by Hoyt, Joshua
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 said.
“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. There was silence for several more minutes and she began to pace 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 at Kristiana.
Kristiana, brought out of her daze, looked at John. “I’m not sure. Karman have you ever been down here before?”
Karman was standing 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, brushing 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 have heard that there are less than ten 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. “I saw a book that didn’t look quite right and straightened 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 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 do not command me. I make my own decisions and I will 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 is happening here.” She started to leave. “We should close this place up and come back in the morning when we have 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 was able to make 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.
He 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 is still much that needs to be done here. My work is not finished. They will fail if I leave now.”
“Our master calls us home. It is time to leave this world behind. The ritual has begun and we must leave now.”
“I will 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 is 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 will be one of us who follows and he will be able to turn the tide.”
These were the man’s last words before his lips began to twist 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. The last thing Tom saw in the dream was green venom dripping off large fangs.
Chapter 10:
Tom woke sweating and shaking. Was that just a dream or did it mean something? He had to know. He quietly walked to where Cody was sleeping and shook him softly. “Hey, Cody. Wake up.”
Tom shook him a couple more times but Cody just rolled over and began to snore. He sat for a few moments before deciding that he had to go by himself. I can do this. I’m always waiting for others to help me.
He left the room and headed toward the library walking as quietly as he could. He looked for a light on the way and found a candle and matches. He made his way to the library and went to the open bookshelf. He slowly approached the doorway; chills ran up and down his spine. This is a bad idea, Tom.
He made his way down the stairs and to the long hallway that led to the old library. He stopped as he looked down the dark hallway. What if one of the spiders is still alive? He walked toward the door, the dream returned to his memory. He had to know if the dream was real.
He put his hand to the door, it felt cold to the touch, and he slowly pushed it open. Tom blinked several times. Is this real?
Sitting at the table was a man dressed in a black robe looking directly at him. “Hello Tom,” the man’s voice was kind.
Tom’s voice quivered as he responded, “Hello, sir.”
“I have been waiting a long time to meet with you.”
The man was wearing a necklace with a blue rose like the skeleton had had on. His hood was off. He had white hair and bright blue eyes.
The man spoke softly and waved for Tom to
come closer. “I am of the order of the Rose. The order is long gone now and only a few of us remain.”
“We have been working to bring a new day into this world. The council has grown greedy and corrupt, causing many to suffer unjustly.”
Tom walked closer. He felt safe around the man.
“I don’t have much time but you will find many of the answers you are looking for here in this library. The world has grown complacent. They feel they have all they need. The people feel that they can’t be destroyed because of their own greatness.”
The man looked down at the book in front of him and turned a couple of pages. “This book is for you. It will explain some of the power that is in you.” He smiled and a tear came to his eye as he turned a few more pages. “This is the last page that I was able to write, so long ago. You are our last hope. You must make things right.”
The man closed the book, smiled at Tom and then was gone. Tom’s mouth dropped in shock. He looked around the dark room and fear returned.
He walked to the table where only a skeleton of the man sat. The book lay on the table covered in dust. He touched it, wiping away the dust from the cover and seeing four roses. There was a blue, red, white and brown, their stems interlaced. Lifting the cover gingerly he saw ancient writing inside. At first he could not read the strange words that were written but as he squinted and looked closer the words came into his mind. It was as if the words skipped his eyes and appeared directly in his head and he was able to understand them.
His head began to hurt from the strain and he had to stop reading. He closed the cover and tried to pick up the book. Surprised by its weight, he tried again, but no matter how hard he tried, the book would not move. Looking at it he wondered what was keeping it in place. Not seeing anything, he figured it was magic so he gave up and left the library.
He walked through the secret door into the library where he saw Cody running up the ramp toward him. “Where have you been? We have been looking all over for you.”
Still in deep thought, he looked up at Cody. “I was down in the old library.”
“What were you doing down there?” Cody asked.
“I-I had a dream about the library.” Tom shuddered remembering the screams. “There was a man I talked to him.”
“There was someone down stairs?”
Tom shook his head slowly from side to side. “Yes, no. Not a man but a spirit. He showed me a book.”
Cody looked at Tom for a few more seconds then turned to leave. “Well, we better get to the dining room and let everyone know that you’re ok.”
The two boys reached the dining room. “I found him,” Cody yelled.
The others entered the dining room, relieved to find that Tom was all right. They all sat down at the table. Karman rang a bell and the servant began to serve breakfast while Tom told them about his dream and his meeting with the spirit. After Tom finished relating the tale the group sat contemplating.
“Tom, where is the book?” Kristiana asked.
“It’s still in the old library I couldn’t move it,” he replied.
Karman pushed his chair back with a loud screech. “Well, let’s go have a look.”
Karman stood and the rest followed him down to the old library. The silence was thick as they gathered in the library below and Kristiana looked down at the old book.
“It has the symbol of the order of the rose on the cover. Four roses with their stems interlaced. The four roses symbolize the four elements of the earth,” Kristiana said.
John stepped forward and looked at the cover running his hand slowly over the four roses.
Kristiana continued, “It is said that the order was broken up into four groups that worked as one. The blue was for water, red for fire, white or clear for air and brown for earth.” She carefully opened the cover and began running her finger across the page. “This language is foreign to me I can’t make it out.”
Tom hesitated briefly and then came around the table next to Kristiana. He put his finger on the page that she was looking at and the words began to form in his mind as they did earlier.
