The Merlinian Chronicles Book 1

Chapter 6

After I grabbed my money pouch, I made my way out to the Cave. As I waited, I counted my money. In the Magic Realm, we have three different kinds of coins. The smallest one is a Rindot, a blue triangular coin. Next came the Forlar, which was a green square coin, worth ten Rindots. And the biggest coin was the Jamdork, a round red coin, worth 30 Rindots, or three Forlors. I counted twenty-four Rindots, ten Forlors, and thirty Jamdorks.

I guess I’ll have to go to the Magic Realm Treasury soon, I said to myself, tucking my money pouch in my pocket as the others approached the Cave.

“Okay guys,” I began. “We’ll go to the Market and split into groups. Stay with your groups at all times. I don’t expect any danger, but just in case something goes wrong, send up as many flares as you can in all directions. Everyone else will rush to your location as fast as possible.”

We split up into groups, each of my siblings in their own group, with two guards. I was in a group with Artemis and Aphrodite. When we were all ready, and everyone understood the plan, I opened a portal in the cave. As my silver eyes glowed and my aura flashed, a swirling vortex of silver energy filled the mouth of the cave. Each group went through one at a time, appearing in a different location each time. My group went last, and we appeared in front of a small shop called Grandola’s Artifacts. All around us wizards, nymphs, centaurs, and other magical creatures rushed around the busy streets of the Market, running in and out of stores and carrying bags and boxes of magical items and other merchandise.

“This looks like and interesting place to start,” I mused, looking into the dusty shop. “Let’s go inside.” I pushed the door open, and I was immediately greeted my an old hag, hobbling up to me with a toothless grin on her face.

“Welcome!” she beamed. “Welcome to my shop of magical artifacts! Feel free to browse around and ask me anything you want! I know these artifacts like the back of my hand!” I nodded and smiled, walking towards the back of the store.

The store was a mess of magical amulets, rings, wands, staffs, and anything else you could think of, just piled on top of tables in no particular order.

As I browsed through a table full of magical amulets, I came across a platinum amulet in the shape of an angel, with an amethyst, a ruby, a pearl, and a blue sapphire at the bottom of its robe. I felt strangely drawn to it, so I grabbed it and looked around for the old hag that had greeted us. I walked through the store, searching, until I approached a desk at the other end, with the old hag sitting behind it, humming to herself.

“Excuse me,” I greeted, approaching the desk. The hag looked up, startled at first, but then she got excited.

“Yes, young wizard,” she beamed. “How may I help you?”

“Well, I found this amulet on one of the tables, and I was wondering what you could tell me about it.” The old hag got out from behind the desk and hobbled over to me. She grabbed the amulet and squinted at it, her face scrunched up as she studied the platinum angel.

“Yes, I remember when I found this wonder,” She began wistfully. “I was by the Magic Realm Sea, having a nice lunch with a Merman I was dating at the time when this washed up on the shore. I could tell this amulet was powerful and ancient, which means dangerous. I took the amulet and never let it out of my sight.

“I wore it constantly, and the merman I mentioned before became jealous that I was so interested in the amulet, and I was less interested in him. He knew the only way to get that amulet away from me was to kill me, so that is what he attempted. He was a knight in Poseidon’s Army, so he grabbed his coral sword and aimed for my heart.

“I froze, unable to do anything but pray for help. My prayers were unexpectedly answered when the amulet began to glow, and standing between me and the merman was an Angel with a purple cloak and a Dreamer’s staff. He killed the merman in order to protect me before turning back into an amulet. I was intrigued by the amulet, so I traveled through the realms, desperate to find an answer to the amulet’s story. After many decades of searching, I had finally learned the whole story.

“This is the amulet of Rokandael. Rokandael was an Angel, high in the ranks on Angel Mountain. He began to grow tired with his tasks, though, and wanted to do something else with his life. He was banished from Angel Mountain for thinking like this, and was forced into hiding. He finally found refuge in the Dream Temple, where he was taught Dream Magic. Once again, he rose in the ranks, but he enjoyed his new life. Then, one day, while he was inside the dream of a mortal boy, something went wrong. Someone sabotaged the dream, and the mortal boy began to enter into a nightmare. Rokandael tried desperately to calm the boy down, but it was too intense. Rokandael tried to escape the dream, but he was too late. The mortal boy woke up before Rokandael could escape, and he was trapped.

“Rokandael was trapped in the boy’s mind until the next night when he went to sleep. Rokandael had been trapped for too long, though, and he was nothing more than a piece of a dream. The Dream Master desperately tried to fix it, but the best he could do was place Rokandael’s spirit in this amulet. The Dream Master intended to hold onto the amulet, so that Rokandael could stay safe.

“Late one night, though, someone broke into the Dream Temple and stole the amulet. Somehow they knew what the amulet was capable of. You see, whoever owns the amulet has the ability to call upon Rokandael’s spirit to do whatever they ask. He is forced to be under their control for as long as they own the amulet. They say he can be freed, but nobody knows how. That knowledge was lost forever when the last Dream Master died and refused to pass the information on to his successor.” She handed the amulet back to me, her eyes moist.

“Every time I look at the amulet,I can’t help but remember the merman and what could have been. I refused to ever use it again, and I promised that I would never let the amulet fall into the wrong hands. I had even put a spell on it so it would never reveal itself except for the person who was meant to have it. Nobody has seen it before today. Young wizard, I know not what horrors your life holds, but you are the only one who has been able to see this amulet since I put the spell on it. This amulet belongs to you know.” An awkward silence filled the space between us, and I could feel the tension in the air.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I replied suddenly. “I am sorry for your tragedy, and I appreciate your help. How much do I owe you?” She smiled and shook her head.

“I told you, only the person who was meant to have it could see it, and that person is you. You are meant to have it, which can only mean you have great danger ahead of you. It would be wrong to ask for a price from you. It is your amulet. Good luck, young wizard.” I nodded and looked into her eyes. For the first time, I saw something other than a crazy old hag. I saw a woman who had been hurt, and was seriously worried about me. Fighting back tears, I rejoined Artemis and Aphrodite, who were waiting by the door.

“So, what’d you get, Merlin?” Aphrodite asked. I showed her the amulet as we walked out the door. Aphrodite opened her mouth, probably to ask about it, but she never got the chance, because right then, the sky was lit up by flashes of purple, gold, and every other color one could imagine. I looked at the two goddesses next to me and we wordlessly conveyed the same message, run.