The Amulet of Life, chapter 1

Chapter 1

         Donal was able to create his own hunting equipment when he was a mere eight summers of age.
His father had taken him out hunting ever since he was seven, but today was his first time out on his own.
The weather was particularly fine today, the morning dew shimmered in the sun. Golden rays of light found
their way through the roof of the woods. He hoped for a nice boar to show of his hunting skills, it would be
quite an achievement to bring home his first prey at only twelve summers, his father had been fourteen.

         Donal fantasized about his fathers reaction while he found the right spot to look for boar tracks.
The earth here looked like it was was thoroughly searched for hidden roots, sand and dirt had become
mud from a night of mixing with the rivers water.
Looking at the tracks, Donal figured the animal should be nearby. The imprints looked to be recent and led
towards the stream. The tracks disappeared behind some of the bushes covering the riverbank.
Donal hoped the boar was only here to drink and not to cross the stream, if the creature had crossed it would
be difficult to retrace it's steps on the rocky terrain on the far side, even though there was another patch of
mud on the other end.

         Suddenly, Donal noticed slight movement in the bush in front of him. Raising his spear, he moved very
slowly towards the bush and began to circle it. He nearly made it all the way around when his eyes fell on
long brown hair laying on the ground, the tips slowly swaying in the stream.
While moving closer Donal came to realize what he had found.

         'Why is there a girl on the floor in the middle of a forest?', Donal thought. 'She seems to be sleeping,
I hope she hasn't been here for to long.'
He turned around to fetch some water from the river when suddenly, the girl awoke. The moment she saw
Donal she immediately started shouting.
"Who are you?! Leave me alone!"
"Relax, I won't hurt you.", replied Donal. "My name's Donal, I'm Fearghus' son." Donal hoped his fathers
name would calm the girl somewhat.
"I don't believe you, if you're not one of 'them', then why are you pointing that spear at me?"

         Donal realized he held his spear at the girls heart as if she were the boar he was hunting just moments ago.
He immediately lowered the weapon and kneeled next to the girl on the ground.
"I'm sorry", he said. "You startled me with your screaming. I've never been out hunting on my own before,
the excitement made me a little jumpy I guess."

"I still refuse to believe you! You look like you are one of them, surely not like a hunter.
Who is this Fearghus fellow anyway?"
"You're not from around here are you?", asked Donal. "Fearghus is my father. He owns a farm nearby,
everybody around here knows who he is, before he came to live here all people could eat was fish and
an occasional boar."
"So you are the son of a farmer? At least that explains the broad shoulders on you."
Donal found himself to be blushing at that last comment. "I guess it's a lot of hard work,
but I only help with the simple chores though. In the spare time I train with bow and spear."
Helping the girl to her feet, Donal thought she must be at least fourteen.
"Now I have to know something." he said. "If you're not from around here, who are you and
why were you lying on the forest floor? And who did you mean when you thought me to be one of 'them'?"

         "To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I'm doing here. Last thing I know is I've been on the run for a
group of bandits, I ran through this forest and must have tripped on something."
"And you cannot think of why they were chasing you?" Donal inquired.
"Not for the life of me! I don't even remember my name."
"You must've fallen hard then. Are you in pain?"
"Well my head hurts and I'm chilled to the bone, other than that I seem to be fine."
Donal took out his traveling cloak, witch he brought with him just in case and folded it around the girls shoulders.
"Here, maybe you'll warm up a little. If you can't remember who you are or where you're from, you should
definitely come with me. I'll make some arrangements with my father, at least get you washed up and well fed."