Legend of the Book Keeper (45 page)

“Jade?” he called back, wishing he could forget the Book and return to her. Her green eyes locked with his. Instead of their usual fiery state they had a soft, tenderness to them.

When she opened her mouth, her lips quaked, “Cody . . . I . . . I . . . I lo . . .” The sound of clashing steel echoed in Cody’s ears. A limp body fell against him. Cody shoved the body off and turned back to Jade and Tiana. They were gone.

What had she said?
Cody could not find them anywhere in the crowd. He bit his lip,
please be safe.
Pivoting around, he ran back into the chaos. The fighting had spread throughout the Inner-City, leaving a pile of dead bodies in its wake. A sickening feeling came over Cody; he couldn’t help notice that only a few of the golden warriors lay dead, surrounded by several dozen of Dace’s men. The battle crept up onto the walls, and down through some of the side streets.

Dace ran past Cody, followed by several men. There was a deep gash across this forehead and blood was pulsing from a wound in his thigh. “Seal the gate! Must contain the enemy to the Inner-City! Regroup at the wall!” yelled Dace as he hurried by.

As Cody approached the Monastery, he looked up to the towering Sanctuary of the Orb. He hoped Stalkton was correct and that the Book was indeed safe within the walls of the Monastery. However, despite his desperate optimism he couldn’t shake the sickening feeling in his gut that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

The Silent Sanctuary

T
he view from the Monastery elevator was alarming. The battle still raged below. Many bodies lay scattered on the ground, but from his distance, Cody couldn’t distinguish how many were Atlantis’ men and how many were El Dorado’s. Strangely, the attackers had not pressed toward the Palace or the Sanctuary of the Orb; they appeared content to battle in the courtyard. What was the purpose of such an attack? Cody didn’t have time to speculate, but hoped that Jade and Tiana had managed to reach safety in the palace.

Jumping onto the balcony, Cody paused; the front doors of the Monastery were wide open. Something wasn’t right. Cody crouched down low and scurried to the entrance. All the lights were extinguished and an eerie silence rested in the room. Cody shuffled into the darkness, keeping his back against the wall. His feet bumped into something on the ground. Blinded by the shadows, Cody rubbed his eyes, urging them to adjust. Reaching down, he touched something wet. He brought his hand up to his face and gagged at the smell of fresh blood. Finally able to focus, Cody saw a face filled with terror. Cody recognized the man as Geoffrey, the elder monk who had defended Randilin during the trial. He was dead.

The hushed patter of footsteps raced across the floor, invisible in the darkness. Cody held his breath; somebody had infiltrated the Monastery. Cody crawled on all fours silently toward the stairs, he needed to find cover, and quick. Suddenly the sound of scurrying feet sounded again. There was a loud crash followed by an agonizing scream, and then—silence.

Cody’s palms were slick with sweat as he hastily scampered up the stairs. Reaching the top, he dashed to his left and dropped down low against a desk.
Stalkton, where the blazes are you?
Why wasn’t anybody fighting back? The monks were either hiding—or worse. Another painful scream cried out for only a second before the silence returned. Cody’s mouth was dry and sticky. He had to do something quick, but what? He came upon a strange, sickening smell. All at once things made sense. The drumming of his heart quickened. History was repeating itself. The Brotherhood Monks weren’t being attacked—they were being hunted.

Somewhere in the dark Monastery, the Beast was slaughtering the monks one by one. Cody heard a soft purring noise. The Hunter was close. The soft footsteps were growing louder. The creature was sniffing the air. Cody had to move quickly! Jumping up, something collided with him throwing him back against the wall. “Ahhhh!” Cody screamed in terror, swinging his fist around and colliding with the attacker. There was a grunt.

“Wait . . . is that . . . you, Xerx?” whispered Cody.

“You idiot, you just gave away our position! Run! For heaven’s sakes, run!” A frantic Xerx grabbed Cody’s collar and yanked him from the ground. A piercing, hog-like squeal came from above. The Hunter had zeroed in on its next victims.

“In here!” yelled Xerx. “We don’t have much time. Master Stalkton is hurt and I think the rest are dead. We need to hide!” Xerx pulled Cody through a door leading to the library. The Beast’s taloned feet scratched against the floor as it launched itself down the stairs. Cody frantically searched the room for a place to hide. He could hear the Beast approaching. Running down the long aisles of books, he came to a shelf of thicker, oversized books. “Xerx! Xerx? Where are you?!” he called. There was no reply.

Cody feverishly pulled the oversized books off the row. Rolling himself onto the shelf, he hauled the books back to conceal his body. As he brought the last book onto the shelf the awful stench entered into the room. The game of cat and mouse had begun.

The Beast moved like a ghostly wraith. From Cody’s position he only had a slim view of the large room between the spines of two books concealing his face. He couldn’t see any sign of Xerx or the Beast. He tried to hold his breath, but his heart was pounding like a gong. He fought desperately to stay calm.

He heard the flaring of the nostrils. The Beast was standing just on the other side of the shelf. The sensation of panic began to pump through his bloodstream. Cody involuntarily twitched, bumping one of the books with his elbow. The book staggered for a moment, before falling back into place. Cody let out a sigh of relief before biting his lip. It hadn’t been quick enough. He heard the Beast lunge into motion from behind him.

Run! Run! Run!
Yelled Cody’s body, but he lay unmoving. He had lost a sense of the Beast’s position; it could be anywhere now.
Xerx, please be safe
. Cody heard another sniff. The Beast was slinking down his aisle. Without any sound at all, the purple hood of the Beast’s robe came into Cody’s view; it was right below him.

