The Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal (Book 1)

by Joshua Hoyt

  Chapter 8:

  “Hey, wake up sleepy head. We’re here,” Cody said. He nudged Tom in the arm. Tom opened his eyes and looked around. Kristiana and John had already stepped out of the car and Aithnea followed. He sat up and looked out the window. A fresh blanket of snow glittering in the bright afternoon sunlight covered the hilly ground. A path, barely visible in the white mantle, led through tall oak trees to a large cabin. Smoke curled and twisted lazily from the chimney. Under the eves, four foot windows, fit tightly into either side of the cabin, looked like giant eyes. Between them a wooden door that looked like a nose. The porch finished off the ensemble looking like a large toothy grin. Cody climbed out of the car with Tom close behind. Kristiana, John and Aithnea were already heading over a bridge and up the path that led to the cottage.

  Cody stood looking at the cottage and whistled. “Wow, even his cottages are nicer than I’ve ever seen.”

  Tom looked at the cabin. “They’re nicer than I’ve ever even dreamed of.”

  “Well let’s get going, last one there is a rotten egg.”

  Cody took off running. Tom tried to keep up but Cody’s longer legs kept him several feet in front of Tom. Cody ran past Aithnea and she flicked her fingers ever so slightly. Cody fell face first into a snow bank. When he turned to try and stand he couldn’t get his legs free. Tom caught up. “You shouldn’t run so fast you might slip.” Aithnea laughed as she watched Cody struggle to pull his legs free and Tom reached the front porch. “Hey Cody, what’s your problem. Too much snow for ya?”

  “Hah, you’re lucky that someone was looking out for you,” Cody said as he pointed at Aithnea. “I think she’ll make a good ally,” Cody added.

  “The best,” Tom whispered.

  “What was that?” Cody asked. Tom just shook his head and smiled.

  Aithnea batted her eyes and held her hands up. “Cody you just need to watch your footing. I wouldn’t use magic on a silly race.”

  This must be what family’s all about. Tom jumped as a door behind him opened which sent Cody into another laughing fit. Tom looked hurt for a second before he smiled. A man from inside stepped out onto the porch. His white hair was neatly trimmed with a pony tail in the back and a long, white beard braided down to the middle of his chest.

  He smiled as he looked down at John. “It’s so good to see you. I guess Kristiana has kept you alive long enough to bring you home,” the old man said.

  There doesn’t seem to be any resemblance between the two. What did he mean by home? Tom shrugged.

  John ran the rest of the way to the porch, his boots clomping across the wood floor. When he reached the man they surrounded each other in a strong embrace. “It’s so good to see you, Karman,” John said, pounding the older man’s back.

  “And it’s good to see you, John.”

  Karman let go of the embrace and gestured for everyone to enter the cabin. “Everyone inside, we don’t want to let all the warm air out.” Everyone entered the warm cabin and Karman shut the door. He led them to a dining room with food piled high on a long oak table surrounded by ten chairs. Several chairs sat around a black bear rug which lay in front of a fireplace piled high with burning logs. The logs crackled and popped as the fire licked the brick walls that entrapped it like a fiery demon trying to escape its prison. There was a moose head hung over the fireplace while several other trophy heads hung around the rest of the room. Karman sat down at the far end of the table his muscular body making the chair creak in protest. “You must all be hungry, let’s eat.”

  Tom sat down and watched for the others to start eating before beginning himself. Meat, potatoes and several kinds of vegetables adorned the table with two pitchers filled with an orange liquid. Cody filled his plate to overflowing so Tom decided that he would just try a little of everything. It looks like there’s plenty to eat.

  “So, I hear you had a pretty rough night the other night,” Karman said.

  “Yeah, the red dragons attacked in full force. We were lucky that we weren’t all killed,” John said. He swallowed a mouthful of food then continued. “They hit us suddenly and a witch trapped us inside the main house while the others attacked the dorm.”

  Karman looked up with his fork half way to his mouth. “A witch?”

  John put his fork down. “Kris knocked down her defenses long enough for me to get a strike in. I don’t think that we killed her though. We couldn’t find her after the battle.”

  Karman’s eyebrows went up as he looked at Kristiana. “Kristiana has always been able to hold her own hasn’t she?” Karman smiled at her for a second then went back to eating.

