Legend of the Book Keeper (23 page)

Before the walls of Atlantis, the power of the Orb was used as a horrifying instrument of bloodshed. The war lasted only three days. Many lives were lost in the bloodbath and Atlantis was left in scorched rubble. In the end, it was Ishmael who emerged victorious over his brother. Yet, the powerful love for his brother drove Ishmael to ignore the urges of his counselors and spare his brother’s life. Instead he had his brother sign a covenant.

In the aftermath of the dreadful war, Ishmael realized the danger of the Orb. As such, the covenant proposed to limit the Orb’s access to only a select, trusted few. In order to restrict and keep the knowledge secret, the ancient words of power were copied down into two different Books and the seven stone tablets were destroyed. The first Book contained only the ancient words; it is known as
The Code
. The second Book contained only the translations and instructions on how to read
The Code
. It is called
The Key
. To appease the Golden King’s demands, the Books also served a second purpose—to funnel power. By using the Orb’s power, the brothers in
fused the Books with the ability to channel the Orb to the individual keeper of the Book. In a way, he who held one of the two Books also held the Orb. They then contrived a fail safe to prevent anyone other than that single owner from ever using the Book’s power; a terrible evil that was never to be spoken of, and only released in dire circumstances.

The Books were divided between the two kingdoms, allowing each city to possess only one half of the whole. The Golden King and his ravenous lust for power designated himself as the Book Keeper of
The Key
. However, Ishmael, who had been devastated beyond healing by the loss of his wife, as well as over two thirds of the city’s population, never wanted to be tempted to use the Orb’s power for violence ever again. He therefore refused to become the keeper of
The Code
. Instead, he entrusted the Book to his more trusted member of The Twelve, a noble and reliable man.

Both men knew that the soul of the Golden King had been corrupted beyond repair, and that even as the supernaturally binding covenant was being made, he was secretly scheming to steal
The Code
. He dreamed of gaining the full knowledge of the Orb for his own purposes. Desperate to prevent the Golden King from uniting the two Books and obtaining endless power, Ishmael ordered his trusted ally to flee above ground with
The Code
and keep it forever hidden. The power of the Book ensured the longevity of the man’s life. The name of that man was Wesley. For a thousand years the Book remained hidden and in his care, that is, until
now, when it has been brought back to the one place that Ishmael never wanted it to be: Atlantis.

Cody shook his head disbelievingly as Cia finished her tale. He did not want to believe it, but he knew in his heart that it was true. He recalled the bizarre picture he had found framed in Wesley’s bedroom and suddenly the pieces all began to fit. His eyes focused on the Book lying in the middle of the restricted room.
The Code
. For most of the last week Cody had hauled the Book around in his backpack, completely oblivious that he possessed the gateway to accessing the power of the universe; the power to become a god. Cody looked up at the four royal siblings staring intensely at him. Jade laughed.

“So, this water well just
magically
appeared out of thin air? And just so happened to lead to the center of the earth?” she challenged suspiciously, raising her eyebrow slightly. “And this power . . . this orb. Where is it now? If it’s even real, then it’s obviously some sort of high-energy concentration of friction caused by heavy gravity in the earth’s core. Energy pockets in the earth are not uncommon. This is fifth grade-level science. Besides, what else could it be?”

The siblings stared back at her knowingly. “What else, indeed?”

Jade cast a skeptic look to Cody and back to Kantan. “Are you seriously suggesting that you think this orb is some sort of . . .
tool
used to create the earth? Left here by the creator of the universe? There is absolutely no logical proof, not to mention there is no creator. Who would ever believe such a ridiculous explanation?”

“I would,” answered Cody softly. Jade’s face flushed. Kantan held up his hand. Getting up, he retrieved several books from the corner of the room and returned to his seat. “Before you accuse us Underlings of being so senseless, perhaps you’d like to hear something that hits . . . a little closer to home.”

He held up the first book and opened it. “This here, is the Koran, the holy book of the Muslims. Allow me to read it for you,” he cleared his throat. “‘Then turned He to the heavens when it was smoke, and
said
unto it the earth: come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: we come, obedient.’”

He set the book down and lifted another. “This scroll is
The Hymn to Atum
, one of the Egyptian gods. It reads: ‘At the moment of creation, Atum
spoke
.’ Later it reads: ‘When the almighty speaks, all else comes to life.’”

The prince picked up a third book from the pile. “This here is the Holy Bible, the sacred book of Christianity. Perhaps one you’re more familiar with.” Jade groaned and rolled her eyes. Kantan continued, “It reads: ‘by the
word
of the Lord were the heavens made, all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he
spake
, and it was done.’” He flipped through several pages, “or simply put: in the beginning was the
word.”
The Prince motioned toward the table of books. “I could go on, but I hope you are beginning to understand.”

Jade shook her head. “I’m not following you. What is your point?” she demanded.

Cia smoothed out the folds in her dress before answering, “Words. Religions tend to disagree with one another, but no matter what you believe about the formation of this world, one of the underlying themes in almost all belief systems, above ground, or below it, is the power to create by words. What Ishmael and the Golden King found on those seven stone tablets were those words; words which unlocked the chest containing the pious power to create!”

“At least in your belief,” added Jade unenthusiastically.

Cody’s eyes gleamed. “The large oval structure in the center of the city, the one made from smooth metal, is that . . . the Orb?” he asked eagerly.

