Chapter 1

The day started like any other day. Doug grabbed a Danish and a cup of coffee on the way out the door. As usual, he was running a few minutes late, but it was nothing that he wasn't used to. As he made it into the office Ted was waiting for him to come in.

"Running late again Doug, again?" asked Ted.

"Well, just a little. I made it on time, in fact, I am a whole minute early," replied Doug.

"Ok smart guy, just for that you can go to the library and look up all that ancient data that has been buried. It's the stuff that the client has been so hot and heavy to get." Ted said while laughing.

Doug took a deep breath and sighed. It was nothing that he hadn't done in the past, but it was something that was usually left for grad students or interns to do. However, at least it would get him out of the office for the day, and with Ted riding his ass like that he knew that he was better off. It was a 30-minute drive across town, so Doug knew that he would be there all day buried in old boring books, looking for old facts of heritage. He decided he needed to make a few stops along the way to pick up some more coffee and a sandwich for later. If he'd known he was going to be doing this all day, he would have dressed differently. So, he decided he would stop off at home to change his clothes and grab his backpack. It was filled with the things that he needed for a full day of being buried in old books.

When he was ready, he grabbed his things and headed to the library. This was the first time he'd been in this particular branch, but he found most of them had no real differences. Although this was the oldest and biggest one in the area. As he pulled up to the building the first thing, he noticed was that there was not adequate parking. He found himself having to walk a block in order to get to it.

Doug looked up at the building, it was an old church that had been added on several times. He could tell that it was at least 4 times the size of the original structure. It was an old stone building, and he could still see the old clay tiles on the oldest part of it. The windows were overly small, and you could tell that everything had been put together by hand. The rest of the structure was built around it and you could see what looked to be hundreds of years had passed between the times that they had been adding on.

Doug walked into the building, and as he entered it a wave of heat struck him - almost made him weak in the knees. As he stumbled the guard asked, "Are you ok sir?"

Doug nodded and said "I am fine. Can you point the way to the head librarian?"

He pointed his finger to the center of the room where a large desk stood. It was completely piled full of books except at the very end where it looked like they checked the books in and out. Behind the desk stood three women - all very thin with large glasses.

As he approached the desk all three of them started smiling at him. Doug said "Good morning, ladies. I was wondering if you had a call this morning stating that I would be here and needed access to your heritage. Unfortunately, it will probably be in the oldest section. Could one of you beauties please show me the way?"

They all perked up and were falling over each other when the manager Joann stepped forward and said, "I have this one girls." Both their faces dropped because they wanted to be the ones showing him the way.

"I'll be back soon. Hi, my name is Joann. A Ted called and asked if you could work here for a few days." said Joann.

Doug thought to himself for a few days how many records of its heritage does this place have? "Well thank you for your assistance," Doug said with a smile.

With a smile, she said, "It is my pleasure. What you are looking for is in the lower section. They have been archived down there for a long time since this was the original church. The history of this church is quite fascinating if you would like to hear it."

Doug said, "Some other time I am tied up right now, maybe tomorrow."

On hearing that it brought a big smile to her face. She was excited at the thought of her getting a chance to talk to him.

They made their way to the lower level where everything was kept safe and dry. There was a fair amount of dust, but you could tell that things were kept in check for the most part.

"The section that you will be looking for is in the middle aisle in the back, on the second or third shelf would be a good place to start", said Joann.

Doug looked down the aisle and knew this would take forever to root out the heritage of the client from this mess. It was not so much that anything was in a mess it was more like there were more volumes than he had been expecting. As he made it halfway down the aisle, a wave of - well it wasn't heat it was more like static electricity, it was a jolt. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something strange, it was a small blue glowing symbol. On seeing this he stopped and looked harder. There was a small parchment that was folded up and tucked away and only a small corner remained out in the open to be seen. As he touched it, it seemed to glow brighter, and Doug felt a longing to follow it too somewhere else. His body was moving on its own and it was just out of his control at this point.

Doug found himself being led by this strange parchment that had glowing letters. He was not sure what he was doing but it all felt familiar. It was like he had been here and done this before like an old memory reawakened. It led him down the aisle to the back of the room. As he approached the wall, it opened and led him down the path. Finding himself in some old, abandoned ruins. He was led to a hole in the wall.

Doug seeing the hole, was a little nervous to reach in and explore but was compelled to do it. As he reached in, he found a small chest. Looking at it he was amazed. The chest was in perfect condition even though it was of an ancient make based on the style and what it was made of.

He carefully pulled it from the hole. His hands were tingling the whole time he was touching the chest. He felt bound and deeply connected to whatever was inside and just pulled to open it and see what was in there.

Carefully, Doug wiped across the top of the chest. He felt a small latch and as it moved, he heard a click. The center of the chest developed a thin line that separated. A faint blue aura is shown through the crack from the inside. He carefully opened the chest not knowing what could be inside. As he opened it, he noticed that it contained one thick book. On the cover were more strange, glowing runes. As he runs his fingers along them, he understands what they mean. VARDEN'S JOURNAL

He carefully lifts the journal from the chest. He notices there is something else in the chest. A small, gemmed necklace that was on a leather strap. He thought to himself, there is no way it should be possible, something this old in this condition. He slides the necklace on without thinking and then turns his attention to the journal.

He carefully lifted the journal and as he was looking at it, he noticed a large latch. As soon as he touched it the latch sprung open. The journal pops out of his hands and as it hits the ground, the pages burst free, scattering everywhere.

Shocked, Doug tries to grab as many of the flying pages as he can. As soon as he touches the pages he finds himself drawn to reading them. He fights back the urge and tries to collect more but with each new page he touches he finds it a struggle between the wanting to read and the need to collect all the pages.

It was getting cold as the sun began to set. Doug quickly gathered the rest so he could go home. There, he could study it more thoroughly, and study the journal completely. As he searched the ruins, he found other pieces of tattered parchment that were mostly deteriorated, and the symbols that remained, he couldn't figure out just what they meant. Doug hoped that the tattered parchment would give more insight into the journal. On the drive home, all Doug could think of was the journal and his chance to study it.