  “The boys here,” John said pointing at Tom and Cody with his fork, “were pretty messed up by the time we reached them.” He swallowed hard as he continued. “We lost one of the older boys though.” John gave a halfhearted smile. “Luckily Cody and Tom were thinking and all the other boys made it out safe.”

  Tom stopped, dropping his fork to his plate. “Who didn’t make it?”

  Cody kept his head down as he spoke, “It was Joe. There were too many of them and when they overran us, they killed Joe and took me. I guess they figured they could use me for ransom.” He stopped eating.

  John rubbed Cody’s back and spoke softly, “Cody, there was nothing more you could’ve done. You did exactly what you had been trained to do.”

  “I know but it doesn’t make it hurt any less,” Cody said. His eyes misted over as he looked at his plate of food. He wiped at his eyes and looked up at the others. “He fought bravely and to the end. With his last bit of strength I saw him plunge his dagger into one of the guys. That’s probably what gave Tom the time he needed to get the kids out.”

  “He sounds like a strong and brave man,” Karman said. Cody gave a weak smile and nodded slowly. Tom poked at his food, his appetite gone. Why couldn’t they have all made it out alive? Joe shouldn’t have had to die so I can live. The others at the table were also slow to return to their food.

  Karman still looked down at his food and said, “Do you think that you were followed?”

  “I don’t think so,” John said, returning to his food. “Kris put a non-detect incantation on the car before we left and we used the fastest car available. Besides, I think that they thought they had us and weren’t thinking about tracking us.”

  Karman nodded. “How is Archelaus doing? Is he able to gain the support that he needs?”

  “He’s doing well. There is support coming daily and he thinks that we should act soon,” John said.

  Karman rubbed his chin. “I wonder if this isn’t happening a little too fast. Maybe we should be focusing more on using the legal system to get things turned around.”

  “That won’t work. We’ve already tried that and failed,” John said. “The system has become to corrupt and the council along with it.”

  Karman sat back in his chair putting his hand behind his head and kicking his feet out. “Yes, that’s true, but I don’t think a revolution is the answer. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Kristiana set her fork down calmly and looked up. “Archelaus knows what he’s doing. I don’t think that we should question his plans.”

  “Yeah but…,” Karman started.

  “He has been there for us and has helped us beyond anything we could have done on our own,” Kristiana spoke over him. She leaned forward. “Look at what he’s done for the healers, and they’re safer now than they’ve been in years.”

  “Don’t lecture me about all that. I’m the one who started it all. I just think that a revolution is going to hurt a lot of good people. There has to be another answer. There’s talk that this will change the world as we know it, but what to? That’s my worry.”

  Kristiana leaned back and sighed. “Karman, it’ll be for the best. That’s enough of this talk.” She pushed her chair back and stood. “Thank you for the food. It was wonderful.” Motioning to Aithnea she said, “It’s time that we retire to our room.” Aithnea immediately put her
utensils down, pushed her chair back and stood. With Kristiana leading and Aithnea following, the two left the room without another word.

  John started to get up as well but Karman put his hand on his wrist. “John, all I’m saying is we need to be careful. I worry about what will happen to those we care about and if the world’s really going to be better place afterwards.”

  John patted Karman’s hand affectionately. “I know, Karman. You’ve given up much for this cause and you’ve done more than could be asked of anyone. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” John hesitated a moment longer, then spoke, “I agree that it’s hard to say how much we’ll have to sacrifice for the goodwill of this benefactor.” John stood and put his hand on Karman’s shoulder. “Thank you for your hospitality. It’s so good to be home.”

  “It’s good to have you home,” Karman said while John patted him on the back. After John left Karman said, “Well, I guess we’ve all had a long day and should probably get some rest before tomorrow.” He took another bite of his food and stood. “Boys, it’s nice to have you with us. If you need anything or have any questions just let me know.” He winked at them and left the room.

  “What was that all about and who’s the benefactor?” Tom asked.

  Cody took another bite of food before answering, “Hmmm, I think that they’re talking about Archelaus. You see, Karman started a group that wanted changes in the council.” Cody took another bite before continuing. “I’m not sure of the details but I do know that their proposals were rejected by the council. I also know that this group fought for the healers when the council began rejecting them. Anyways, long story short, Karman and his group didn’t have the money to continue fighting the council and that’s when Archelaus came into the picture. He’s not only the one with the money but the one with the power and prestige to make things happen.”

