GA Writing Prompts - 16. # 57 The Key

The Key

He tried to remember who had given him the key. Neldor scratched his head as he turned the key in his hands. Sixty years had passed since he had been given the key. The wizard Neldor pondered for a while.

He placed the key on the map that was spread on the wooden table in front of him. Neldor gazed at the key and the map. The parchment of the map was old. One side of the map was covered with mysterious symbols. Neldor had tried to figure them out. But the symbols had remained a mystery to him. The other side of the map showed two continents and an ocean between them. This side of the map made perfect sense to Neldor.

The legend said that many centuries ago foreigners had come to the land by ship. The foreigners had all died of the plague. Their corpses had been found. But nobody had ever found the ship. And as time went by the story that the natives had told had slowly turned into a legend. Nobody really believed in it now.

Neldor, however, did. He had evidence. He had the map that the foreigners had brought to the country so many centuries ago. Neldor scratched his head again. If only he could figure out the symbols. He was sure they were an ancient language or perhaps a code. But Neldor so far had not found the key to the secret.

The wizard gazed at the key. A strange feeling took hold of him. He tried to remember who had given him the key. The image of an old man came to his mind.

"The master of the library!" Neldor exclaimed. The wizard grew excited. He rose to his feet and paced the room. "Back then when I visited that old castle. I was more interested in the books then."

Neldor sat down again and took the key that he had found a couple of minutes ago behind a leather-bound book in a shelf. Neldor turned the key in his hands.

"The castle of Saelethil holds the secret of the ancient map. I must travel there at once."