Unknown Scroll

“Hey I found this bag with mine” DH5 walked into the main room of J's newly claimed apartment.  “I was looking for that.” J grabbed the rolled up parchment out of the bag. 

“What is that?”

“I am not sure.  I picked it up on one of my early merchant runs and was told to keep it safe.”

“You've never opened it?’ 

“No. I was told not to until the right time.”

“The right time, when is that?”

“I don't know.  The elder who gave it to me said I would know.” 

“You will just know,  how? Just let me open it, please, I can get the wax seal off without breaking it.”

“If you did that, you would probably damage the leather.”  J twirled the roll in the air and caught it, and  stared at the seal for a long moment.  GH5 bounced from foot to foot.  “You can’t break the seal, but what you can do is look through those tomes and scrolls we brought with us from the compound and see if you can match this seal to a family or a group. When you come across some shading paper and graphite, bring it here and I'll help you make a shading of it.”

 “Okay.” GH5 stared at the roll, “Will you tell us the story of how you got it?”

“I don't think we should let everyone know that we have it, until we know what it is.”

“Okay, but we want, I mean,  J5 and K5 want a story after the next meal.”

“They want a story or do you want a story.” J winked. “ Nine is not too old for stories. I'll think about it.  Do you know where the meeting Bell is?”

“I'll find it.”  GH5 rocked back on his heels, “Can. . .?”

“Micah can help you, bring it here for now.”  GH5 half ran, half flew to the right, around the corner to the small apartment he and the other fives had claimed. Its entrance was only a few meters from J’s. The fours chose an apartment to the left of the alpha group. The twos and threes chose the row of single rooms above the apartments. Theophilus was organizing a guard rotation. There were hundreds of apartments, rooms, open platforms, pastures, growing rooms, and large empty rooms and spaces that could be made into anything. 

“Hey, have either of you seen Micah?” J5 and K5 looked up as GH4 stepped into the small apartment. 

“He’s helping O get a growing room started and set up plants. How did he get a name again?”

“Ask him” GH5 called over his shoulder and ran in the direction of the new grow room.  O was directing Z4  in starting illuminea vines along the ceiling and the back wall.

“Keep unpacking plants.”

 GH5 ran over to Michah and grabbed plants out of the bag at his feet and set them on the table “C4, I mean micah, do you know where the meeting bell is?”

“I think it's still up in the primary grotto. Why?”

“J wants it.”

“Fly up the shaft and ask C2, the twos and threes are bringing the stuff down.”

“Do we have a library yet?”

“I don’t know, stuff got a little messed up. Ask C2, J put zim in charge of moving.”

“Ok can you come with me?”

“No, I don’t want to see my parents again any time soon.”

“Parents, that’s right it's epic!”

“It’s not as epic as you think, talk later, you better get, before O gives you a task.” Micah waved GH5 away. 

“I’ve been unpacking, anyway,  I am working for J” GH5 whispered “I want you to help me with the mysterious sealed scroll, shhh it's a secret for now.” 

“These plants are our, light, our food, and our medicine, they need to be unpacked without breaking. GH5 if you are doing a task for J you better get on with it.”

“Yes O,” GH5 stopped his flight, “did you hear everything I said?”

“You know I can keep a secret” O winked at the youngster. They both laughed as GH5 flew out of a large open window toward the shaft to the primary grotto. The gully between the two large banks of apartments and rooms was less than a kilometer but GH5 had spent all of his memorable years in a much smaller living space.  The compound was designed for a couple hundred inhabitants, this village could hold a thousand or more beings  There were openings  with Fresh Market, Textile Market and School etched over them.  illuminea vines didn’t reach throughout yet.. Zis brow wrinkled and GH5 almost crashed into C2 coming out of the entrance shaft carrying a large leather bag, “C2 Who do you think dug out this village?”

“From the rantings of the black winged prisoner, I would say he had something to do with it, he yelled at J ‘been working on that longer than you’ve been alive and you think you can just take it from me’ then Theophilus threatened to knock him out with the handle of his sword.” 

“Why did J not kill them?”

“J believes in ‘eliminating the threat’ not the being, besides I think Theophilus is having fun gathering information.”

“I'm looking for the meeting bell, have you seen it?”

“I think that the small one is in a pile of things near the entrance.”

“Thanks, I’ll find it.” The two beings flew opposite directions, an hour later GH5 landed on the elevated path in front of J’s apartment, and knocked on the side of the doorway, before walking through the open door.  “Here’s the small meeting bell”, ze called out, holding up a bell about  40 

centimeters in diameter with a handle also about 40 centimeters long.  The bell itself was formed out of the sticky, sandy waste of borer worms that ate their way through the solid grey lonsdaleite mountain that they lived in. Once the lionclay was shaped and fired, it not only became virtually unbreakable but multicoloured.  This bell was beautiful, GH5 lightly tossed  and turned it watching the greys, blues, reds, and yellows dance until J took it. 

“Thank you, I'm working on getting the hourglasses set up.  As soon as I can, I'll ring the bell for a meeting; then we'll work out schedules.”

