The Book of Heroes

When Isabella was young, she regarded the kingdom’s soldiers as heroes. Now, she regarded them as the true enemy.

That didn’t mean all soldiers from the forces were cruel, because her father, Eli, was a true hero. For fifteen years, he had gone missing. Isabella had asked neighbors, relatives, or even a soldier that felt generous enough to answer questions from a little girl. No one knew where he was.

But, perhaps, could the Chamber of Ages tell Isabella where Eli went?

A book in there documented every soldier who had served in the kingdom. Her father must be in it, and it was going to show her that Eli stood out as a hero. He would oppose an order, if the mission was to cleanse out innocents rather than the guilty.

One problem plagued Isabella: Where was the Chamber of Ages?

Teachers and scholars had confirmed its existence but not its whereabouts. It could be close or far, dark or light, and safe or dangerous.

Isabella speculated the possibilities, while she packed her bags, and went off to where the wind blew. She slid her sandals past the thigh-high grass on a slope, which overlooked her city. The local council building stood like a citadel over the city. The lord there would retire soon but not in the best spirit. He knew best about Eli’s vanishing. But visiting the city’s lord was like asking a priest to meet the Gods.

She had water, food, and a little sword in case she stumbled into some soldiers. The slope unpacked a sunny-yellow meadow, with a thick forest ahead. From when Isabella was little, a guardian kept a watch on her. Back then, the meadow’s grass beamed and waved in a fluid green. It felt like she stuck her sandals into vast holes, given how tall and heavy the grass was.

Her many guardians allowed her to do anything but trip in the grass, as she could fall through it. That turned out to be humbug, because she had fallen four times in her life, and never ended up in a hole. She would jump in the air, spin herself and her dress, and land with a crunch on the grass like she danced ballet.

For old time’s sake.

The meadow had reached the end of its life circle, so why shouldn’t she just go ahead? Her childish spirit flowed through her veins, and she felt like she could touch the clouds with a proper jump.

She raised her arms, stretched her toes, and took off like a gazelle.

Swirling like a tornado that could take the green of the grass with it, Isabella descended. Her sandals pushed the decaying grass aside, marking her stance. She expected a crunch from the old ground, but instead, a violent wind blew from below her feet. The grass suddenly reached her forehead. It didn’t grow on a wizard’s commands, because Isabella fell through it.

Tickles and panics rushed in her stomach; all the blood in her body rushed to her face. The greyish-gold grass vanished like someone turned off the light. In a strange turn of events, the rush in her blood and ears disappeared by the snap of a finger. Then, as she opened her eyes, an ancient archway stood before her. Her supplies were gone.

Dry dirt stained the bricks that held the archway together. Upfront, a wide path led to a room, where seven candles shone. It looked like a chandelier that stood on a candlestick, instead of hanging from the ceiling.

Isabella stepped inside. The old dirt scraped underneath her sandals, which echoed by every crunchy step. Two rows of bookshelves stood by each side of the room. They looked as tall as the lord’s council building in her city.

At the center of the chandelier, the lights revealed a podium, where a book lay. With its basil-green leather cover, a gold title displayed on the top: ‘’THE BOOK OF HEROES’’.

No way…

It was here. All along, the book was here. Isabella stared around, finding the same bookshelves that looked like hedges in a labyrinth by every interval. She found it, and it turned out to be closer than she had thought. The candles were the only lights here, and they made the library look like a bonfire in a mystical forest.

When Isabella approached the lights, four candles moved from their places to form a path. She walked up to the book and studied the title again. The gold letters glinted from the candles.

Finally, at last.

She was going to find her father’s name. Once she had done that, she would return home, pack her stuff, put on a clever disguise, and immigrate to the enemy’s realm. If the book didn’t exist, nor did the Chamber of Ages, she would’ve begged for a soldier to take her somewhere else. She could’ve probably had most of her guardians go along with her escape, even if she didn’t give a thorough reason.

