The Amulet of Kryshar

Prologue

It was the middle of the night; dark clouds covered the moon. Everything was silent, everyone was asleep. Well, maybe not everyone.

Ever so slowly, the heavy oak door leading to the Royal Magician's laboratory creaked open wide enough for an eye to peer through the gap and take in the half-lit room. Then the door swung open fully. Standing in the door way was a tall, robed man. He moved forward with impossible silence. Cautiously, he closed the door again and looked around.

The laboratory was located at the top of a tower in the king's castle. There were stairs on the right of the oak wood door, leading up to the observatory. A giant telescope stood on a pedestal, pointed towards the roof, which the man assumed to be retractable and would reveal the night sky. Looking to the left, the man saw a desk cluttered with open scrolls and a filled bookshelf next to it. He walked to the desk and rifled through the scrolls. Most of them were experiments, involving a small degree of magic. Another scroll was filled with spells the man already knew. The handwriting on them was very neat, as if the writer took a lot of time to put their thoughts onto the scroll. His face contorted into a sneer when he saw a scroll documenting what the Royal Magician observed with the telescope; even now she was still obsessed with useless science facts. She had the power, real magic, at her fingertips and was more concerned about the planets orbiting. The book case was also pretty much useless to him. Guides to learning magic, astronomy, handbook on the creatures of Kryshar. All of them things he didn't need. After all, he was a great magician and not a scientist-in-training. He shook his head. He should have been the Royal Magician, he had the skills, he had the power. And yet, she still won the competition. How was that even possible? Finally, he strode towards the centre of the laboratory.

From the middle of the Royal Magician's laboratory a soft, golden light filled the room. The man walked towards the glow, entranced and ecstatic that his goal was almost within his grasp. He knew what the glow was hiding from his bare eyes. An amulet sitting on a marble stand. Nothing else. But if he would have it in his grasp, he would be powerful beyond his imagination. "Finally..."

Suddenly, the soft glow became glaringly bright and he had to cover his eyes with his gloved hand. A loud yowl from the right cut off the undisturbed silence. The robed man snarled in return. He should have thought of it: a trap! The light brightening was supposed to be a warning, but he was too caught up staring at the source of it. Now he had to pay for his own stupidity.

He was pinned underneath the almost human-like paws of a cat guard: a ferocious black panther clad in full-body armour with the royal insignia on the left of its armoured chest. Its helmet was off, revealing its fangs, which were as long as his hand and dripping with saliva. The panther lifted its head and roared, probably to notify his superiors. The man struggled to get out of the guard's grasp before the Royal Magician returned. The cat lifted suddenly lifted one paw off of his shoulder, the man was just about to sit up and use a spell to stun the panther, when the paw came striking back down with its claws fully extended. The man didn't even have time to blink as a searing, unbearable pain spread across the right side of his face, across his eye. The panther has taken out his eye. His blood and the rest of his eye was gushing over his face, pouring down his neck. He groaned in pain, this was definitely not going as planned.

"Tykar! Stand down," shouted a feminine voice. The man looked to the door.

"So, the famous Royal Magician has finally arrived. Have you come to watch the show, Janine?" the man asked. The woman, who stood in the door frame, was wearing the official attire of the Royal Magician. She was clad in a silver and gold vest with long sleeves. Her dark blue, nearly black, pants reached down to her ankles and her feet were hidden in shiny leather shoes with golden buckles. A dark purple cape was fluttering majestically behind her. In fact, her whole stance demanded respect and authority.