  “I see.” Tom said with his brow furrowed. Cody started to get up as the servant cleared the table. “But why are Karman and John worried about Archelaus? Isn’t he on our side?” Tom asked.

  “I’m not exactly sure, but I do know this, you don’t get something for nothing,” Cody said. He pushed his chair in and headed for the door. “Let’s go have a look around before going to bed and leave the politics to the grownups.”

  Who’s Archelaus? I guess Cody’s right though, let the grownups deal with the politics. Tom jumped up fearing he would get left behind. “Do you know who those guys were that attacked us the other night?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that, and it doesn’t make much sense. The symbol of the red dragon comes from a country on the other side of the sea. The thing about it is that they would’ve had to of traveled a long ways and to attack a councilman would cause war. Not sure what to make of it but they must’ve been pretty desperate.” They entered a room filled with book cases that went from floor to ceiling. A circular ramp went up to a second floor and then back down in a wide arch. A table with chairs around it stood in the middle of the bottom floor under the stairs. On the top floor Aithnea sat in an overstuffed chair with her feet up on a table reading a book with an old decaying cover.

  Cody headed up the ramp. “Hi, Aithnea. I thought you were headed off to bed.”

  Aithnea looked up from her book. “I wasn’t tired so I decided to read for a little longer,” she responded coolly.

  Cody sat down opposite her. “Mind if we join you for a while. We’re not tired either.”

  Tom sat down into a third chair as she started to reply. She stopped. “I guess not,” Aithnea said, returning to her book.

  “So what you reading there?” Cody asked.

  “It’s called ‘The Lore and Magic of Deidra Blackthorn,’” Aithnea responded without looking up from the book.

  “Hmmm, sounds interesting, what’s it about?”

  Aithnea put the book down on her lap and sighed. “It’s about the lore and magic of Deidra Blackthorn.”

  “Ohhh, that explains it very clearly, right Tom?” Cody looked over at Tom and smiled.

  Tom squirmed not wanting to get into the middle of it. “uhm.”

  Cody snickered and looked back at Aithnea who glared at him. “So what’s it about, give us some of the details?”

  “It’s just a book about a witch called Deidra and the different incantations that she used,” Aithnea explained.

  Cody leaned a little forward. “So, are all witches evil, or are there good ones too?”

  “Let’s see,” Aithnea said as she put her finger to her chin. “The first and only witch I met was the one that trapped us in the mansion. So they all seem pretty evil to me.”

  “No. Seriously, are witches evil and enchantresses good? What’s the difference between the two?” Cody asked.

  He sat forward in his chair staring intently at Aithnea. Aithnea looked at Cody and relaxed her hold on the book. “Well, witches and enchantresses gain their power from different sources. When Kristiana and I use our power, it comes from inside of us and that of our counterparts. We lose part of ourselves when we cast a spell. Witches, on the other hand, draw their power from those around them. It’s as if they are sucking life out of others to cast their spells.” Cody nodded while Tom wondered, What would’ve happened if Kristiana had not been at the mansion.

  Aithnea said, “In my opinion, witches are evil because they destroy others for their own purposes. But enchantresses have to sacrifice some of their self to perform magic and to cast their spells. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes. I see what you’re saying, but what if a person willingly gave you life force to use, would that make you a witch?” Cody asked.

  Aithnea paused before responding, “Well, enchantresses can only pull additional energy from their counterpart. Witches make pacts with the dark one so that they’re able to draw power from those that surround them.” Aithnea leaned forward and placed the book on the end table next to her chair. “I’ll have to gain a counterpart to truly be able to use my full power. Witches have to sacrifice others for their power. I’ve heard that they will actually kidnap young children to gain even more power.”

  “What about men, can they become witches or enchantresses?” Tom asked quietly.

  Aithnea smiled at Tom. “It’s impossible. I mean, that is, I’ve never heard of one.” Aithnea lowered her eyes. “Actually, now that I think about it, I read a passage in an old book one time. It talked about a male enchanter whose counterpart was an enchantress. I always thought that it had been just a story, but now that you bring it up, I wonder.” Aithnea suddenly got up and started looking at the bookshelves.

