Blood and Thunder

Chapter 14 - The Words Of The Father

Alexander sat on his bed in the tent he shared with two others, staring at the notebook in his hand. He'd been staring at his father's notebook for hours without speaking a single word. The others in the tent gave up asking him what he was looking at. He kept turning it round in his hand, carefully studying the intricate design of the cover. So far, he hadn't found the guts to open it.

From afar, the cover looks like an ordinary brown A5 book with golden decorations. But up close it was an amazing piece of artwork, and with each moment he looked at it, he found more and more details.

At the top in the middle was a golden circle that contained beautiful golden embellishments of the elements; fire, air, water and earth. They were embossed and Alexander couldn't help running his fingers across them, feeling the details with his finger tips.

At the bottom in the middle was a similar circle, inside was an open book with hands resting either side. There was something written in the open book, but it was too small to see with the naked eye.

But possibly the most intricate part of the design was in the center of the cover. It was a golden embellishment of the solar system in another golden circle. Each planet was perfectly aligned. Alexander looked closer and saw a sentence etched at the bottom, just inside of the circle.

Cognoscetis Veritatem et Veritas Liberabit Vos

They were beautifully written by hand, each letter inscribed perfectly. The words didn't take up the whole space, and it was only when Alexander looked closer that he saw that there were constellations faintly indented into the cover around the planets.

Tiny, delicate, golden stars surrounded the planets, filling the circle. Within each star there was a tiny number. He had never seen anything like this in his life.

The spine had silver embellishments, but something at the bottom of the spine caught his attention, something simple.

D.F

Dominick Fawn.

Before he got a chance to open the notebook, Jathan walked into the tent. Instinctively Alexander hid the notebook. Even though there was no worry about anyone stealing it, he felt like he should hide it from other until he knew what was inside.

"You've been here for hours,Sarmi and Ralf said you've just been sitting and staring at something. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied. "I was just thinking about the camp, I mean, what's the deal with this place anyway?"

"Let's make a deal, I'll tell you about this place, if you tell me about the item you hid in your sleeping bag as I walked in."

"I didn't put anything in it." He replied rather convincingly.

Jathan just looked at him, until Alexander gave up. He let out a little nervous laugh, he never was very good at lying. He pulled out the notebook and gently handed it to Jathan.

"My father gave it to me before, well... Yeah. He just told me to keep hold of it and not to let it out of my sight."

Jathan listened closely to each word Alexander said, while slowly turning the notebook in his hand.

"Have you opened it yet?"

Alexander shook his head. He didn't know whether he wanted to open it now, or later. To be honest, he didn't even know why his father gave it to him. But he guessed there was only one way to find out. He stretched out his hand and Jathan passed the notebook back to him. He drew a breath and looked at the cover, waiting as if the answers were going to jump out at him.