The Ocean Amulet

Spread out and look for her!" the lead guard commanded, sending out the other guards he had brought with him.

"That traitor cannot have gone far. We need to find and secure the amulet!

He ran in a direction the rest of the guards had not gone in, searching for the traitor himself. Little did he know the very person he had been searching for was right above him.

"No one ever thinks to look up" she whispers to herself, climbing down from the tree she had perched in.

She looked around for a moment, trying to decide where the best place to go would be.

"I need to get to the ocean" she mumbled.

She looked down at her prized possession, which she had hidden in a bundle of cloth to prevent the reflection of the sun from giving her position away. Assured it was still safe, she set off south full of hope, toward the ocean.

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She broke out into a sprint after seeing the light before her. She had finally made it to the end of the forest, and she could see the ocean. It was a beautiful dark blue with hints of light blue beneath and waves crashed down on themselves for as far as the eye could see. 

Unfortunately, she was not alone. In her rush to make it out, she had become careless and stepped on multiple twigs alerting the guards that she had tried to so carefully to avoid.

"There she is!" cried one of the guards, as he reached for something on his back.

He pulled out a long horn and blew into it. A loud noise blared from the horn as the air passed through his lips. The rest of the guards would be here soon. The other guards that were in the original group pulled out the swords that they had sheathed on their hip.

Seeing what was happening behind her, the runaway tried to push herself even faster. 'Get to the ocean, get to the ocean' she chanted to herself. The guards quickly started to advance as they saw what was ahead of her.

'So close...' the traitor thought as the mesmerizing waves in front of her drew closer and closer.

'Wait...' Her eyes widened in realization and she quickly dug her heels into the ground, to stop her momentum.

The sight of the ocean had caused here to become reckless, and it had almost cost her life. It was not a straight shot to the coast. Instead, she had almost run off a cliff. She turns around sharply, hoping to go another way, but the guards had advanced again, preventing any chance of passing them.

"You have nowhere to go! Surrender!" a voice bellowed.

The growing crowd of guards parted to reveal the head guard. He pulled his sword out, a sharp, pristine silver blade that reflected his status. Looking at her with contempt in his eyes, he read out:

"Andrea Taylor, you are charged for treason against your kingdom and thievery from the queen. You shall return the stolen amulet and return to the palace where you will face your punishment."

"You think I'll return this?" she cried as she held up the uncovered amulet. The sun reflected off its surface and it seemed to shine. "You think I would let that treacherous queen have what is not hers?"

"If you do not stand down, we will be forced to kill you and take the amulet by force."

Andrea locked eyes with the captain. She could tell he was not bluffing. He was prepared to kill her in cold blood. She knew she could not allow that to happen. So, in one quick movement, she turned on foot and used the gained momentum to throw the amulet as far into the ocean as she could.

"NO!" the captain cried, realizing what she planned to do too late.

He charged forward and tackled her to the ground, but it was too late. The amulet flew and straight into the water. There was no way they could get it back as they were. The ocean was deep, and his men lacked diving gear. The amulet was gone.

"Huh..." Andrea huffed from where she was pinned.

She had done what she had set out to do. She had gotten the amulet away from the queen and to the ocean. It was safe from them.

The captain swiveled to look at her, horror dawning in his eyes. "What have you done? You've domed us all to her wrath!" The queen would not be happy with him for losing her prized possession. He could be sentenced to death with this.

"I have given everyone else hope," Andrea replied.

The guards quickly surrounded her. They pulled her to her feet and tied her hands together. As she was marched back to the castle to face her surely unjust trial, she smiled.