  Cody squinted inquisitively at Tom. “The other night I saw flashes of orange come through the window and hit the man. Do you remember that Tom?”

  Tom looked away from Cody and nervously clutched the arms of his chair. “I don’t know, Cody.”

  “But...” Cody started but Aithnea interrupted him.

  “Here it is,” Aithnea said as she thumbed through a book. “This book talks about a man who had a limited amount of ability in magic. He could do simple cantrips, but nothing really noteworthy. The man said that he had learned the cantrips from an ancient dragon.”

  “Dragon!” Cody exclaimed. “Now we know that it’s just a hoax.”

  “Not necessarily. Sometimes words that people use have different meanings in different ages. He may have been referring to an ancient witch or something like that,” Aithnea said. Turning back to the book, she continued, “The man said that he had been born with the power but didn’t know how to use it correctly until the ‘dragon’ took him in and taught him how.” Aithnea’s finger moved quickly along as she skimmed the page. “Ah, this is interesting. It says here that the man mysteriously vanished one day but before he vanished he had an offspring that supposedly had the power. It says that the man had an affair with an enchantress and that the enchantress was taken. No one knows where she had been taken. The story continues talking about how if a male progeny were to come along that he may have some of the
ability as well.”

  Cody sat back hard. “Psh, that’s ridiculous. I’ve never heard of a male enchanter or of any man being able to wield anything more than the simplest of magic items.”

  “What would happen if a man could use magic?” Tom asked. He fidgeted with his belt strap.

  Aithnea paused in her reading and looked up at Tom. “I’m not sure, but according to this story the man didn’t have much magic. Mayber that’s because he didn’t have a counterpart. Or maybe he just wasn’t born with a high amount of life energy.”

  “Life energy? Don’t we all have life energy?” Tom asked.

  “Well, yes, but there are different grades, and amounts of life energy that a person has,” Aithnea said. “An average person may have a high amount but if the grade is not good enough, they can’t use magic. Witches can take that energy from a person and combine it with their own to produce the right kind. I have a high amount of energy and it is high quality but it needs to be replenished through meditation and study.” She looked at the boys to see if they understood.

  “So, Aithnea, if a man were to have the right kind of energy and enough, what would that mean?” Cody asked, looking at Tom.

  “Well, that’s the problem. I’ve never heard of it other than in stories and they don’t really give many details,” Aithnea said.

  “But what would happen if it were possible.”

  “I would imagine that if he had high energy and the right grade. And he had a counterpart that was an enchantress then, theoretically he, or they would be very powerful. The problem would be how the bond between the two would be made. How would balance be maintained between the two sides?” Aithnea said.

  She put the second book down and went to the bookcase again scanning the bookcase for yet another book. Tom quietly thought about what had happened to him the other night. What did it mean? Maybe I just imagined the energy leaving my fingertips and flying toward the man holding Cody. Tom furtively looked toward Cody, wondering if he had seen where the missiles had come from. Cody stared at Tom with a dazed half smile.

  Aithnea looked up at that moment, looking back and forth between the two boys. “You guys aren’t telling me something? What is it?” She walked closer to them. “Hey you two what’s going on?”

  Cody looked at Aithnea, his hands up. “It’s not for me to say.”

  She turned on Tom and glared at him. “Well?”

  “I-I’m not quite sure actually. The other night when we were attacked, I was out on the tree and saw Cody all bloody and a man looking like he was going to kill him and...” Tom’s voice died off. What did happen?

  “And what, Tom?” Aithnea came closer to him.

  Tom looked up at her sheepishly. “I felt an odd energy inside me and heard strange words go through my mind. I lifted my hand and an orange orb shot out and hit the man.”

  “That’s crazy. Are you sure that you were not imagining things, or maybe one of Kristiana’s missiles missed their target and flew across the yard and into a window hitting an unseen target.” Aithnea sat down, realizing what she said.

  “So, is it possible?” Cody asked excitedly.

  Aithnea sat with her finger on her chin in deep concentration and pulled her feet up under herself. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  The library door opened and Kristiana came in. “Aithnea, it’s time that you come to bed.” She stopped when she saw the expressions on the kids’ face. “What are you guys up to?” She asked accusingly.

