The Dark Amulet Collection: The Complete Series

Book summary

Dive into the enthralling realm of "The Dark Amulet" series by Jennifer Ealey, compiled into a single captivating volume. In a world where magic and mystery intertwine, follow the journey of Jayhan, born with a striking legacy in his pale eyes, and Sasha, an orphan with an enigmatic obsidian amulet and secrets that beckon danger. From the courtyards of Carrador to the dense forests of Eskuzor, destiny and ancient prophecies shadow these unique individuals.

Excerpt from The Dark Amulet Collection: The Complete Series

Sasha, Jayhan and Stefan met at mid-morning the next day in the space behind the stables where Leon kept piles of gravel, soil and sand, stacks of firewood, scrap pieces of metal and wood and some of his tools. He had cleared a roughly circular sandy patch in the middle to use for fighting practice until they could set up an area in one of the paddocks and was now sitting on a pile of firewood watching to see what they would do.

Maud and Sheldrake also wandered over to watch and, rather to the mage’s surprise, so did the rest of their household; Eloquin the governess, Clive the butler, Clive’s wife Beth who was also the head groom, Rosie the maid, her little brother Edgar and even Hannah, the cook. At the last minute, even Jake and Thompson, the farmhands, came running to join them, wiping their hands on their breeches and looking a little sheepish.

Stefan stood in the middle of the sandy patch, hands on hips and gradually turned a full circle to observe his audience. Eventually he said, “You do know I am not an entertainer?”

This produced murmurs among his audience but failed to move any of them.

“Please, sir,” said Rosie, “we’d like to see what you do. We’re all very excited to have an arms master in our household. We promise we won’t come every morning.” She glanced at Sheldrake. “Anyway the master won’t let us. We usually have lots to do, you know.”

Stefan turned a puzzled frown to Sheldrake, who looked just as bemused as he did. “Huh. Very well. Well, I can’t do this alone. So, who would like to shoot some arrows?” A forest of hands went up, making Stefan laugh. “You’re an enthusiastic lot, I’ll give you that. Leon and Beth, can we set up a hay bale as a target? I don’t want to blunt my arrows by shooting into a tree or the side of the stables.”

He reached down and rummaged in his big tote bag, which had arrived by coach several hours after him. He withdrew four bows and set about stringing them as he spoke, pausing occasionally for grunts of effort. “We will begin with each of you trying to draw back each bow so that the string is level with your right ear, unless you’re left-handed, in which case it will be your left ear.”

He demonstrated with the first strung bow before setting it down and moving on to stringing the second as he spoke. “The stronger the bow, the greater the distance you will be able to shoot. However, if the bow is too difficult for you, your accuracy is likely to be affected. So it is a balance. You can also increase your distance to some extent by angling your bow upwards, but that requires more practice and accuracy.” He grinned. “Then of course, there is the wind to consider.” He glanced around. “But there is little wind this morning and we are in a sheltered spot here, so that won’t be a factor we have to worry about today.”

When he had the bows all strung, he lined them up on the ground and asked, “Okay, who’s first?”

Rather to his surprise, Sasha and Jayhan hung back and allowed the servants to have first shot. When Stefan looked enquiringly at them, Jayhan shrugged and said quietly, “We will be training with you often, whereas they will not have the same chance. So it is better to give them the most time today.”

“Well said, young man. However, I do want you to try the bows today so that I can order one to suit you.”

Jayhan’s eyes widened. “My own bow?”

Stefan smiled. “Yes. On the King’s orders. Once he decides to act, there are no half measures. You too, Sasha… and Leon.”

Only Leon and Jake could draw back the full-sized bow, but Sheldrake, Thompson, Clive and Beth could draw the second largest to Stefan’s satisfaction, while Hannah, Rosie and Maud could manage the third largest. Much to their disgust, Jayhan, Edgar and Sasha were only able to convincingly draw back the string on the smallest bow.

“Don’t look so disappointed,” chided Stefan. “These are not the smallest bows in existence; only the smallest bows I thought worth bringing with me.” When this did not console them, he added, “Once you have mastered a bow of this size, you will naturally graduate to a larger one as you grow older and your arm strengthens. Anyway, small bows are much handier for carrying around. I often use a small bow even now, when I am travelling light.”

With the bows chosen, he set up the targets and, using the small bow, gave a demonstration of how to hold and aim an arrow. Then everyone took turns in using the correct bow for their strength. Their lack of skill led to high hilarity as many of the arrows missed the hay bale altogether, skidding along the ground or sailing over the fence into long grass in the adjoining paddock. Stefan made a mental note to enlist the children in a treasure hunt for the arrows hidden in the grass, knowing they would not be easily found.

When they had tired of this, Hannah and Rosie enlisted Jake and Thompson. The four of them slipped away to the kitchen, returning shortly afterwards with trays of lemonade and sandwiches.

“Thank you, Hannah,” said Sheldrake. “Do we have time for more? When do you need to start dinner?”

“If this counts for lunch, sir, I could spare another couple of hours.” Hannah gave a warm smile. “It’s like a holiday, isn’t it, sir? A rare thing indeed.”

Sheldrake gave a little shake of his head and smiled in return. “I don’t know what’s come over me. A new member of the household does not usually warrant such attention.” He heaved a contented sigh. “But it is enjoyable for a change and I hope that every staff member can spend some time with Stefan learning at least the rudiments of self-defence.”

Hannah glanced at him, worried. “Are you expecting trouble, sir?”

“I hope not. No, I don’t think so, but I hope not anyway.”

This did little to reassure his cook, who determined to speak further at a later date with Maud. After the archery came sword play, using wooden practice swords that Stefan drew from his apparently bottomless tote bag. He only had six of them, so he paired up people of similar strength and let the others watch as he took them through the rudiments of stance, grip, basic thrusts and parries. Then they swapped so that everyone had a turn.

In the middle of the afternoon, after another refreshment break, he introduced hand-to-hand fighting. He was so quick, lively and encouraging that no one grew weary of the lessons.

He began by standing with his arms loosely at his side and inviting Beth and Maud to lift him up. They did this with relative ease and lowered him back to the ground looking a little puzzled. Then he bent his knees slightly, held his arms crooked before him and focused hard. When he repeated the request to lift him, Maud and Beth stepped forward confidently but found it took everything they had to shift him even slightly. Lifting him into the air was out of the question. After a few minutes of strenuous effort, they stood back puffing and grinning.

“Are you using magic?” demanded Sheldrake.

Stefan laughed. “No. Not at all. You can all do it. Pair up and try it. On the second try, imagine yourself as a tree rooted into the ground, your weight low, heavy and connected to the earth. You’ll see.”