The quill softly glided over the paper.

The hand that held it in a firm grip, moved swiftly. Each letter, elegant. The ink seeping into the paper as the dangerous words formed on the yellow pages.

The hand stopped. The legend was complete. The words suddenly glowed and a deep chuckle followed.

“Perfect…”

***

King Azorius Otois watched as another messenger came running through the crowded throne room.

The young messenger reached the stairs to the throne and bowed deep, holding a scroll out to the king.

The latter nodded and a servant descended the stairs, retrieving the scroll. Returning to his place beside the throne, he offered the scroll to the king.

Azorius Otois took the scroll and opened it. His gaze darted over the words. The blood drained from his face and he handed it back to the servant, his eyes staring blankly ahead of him.

“My lord! Something must be done!”, a man’s voice echoed through the room. The crowd hummed in agreement with his words.

“ We must take action soon, my lord”, a man sitting at the long table to the left of the throne suddenly spoke.

“Pray tell, what would you have me do? Send my army to march against these…monsters? And for what? To have men die yet achieve nothing?”, the king answered.

“My king”, an older man, also sitting at the table, spoke. “I beseech thee to look where thine own father did. He had answers when no one did.”

“Where would you have me look, my prince?”, Azorius asked, weariness leaking from his otherwise deep and full voice.

“My lord the king, there is a room in this castle. A room full of wisdom that only opens to the king.”

“Yes, I know of that room. The athenaeum. But it has yet to open to me.”

“You are king now, my lord. Surely it’ll open for thee, a noble and honest king.”

Azorius’s dark eyes rested on the elderly man, recalling the memories of the iron door at the end of the dark hall that he had visited so many times as a young boy.

He sighed. “Then I shall seek out the wisdom from the athenaeum.”

***

Azorius stood before the tall iron door that stretched up to the ceiling. He slowly reached for the large spiral-shaped handles. He paused.

Would he find what he so desperately needs behind these...