  Aithnea stood up and walked toward Kristiana. “Are the stories true that talk about male enchanters?”

  “It’s late and we need to sleep.” Kristiana put her hand to her head. “We’ll discuss this tomorrow.” Kristiana left the room without another word.

  “Well, I guess I better get going. It was nice talking to both of you. Have a good night,” Aithnea said following after Kristiana.

  “It was nice talking to you. You’re a wealth of knowledge. We need to talk more often,” Cody called after her.

  Tom sat numbly as the conversation rehashed itself over and over in his mind. He continued sitting in the chair as Cody followed Aithnea down the ramp. He tried so hard to understand the things that had happened to him. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Aithnea had said and how his life had changed so much already. He couldn’t even imagine how much more it would change in the coming years.

  Hearing Cody and Aithnea at the bottom of the ramp, Tom decided he had better follow before getting lost. He slowly got up from his seat. Casually glancing at the bookcase, he noticed a book out of place. He walked to the bookshelf and tugged on the book. A grating noise came from behind the bookshelf and then it swung open. Tom jumped back in surprise as musty, cold air hit him in the face. “What did you do?” Cody asked as he came running up the ramp.

  “Nothing, I just grabbed a book,” Tom said.

  Cody looked at the opening that led to a set of stairs heading down. “Huh, I wonder where it goes.”

  “I don’t know. It looks like no one has been through it in years,” Tom said. Cody nodded in agreement while Tom looked down the dark tunnel. The stair treads were rounded from heavy use as they wound steeply down. Uhg I hate spiders and there’re probably plenty of them down there.

  “Let’s find a light and go down,” Cody said.

  “Are you joking? What if we aren’t supposed to go down there?” Tom said.

  “Who will know? Besides, I don’t think anyone has been down here for hundreds of years,” Cody said as he looked for a light.

  “What are you guys doing?” Aithnea said.

  Cody pointed at the entrance. “Look what we found. It’s an entrance of some sort.”

  Aithnea looked through the entrance and then at Cody. “What are you looking for?”

  “He’s looking for a light. I’m hoping he doesn’t find one,” Tom said quietly.

  “Oh, that’s easy,” Aithnea said. She started to chant and with a flick of her fingers a bright sphere appeared above her head.

  Tom’s eyes went wide. “How’d you do that?”

  “It’s a simple cantrip that every enchantress learns within her first week of lessons.” Aithnea replied.

  “Cody, look at thi...” Tom stopped, but not soon enough.

  “What was that Tom?” Cody yelled back as he headed back up the ramp. After seeing the light above Aithnea he said, “Ah, nice, that’s exactly what we need, let’s go.”

  Cody started down the stairs. Aithnea hesitated a moment but followed. Tom hesitated even longer, but not wanting to look like a coward followed as well. He slipped a couple of times on the smooth steps. Luckily, he caught himself before stumbling into Aithnea. The stairs circled down so far that Tom's feet were grateful when they finally came to level ground again. He looked up at the ceiling that pressed down on him only a foot or so above his head and saw cobwebs hanging like a mist. The hard brick walls and floor were covered in dust. How long has it been since anyone’s been down here? “I think someone needs to dust,” he muttered. Aithnea giggled softly, but quickly regained her composure while Cody laughed out loud.

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Cody said while they continued their search of the dungeon like space.

  Cody inspected the sconces that lined the walls but the torches had all burned down long ago. He crept forward down the hallway loosening his sword at his side. “Who do you think made this place,” he said.

  “I have no idea. But it’s old,” Aithnea replied.

  Cody came to a door and asked, “You ready for this?” Tom grimaced and Cody grinned as he slowly turned the knob and pushed on the heavy wooden door. Cody had to put all of his weight into the door to get it to move. A whooshing sound came from inside as air was sucked into the room beyond. Then the smell of dust, mold and old rotting books seeped into the passage. Tom peeked over Cody’s shoulder through the door. Bookshelves lined the walls and a table sat in the center of the room. In the chair at the head of the table someone had
left an old skeleton. Tom jumped as he realized the skeleton was not some left over party decoration, but the real thing. Cody let out a quick breath, but undaunted, continued into the room dragging Tom on his heels. Aithnea followed close behind and they approached the table. The skeleton wore a dark robe and a pendant of a blue rose hung around its neck.

