The pendant - part 1

The pendant.

It was a sunfilled day in Tryker lands as the sky was, as it usually is, clear
blue with the occasional cloud here and there. It had been a warm night so there
were quite a few more Trykers up and running at this early time in hope of
getting a refreshing bath before breakfast and work.
It was not unusual that some were awake at this early hour, specially those with
guarding duties, but also those with more common chores were awake. There was
the Stable Master that was giving the Mektoubs the morning meal and care before
they were let out into the compound, the different Ambassadors from the other
lands that made themselves ready for a travel back home, and most likely the
most on time one of them all; the barman. It had not been a morning that passed
that she had not seen him standing there polishing the glasses or putting down
the chairs from the tables.

“So what are you up to today Daeny?” The barman asked as soon as he saw her
approaching. She smiled.

“I am going for a morning bath, with a twist” The joy was apparent in her eyes,
they glistened.

“Really, a twist you say. Now I wonder what that can be. You know I have heard
some ominous rumors about the waters” This seemed to have gotten her attention.

“Oh, are there any dangerous animals lurking around Fairhaven?” She asked with
curiosity.

“No, no animals or such. Perhaps something far more worse; carelessness. You
see, I have heard of those that have jumped from the cliffs into the water and
hurt themselves, badly!” He almost broke the glass he was holding.

“Well, I know the perfect spot for that, so you do not have to worry!” Daeny
shouted as she ran away from the bar onto the sandy beach.

“Youngsters today, always after danger to soothen their minds, what will happen.
Not even a white lie seem to be able to stop them these days” The barman mumbled
to himself, or at least he thought as Daeny heard some of it before she was on
the beach. Hearing it made her smile even more.

As she ran from the wooden bridge onto the sand she nearly bumped into one of
the Karavan Teleporter Guards that came to replace another one at the teleporter
at the beach.

“Sorry” Was all that Daeny could utter before she increased her speed and was
almost half-way up the hill already. The Karavan guard stood there for a moment,
staring at the little girl disappearing over the hilltop and somewhere behind
the trees and stones before he walked further.

This place was the perfect spot for a morning dip, even though the water was
about 20 meters down from the cliff. Daeny dropped her little bag along the
mountainside and prepared her for the jump when she heard a familiar noise
behind her. It was another of the curios Yubos that probably had followed her
from the slope leading up from Fairhaven. It stood there looking at her with big
curious eyes and its ears pointing upwards. It made a small twitch as it was not
ready for what happened when Daeny jumped over the ledge while saying “See you
soon!” to the curious four-legged little creature that had followed her.

The sensation and touch of water has always been special to a Tryker, there is
an unexplainable bond between the life of a Tryker and the waves of a sea.
Someone could even say that they were related in such way, that life could be as
a wave on the ocean; slowly traversing forward towards the future that lies
behind it. So when Daeny splashed into the water it was not only a refreshing
feeling of having cold water surrounding her body, it was also a soothing
sensation. As she opened her eyes she realized that she had reached a little
more then halfway down towards the bottom, this was almost a new record for her,
and just moments before she turned to swim up to the surface she thought that
she saw something glimmering at the bottom. But she could not be certain that it
was something, it could have been a reflection from the strong morning sun that
reached deeper into the waters then usual. But it was enough to awaken the
Tryker curiosity in her, a feeling that is easily awakened but harder to stop.
She swam up to the surface and towards where her bag had landed and then she
removed her clothing so that she was only wearing her undergarments (she was
usually wearing a skirt or leggings and something to cover her torso when
running to the cliff, and mostly she did not have time to remove it before she
jumped).

Now she was more agile and could move better in the water so she swam out to the
point where she thought that she had seen the glistening. She held her breath
and placed her head below the surface and looked around but she could not see
anything from where she was, she must be too far away, to close to the surface
to be able to separate the rays from the sun from anything else.
Daeny took a deep breath and prepared herself to dive straight down from where
she was in hopes of finding what her curiosity was yelling for. She turned her
body downwards swiftly and started to paddle down through the clear water. Soon
it got a bit darker, but not as dark as the waters in other lands, or so she had
heard that Tryker water was the bluest and brightest even several meters down
compared to the lakes of other lands. Slowly she moved downward whilst paddling
with her legs and arms.

She looked around to the best of her ability in order to see what it was that
had caught her eye just moments ago but it seemed hard to be able to find
anything here, perhaps she was on the wrong spot she thought and started to look
for another place to swim to from below. Just as she turned around she saw the
glistening that had previously caught her attention, she was not far form it.
But she was also not far from being out of breath so she returned to the
surface, this time more encouraged as she was on about the right place and a
new, deeper, dive should make her able to reach whatever it was lying there on
the bottom. She took one of the deepest breaths she had even taken and plunged
herself below the surface downward, towards the now glimmering object in front
of her. Once she had laid her eyes on it, she would never let it got and it was
the only thing she could see. More and more she paddled with her legs and arms
and soon the golden item was almost in her grasp. As she was about to reach out
and grab it she felt that she would soon need fresh air again so she, in an
somewhat desperate attempt, made an effort at pushing herself downward while
trying to grab it before she had to return to the surface.

As she came close enough to the shore to be able to stand on her feet she slowly
opened her right hand, from it some seaweed hanged swirled with something gold
like. As she opened her hand she could see that it was something glistening
even stronger then it had done in the depths of the waters. She slowly lowered
her hand and let the water wash away the sand that was surrounding the item,
what she was holding in her hand she would soon be able to see.

It was a pendant.