There was a knock on the hard oak door of the study. Daniel Cooper looked up from the book he had been reading to stare incredulously at the door. He had received no word from security that anyone had come to see him, or that there was an intruder on the premise. His heart beating heavy, Daniel heard three more firm raps upon the door. Daniel rose quietly and, holding the rope that would summon security when he pulled, opened the door to peer at the figure in the hallway.
A tall man, six and a half feet tall with ratty black hair and green eyes stood leaning against the doorframe twirling a tube in his fingers. John McClellan smiled to Daniel warmly.
"Hello Mr. Cooper. I found the…item you were looking for and am here to return it for the agreed upon fee."
Daniel looked at him with a blank face. "Of course Mr. McClellan, if you'll just come in so I can examine the scroll, we'll get you that check…"
"Cash."
"Yes, cash, sorry. And then you can be on your way." The two stepped into the study, Daniel slipping into the large armchair behind the only desk in the room. "Do you mind if I examine it before paying you?"
"Not at all. I'd be worried if you didn't ask," replied John as he pulled the rolled parchment out of the tube and laid it down onto the desk.
Daniel carefully unfurled it and began to examine the archaic symbols and pictures scrawled on to the ancient paper. To John it meant nothing but money, but to Daniel it meant worlds more. "Do you know what this is, John?"
John looked indifferent. "I know it's an ancient scroll that you are paying me, soon, I hope, to retrieve—which I have done. Beyond that, it doesn't concern me."
A smile crept across Daniel's face. "Oh, but it should! This is the lost text from the journal of the Sage Pelgrin!"
"Never heard of him."
"I'm not surprised; very few have. Please sit down, John, and I'll tell you the story of where magic comes from, and who the Great Sage Pelgrin was."
Glancing at his watch, John saw that it was late, but he had nothing else to do in the near future, so he pulled a chair over and flopped into it, putting his feet up on the desk corner and looking at Daniel expectantly.
Daniel regarded his audience of one for a moment, then took a deep breath and began, speaking slowly and clearly. "The world is made of the elements Air, Water, Earth, and Fire and stays alive due to the balance between them. There were four crystalline physical embodiments of these elements throughout the world. The Earth crystal rested in the golden city of El Dorado, the Air crystal waited in the lofty mountain heights of Shangri-La, the Water crystal sat in the center of mighty Atlantis, and the Fire crystal burned in the fiery depths of Krakatoa.
"Full of arrogance, the Atlanteans waged a war for control of the other crystals. The protectors of Earth and Air were able to force the Warriors of Water back to Atlantis where they used the crystal to put up an ice barrier to protect their city. But near the end of the incantation, the mage putting up the spell was slain by an arrow and the spell froze all of Atlantis into the iciness of the Antarctic. The sudden accumulation of mass shifted the Earth's crust, resulting in massive earthquakes that buried Shangri-La and El Dorado underground, where they wait.
"The only record of these events was kept by Sage Pelgrin, who left them with the Moai when he returned to try and find his home of Shangri-La, under the Himalayan Mountains. This scroll is one of the 'pages' from his journal."
John knotted his brow, then gave Daniel a slightly puzzled look. "Wait…didn't Krakatoa blow up?"
"Indeed it did."
"Then what happened to the Fire Crystal? Did that blow up too?"
Daniel shrugged. "No one knows."
John slowly rose from his seat and patted his pockets for a cigarette. "That's quite a story you have there. Now if you don't mind, I think I would like to take my money and get a good night's sleep."
Daniel glanced at the clock on his desk and grimaced at how late it had become. "Of course, John," reaching over, Daniel lifted the receiver of the phone on his desk, "Hello, James? Please send up the carpetbag with Mr. McClellan's payment." Daniel put down the phone. "It will be here in just a moment."
There was a light knock on the door a moment before it was swung open. A butler carrying a faded puce carpetbag strode in and placed it on the desk. "Will there be anything else, sir?"
"No, thank you James. You may go back to bed."
"Very good, sir." The butler quickly strode out of the room.
Daniel handed John the bag. "I hope that you trust me enough not to count it here and now."
John took the bag and favored Daniel with a wan smile. "Of course I wouldn't count it in front of you. It's all there. I know it is because I have already gotten in once tonight without anyone noticing, and if I have to come back again there is scant hope that I will knock before entering."
Daniel forced a laugh out and smiled. "Its a sum I gladly pay, as well as telling all of my friends whom might need the kind of help you provide."
John bowed slightly before turning around and leaving the room without a noise. Daniel fell back into his chair and held up the scroll gazing at its symbols once more. "Magnificent…simply magnificent."