  “What’s that around its neck?” Tom asked. He walked closer, Where have I seen that necklace before? Almost to the table, Tom stopped. He recognized where he had seen it before. The old man in the alley had the exact necklace around his neck. Tom forgot about the skeleton and reached for the necklace.

  “Tom, stop,” Cody yelled. Tom jumped back as a huge black spider descended from the ceiling to the table. The spider was as big as his head, its pincers were dripping green venom and its many eyes stared intently at him. The spider began to scuttle across the table toward him. He stepped back and tripped on some loose rubble, his arms flailing every which way. Cody jumped toward the spider to protect Tom. He pulled his sword from its scabbard. The spider hesitated only a moment, then seeing new prey continued forward. Cody swung his sword in a menacing arc stopping the spider once again.

  Tom jumped to his feet and pulled his pistol out. He aimed at another spider falling from the ceiling and fired. The bullet screamed through the air hitting the spider, green goo rained down on them. Aithnea screamed as more spiders fell all around them, their deadly pincers snapped at them angrily. “Run,” Cody cried, “there’re too many of them.”

  Tom grabbed Aithnea’s arm heading toward the door. Cody backed toward them swinging his sword to keep the spiders at bay. Another large black spider dropped in front of the door and began to crawl toward Tom and Aithnea. Tom pulled his sword from its scabbard and with a loud battle cry lunged toward the spider. He swung his sword in a wide arch, hitting the spider’s front leg. The spider screamed and scurried to a dark corner of the room. He smiled but not for long, seeing many more hairy black spiders emerging from the darkness around them. Two spiders were moving slowly toward him from the open door. He backed up from the spiders and bumped into Aithnea. As he touched Aithnea he felt a connection with her. He could feel her fear and hear her mind race for an appropriate spell. His mind filled with words at the same time feeling a power grow within him. Another separate power combined with his becoming one within him. A strong bond grew between them. His hands began to glow.

  “Duck Cody!” Aithnea screamed. Aithnea held Tom’s arm and pushed more energy to him increasing the power within him. Tom chanted the words that came from Aithnea’s mind, concentrating the energy into his hand he threw his hand toward the ceiling and a bright white light boomed from it. A concussion wave extended from his hand and hit every corner of the room. He could hear several spiders fall from the ceiling and thudd lifeless to the ground. He fell exhausted to the ground and Cody jumped to his side looking for injuries.

  “Is he ok?” Aithnea asked softly.

  “He seems to be. At least he’s still breathing,” Cody responded.

  “I’m fine,” Tom said, too weak to move.

  Tom tried to get up but Cody held him down. “Don’t move.” Then with a huge grinn, he said, “I think you got them all.” Footsteps came toward the open door. Cody grimaced and said, “It sounds like you woke everyone up in the process though.” John came through the open door first, followed by Karman and then Kristiana.

  John looked around the room. “What happened?” he asked.

  Tom looked at the other two. How do I explain to them that I killed them all with my magic?

  Kristiana entered. Looking at Aithnea she asked, “What spell did you cast?”

  “It wasn’t me, well partly me, but not entirely me, it was ...” Aithnea stumbled on the right words to say.

  “What do you mean?” Kristiana asked. Aithnea just shrugged her shoulders and looked at Tom. “Tom, explain to me exactly what happened and how it felt,” Kristiana ordered.

  Tom swallowed hard. “I, uhm, bumped into Aithnea and started to hear her thoughts and I could feel her...” Tom paused looking at Aithnea for help. Aithnea shook her head holding her hands up. Now what? “I could feel how she felt. I then felt power… or energy coming from her, combining with my own inside me,” Tom said. He stopped when Kristiana’s eyes went wide. After a moment, Kristiana closed her eyes and lowered her chin to her chest. Silence filled the room for several minutes while Kristiana paced the room, ignoring the dead spiders at her feet. Oh great I did it this time. Why did I have to open that dumb book shelf anyway?

  John went to one of the spiders and poked it with his sword. It twitched then laid still. He squatted to get a closer look and poked it a few more times. “They’re definitely dead,” John remarked, poking the spider one last time. “Where do you think they came from? What is this place anyway?” John asked looking around the room lighted by Kristiana’s and Aithnea’s glowing balls, which hung just above the group.