“It says that the order of the Rose was founded when the world was first formed. The order was a group of men who had been gifted with the ability to form magic and manipulate the energies within themselves.” His head began to ache but he continued reading aloud. “This group of men protected the first council who reigned in peace for many generations. The council became greedy and they wanted the power that the order held. They found allies among the order and with their help they were able to overthrow many. They betrayed their new allies and through unknown magic they were able to strip the order of their energy and infuse their own bodies with it. They were known from then on as warlocks, they were greatly feared. They no longer cared about peace but only about power and how they could get more.” Tom stopped, holding his hand to his head.
“The council continued to grow in its hunger for power and eventually turned on one another. There were a few of the order that escaped the power hungry council who created secret libraries that were protected from outsiders. The order continued to fight for peace. Because of their reduction in number, some felt that the only way to bring about peace was to strip the whole world of magic. A smaller group within the order feared that if they were to do that, a small amount of magic would be left and there would be no one to stop it. The small group thought that what would be best was to have the magic stripped from men and given to a small amount of women who would have to have a counterpart who would temper their magic. This small group met together and made a pact calling themselves, The Forsaken Petal.” Tom’s head began to pound and the images started to blur.
“That’s enough for now,” Cody said as he grabbed Tom’s arm. “We can read more tomorrow I don’t think the book is going anywhere soon.”
Tom let Cody steady him, leaning heavily on his friend.
“This is amazing! This is the missing link to how enchantresses were brought into the world. We all study our origins and the importance of counterparts but there is so much missing in the histories.” Kristiana looked down at the book intently running her fingers along the pages of the book.
“Tom, you say that the images just come into your head when you look at the book?” Aithnea asked.
“Yes, but it gives me such a horrible headache that it becomes difficult for me to understand the images,” Tom said.
“It would seem that the book is enchanted. Is there a way that we could read it by using a spell?” Aithnea asked.
“This magic is old. I can feel it. I imagine that those spiders you encountered the other day were also from that same magic. I wonder if the man that you called Nicolas in your dream was the one who cast a spell to protect this room,” Kristiana said.
Tom, feeling better, walked to the bookshelves and looked at the volumes of books that were placed neatly on the shelves. The books looked so old that Tom did not dare touch them and many of them had already started to fall apart.
“Karman, when was this cottage built?” John asked.
Karman pulled on his beard, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m not right sure.” He stopped pulling on his beard and looked at the skeleton. “But I do know that it has stood on these grounds for well over a hundred years. If I remember right there was an old man who owned it and then sold it to Archelaus.”
“I think it’s best if we continue reading this book at a later time. We need to start training you in all aspects of magic so that you can learn to control it better. You will be of no use if you lose control and hit your own, or...” looking at Aithnea, “…become too frightened during battle to remember your spells,” Kristiana said.
Aithnea bowed her head and put her hands behind her back.
Tom looked at Aithnea and gave a sympathetic smile. “Yes ma’am,” he said.
Chapter 11:
Training was long and hard for Tom. He found it extremely difficult to learn the simplest of cantrips that Aithnea could perfo
rm with little thought. At first he was excited to learn the simple cantrips. He loved the feeling of energy that would build up in the pit of his stomach and then materialize before him in the form he wanted. But when Kristiana began to teach him the more advanced spells he made little to no headway and began to doubt his ability. He would perform the movements perfectly and recite the words as directed but the energy wouldn’t materialize.
Aithnea was always there by his side, giving him encouragement to continue trying. She would point out small movements that he would miss or help him with the correct pronunciation of difficult words. He grew closer and closer to Aithnea as the winter months began to turn into spring. He enjoyed being around her and learning about her past.
Cody was also there, helping Tom with his swordplay. He would push him harder and faster than he thought possible. Where he was failing in magic he was making up double in swordplay. He would learn the maneuvers easily and was able to perform counterattacks without a thought. He was still far behind Cody and knew that he would never match his skill. But he still felt good about making Cody sweat on occasion.
Tom loved watching John and Cody duel. It was like watching a magnificent dance with swords flying in every direction. John would feint with his long sword and then twist his dagger bringing it toward Cody’s arm or leg. Cody would deflect the blow and at the same time make a counterattack. John in turn would either block it with his sword or dodge it entirely causing the weapon to go past him, hitting only air.
The dance would sometimes go on for hours as the two men became so enthralled that they would lose track of time. Karman was always there yelling in suggestions and giving further direction to Cody as he tried to contend with the much greater skill of John. Tom would watch and mimic their moves, learning to parry and quickly counterattack.
On Tom’s fourteenth birthday, the first of three that he spent at the cabin, Karman stayed up late with him next to the warm fire. They talked about how when Karman was younger he had trained John in everything that he knew. He smiled and laughed as he talked about the old days. At one point Karman became very serious and looking Tom in the eyes said, “Tom I don’t know why, but I feel that you are very important to this world. You will make a difference, you must be brave and you must have the courage to see things through. Listen to your heart,” he said, pointing to his own, “and remember all of those who have come before you. Remember the sacrifice of our predecessors who have given their very lives so that we have a chance.” He turned and looked at a small picture of a man that sat on the mantle of the fire place. “It is very important that we do not let them down.” He continued to look at the picture for several minutes and then turned back to Tom, smiling. He laughed and shrugged then continued talking about happier days.