GH5 looked around and saw L but no one else “Can I get started on that other thing?”  Ze pulled a folded piece of tracing paper and graphite out of his pocket. 

“Yes we can, in here” when they were secured in another room J pulled the mysterious scroll from a leather sheath fastened between his wings. “Let's do this.” They each held an end with one hand and GH5 handed the shading paper to J.

“I want this.”

“Go for it.” 

Gently GH5 rubbed the chunk of graphite on the tracing paper over the red square seal.

“I got the lioness,” ze bounced up on zis toes, “ the ram”  sweat popped across his brow, “and the Wolf,  It looks way cooler in the black of the graphite than the Red Seal. GH5 was almost jumping up and down. 

“It does look pretty cool. I told C2 to put all the library's stuff  in the apartment just below this one. They are not organized or anything.”

“I will do my best, can Micah help me Please?  He is totally bored with those plants.”

 “Oh he is, is he? you already told him didn't you?”

“Yes, but only him. Well O heard; but I don't think anyone else did.”

“Who else was in there?”

 “E4, Y4 and Z4.  Z4 and O were setting illuminea vines over the table we were loading.”

“Micah can help.”  J grinned, “I think that there is a thick red tomb at least 30 cm tall, 24 cm wide and 10 cm thick.  I don't remember the exact title but I think it was something like Registry of Seals and Arms”

“ We'll find it, thank you.” GH5 took a running leap off the elevated path, flew out almost to the other side then dove down, turning in circles then straight through the large window of the grow room. “Hey Micah, J said you could help me with the secret scroll.” 

“Some secret” Y4 nudged E4  laughing.”

“Okay guys, please keep it quiet”

“No problem, our lips are sealed” Z4 called from the other side of the room. 

“Let's go” Micah said, rolling his eyes.  The two friends flew in a wide Arc and landed on the walkway in front of the temporary Library when they pushed open the door they were greeted by piles of bags tomes, scrolls, loose papers, paintings, figurines, and  potted plants 

“Oh Rams foot, this is a mess” 

“We need more help” 

“We'll be fine, J says we are looking for a large red book, so let's start sorting.” The two buddies charged in “Big stuff to the right, everything else left.  They worked in silence for about a half hour “So C4, how did you become Micah?”

“I chose it before I came to the compound.  Where did the mysterious scroll come from?”

“Somebody gave it to J on one of his Merchant runs.  Are the prisoners really your parents?"

“They seem to be.  The female knows stuff.  What's on the seal?

“A lioness, ram and a wolf.  Do you remember anything before the compound?”

“I don't know, maybe. I've slept a few hours since we arrived and had some weird dreams.” Mica shuddered. "What's in the scroll?”

“No one knows. “Here's a red book.” 

“Here's a whole bag of red books.” Micah held up a large red tome, A History of Swords, Spears and Throwing Knives.

“Here's one Registry of Coterie 3025 to 4036.”

“Here we go,  Catalog of Insignia. No date”

GH5 opened the tomb on the floor.  “Wow, where do we start?” 

“Here's one with a lioness but no ram.”

“Here's one with the wolf and a ram but no lion.  Is there an index?”

 “Doesn't look like it.” They flipped randomly through the book.  “ The ones in the back are the older.”

Micah took the shading and held it up.  “How old is this seal?”

“I don't know,  let's take the book to J.”  When they arrived at the apartment.  Theophilus was standing in the doorway.

“J this prisoner of yours, is complaining,  he doesn't like his quarters and he wants to know about the scroll you have.”

“How does he know about the scroll?” J frowned

“Have you been thinking about it?”  

J looked up at  Theophilus wide-eyed “what!” 

“Quintus is roughly 400 years old and well versed in mind links. My guess is he's been trying to get into your head ever since you gave him enough protein to think.”

“I know we are trained that prisoner food is herbs, oil and water. He had to have a wing amputated, I want to save his foot.  I'll tell L.” 

GH5 cleared his throat, Theophilus turned. “ We found the Registry of Insignia, but not sure where to look.”

“That's because” Theophilus broke in.

“We know, older in the back. How old is our scroll?”

“If our prisoner is to be believed, it's about 800 years old.”

“Somewhere around year 4200.” GH5 stepped forward.

Theophilus reached for the tome but J stopped him. “These are junior Warriors and this is their mission.”

 Theophilus nodded, “You all have been through a lot.  You are what, 18 years old.” 

“19”

“19 and a true leader”

“Thank you.” J stood taller under the former battle instructor’s gaze.  “We did what we had to.”

“Look, look! we found it.  The younger warriors jumped up and down,  GH5 grabbed J's sleeve, all four faces hovered over the open pages. Micah held the graphite rubbing next to a painting of an insignia for Casa Royale. J pulled the scroll out of the pouch on his back and laid it on the book. Someone turned the scroll to hold the seal next to the painting in the book.  The seal popped off, the scroll unrolled with a snapping sound and they all stared down at a framed painting of the Hidden City.