In that moment Cody realized he was dead. His body was trembling uncontrollably. The Beast had stopped moving. Its mammoth head lifted to the celling.
Sniff Sniff.
Even in the darkness, its scarlet eyes burned. Cody braced himself for the sting of its fangs—but they never came. Instead he heard a loud clanking sound echo from across the room. The Beast’s head shot toward the sound and its humped back passed by Cody’s view hole.
Run!
He just needed to resist a little bit longer. . . . The Beast had disappeared from view, but Cody was not sure how far it had gone.
Just a little longer
. . .

He couldn’t handle it any more. Before he could stop himself his body flailed. The books concealing him came crashing like thunder to the ground. Cody dropped off the shelf. Two red eyes pierced his from the other end of the aisle. The Beast squealed as it galloped toward him. “Help!” Cody yelled desperately. He stood to flee but tripped over the scattered books and came tumbling back to the floor. “Help!!” The Beast howled in ravenous ecstasy.

“
Byrae
!” yelled Xerx from the darkness. A gust of wind sent the bookshelf crashing down upon the Beast. “Let’s get out of here!” cried Xerx as he jumped over the fallen bookshelf and bolted past Cody. Racing toward the door, Cody heard the angry wails of the Beast from behind. “
Byrae! Byrae! Byrae!”
Screamed Xerx. Three churning whirlwinds materialized behind them. Their violent gusts sent hundreds of books soaring across the room. There was a loud crash as the bookshelves begin to tumble over into each other. Cody lifted his hands to block the flying books as he leaped over the debris. The bookshelves came crashing down like dominos on both sides of them. “Jump!” Cody and Xerx dove through the open door as the shelves crashed to the ground behind them.

Cody spun around. “
Sellunga
!” An iron sheet formed over the doorway, sealing it.

“Good thinking,” said Xerx, “but that won’t hold it long. We need to get to Master Stalkton. Hurry!” They ran up the stairs. There was a loud crash as the iron shield rattled, leaving the deep indentation of a taloned hand. They didn’t have much time.

Quickly ascending two floors, Xerx led Cody to a darkened chamber. The elder master was lying weakly on the floor; blood covered most of his white skin. “Master!” Cody bent down and lifted Stalkton’s head. His eyelids were heavy as he dozed in and out of consciousness. Cody turned to Xerx. “We need to get him to Prince Foz soon or he’s going to bleed to death!”

“What about Foz? What is going on here!” came a voice from the door. Cody turned around startled. Foz came running through the doorway.

“What are you doing here? We need to get out of here! We’re not safe!” yelled Cody as the Prince knelt down beside him and examined Stalkton’s bloody wounds.

“I came because of the Book, but I heard screaming,” said the Prince in a flustered voice. There was a loud bang from below followed by a crash.

“The Beast has broken through the door. We need to get out of here!” yelled Xerx.

The Prince jumped to his feet. “It’s too late, the Hunter is too fast.” The Prince was right. Before they could move, the doorway was filled with the large silhouette of the Beast, its red eyes focused into slits, and its jaw hanging open, revealing each of its jagged teeth. The Prince stepped toward the entrance.

“No, Foz! Don’t sacrifice yourself! We will fight to the death!” called Cody, bracing himself for attack.

The Prince looked over his shoulder. “Don’t be foolish Cody; your life is far too valuable to waste in a suicidal fight. It doesn’t have to be that way,” said the Prince surprisingly calm.

Foz stepped toward the Beast, “
Flaymour.
” A wall of fire burst in the archway forming a smoldering barrier. “We’re trapped in here! What do we do now?!” yelled Cody in panic. Prince Foz turned back around, a demented grin on his face. “It’s actually quite simple. . . . All you have to do is hand the Book over to me.”

The Betrayal

W
hat are you doing?” Cody whispered, a chill manifesting through his veins. “What are you playing at?” Cody’s eyes flashed between the Prince and the flaming archway, the towering silhouette of the Beast distinguishable through the inferno. “This is impossible.”

The Prince smiled, although there was no joy in his action. “I’m afraid it’s not. Now, hand over the Book, I can only restrain the Hunter from a meal for so long.” The Prince raised his hands. “
Seamour
.” Water began to rain down out of nowhere from the top of the door’s arch, showering down upon the wild flames like a sprinkler. “
Gai di Gasme.
” The Prince, his face pale, turned back to the boys. “I would estimate you have roughly five minutes before the fire is extinguished. I can guarantee the Hunter will not show you the same patience.”

On cue, the Beast flared its nostrils and scraped its talons hard across the stone floor. Cody cringed and put his hands over his ears. “Why Foz? Why turn on us? First your traitorous brother, and now you? How twisted are you guys!” Cody screamed defiantly.

Foz raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you don’t still believe that the dogmatically loyal Kantan actually had anything to do with this, do you?”

Cody felt his resolve crumble under the comment. “But . . . the poison? And, the note to Levenworth? Kantan killed your father. He’s in alliance with El Dorado!” Cody challenged weakly.

The Prince laughed. “No, boy.
I
killed my father. Who would know the wonderful usefulness of Derugmansia more than I? My father, foolishly trusting until the end, thought he was taking medication to relieve the stress. I wasn’t lying; he’s certainly not stressed anymore.”

Cody shook his head in disbelief. “But the note. Kantan talked about the murder. I even overheard him mention it to Levenworth in person.”

“That’s because for all of Kantan’s worthless traits, he is still admirably untrusting. He did not resign himself to the explanation of natural death as quickly as my brainless sisters. He suspected foul play right from the beginning. His suspicions lead him straight to me. Then, just when he was backing me into a corner, who should pop into Atlantis but you. Perfectly oblivious to everything. Your immediate hatred for my brother made it all too easy to turn you against him. All I had to do was earn your trust; you handled the rest, quite beautifully, I must say.”