“Yes Winston, it is King Shadel,” she replied as she took the young boy’s trembling hand in hers. “The Ancient One is immortal. Part of being immortal is the physical appearance doesn’t change,” she said calming the boy as the vision continued.
Shadel noticed a farmer with his clothes, hands and face covered in mud standing in the field next to a plow. The ox pulling the plow was stuck in a ditch. The king rode towards farmer. “Are you having trouble with your ox, William?” Shadel asked the farmer who looked startled by his visitor.
“Yes, Sir,” the farmer replied, “my ox stumbled into the muddy ditch as I was plowing the field. He seems to be stuck and I haven’t been able to get him out.”
“Perhaps if the two of us try,” Shadel said as he dismounted his horse and removed his jacket. “We’ll put a rope around the ox’s middle and attached it to my horse. He’ll pull as you and I push the animal from the rear.”
“But Sir, the mud,” the farmer said baffled by the thought of his King getting dirty on his account.
“Come on William, a little mud never hurt anyone,” Shadel replied as he jumped into the mud filled ditch. The King sunk into the mud completely covering his black leather boots and part of his white trousers. “There’s a lot of fields to plow so let’s get this ox out of here,” he said as William now joined him in the mud. The two began to push on the ox’s rear as the King’s horse tugged at the front. The ox grunted. As they continued pushing, they both kept slipping down into mud. It took the two men a short time to free the ox. Climbing out of the ditch, the King looked at William and began to laugh at the sight of his companion covered completely in mud.
William looked down at his mud-covered body and then at the King, who was a sight. He put his hand up to his mouth, “Oh my! Sir, umm, your clothes! Your hair! Your beard!” The farmer stood frozen gazing at his mud-covered King laughing and not knowing what to do.
“It’s ok William,” the King said still laughing as he walked over to the farmer and put his arm around the bewildered man’s shoulder. Both men were now laughing.
Winston captivated by the phenomenon he was experiencing, watched the vision change. He now observed a tall, thin man with black hair and a long straight nose seated at a dining room table. Next to him was a woman wearing a gaudy red dress, her black hair piled high atop her head. At the head of the table were Shadel and Suri. As the King lifted his glass to make a toast, Winston inquired, “Who are those other two?”
“That’s the King’s younger brother and sister, Avadon and Angeen, they’re twins,” Myadora answered giving her eager young audience a brief overview of what was coming up. “The King loves them. Unlike Shadel and Suri, the people only tolerated his younger siblings in the kingdom because of their relationship to their rulers. Unfortunately, they were not pleasant. They were arrogant, egotistical and treated people with contempt. There was one wish they knew the King would never grant them. That was to rule the kingdom. Avadon and Angeen were jealous of the way the people adored Shadel and Suri and wanted that adoration for themselves.”
The scene changed and Winston watched Avadon and Angeen walking down a wide path in the forest that led to a clearing.
“When I am king AND, someday, I will be king,” Avadon touted confidently, as he conveyed his habitual arrogant attitude to his twin, “things in Luminatia will change. I will be a powerful king unlike my brother who is weak. He only wants love and peace for his people,” he mocked. “Well, as their new king these people will obey my every command or there will be consequences.”
“And when I’m queen, they will all see how beautiful I am, the women will envy me,” his sister sneered as she pulled a small looking glass from her purse, admiring her image. “The men in the kingdom will beg for my attention. But how is this going to happen? Our brother will never step down.”
“By magic, my sister, by magic!” he snickered. “There’s book hidden somewhere in the tunnels beneath the castle called “Secrets of Dark and Evil”. It’s a book of spells! Magic spells! Our brother hid this book long ago because he claimed he didn’t want evil in the kingdom. I’m sure in reality he wanted make certain no one could be as powerful as he. Besides a bit of evil will be good for the people, it might be interesting to see them squirm,” Avadon said sarcastically. And then with great certainty 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.