I befriended the old priests and asked them to teach me of the ancient legends of old. They took me to their library in a near-by city and taught me many things.
Days turned into weeks, and there was still no mention of the place I most wanted to learn about. I decided to stay late one night in this great hall of knowledge, and hoped to find a clue inside one of the countless old books at my disposal. I found nothing. I was beginning to give up hope, until one night I found a very old book. Dusty and tattered, but bound in platinum with a simple looking lock. It looked like a diary of sorts.
I tried several times to work the lock, but was unsuccessful. In frustration, I held the book high above my head and bashed it several times against the stone table I'd been sitting at. Still the lock held fast. Then a word came to me, a word in the language of magic I had gotten from one of the other books. I calmed myself, concentrated and spoke the word. The lock began to glow with a pale, blue aura that nearly illuminated the entire study.....the lock slowly opened. Success at last!
As I turned the guilded pages and translated the ancient text, I knew this was the tome I had been searching for. The pages told me of a place called Xanadu. A legendary place hidden inside a frozen mountain that posessed the power to grant immortality to whom ever consumed the fruit of life and drank down the sacred milk of paradise.
My first task was to learn the location of this place. First you must find the saced river Alph. Only then will the path to Xanadu unfold before you. Alph runs high in the Dragonback Mountans. It is the only moving river in the freezing temperatures, and finding it is a task within itself. The waters are crystal blue and effervessant. Once you gave found the mystical river, you must drink from it. The river's power will show you the way.
The entrance to Xanadu is a wonder to behold. The first test lies here. The entrance is blocked with a transparent wall of ice. In the center of the wall, there is a blue crystal bowl protruding halfway out. Above the bowl are runes carved in the ice.
Translated: ALPH
You will know when you pass the test, because if you deposit water from Alph into the bowl, the entire wall will shimmer with the hues of a rainbow, and the wall will slowly melt away. Any other action may cost you your life as I found out...
The next thing I knew, I was standing before a giant, frosty man. He stood at least fifteen feet high. He had thrusted straight up from the snow-covered ground in a split second, startling me.
"Who is it that disturbs me!" He said, in a very menacing manner. "Another who has failed the riddle?"
His hair was white with a blue tinge, his eyes were an ice-blue color under a furrowed brow. He wore very old armor and a horned helm and wielded a huge axe which was resting over his shoulder. "Leave at once and I will not harm you." he said, as he lifted the axe from his shoulder.
During all of this, I prepared a spell of command. The moment the giant advanced, my spell was cast. The giant stopped in his tracks and stared at me with an icy gaze, as if awaiting instruction.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Ergor." The spellbound giant replied. "Sentinel of Xanadu."
"Tell me the secret of entry." I commanded.
"The sacred water must be deposited in the crystal bowl, only then can you pass."
I hadn't taken any water with me from the river, and had to return to Alph and fill my waterskin. When I returned, Ergor was gone. My spell had worn off and he decended to the depths below. I had no use for him any longer, I had the secret now.
I poured the fizzing liquid into the bowl and stepped back. The wall began to sparkle in many different colors and melted away in front of me. I held a triumphant fist in the air. I stood there for a moment and looked around. The words of the legend came back to me. "No one has ever returned." ringing in my mind. My quest for power soon took over as I stepped across the threshold, my breath trailing behind me...
The room inside was dark. Lighting a torch, I held it high and peered in. The chamber was sunken into the ground and several stairs led to the floor. In the center, a giant pillar of white spiralled from floor to ceiling. I began down the stairs...
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I heard a strange noise. It sounded like a Bard's harp, but it was distorted and out of tune. Looking around me, my eyes caught the open passageway from which I'd just come through, freeze shut as it had opened before me. Panicked, I hurled a crackling fireball at the opening, but to no avail. It just sputtered and died as it hit the wall. It was then that I realized I was now a prisoner of the fabled Xanadu...
(C) 1994 Poetsmoon