  Kristiana, brought out of her daze, looked at John. “I’m not sure. Karman have you ever been down here before?”

  Karman stood next to the skeleton holding something in his hand. “No, I haven’t. It looks like it’s some sort of secret library though. This guy must have been the last librarian.”

  John walked over to the skeleton and brushed off some of the cobwebs. “He looks like he’s been here for a while. What do you have there Karman?” John pointed to Karman’s hand.

  “It was around the skeleton’s neck,” Karman said.

  “I’ve seen that before. The night I met Archelaus. An old man had one around his neck,” Tom broke in.

  Kristiana held out her hand. “Let me see it.” Karman handed her the necklace and she turned it over as she examined it closer. “I believe that this belongs to one of the order of the Rose. I will need to consult my books, but yes I believe it’s their symbol. This must be one of their hidden libraries. I’ve heard that there are less than four in the entire world,” Kristiana said. Tom stood up with the help of Cody.

  Kristiana turned and looked at Tom. “It’s said that only one of their order is able to open the way that leads to their libraries. Which one of you found the passageway?”

  “It was me,” Tom said sheepishly. “I saw a book that didn’t look quite right. I went to straighten it, and the shelf swung open.”

  Kristiana looked him over carefully. “Tom, Archelaus was wise in recruiting you, but I’m not sure he understands just how special you really are.”

  “And he won’t find out either. It’s very important that none of this is told to anyone outside of this room. Do you all understand?” Karman said.

  Kristiana turned on Karman. “He must be told.”

  “Not until we know for sure where his loyalties lie. He may be our benefactor, but I’m still the one calling the shots,” Karman said.

  Kristiana put her hands on her hips and glared at Karman. “You don’t command me. I make my own decisions and I’ll choose what I do and don’t say.”

  John slid in between the two, looking at Kristiana. “Kris, I agree with Karman on this one. This is too much information to just hand over to someone that we’re not completely sure about. Archelaus has been a great help in getting us going, but I don’t trust him completely. There’s something about him that just doesn’t feel right.”

  She glared at John and slowly the tension in her face eased. “Ok, we won’t tell him for now, but I still think this is too important to just sit on. He has powerful allies that could help us understand better what’s happening here.” She started to leave. “We should close this place up and come back in the morning when we’ve had time to rest. Tom, I will talk to you first thing in the morning. Aithnea you need to get your rest.”

  Kristiana and Aithnea left the room and headed down the hallway. Tom began to follow when John stopped him. “You and Cody will sleep in my quarters until we know what we’re dealing with.” Tom nodded and with the help of Cody they made it out of the library and up the stairs.
They walked to John’s room and made beds on the floor. Tom got into his bed feeling as if he hadn’t slept for weeks. He fell asleep with little trouble but had a fitful night.

  Tom dreamed of the hallway leading to the secret library, only this time there were several men dressed in black robes, each wore a rose necklace. The men went into the library and stood in front of the table. Another man sat at the table writing in a large book. One man stepped forward and the man at the table stopped writing and looked up.

  “What is it acolyte Nicholas?” the man behind the desk asked.

  “Our work here is finished. It’s time to go,” Nicholas said.

  The man behind the desk shook his head. “No, I disagree, there’s still much that needs to be done here. My work is not finished. They’ll fail if I leave now.”

  “Our master calls us home. It’s time to leave this world behind. The ritual has begun and we must leave now.”

  “I’ll stay here alone then.” Nicholas turned to those that were behind him and they moved forward surrounding the man at the desk. They each raised their hands and clasped the arm of the one standing next to him. The circle of men began to chant.

  The man in the chair cried out, “You don’t understand, this is my mission.” He hurriedly wrote many more lines in the book. “It’s done.”

  “This is your last warning. It’s time to go or we must destroy you,” Nicholas warned.

  The man behind the desk looked at the book and then at Nicholas in defiance. “There’ll be one of us who follows and he’ll be able to turn the tide.” These were the man’s last words before his lips twisted in pain. His head bowed down to his chest and his hands came to his head trying to squeeze out the pain. The men in the circle continued to chant until the man no longer screamed. Nicholas said a few words of magic waving his hands toward the ceiling and they left the room. Red eyes dotted the ceiling and as the men left the glow of their light reflected off large fangs dripping with green venom.