Baird Livingston and the Secret Kingdom: Book 1

I Get Promoted

I stared at the beast before me in awe and terror. What sort of fate had I sealed by picking up this dagger? What was the reason Maenad showed herself to me now and where was this strange room I was in? I had too many questions to ask, but I still knew that Ez and Atrellus needed me... somewhere.

"Where an I, Maenad?" I asked. I then realized that Serket wasn't with me because when I tried to summon her into a sword, it didn't happen.

"You are in my Den of Visions, my lair." She said in a low tone. "This place is sacred to me."

"Why is there nothing here?" I gestured around at the darkness.

Maenad raised her wings as if to take off, but when she gave them a strong flap, a light suddenly illuminated the room and I could see the vastness of the cavern. The ceiling of the cavern was thirty feet tall and stretched to the walls seventy feet in an almost semi-circular shape. The walls were a mahogany brown with the rough texture of the rocks it was carved from. There was a large pond to the right that, despite the sounds and vibrations of the place, made no ripples. The center of the room was covered in a densely packed jungle of herbs and grass. The black stone floor was strangely smooth as if it were carved by a long-since-extinct river. There was a large nest of multicolored feathers and branches on the left. I turned to look behind me and saw a massive silver sheet standing in a perfect thirty-foot square with strange markings and designs lining the edges.

"Why have you brought me here, Maenad?" I turned back around and looked at Maenad. She was now at the pond. I walked over and stood a few meters away from her. She was looking in the pond as if she saw something.

"Baird. What do you see?"

"Nothing, just the water."

She stretched out her tail and touched the water. The spot where she touched instantly turned orange and fell like it was powder. Slowly the water changed color.

"Now what do you see?"

I looked and tried to focus. I saw a vague figure, but I couldn't see who it was. He was tall and had clothes I'd never seen before, like an ancient monk would have. He slowly walked to a table and sat down. I still couldn't see his face. Then he took up the feather from the ink cup and began to write. The scene changed, and the monk was handing the parchment to another man and then that man turned and gave it to another. It kept happening with different-looking men at different times. Then it stopped. The last man turned and gave it to a woman who was pregnant. Then, the woman had a young boy. The boy was seen sitting under a bridge, and next, he was in a familiar room. I then saw someone whom I recognized. It was Atrellus. The vision faded and I looked at Maenad.

"What does this mean?"

"What do you think it means? It is your life." Maenad said. She turned around and went to the center of the room and picked up an herb with her tail. She placed it in a jar with some leaves and handed it to me.

"What do I do with this?"

"You must carry this with you. The halfling of magic will tell you what to do."

"The halfling of magic... you mean Atrellus?"

She didn't answer, she seemed to be frozen. My vision was getting blurry and I felt like I was falling. Suddenly I was shot back to the pier with Serket on my shoulder. I fell over as if I had been frozen in time when I scooped up the dagger. Ez was still holding down Walden and Atrellus was still in the air.

"Baird!" Ezmeralda called to me. "Hurry, I can't hold him much longer!"

I looked at my hand, at the dagger. I almost dropped it out of fear. This dagger had sealed my fate, but I still didn't know what that fate was.