“Yes,” answered Kantan. “Well, literally, it is the shelling
protecting
the Orb. The Sanctuary of the Orb. Are either of you two familiar with the concept of
ex nihilo
?” Cody scrunched his forehead tight giving it the look of ocean waves. He wasn’t even sure he could
spell
the word, let alone understand it. Luckily, his best friend happened to be a world-class science nerd.

“
Ex nihilo
?” replied Jade unimpressed, “It literally means
out of nothing
. A ridiculous belief that many religious nuts apply to the creation of the universe. I can’t even count the number of scientific theories that discredit such an outlandish idea.”

Instead of frowning, Kantan grinned. “Let’s suppose you’re right. Suppose creation
ex nihilo
is entirely impossible. What if the universe
wasn’t
created out of nothing. What if the creator had a box, so to speak, to unpack it and organize it as he pleased. What if he had . . .”

“An Orb,” finishing Cody, his eyes bulging from their sockets.

“Precisely. An Orb that we can still access by using the words of creation, the High Language, as we call it. What if, as Jade mentioned, the Orb
isn’t
caused by gravity . . . but rather it’s
causing
gravity. No, Jade, we don’t have the proof you desire. We can’t
prove
what I say is true . . . but what if it is? Are you beginning to grasp just how crucial this Book is? The Orb is sacred. Only the Brotherhood of Light and the King himself are allowed access into the Sanctuary of the Orb.”

“Brotherhood of Light?” Cody questioned, raising his right eyebrow slightly.

“Worshippers of the Orb. Men dedicated to respecting its power, and only using it for good and life. They have preserved the High Language,” explained Foz in his steady voice.

“And,” Kantan added, “they will oversee your training. You will report to the Monastery of the Brotherhood tomorrow evening where the high priest, Reverend Lamgorious Stalkton, will begin your instruction. Our servant, Poe Dapperhio will be assigned to you and will meet any of your needs.
The Code
will be sent . . .”

“Hold on,” Jade cut in firmly, “What training? Instruction for what exactly?”

“Training on how to harness the power of the Book, of course. On how to use the High Language. To learn how to become a Creator,” answered Cia patiently. Jade stuck her finger in the princesses’ face, “Or to become a puppet in your war campaign. Don’t assume we’re stupid just because of our youth. I can see what’s going on here. You are going to exploit Cody for your own gain. To become a vessel for a king that hasn’t even shown his face since we arrived.”

“Jade, stop.” Cody pleaded, “I want to learn. I want to be trained.”

Jade stood up from her chair, her voice shaky with disbelief and frustration. “Cody, what are you doing? We don’t even know these people. You can’t seriously believe all this garbage about orbs, gods, and creation power, can you?” She turned to the royal family, “I mean, how is it that you could possibly know all this? Give me one good reason to believe you.”

For the first time that night the answer came from the soft, meek voice of Eva, “We know this . . . because Ishmael is our father.” The revelation hit Cody like a bolt of lightning. He squinted his eyes shut tight before opening them again. He felt dazed by the overload of information.

“Then, the Golden King is your uncle?” Jade asked in a surprised tone. Cia nodded slowly.

“Is he . . . still out there?” Jade said in an unusually timid voice.

Kantan’s focus fell to the floor. “Oh, yes, he is still very much out there. Not only is he out there, but his forces have been amassing on the Atlantis border. The forces of El Dorado are strong. The Golden King has grown impatient in his search for
The Code
. Something appears to have finally woken him from his dormant slumber. When he learns that
The Code
has returned to Atlantis, he will bring his armies crashing against the walls of our city like a flood. He will stop at nothing to gain the united strength of the two Books and the unending power of the Orb. A second Great War will take place, and this time, we don’t know if Atlantis will be strong enough to win.”

Cody jumped up, grabbed the Book off the table, and shoved it out toward Kantan. “Then take it! I don’t want it. Give it to the King. Take it! Please!” Kantan swatted Cody’s hands away, “As much as I want to take it, I can’t. Our father will be devastated to learn of its return. Don’t you understand, Cody? The deal our father made with our uncle a thousand years ago was that only one person would be the keeper of the Book. After Wesley’s murder, somehow, by ways unknown to us, all of Wesley’s powers and responsibilities transferred to you. Cody, like it or not,
you
are the Book Keeper.”

The Area

T
he Book Keeper. It had a nice ring to it. Cody’s initial horror at the revelation of his unique connection with the Book had transformed into gleeful pride. The power was
his
. Even the mighty royal family seemed nervous around him now. He was special. He and Jade had been escorted to two rooms in the palace that were to be their lodgings in Atlantis. The rooms were spacious with fluffy, oversized beds. Cody belly-flopped onto his mattress and was engulfed in a sea of pillows. The warm comforter felt refreshing after the last couple nights of slumber on cold dirt ground and train seats. He reached to the side table and lifted the ruby pocket watch from it. The short hand continued to rotate franticly. He watched as the gold and purple hands inched slightly before resuming their petrified state.
Where did they lead?
If the taller red hand led toward
his
Book,
The Code
, was it a logical guess to presume that the golden hand would lead him toward the second Book,
The Key
? Perhaps. But then, where would the purple hand lead? He set the pocket watch back on the nightstand; his mind was too preoccupied for any more problem solving.