The 14th King

It Begins

Chapter 1: it begins

In a library the size of China, and instead of buildings shelves of books rise high in their place. Plants grow along the sides of the taller shelves but are kept nice and trimmed thanks to the libraries many caretakers. The ceiling is curved at the top encasing the library in a dome. Deep in the library's depths is a special section that's sealed behind two panes of glass. On it's shelves are 13 leather bound books. Each had a number from 1 to 13 etched into its cover and had a gold leaf inlay for the numbers. Then next to the books a 14th one seemed to construct itself and now rest on the shelf next to the rest. It was completely identical to the rest except for the number 14 on it. The shelf then seemed to sink a bit and trigger an ancient mechanism, which caused  some panels in the ceiling to move and behind others to reveal large bells that came down slowly and started to ring out. This woke up one of the Library's caretakers. Who wasn't supposed to be sleeping just in case a situation like this happened. He was startled by the bells as he picked his head off of his messy desk. Papers were everywhere and scattered about. The Archiver wore a long blue robe with white trimming. On his chest and back were a picture of a book and quill. He didn't wear a hat or any kind of head covering. He instead let his long dark hair flow from his head down to the middle of his back obscuring the picture on it. He wore fingerless leather gloves on his hands. He believes it protects against paper cuts.

"Damn can't an archiver get some rest around here. Wait Oh no no no no. I was supposed to do something whem that went off, but what was it?"

The Archiver asked himself as he grew very nervous and excited at the same time. He rummaged through the messy pile of papers as he looked for a specific set. The bells continued to ring louder and louder.

"Awe come on where is it. Yeah I get, now quit with the ringing already!"

He yelled at the bells as he searched for the papers he was looking for. He dug through a pile that sat next to him. He grabbed hold of something that felt like what he was looking for.

"Ah here they are."

He exclaimed as he yanked what he grabbed hold of from the pile of papers. He then looked at the strange object as he didn't recognize what it was.

"Eh the heck."

The object he held in his hands was a 5 year old lunch meat and cheese Sandwich. He then brought it to his nose to identify it.

"Hmm *sniff* sniff* eww no that's not it."

He threw it behind him and paused to hear if it went into the garbage pail that sat at the foot of one of the large bookshelves. He heard the tell tale *thunk* as it went in.

"Ha nailed it. Now where is it."

He brushed away some papers and uncovered a large red leather bound book that had the words Library Manuel on it.

"There you are you beautiful piece of awesomeness."

He exclaimed as he pulled open its heavy cover and read through its table of contents.

"Hmm now lets see."

His finger trailed down the page until he got to "the King's alarm", which is on page 1058. He flipped to it. His eyes read the words carefullyand thoroughly, as he didn't want to miss a single detail. He flipped the page over and uncovered a familiar letter. The envelope it was in looked aged and a bit worn, yet the paper inside was crisp and fresh. The Archiver removed the paper from the envelope and unfolds it, and started to read it.

"Dear Library staff.

     I know that you loke the rest of us can't stand our current King, or should I say Tyrant. So I ask you to please inform me as soon as you can about the 14th king, and where he is. They may as well be our last hope at freedom from this nightmare. I know this goes against your instructions but please do what is right.

Signed Rebel Leader Tartix."

After the Archiver read through the leter he placed the paper and envelope back into the book. He then took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. He then left his messy office which was more like a receptionist's desk through a side door. He knew where the special shelf was that held the books. He went on his way down a long corridor between the massive shealves. The way was well lit thanks to some bioluminescent plants growning along the shelves. It was a long walk as he got to the depths of the Library. He came to the section that held the now 14 books. He pulled out his large ring of keys that were attached to his right side and under his robe. He rustled through his keys as he tried to find the right one.

"Alright now which one was it again?"

He started to get frustrated as he flipped through the keys and tried each one on the lock. After trying each key, he took a second look at the lock. He then felt very dumb as he saw the lock had a blue frame around it. He then pressed his pointer finger to the lock.

"Geez I can't believe I didn't notice that."

He was a bit frustrated at his own oversight. Then a stream of a thin blue haze streamed down his arm and finger. It went into the lock as the Archiver focused the energy into the grooves and ridges of the lock.  The energy acted like a key and twists the lock to release the glass panels. The case made a soft click as the lock was now opened. The Archiver remover the 14th book from the shelf. He then examined the book closely as he held it in his hands.

"Hmm rather odd how theses books just meterialise out of nowhere, but whatever so is the nature of the king's Chronicles."

He stashed the book under his robe as well as his keys. He closed the case back up. He then pulled out a small metal rock it had a rather odd symbol etched into the top of it. He then gave the metal lump a tight squeeze, in doing so caused a gateway to open up behind him in the form of a metal door. He turned and opened it and stepped through it. The door then vanished from the Library.

((That's it for this chapter please leave your comments down below and I hope you all enjoyed it so far.))