The book gave a tiny squeak as Isabella opened it. There seemed to be over 1500 pages, and the names of each soldier were in non-alphabetical order. Beneath their names, their biggest achievements were listed.

Isabella squinted and read the book carefully.

Reading the first thirty pages, her father’s name hadn’t caught her gaze yet. She had checked the first and last pages to be sure he wasn’t there.

Throughout the reading, most soldiers had similar summaries to their careers, which read like:

‘’Defended the kingdom faithfully, without putting his sword down unless ordered so.’’

Though, one soldier sparked Isabella’s interest, and she had to reread the passage almost ten times to make sure her eyes didn’t conjure it. On multiple occasions, she used her hand to keep her eyes open, as the same stories and formulations became like watching grass grow.

Yet, this story kept her eyes fixated, which read like:

‘’Surrounded by the bodies of every childhood friend and mentor he had, the one-eyed knight lifted his sword like a strong hawk emerging from the shadows and landed such a strike, that it ended the scorching battle.’’

If only that was my father…

Eli was very well capable of doing what this soldier did. The enemy in the story must’ve been non-human, with godlike strength and speed. Also, it wasn’t even clear on when the stories took place. Could it be fifty years, a hundred years, or more than a hundred?

Isabella continued reading, still having the image of the one-eyed knight with his sword.

Soldiers with ‘’E’’ in their names became more frequent: Elliot, Eric, Evan, Erena, etc.

Almost 400 pages in, and Isabella’s eyes caught the name between tens of others:

Eli.

Luckily, the book seemed to follow a string of soldiers named as such. Isabella skimmed the pages, and there it was: Eli, her father.

She seized the book and stuck her face close to the passage describing her father’s deeds. Barely past the first three words, Isabella’s whole world stopped, like the wheel of a carriage broke off, or she sipped a drink laced with poison.

The passage that described her father read like this:

‘’Children were murdered, even the sickly that only needed the comforts of family to keep them alive fell by the deadly stabbings of the sickened, savaged knight.’’

Isabella’s eyes gushed in tears as she slowly let go of the book, staring at the passage that should never have been there. Someone had altered it. It must be. Her father was a hero. She knew it.

‘’I knew you would find it someday.’’

The voice behind her startled her so much, she screamed and fell forwards, tripping the candles and the podium. The book fell next to a tripped candle, which torched the thousand pages that included the very enemies Isabella had known since childhood.

When she looked at the person who spoke, more tears gushed from her.

‘’My little Isabella. You’ve grown so much. I’d thought the lord put you somewhere much safer than this.’’

She couldn’t say what she wanted. But her father seemed to read it from her teary eyes.

‘’He had to put me away, as I wasn’t good enough to take care of you. To be honest, that was the biggest understatement I had ever heard.’’

Eli smiled. Old blood and dirt stained on his face, which needed no explanation as to where he got it from, or whom he got it from.

‘’The council was wary of me from the day you came to the world. Then, your mother joined their pesty cause. They never understood. I was trying to pass over my legacy to my own blood. And when your mother tried to hinder me from that…’’

He took out a sword from a scabbard, turning and dangling it.

‘’That was when the lord sent me away, leaving you with the pests of the council.’’

Isabella finally found her voice, but she could only say: ‘’F-f-father…’’

‘’No worries, darling.’’ He walked away from the archway, inching close to his daughter. ‘’I had wanted to make you my successor. But since the lord snatched you from my hands, I knew my legacy was going to end…’’ He raised his sword, its tip in the air, ready to strike. ‘’…with me.’’

‘’FATH-!’’

Before his sword fell, Isabella realized why the Chamber of Ages had such a cryptic reputation. The lord knew where it was, even the teachers and scholars. They always shut down a student, if they dared to speak against the soldiers. If they knew the truth, it would be history with the kingdom.

The Chamber of Ages didn’t house the book of heroes; it housed the book of monsters. And Eli was the pinnacle of them all.