Heartbeats from Underneath
an excerpt

Prologue.

“When one Soul dies, another will come into being; and one will be given the gift. There will be unrest, but the Heart will conquer. And the two Souls will rule together for glorious years, and the kingdom will see no conflict.”

Melidin lifted his wrinkled head up from the ancient scroll, and listened. He heard light, clicking footsteps on the marble floor outside the library. Knowing what could be done to him if someone found out that he had opened the scrolls, he rushed to put them away.

Closer, closer the steps came. With shaking fingers, Melidin rolled the parchment carefully around its rollers. His old eyes scanned the many shelves that bordered the walls of the musty old library. Sweat trickled down Melidin’s bald forehead as he searched unsystematically for the correct slot.

The heels in the hall clicked slowly. But they kept coming closer.

Melidin quickly placed the scroll behind some books. He rushed into the large chair at the table, opened a philosophy book that happened to be there, and pretended he had been reading it. Just as he did this, the ivory handle on the door turned and the door swung open. A man wearing a long black cape stepped inside the room. A wide hat shadowed his face. He shut the great door behind him.

The old man lifted his eyes to the stranger.

“Hello,” Melidin tried to suppress the shakiness in his voice. “Can I help you?”
The mysterious visitor stepped forward.

“Yes,” he said in a low-pitched voice. “Yes you can.”

Melidin was fast, but the stranger was faster. Without a word, the man in black drew a dagger from his hilt and held it against the old man’s throat.

“What do you know about the Soul?” he demanded.