he began to spout, “I will find the book and when I do…” he trailed off in thought.
“Where is he now and what is he doing?” Winston asked as he saw Avadon tossing debris.
“He’s beneath the castle in the tunnels. For centuries Avadon has spent most of his time down there in a relentless search for the book. The dimly lit tunnels are a maze filled with many doorways some leading to rooms, to hidden passages and some leading nowhere,” Myadora answered as they watched Avadon stealthily prowl about the tunnels.
Winston looked on as Avadon approached a small wooden door covered by centuries of dust and cobwebs at the end of one of the tunnels.
Pulling away the cobwebs he began coughing from the dust. Catching his breath, he attempted to open the door. It was stuck it would not budge. On his knees he tried pushing against the small door with his shoulder several times until his shoulder ached…nothing.
“This door is going to open,” Avadon barked angrily. Because the door was low, he laid down on his back for leverage, his feet slightly elevated, determined he endeavored to kick in the door. After numerous tries it finally gave way and opened into a small musty room filled with old boxes. Avadon made such a racket in trying to open the door, he was sure someone must have heard him. Now standing upright he began checking the tunnel to make sure he was safe. Bending to enter the musty room he began pulling away boxes when he spotted a crack with a small hole in a wall. He tried to peer through the small hole. It was dark on the other side.
Winston sat on the edge of his seat cringing at the sight of Avadon’s excited expression.
“Hmm!” Avadon sounded as his eyes widened. He removed a small torch from his belt, lit it and tried to squeeze his hand holding the torch through the hole. The light from the torch revealed another room on the other side of the wall filled with more boxes and debris and no apparent entrance other than the tiny hole, which was much too small for him to climb through. He removed a small pick ax he had hidden under his shirt and began attacking the hole. After several hours he decided it might be large enough for him to climb through. He struggled; his wiry body barely fit. Once on the other side he found another crack and a room just like the one he had left, he searched and found an even smaller hole, which he attacked again with his pick ax only to find a similar room. This continued for three more holes with three more rooms.
Exhausted and looking tattered from his ordeal, Avadon was determined; he continued pulling trunks away from the wall. He stopped at once, staring at an iron door behind the trunks. The door was rusted and would not budge as he tried to open it. He tugged, and pulled and prided, nothing, all the while mumbling under his breath. He searched around until he found an iron fitting from one of the trunks. Using it, he was able to pry the door open. Inside the vault piled high on shelves were old papers, books and more boxes, which he feverishly tossed about. Then he noticed one of the bricks in the wall of the vault did not look quite right. Using the iron fitting he removed the mortar from around the brick. Anxiously, with his hands shaking he reached in. Breathless, his heart felt as though it was exploding in his chest as perspiration ran from his forehead, he couldn’t stop. “I can feel a book, it’s a book,” he shouted as he pulled the volume out of its hiding place. “It has to be the book” he insisted with his eyes closed, afraid to open them for fear of disappointment. Slowly he opened his eyes and gazed at the dusty tattered book in his hands. The title read, “SECRETS OF DARK AND EVIL”. “Shadel, my brother you’re finished,” he said clenching his teeth. His body, aching, scraped, bruised and dirty, trembled. It no longer felt real; he was running on pure adrenalin.
Winston winced at Avadon’s reaction.
Squeezing once again through the holes in the walls he ran panting towards a room in the tunnel near the exit where he had hidden some clean clothes. This was something he always did when he went sneaking around the dusty and dirty tunnels. He slid the book into his leather shoulder bag.
Once inside the castle, filled with frenzied anticipation, he raced down the right corridor to his sister’s apartment. He pounded on the oak doors. “Angeen, Angeen,” he shouted as he hammered the door with his fists.
The door opened and, in the doorway, stood a woman all rumbled in nightclothes with curling ribbons in her hair, some which were beginning to become untied. “What are you shouting about?” Angeen said rubbing her eyes, “it’s the middle of the night. You’d better have a good reason for waking me.”
“You silly cow,” her brother replied as he pushed past her entering the large ornately furnished living room, “Let me in quickly. I’ve got it,” he announced to his sister as he pulled the book from his leather shoulder bag.
“You’ve got what?” Angeen asked still yawning and seeming totally indifferent to her brother’s excitement.
“Fool, focus, get the cobwebs out of your tiny brain,” he ordered. “The book with the magic spells, potions and incantations. The forbidden book, that’s what I found. Shadel and Suri will be history, I’m going to rule Luminatia,” he triumphantly declared, then realizing he would need Angeen’s help he amended his statement, “We’re going to rule Luminatia.”
Queen Angeen, I like the way that sounds,” she said rising up off the large red sofa where she had been seated and standing next to her brother staring into the looking glass as she tried to fix one of her curl ribbons which was falling out of her hair.
“What Avadon didn’t know, is that the book of “Secrets of Dark and Evil” had been written in codes and parts of it was in an ancient language, foreign to Avadon,” Myadora explained as Winston was transfixed to the vision before him. “It took him years of pouring over the book until he believed he was able to decipher a potion which contained a spell to facilitate what he and his sister wanted; control of the kingdom. During that time, he hardly left his apartment.”
“Angeen,” Avadon called as he banged on the door of his sister’s apartment late one evening. “I’ve done it! I’ve finally done it!” he spouted sanctimoniously as he entered and flung himself down on the sofa leaning his head back against the gaudy red velvet cushion.
“Done what?” she replied with her arms crossed, standing in front of him. “You mean you’ve deciphered the book,” she gasped as if a light went on in her head.
“That’s right, I’ve decoded the spell and the recipe for the potion. Here,” he said elated as he handed her a piece of parchment containing the ingredients for the potion. “Tomorrow I leave for a very remote area in the eastern part of the kingdom. If I go in disguise no one will notice me and I will be able to easily use the spell I’ve deciphered on our brother’s subjects. It will be with great pleasure to see how they turn against Shadel and follow me. Then they will adhere to my every command.”
“You, my dear sister, need to collect the ingredients for this potion. When I return you will prepare it and make certain our beloved brother and sister-in-law drink it. It will transform them into pathetic babbling imbeciles and their beloved people will turn from them in disgust,” he prophesized. “The spells that I’ll cast will make the people worship and follow us.”
The visualization stopped; the large rocks of the mountain hidden by the vision were once again visible. “What happened?” Winston asked eagerly, puzzled by the abrupt halt of the images.
“I can only tell you what happened next,” Myadora explained to her impatient descendent. “It would be too dangerous for you at this time if you were to witness Avadon casting this spell. The powers you will be receiving as a guardian have not yet been bestowed upon you. In a short time when you begin to receive those powers then and only then will you start to understand
