Aglanthol 1 - The Legend of Khaalindaan - 18. Chapter 18

Leandor led Neldor down a corridor. He stopped in front of a wooden door and nodded at Neldor. Neldor took the key out of a pocket of his cloak. He made a step forward and pushed the key in the lock. The door opened instantly. Neldor stepped into the secret chamber.

The air in the room was stifling. Neldor coughed and tears shot into his eyes. He made a step back and coughed once more. The air in the hallway was dry also, but it was almost refreshing compared to the air in the chamber. Neldor waited for a couple of minutes before he re-entered the room. Nobody apparently had entered the chamber since the master of the library had locked the door and had handed the key to Neldor.

Leandor put a candle on the desk that stood in the room. The light was poor and barely illuminated the chamber. Leandor spoke to Neldor and then left the wizard alone. Neldor stood in the small room and looked around. He saw three shelves on the walls. Each shelf was filled with leather-bound books. Neldor looked at the shelves in awe and a shiver ran through his body as his eyes ran over the volumes. These books held the ultimate secrets of the castle. Neldor knew that only few men before him had seen these books. Neldor stepped closer to the shelves.

The books were all bound in black leather. The leather looked old. More, it looked ancient. Neldor took a deep breath. The air smelled of the ages. He coughed again. And then he reached out his hand and touched a book. He ran his finger along the rear slowly. Neldor sensed the past and the centuries that had gone by. The past, however, was not forgotten. These books told of it. The ancient secrets had been waiting for Neldor to be unveiled by him.

Neldor pulled a book from the shelf. He seized it with both hands and looked at the front. A number carved in the leather. It was the Aglanthol symbol for the number ‘four’. Neldor opened the book. It was written by hand. The scribe had used black ink. His handwriting was neat and easy to read. However, there were no illustrations on the pages. The book was not rotten despite its age. The pages were not crumbled and not even the ink had faded. Only the parchment had turned slightly yellow. The dry air in the room had perfectly preserved the books over time.

Neldor put the book back on the shelf. He randomly took a few other books. They all looked alike: parchment bound in black leather, the texts hand-written with black ink, only the handwriting differed. Various scribes had written the books over time.

A knock at the door distracted Neldor. Leandor came back and brought food and water and additional candles. He placed all on the desk and then left again. Neldor sat down in the chair in front of the desk and ate and drank. He lit another candle before he went back to the shelf and took more books from it. They were written in the ancient language of Aglanthol. The letters were written slightly different and the endings of words and the grammar varied. The texts were hard to read, but Neldor had studied ancient historical scrolls from the king’s library that had also been written in the ancient language. Neldor brushed through the pages. His mind was focused and he worked quickly. The books contained much that Neldor had learned from his master and from his teachers when he had visited the castle as a young man. There was more, however, and Neldor was eager to learn it. But he knew that his time was limited and those texts were not what the wizard was looking for in the first place.

Neldor pulled one book after the other from the shelf on the left. He placed those that sounded promising on the desk in the room. Neldor turned the pages quickly and he resisted reading more than the table of contents. When Leandor came back in the evening, Neldor had already finished investigating the left shelf. A pile of books was placed on the desk. Leandor glanced at the books, but he did not inquire. He had brought more food, water, and candles. He left again and Neldor turned to the middle shelf after having a quick meal.

Midnight had come when Leandor led Neldor to a small room in order to rest for the night. The wizard felt exhausted and tired. But he asked Leandor to wake him at sunrise. Neldor resumed his work the following morning. His heart beat faster when he opened the book that he had just pulled from the shelf. The book looked like the others, but the text looked entirely different. The book was written in a language that Neldor did not understand. However, he recognized the letters. The letters were the symbols on the outside of the ancient map.

"Finally," Neldor said aloud.

He carried the book to the desk. His hands were trembling. Neldor sat down and pushed aside the books that he had previously piled up. He had no interest in them anymore. Neldor had found what he was looking for.

"Finally," he said again.

He opened the book and turned the pages slowly. He studied each page carefully. The letters were doubtlessly the symbols on the map. Neldor assumed that the symbols were an artificial alphabet. He was not able to read the texts, but he had no doubt that he would find the key to the alphabet in the secret chamber. One of the remaining books would ultimately reveal the key to him. Neldor had tried to decipher the symbols for many decades. Now he would take his time. He turned the last page and gazed at the name that was written under the last sentence of the book. A smile played on Neldor’s lips as he read the name.

"Norlorn," he said, "I should have known that you devised the scheme."

Neldor’s smile broadened. He felt excited. The great wizard had left him a riddle. Neldor felt highly motivated. His life’s quest, he felt, was not a minor one. Neldor stood like in trance and moved back to the shelves. He took the book that stood next to Norlorn’s book. It told the story of the foreigners that had come to the land. Another smile played on Neldor’s lips at the hint.

"Master of all wizards, what have you done? I have an anticipation of it," Neldor said in a low voice.

He smirked as he continued to take the books from the shelves. He brushed through them more rapidly now. Neldor was looking for the key that Norlorn had placed somewhere in a book. Neldor finally found it in the shelf on the right. The sixth book that he pulled from the shelf held the key. A single sheet of paper dropped to the floor when Neldor brushed through the pages. Neldor picked the paper up and gazed at it. And then the wizard grinned. He carried the piece of paper and the book to the desk and read the table of contents. Neldor nodded to himself.

"The story of the battle between Norlorn and Khaalindaan," he said pensively.

He folded his hands and looked at the wall with a smile.

"Yes, master of all wizards, it’s really about time that you reveal it all," he said. "There were some points I could never really explain, some inconsistencies, some minor flaws at first sight, not worth the greatest wizard of all times."

Neldor snickered.

"Time," he said. "Oh, yes, the wizard of time. Now finally it makes sense to me. You’re definitely a wretch, old Norlorn. But now reveal your secret to me. I can see clearly now. I need to do something in time."

Neldor snickered at his pun. He found he was having an extraordinary good time.

The piece of paper contained Norlorn’s alphabet and gave instructions on how to transcribe the letters. Neldor had deciphered Norlorn’s book at the end of the day. He had taken notes of what he found was the most essential and important to him.

Neldor rubbed his eyes.

"I’ll read through it again tomorrow morning just to make sure I understood it all correctly. And then it is about time to apply this new found knowledge," he said.

Neldor sat quietly until Leandor knocked at the door. From the expression on Neldor’s face, Leandor knew that the wizard had found what he had been looking for. He gave Neldor a smile and a questioning look.

"I need to read more tomorrow morning. At noon, please, bring me a meal not too heavy and not too light. I must not be sleepy. But hunger must not distract me either. I will have to concentrate," Neldor said.

Leandor nodded. Neldor rose to his feet and Leandor led Neldor to his cell.

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