The Harbinger Book

Deep inside a Library, which was inside a kingdom, which in turn was inside an enormous amount of land known as Terra, there was a book. Now, not everyone would consider a book to be as important as this one, but those who do make up most of the population of Terra. For this enormous book, which was about the size of a man's torso and as thick as two mighty oak trees, contained names.

No, these are not just names. Each of these names are in no particular order, and each sits beside its meaning. When a baby is born in Terra, their name is chosen at random. The meaning of this name contains the description of what the baby is destined to do in life.

Well, now I'm getting ahead of myself. Perhaps we should carry on with the story. Let's head back to the day of my birth, along with the birth of my siblings.

The old, wrinkled librarian of this ancient library was sleeping quietly at his desk, when the sound of a loud knocking at the large library door awoke him from his peaceful slumber. "I'm coming!" the old man shouted as he stumbled up from his seat.

The librarian scurried across the long, desolate hallways of his library, stopping at the wooden door that towered over him by several feet. He unlocked the door, pushing it open with all of his might. When the slightest crack appeared between the two sets of wood, the three guards on the opposite side easily pushed them out of the way, as if they were the old, molding doors of a rundown shack.

"Sir, we carry great news from King Massey. Queen Diana has just given birth to three lovely infants!" shouted the shortest of the three. Height was hard to tell when they were all wearing armor from head to toe, but it was nearly the only thing to go by when describing men that looked remarkably similar.

The old man smiled, waving his hands with great emotion. "Yes, that is wonderful news indeed. Now, come along, we must hurry and choose the names." said the librarian, scurrying off in the directing of the book like a farm rat. The guards followed him.

When they arrived at the enormous book, which was lying on an equally-large table, the old man wasted no time. With ease, he flipped open the book, unlike his difficulty with opening the door. "Tell me, were they boys or girls?" he asked.

The middle-sized man answered this time. "Two of them are girls, and one is a boy, who was born first."

The librarian flipped to the male section of the book. He closed his eyes, flipped to another page, and pointed his finger to a random name. When he opened his eyes, he read the name aloud. "His name shall be Ryan, meaning 'little king'. Quickly, one of you must climb to the bell tower and shout it to the heavens." he said.

The shortest of the three ran off, climbing up an outrageously long, stone staircase. He climbed out onto the top of the library, which was the height of a castle, and yanked on the bell of the tower. He then ran over to the edge of the building, and looked down on the people below.

"A son has been born to the King and Queen! His name is Ryan, and it means 'little king'!" shouted the knight. A large roar of happy cheering escaped the mouths of the crowd below.

The librarian the flipped to the female section. He did the same routine, closing his eyes and flipping to a random page. "The younger daughter will be named Sarah, and it means 'princess'." he told the two remaining knights.

The middle-sized man ran off, fallowing the same trail as the other man. He wrung the bell with extreme force, and then looked down on the people below. He gave his message, which received another burst of cheers.

Last, but not least, the middle-child's name was chosen. The old man closed his eyes, and flipped to a page that he almost never picked a name from. When he opened his eyes, he expected to see another 'royal' name, but what he got was much different.

The man gasped.

"What is it?" said the tall guard. He walked over to the man and read over his shoulder. He too, gasped as his eyes grew wide with shock.

"Should we pick a different one?" he asked the elderly man, who in return shook his head.

"No, we could never do that. The gods would wreak havoc down on Terra if we broke such a rule! This must be a sign of some sort! Please, just go do your job!" shouted the librarian.

The man gulped, walking slowly up the stairway, which he suspected was the stone-lined pathway to his impending doom. For delivering such bad news, a man such as himself was likely to lose his head. As slowly as he ever could, the man opened the doorway, which lead to the outside.

The other two knights stayed silent as the tall one trudged over to the bell. He gave the rope one slow, hard yank. He then trudged over to the side of the building, and with all of his fear sitting on his shoulders, gave the message that would end his life.

A daughter has been born to the King and Queen. Her name is Alexa, and it means . . . it means 'protector and defender of mankind'."

Instead of the rejoice and cheering that the crowd had done only minutes ago, gasps and curses ran through the air like a gust of wind through a valley. A few infants' cries could be heard through the near-silent kingdom. People whispered to their neighbors words that would strike fear in even the heaviest of hearts.

That night, the tall guard had been hung from the gallows.