Then, I had to wait until Father came back. To entertain myself, I started to invent stories about the great marvels I would see in my journey to the Magic Library. I imagined I would see great beasts and beautiful landscapes, meet friendly villagers and dangerous creatures, and find magical artifacts and books. Looking back, I realized that I had indeed seen great and terrifying things, but half the journey I was scared of what was to become of me. On my next great journey, the one that no one returns from, I will make sure take everything in, and enjoy it. But then, it was a fairy tale to me. An extraordinary quest, not the frigid nightmare it ended up being. Some time later, I got bored of my fantasies, and fell asleep to the sounds of a wolf or two running across the forest floor above me.
I woke up in corridor that seemed to go on forever, and had many, many doors. Each door was completely different than the one next to it. There were huge doors which looked like they belonged in a castle, small round doors that could be entrances hobbit-holes, like the ones my father read to me about, and regular old doors. The only thing that linked them together was that they all had the number four on them. While looking at the doors, I started to walk down the hallway, and almost failed to notice that there was a young man kneeling in front of me.
"Excuse me, but where am I?" I asked the man, hoping that my father had come back, and already traveled to an inn, maybe on the coast, and had left me here to find my own room. The man didn't answer. I tried tapping him on the shoulder, but strangely enough, my finger went right through him. That sent chills down my spine, and I seriously began to question my sanity. I could've been hit on the head with something, and seeing things. Or maybe the man was a Mage, practicing the Art of Wizardry, like in the tales I had heard. He turned around, and his face took me by surprise. Half of it was an ashen black, as if it had been fused with a slab of coal, and his right eye was a glowing purple. The other half of his face looked normal, except for his eye, which was burning with a bright white intensity. Scared, I ran down the hall, the different colored doors blurring past me. I soon came to a place where the hallway branched into four different paths. Despite the bright lights in the inn, each of these pathways were pitch black. Confused, I turned around, and saw that the ghostly man gathered backup, and they were walking closer. I tried to move, but it was like I was frozen in place. The strange band of apparitions walked right past me, and stood in front of each of the hallways. Now that they were closer, I could see them in a terrifying reality. Standing in the hallway closest to my left, there was a man with blonde hair, streaked with mud. He was wearing a green hunting jacket, and leaned on a sword, as if he had been hurt. He still was translucent like the other ghosts, but his features were slightly distorted, like your reflection in a knife. The next one was a girl, pointy ears, and golden hair dipped in pink. An elf, by the looks of her. She stood perfectly still, like a doll, and her image looked like it was swirling around in a pool of pearly milk. In the hallway next to her was a younger man, who had one piercingly blue eye, and one white eye, shining with the same fire as the first ghost I saw. His hands twitched, as if he was trying to control something inside him. Like the other ones, he had a unique reflection to him. It was like staring into a pit of boiling blood, and made me sick looking at him. In the last hallway was the first apparition, and he now flickered like a flame tamed in a campfire. I stood there, not knowing if I could move, glancing back and forth at the ghosts, all them staring intensely at me.
Welcome to the Four Paths, Cassi, daugher of Moren, the Seeker of Knowledge, and Eiros, Lady of the Storm. We have been waiting for you. But you will wait for us.
There words slammed into my skull, and a dull pain began to form in my head. Looking back on those few sentences, I get chills on how accurate it was. Strangely, it is comforting knowing my life was completely planned out by divine forces. Gives me a bit of purpose, even though it won't be much use doing anything now. My time is almost up. Anyway, the four ghosts began to glow a bit more, or did the hallway get darker?
I am the Commander. I am the Seeker. I am the Puppet. And I am the Magician.
The spirits introduced themselves, from left to right, and each of their voices added a different layer of pain in my already throbbing headache.
We will show you our darkest days, and then you will choose. But choose wisely, Cassi, for you cannot undo your own burden.
The last thing I remember seeing before I crumple to the carpeted floor is the four ghosts, grinning eerily at me.
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YOU ARE READING
Buried Deep
FantasyThe was a time when the lands surrounding the Magic Library were plentiful and warm, nothing like the frigid hills they are now. The secrets inside are a test of will, strength, and knowledge, and even the strongest are deemed unworthy. Cassi has a...