by Joshua Hoyt
Chapter 9:
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 slept and shook him softly. “Hey, Cody. Wake up.” Tom shook him a couple more times but Cody just rolled over and snored. 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 into the dark. What if one of the spiders is still alive? He walked toward the door. The dream vivid in his memory. He had to know if the dream was real. The door felt cold to his touch as he slowly pushed it open. Tom blinked several times. Is this real? Where the skeleton had been sat a man dressed in a black robe, looking directly at him. “Hello Tom,” the man said.
Tom’s voice quivered as he responded, “Hello, sir.”
“I’ve been waiting a long time to meet with you.” His hood removed from his head revealed his white hair and bright blue eyes. A blue rose necklace hung around his neck just as it had hung on the vertebrae of the skeleton. He spoke softly and waved for Tom to come closer. “I’m of the order of the Rose. The order is long gone now and only a few of us remain. We’ve 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, a feeling of comfort and peace surrounded the man. “I don’t have much time but you’ll find many of the answers you’re 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’ll explain some of the power that is in you.” He smiled as he turned a few more pages. “This is the last page that I wrote, so long ago. You’re our last hope. You must make things right.”
The man closed the book, smiled at Tom and then vanished. 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, wiped away the dust from the cover and saw four roses. A blue, red, white and brown rose engraved into the old leather stood out as their stems interlaced one with the others. Tom lifted the cover gingerly and saw ancient writing inside. At first he could not read the strange words written on the yellowed pages but as he squinted and looked closer the words came into his mind. The words seemed to skip past his eyes and appear directly in his head, making sense to his mind.
After looking at a few pages his head started to hurt from the strain and he had to stop reading. He closed the cover and tried to pick up the book but couldn’t. Surprised by its weight, he tried again, but no matter how hard he tried the book would not move. I wonder what’s holding it in place? Tom thought as he stared at the book. Not seeing anything he thought, It must be magic. The candle grew dim and Tom turned and left the room closing the door behind him. He ascended the stairs and walked through the secret door into the library.
Cody ran up the ramp toward him. “Where have you been? We’ve 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 had a dream about the library.” Tom shuddered as he remembered the screams. “I talked to a man in the old library.”
“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 as if he had decided to accept Tom's improbable story, 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 room, relieved to find that Tom was all right. They all sat down at the table. Karman rang a bell and the servant served breakfast while Tom told them about his dream and his meeting with the spirit. After Tom finished relating the tale the group sat contemplating. Kristiana broke the silence. “Tom, where’s the book now?”
“It’s still in the old library. I couldn’t move it,” Tom 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 felt thick as they gathered in the musty room 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’s said that the order was broken up into four groups that worked as one. Blue for water, red for fire, white or clear for air and brown for earth.” She carefully opened the cover and ran 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 looked at and the words formed in his mind just as they had earlier.
“It says the Order of The Rose, founded when the world first formed, contained only a group of men who could manipulate the energies within themselves. This allowed them to form magic.” His head ached 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. The council 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 and were greatly feared by the people. They no longer cared about peace but only about power and the acquisition of more.” Tom stopped and held his hand to his head.
“The council continued to grow in its hunger for power and eventually turned on one another. A few of the order escaped the council and created secret libraries that were protected from outsiders. The order continued to fight for peace, but with the reduction of their number, some felt 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, some magic would be left and there would be no one to stop it. The small group thought that the solution would be to have the magic stripped from men and given to a small number of women. These women would need a counterpart who would temper their magic. This small group met together and made a pact calling themselves, The Forsaken Petal.” Tom’s head pounded 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, leaning heavily on his friend, let Cody steady him.
“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’s 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 encounte
red the other day were fashioned from that same magic. I wonder if the man in your dream, the one you called Nicolas... I wonder if he was the one who cast a spell to protect this room?” Kristiana mused as her eyes cast thoughtfully around the ancient chamber.
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 and fragile that Tom did not dare touch them. Many of them had already started to fall apart.
“Karman, when was this cottage built?” John asked.
Karman pulled on his beard as he looked 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 an old man owned it before 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’ll 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.