Chapter 6

Once Taylor had recovered enough strength to walk, he and Jordan continued their journey, their feet weighted down with exhaustion.  Neither of them had gotten any sleep last night, and Taylor's wounds had sapped most of his strength.  Jordan was limping badly but he forged ahead, barely speaking.

Taylor found the silence unnerving considering the chaos they had experienced just a few hours ago.  Even Tanek was silent, though Taylor could swear he heard faint snoring noises.  Who knew that amulets needed sleep?

The path was quite calm – there were no travelers and the snow was only a few centimeters thick and not treacherous at all.  There were no immediate dangers but that didn't stop a tense wariness from filling the air.

Taylor forced himself to take one slow step after another.  There was only one village before entering His realm and that was still a long way away – at least another day or two's worth of walking.  There would be no opportune or safe moment to rest, especially when they needed to make the most of the daylight.

"Taylor," Jordan began softly, his tone emotionless.  "I wanted to talk with you.  About last night.  And what – happened."

"Lots of stuff happened last night," Taylor grumbled tiredly.  "Can you be more specific?"

"You," Jordan snapped.  "What happened with you.  I've known you for almost fifteen years now and you've never been that good with a bow.  And your – your amulet was glowing.  Like, glowing brightly."

Taylor felt his stomach twist into knots as he tried to figure out how to answer.  What could he say?  He willingly let Tanek posses him?

'Ugh... Taylor, I was having such a nice nap.  Then you had to wake me up by getting worried.  What is it?'

'Um... Jordan just asked me what happened last night with you taking over.'

'You're asking me what to tell him?'

'Kinda.'

'Sorry.  I can't help you on that front.'

"Taylor?" Jordan pressed, narrowing his eyes.  "What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing," Taylor muttered, staring at his hands.  "There's nothing I can say that won't make you angry.  There's nothing I can say without making me upset.  This is a lose-lose situation right now."

"What makes you think I'll be angry?" Jordan shot Taylor a questioning glance.  "I'm tired, that's all.  But if there's something I need to know, then tell me."

"Fine," Taylor sighed, focusing on the path beneath his feet.  "It was – the amulet.  Like I said, it can possess my movements."

'I'm a 'he', by the way.'

'I'm getting there.'

"-But it told me that it could fight for me, if I let it take over.  I refused at first, but finally gave in.  That's what it was, Jordan.  It was fighting.  That's why I didn't feel my injuries immediately and also why I was fighting so well with a bow."

'You should see me with a sword.'

Jordan was silent for a while.  The first thing that came out of his mouth in response was "Oh."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed, not knowing what else to say.

"Did – did the voice seem evil?" Jordan asked hesitantly, as though unsure of the answer he would get.  "This time?"

'For the last time, I am not evil!'

"No," Taylor shrugged, letting his confusion show through in his voice.  "It – he – didn't."

"Taylor, it was creepy enough when you told me your amulet talked to you," Jordan frowned.  "You don't have to start calling it a 'he'."

'Do I sound like a girl to you?'

Taylor inwardly snickered and answered aloud with "But that's what he is.  And his name is Tanek, by the way."

Jordan's reaction was the exact opposite of a calm acceptance.  "You named it?" Jordan shrieked, snatching his sunglasses away from his eyes and glaring at Taylor like he did when he got angry.  "Taylor, we are going on a quest to destroy the damned thing and here you are giving it a name?  Have you lost your mind?"

'Can I please kill him?  Pretty please with a cherry on top?'

'Right... I forgot that you were still evil.'

'Why does everyone always say I'm evil!'

'Sorry, Tanek.  Jordan's kind of right though.'

'I saved your life!  Twice!'

'Once.  You killed Dec.  Do you realize how much that upset me?'

'You barely knew him.'

'That doesn't change the fact that you made me kill him.'

"No I have not," Taylor forced himself to stay calm.  Getting mad would only result in nuclear warfare.  "Besides, it won't matter to me.  It's not like I'm ever going to want to keep him around."

That was a lie.  Taylor felt the bitterness of the lie as soon as he said it.  It felt like there was something binding him with Tanek now – some sort of alliance that no one would ever dream of.

"Whatever," Jordan grumbled, turning his head away from Taylor and putting his sunglasses back on.  "Just don't hesitate to destroy it once we reach Trodeyn and we won't have a problem."

Silence befell the duo again and Tanek seemed to be sulking, possibly offended about being called evil.  Taylor tried to convince himself that it didn't matter; he didn't care about how Tanek felt.  But somehow, it was just too hard to believe that.

"Hey, Jordan?" Taylor suddenly noticed something up ahead.  "There's a cave up there on that ridge.  You wanna check it out?  It might be safe enough to where we can sleep or at least take a breather."

"Sure," Jordan agreed readily, looking dead tired.  "I could use a rest."

Taylor made his way up to the cave, nimbly jumping up a small series of ledges and ignoring the pain in his foot.  He checked around the cave quickly, making sure there were no monsters hanging around.

It was a nice-sized cavern and the air was fresh, so it didn't lead into a full-fledged cave system.  It felt cool and there was a shielding overhang over the entrance, so no rain could get in.  Taylor poked his head out of the cave and beckoned for Jordan to come up and join him.

They unpacked their sleeping rolls from their knapsacks and spread them out over the smooth stone floor.  Taylor immediately lay down and closed his eyes, completely exhausted once again.  He didn't feel like he could even open his eyes if a fiery asteroid struck the mountain right then and there.

But just then, a new voice proved him wrong.

"What are you two doing in my home?"