Parasite

The halls of the Asgardian palace were wide and spacious, and as Tetra walked her sandals made an unpleasant squeak, slap noise on the polished stone floors. At the beginning of each hallway was a guard stationed in gleaming gold armor and she nodded to each one as she passed them. Although they did nothing in return, she knew that they appreciated the acknowledgement.

After passing many different rooms and passageways, she turned left onto a smaller hallway, empty except for two tall wooden doors at the end. She shouldered one heavy door open, almost dropping the stack of books in her hands as she did so. She closed the door behind her and it creaked slowly shut.

Out of all the rooms in the palace, the Royal Library was her favorite to visit. The walls stretched all the way up to the high ceilings, laden with books of all kinds. Ladders that ran tracks lined the bookcases to easily peruse the selection, something she did very often. On one far wall was a staircase that led to a small balcony that circled the room and gave access to the second level of books. But out of everything that Tetra loved in this room, it was the way that sunlight filtered in through the glass ceiling. The yellow hues lit up the dust floating through the air and everything glowed golden. She took a deep breath of the ink and paper scented air and stepped farther into the room.

“Tetra, my dear! Back so soon?”

A short, elderly man came shuffling out from behind a bookcase, using a cane to steady his gait. Although his hair was frizzled and gray, the Master Librarian was as sharp as ever and his blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon spectacles. He hobbled over to her, the grin on his face genuine and bright.

“It would appear so, Master Roman,” she laughed, inclining her head towards him in a show of respect. “I seem to be breezing through these silly books about romance at quite a fast rate, and have come looking for something of more substance.”

“What did you have in mind, milady? Some poetry by the great philosophers, perhaps?”

“Actually, I believe I shall look through the history books today.”

“Of course, of course. Excellent choice,” the older man muttered. He took the few books she was carrying out of her hands and set them on an empty table. “Come, my dear. I’ll show you the way.”

He led her over to the far staircase, wobbling slightly on his cane. Roman had been the Master Librarian of the Royal Library for nearly three hundred years and knew where every book and scroll belonged amidst the shelves. And although Tetra had spent many an hour looking through the stacks and knew precisely where to find the history books, she let Roman direct her.

They climbed up the stairs that led to the second level of the library and the balcony that circled the room. Unlike the rest of the stone floors of the palace, the floors here were a rich, polished wood, worn down with use and age.

“I think you’ll find what you’re looking for here.”

One elegant hand reached up to glide across the spines of different books before she plucked one off the shelf.

“Thank you, Roman. If it’s alright with you, I do believe I’d like to stay here and simply read for a little while.”

“You are more than welcome to, milady. Please, if you have any questions, you know where to find me.” With that he shuffled away, his came tapping against the wood floor with every step he took.

Tetra flipped through the book enough to surmise that it was about the history of the Asgardian High Council, something she knew more than enough about, and placed it back on the shelf. After finding one about history of dress and garments, one was explaining the past royal families and another about renovations done to the palace over the years she almost gave up. Out of the corner of her eye, a thick navy tome snagged her attention. She slid it off the shelf and weighed it in her hand. There was no title on the front but the fabric cover was threaded through with gold strands and a golden crest of the Royal Family.

She took the book back to a grouping of plush, cushioned chairs. She settled onto a burgundy red one, slipped off her gold sandals and tucked her feet underneath her body. After settling the skirts of her white gown around her knees she sunk back into the cushions and pulled the heavy book onto her lap.

The cover made a quiet crack noise as she opened it, and Tetra knew the book pages hadn’t been looked at in years, if not longer. On the title page it read Asgardian Battles, Myth and Folklore. With a small of smile satisfaction that she had picked out a good book, she flipped to a random section. The Resurrection Stone and the Evil Wizard.

“Ah, I know this tale,” she muttered.

’After the times of the Dark Elves ended and King Bor ushered in a great peace, there came a dark wizard that threated to endanger that peace. Some say he had been born out of the very pits of Hell, but he was one of Asgard. The wizard Darafer did not start out as such, but was born a mere commoner. He believed that the High Council was being unfair to those of lesser birth, denying them the rights to magik and advancement from their ranking. After some time he found one magician willing to train him in secret and teach him the ways of magik. But when Darafer learned all he could from his teacher, he killed him and absorbed the old magician’s powers and energy. Magik that is earned is pure and good, listening to the whims of its owner. But when it is taken from another, the magik became nefarious in intent. When Darafer realized that these stolen powers increased his own dark magik, he formed a plot.

Tetra turned the page, not even realizing that she was holding her breath.

For a while, Darafer used his dark powers and knowledge to travel from realm to realm, destroying any who stood in his way, murdering powerful wizards and stealing their magik. With each magician that fell on his blade, he grew stronger. With his newfound power, Darafer created an evil stone capable of bringing the dead back to life. It was named the Resurrection Stone and Darafer used the Stone to resurrect all those he had killed. But with their unnatural life returning to their bodies, they lost any semblance of their original selves. The murdered wizards became twisted, evil creatures only obeying to the orders of Darafer.

He marched upon the Asgardian palace, intent on delivering the death blow to all those on the High Council that had denied him advancement when he was a young boy. But the Asgardian army had been building its forces, training those of high privilege in the ways of magik and they laid waste to Darafer’s forces. With his army defeated, Darafer fled to the Outer Realms, never to be seen again. Many believe that he died from injuries sustained in battle and the Resurrection Stone was lost to the ages.

“What folly,” Tetra scoffed. She knew that the story of Darafer and the Stone was used to scare children into staying in their own places, to not reach higher than their own station. She sometimes felt that the system was faulty, but knew that there was nothing she could do to change it.

Just as she flipped to a different page in the book, the doors to the library flew open.

“Tetra, Tetra!”

She poked her head out from the book and looked over the edge of the balcony. One of the ladies of the Royal Court was standing in the doors, gasping large breaths of air. Her blonde hair was escaping it’s elaborate braiding and the lavender dress hanging on her small frame was askew.

“Yes, Mina? What is so important that you must interrupt my day of reading?”

“He-he’s returned, milady.”

The navy volume tumbled out of Tetra’s hands and fell to the ground with a loud thud. She bolted out of the chair and took the stairs two at a time, leaving her shoes at the chair. She breezed past Mina and ran out of the hallway as fast as her bare feet could take her.