THE UNBREAKABLE PIECE (FIRST BOOK OF THE HIDDEN WORLD) English version

CHAPTER NINETEEN: DESTINY

I was in paradise, my own paradise. Books that brushed the ceiling, shelves filled with them. Two wooden columns intertwined from end to end, supporting the roof above me, like two branches barely touching, just as Ben had done the day before. This place had been created by someone with the same gift as my best friend, and from the facade of the other blocks, they too had been raised by the gifts of other Onpixes who knew how to control the earth. The library's ceiling, unlike the boring infirmary, had been painted blue, simulating a starry night. That bright and youthful blue that appears just after the sun disappears, giving way to the moon and the stars. I smiled at the idea of reading a book on a blanket under the night in the Phoenix Forest.

The air smelled of dust with a hint of jasmine, blossoming in the environment and comforting to levels I couldn't explain. The Axis library was away from the beach, at the end of the path that connected the rest of the cabins. A few meters from where the Phoenix Forest began.

I ran my fingers over the hard leather of some old copies. So old that they seemed to have been written long before my grandmother was born. I read their titles, but most of them were in Latin, and despite my father sending me to classes when I was young, very few words had clung to my mind. A light layer of dust rested on the outside of their pages. However, the place seemed to be brushed up once a week, given the perfect condition of everything.

That morning, my breakfast had been quiet; no one had joined me. My father had gone on a trip to find someone mysterious, who, according to my suspicions, must be Alice, the witch who bewitched me. The kings of Alba had breakfasted in their bed long before the sun rose so they could attend to the rest of their duties during the day. So, no one had waited for me, except for my best friends, who had escorted me to the library.

The sun also seemed reluctant to my presence since it didn't shine in the sky that morning, and only the clouds covered the Alba sky completely. Raindrops hit the window panes hard. For the first time, I experienced the cold in this place that seemed to go through an eternal summer. And it was a cold that penetrated your bones. I clung to my cardigan, hoping that somehow it would protect me until the heaters were turned on. The room was so spacious that it seemed to absorb the chill from outside and resonate with it.

The sky was illuminated by lightning, and just as the thunder echoed, making the walls creak, I caught a gleam in the green eyes that watched me from the door.

"A pleasure to meet again, Your Highness."

His presence was like a gust of wind in autumn, with his calm demeanor and those sweet dimples resembling Eamon's. He wore a blue shirt tucked into old gray dress pants, matching the sky above us. Black-framed glasses rested on his slightly upturned nose, and a few golden curls fell tousled across his forehead.

Gerard Wellow, Eamon's uncle.

"Don't tell me you don't remember me. Right?"

I tried to contain my confusion before it reached my eyes when I noticed the smile threatening to appear on his face.

"I'm just joking. I know your whole story; I'm a close friend of your father."

He passed by me, making a small bow with a smile. He raised his arm over my head, grabbed a small burnt-brown tome with white letters reading THE HISTORY AND HOW WE BECAME WHAT WE ARE. A title too long for my liking. Without warning, he placed it in my hands; it was much heavier than I imagined.

"I'll give you some books that I'd like you to read by the end of the day."

"Books? In plural?" I scanned the pages of the one I held; this copy must have had more than 700 pages.