Dear Reader,
As everyone knows, the best part about going on an extraordinary adventure is being able to share it with family and friends later -- in my case that was not to be.
As I regained consciousness I found myself lying in the very same grave Stretch and I had fallen into the night of the Dispirit attack. I was back in the Veil. Back in Destiny, my home. It was the dead of night and Stretch was nowhere to be found, but luckily neither were the Dispirits. I gathered the Author’s Writ and my video camera and clambered out of the grave. As I emerged, I was happy to find Stretch only a few steps ahead of me.
As it turned out, hardly any time had passed since Stretch and I had left.
Sadly, the only thing Stretch remembered was running across the graveyard and falling into the hole. He had no memory of Solandria at all. As far as he was concerned, we had imagined the whole Dispirit thing and he quickly adopted the “book is cursed” attitude Stubbs had first suggested.
Of course, I had hoped the footage we’d taken of the Dispirits’ fight would prove what I remembered was true. Unfortunately, the only thing it showed was Evan, an old man in a robe, swinging an imaginary sword wildly in the air, in the middle of a street. The Dispirits remained invisible to the camera. To anyone who hadn’t been there, it simply looked like I had taped a drunken madman fighting off an invisible enemy. I was disappointed to say the least.
Thankfully, Dad’s broken watch was still in my pocket, along with Hope’s medallion. They were the only real evidence I had to remind me that what I had experienced was, in fact, real. Whenever I look at the watch, I wonder what became of my dad. Maybe someday the Author will let me find out.
When Mom found I’d left the house, I was grounded for a whole week. I’m not sure it was completely fair, but I served my time and eventually emerged from my room to enjoy what remained of the summer.
I read the Author’s Writ as often as I could, learning new things about the history of Solandria, its connection to the Veil and a whole lot about me too.
I guess there are just some things in life, good and bad that the Author allows to happen for a reason-- things that move the story of our lives forward in strange and unexpected ways. Just because we can’t understand at the time, doesn’t mean the story isn’t ultimately good. In fact, I don’t think the true worth of a story can be fully judged until the final chapter is written.
As for me and my adventures, well, let’s just say they aren’t over yet. In fact not too long after school started I received a mysterious letter from an unexpected friend.
I can’t spell out the contents of the message here, for fear this book may fall into the wrong hands. But I have posted it online, where the Codebearers meet, in hopes you will discover it. Hidden in the book you have just read are the clues you’ll need to decipher the cryptic message for yourself. Please keep it in the strictest of confidence and under no circumstances leave the message out in plain sight. The lives of others could be at stake.
We are never alone,
Hunter