A Broken Vow

Prologue

In the dead of night, a cloaked figure silently glided across the courtyard. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, the perfect time for him to strike. Stealthily, he opened the huge monastery door which swung inward silently. He slipped through the door and closed it tightly.

He crept ominously across the floor full of sleeping monks who were unaware of the impending doom about to fall on them.  Not a sound was heard as he stepped between them. At the other end of the room, he opened a door and stepped noiselessly into a hallway. He then skillfully maneuvered through the many webs of corridors that were designed to confuse any intruders.

The walls were lined with torches. Their flickering light revealed many rugs that depicted battles fought and rituals observed. The rugs were created by the local women who wove into the fabric many intricate details. He could not help but admire their workmanship as he passed. 

Suddenly he stiffened, for he had heard footsteps echoing down the corridor. He looked around swiftly and upon seeing that there was a deep shadow where the torch lights could not penetrate, quickly resorted to blending into them. No sooner had he stepped into the shadows when a small thin boy appeared at the end of the hallway.

The small boy held bundles of torchlights, inspected each torch, and replaced those that were running low. In a minute or two, the boy passed the cloaked figure, unaware that he had been very close to exposing a hidden danger. As the boy was doing his task, he continued walking down the corridor, whistling.

The cloaked figure waited until the footsteps of the young fool faded into the distance, then cautiously, he stepped out of the shadows and continued on his way. The figure took a left turn, then a right, then another left turn. He noticed that the deeper he walked into the monastery, twisting and turning, the less maintained the halls seemed to be. He turned left and knew that he was approaching a particularly worn-down section of the monastery.

Sensing that there would be no light after he turned the corner ahead of him, he grabbed a torch from the wall. As soon as he turned the corner, darkness immediately enveloped him. A few steps in front of him lay a rickety old staircase. The air here smelled musty, and on the walls, brown mold had grown.

He knew that at the bottom of the staircase, lay what he was looking for: An endless possibility to power. He took a deep whiff of the musty air and thought to himself, "So this is what a place that reeks of power smells like." Then without any more delay,  started his descent.

The descent was tedious and dangerous. In many places, rats had chewed through the wood, making the wood unable to hold weight. In other places, water had found its way down which had created small stagnant puddles. Finally, after using up a good amount of his energy, he at last reached the bottom.

There, in front of him was a door made of wood. On top of the door was an inscription that read:

"All who enter beware!

Lest you fall into the snare.

Beyond lies great power,

Beware lest you be devoured!"

This was it! This was where the great and unknown power existed. Excited, he gave the door a solid kick. It did not budge an inch. He kicked it again and yielded the same result. He looked at his torch and then, without another second of hesitation, set fire to the door which immediately burst into flames. He leaped away from the blazing door as it cracked and popped. The middle of the door burnt a huge hole as the fire started to edge toward the sides of the door. He was so transfixed by the fire eating the wood that he failed to look through the hole. Had he done so, perhaps he would not have been caught off guard. In a moment, he heard a high pitched screech and saw a flash of a furry creature rushing out of the hole. Surprised, the cloaked figure dropped the torch, instantly putting out the light.