uh, have a feeling it's pretty old so I think it's best it isn't handled too much." Giving a nervous chuckle she wrapped it in a stray tissue before placing it back on her nightstand. Felix gave her an odd look but didn't argue with her. Instead he asked, "Are you going to tell the supervisor?" With a shrug, Kaelinn said, "Of course I am. I just want to finish the dig first. I don't want them to think it's a reason to take me off of homeboy up there. There's a real attachment there." Her best friend rolled his eyes and made his way towards the front door. "Oh I totally understand." Kaelinn laughed and threw a halfhearted punch to his shoulder again and followed him out to start their last dig day in Croatia.