Wayne Batson - The Door Within

Aidan wondered why the story’s author-whoever it was- would interrupt the plot to include such precise details. At times, it almost seemed like a history book. And history was real.

Aidan could not help himself. He had to know more. As soon as he finished the first scroll, he picked up the second one and eagerly read on.

King Eliam, the noble and wise monarch of Alleble, decided to promote one knight from his Elder Guard to become the Sentinel of Alleble. This was a difficult decision, for the Elder Guard were the twelve most skilled and loyal warriors of the kingdom. But only one could be Sentinel. It was a new position-a position of great honor, great responsibility, and great power. For the Sentinel was in charge of guarding the King’s throne room and protecting the King.

King Eliam favored a bold-hearted knight named Paragal, and chose him to become the kingdom’s first Sentinel.

The King gave Paragal Cer Muryn, the Blue Blade. It was a mighty sword forged by the King himself from murynstil, the strongest and most rare metal in the land. On its hilt were three blue onyxes that blazed like stars when the sword was wielded by one of pure heart. In the beginning, Paragal was pure, and all the kingdom of Alleble, including the King, loved Paragal deeply.

So entrusted was Paragal that King Eliam endowed him with an unheard-of power. In the highest tower of the Castle of Alleble was a sacred place called Sil Agal Lorinfal, The Library of Light. It was where King Eliam would go to consult-and compose the history of Alleble.

Only the King had the ability to enter Sil Agal Lorinfal, for The Stones of White Fire surrounded the tower with an impenetrable barrier of unquenchable holy flames. Anyone else who dared an attempt to enter would be consumed in moments.

King Eliam gave Paragal power to endure the flames and pass into The Library to read the lore of Alleble. But still, only the King himself could write on the scrolls within.

Paragal spent much time in The Library, and soon his wisdom was unparalleled in Alleble, exceeded only by the King. So wise did Paragal become that ambassadors and emissaries from many of the smaller kingdoms came to Paragal seeking knowledge or counsel. This Paragal gladly gave to them. And in return for some portion of Paragal’s sage advice, these dignitaries gave Paragal treasures from their realms. Over time, Paragal amassed a collection of extraordinary wealth. It became his undoing.

Greed for even greater gain began to gnaw at Paragal, for his fortune was but a trinket when compared to King Eliam’s vaults. But greed was just the first fissure of evil to appear in Paragal’s heart. For just as he grew rich on the gifts of the people of The Realm, he also grew prideful on their praise.

They called Paragal fair, and he was handsome like one descended from kings. They called him wise, and he was dauntingly wise. They called him powerful, and Paragal was powerful-a legend in arms and able to pass The Stones of White Fire without perishing. But in every facet of this praise there was for Paragal a biting insult. For no matter what was said, it was always understood by all that King Eliam was greater still!

Jealousy festered in Paragal each time rulers of other lands came to King Eliam for counsel. When crowds bowed low as the King passed, Paragal watched and coveted for himself such love and homage. And when the King entered The Library of Light to pen the lore of Alleble, Paragal stood guard outside the throne room… and smoldered.

It was no longer enough to be the King’s most honored. Paragal wanted to wear the crown himself.

In secret, Paragal gathered many to his side-some from distant lands-but most from inside Alleble’s own borders. With riches, he bribed them. With wisdom, he beguiled them. With power, he coerced them. Then Paragal set in motion a plan to bring down the King and put himself on the throne.

Aidan was outraged. How could Paragal betray his King like that? King Eliam was good and kind and… generous. He treated Paragal like a son! It was treason. It wasn’t fair.

Aidan flopped backward onto his pillows. He’d seen an awful lot of injustices lately, but nothing on the scale of what was taking place in Alleble. And though he kept reminding himself that it was just a story, Aidan found himself afraid for King Eliam. Aidan had to know what would happen next, so he sat up and read on.

Some time later, though he tried hard to stay awake, Aidan found himself blinking and nodding. Slowly, Aidan’s eyelids drooped and shut.

It was a troubled slumber. He tossed and turned, grasping fistfuls of blankets, all the while muttering again and again, “No! No! No!” But the dreams did not stop…

It was an hour before dawn would brighten the skies over Alleble, and Paragal was pleased. “So far, my plan is unfolding exactly as I had hoped. Well, almost,” he corrected himself. “One of the Elder Guard’s little runts has escaped and has not been found. No matter.”

Paragal stood outside the throne room at his post. He was, after all, the Sentinel of Alleble, sworn and prepared to risk life and limb for the King. Paragal intended to honor that oath-just not as it was intended. He looked down at his sword, Cer Muryn. The three jewels on Cer Muryn’s hilt were dull, absent of their former blue fire.

Paragal turned and, like a phantom, silently passed into the throne room. Darkened murals of heroes from Alleble’s past hung high between tall, arched windows of stained glass. These knights and ladies of great honor witnessed Paragal’s approach to the seat that should not be his. He did not look up at them, for they were but memories and powerless to hinder his plans. His eyes were riveted to the throne.

King Eliam’s high seat was made of a precious white marble, and even in the dark it seemed to glow. Paragal ran his thin fingers over one armrest, closed his eyes and, intoxicated with the moment, let his head roll back. For now he allowed himself just a taste. Later, though, he would drink deeply of glory and would have his fill.

Paragal knew that King Eliam would be in The Library, as was his custom before sunup. It was his time to write, when The Realm was still and quiet, and all concerns could wait for the light of day. By dawn, he would no doubt have penned several new scrolls to add to Alleble’s illustrious history.

Torches flickered on the inside wall of the curving stairs as Paragal ascended. He ducked under a wooden arch and crossed the threshold of the King’s sacred courtyard outside on a large gatehouse. There, in the center of the courtyard, Paragal paused a moment and beheld The Stones of White Fire and the great tower Library. Twelve stones, inlaid on the floor, formed a circular barrier surrounding the tower. Each stone was inscribed with a word from the sacred first scroll of Alleble. The first scroll was the only scroll in the entire Library that was kept sealed. Not even Paragal was permitted to read the first scroll. It was said in legends that the first scroll contained the past and the future, the entire history of every being in the realm of Alleble from beginning to end, the sum total of all the other scrolls that had been or ever would be written. But no one knew how that could be… if it was true.

The twelve words on the twelve stones seemed written in liquid fire, and white tongues spouted from them and rose into a great inferno. The Library was engulfed in a writhing wall of flame that would suffer no being to enter, except King Eliam and his Sentinel. And the Sentinel entered.

The flames licked all around Paragal, but no harm came to him. Once past the fire, he entered The Library and the writing sanctuary on the first level. There were nine levels in The Library, each above the other, joined by a central spiral stair and a network of ladders and trapdoors.