City of Gold by Daniel Blackaby

being shoved to the cafeteria floor and hearing his lunch distributed among the jocks.
    “Yes, I have,” he responded, “but I never meant to steal your life.”
    “But you did! ” Xerx cried. “The moment your fingers pressed against that scarlet A my destiny became yours.”
    “I didn’t mean to interfere with your training,” Cody began, but Xerx laughed. “My training? I wasn’t just training…I was being groomed . From the day I was born.” Xerx took a deep breath. “I am the lone remaining heir in the Wesleyan line; the last seed in the Book Keeper lineage. I remember the night he told me that he and his wife were fleeing to Upper-Earth. I begged to go, but he refused. He told me there would come a day when I would be needed to protect the Book.”
    “I didn’t know Wesley was married,” Cody admitted softly.
    “Sadria. A beautiful lady; headstrong and wise. Wesley urged her to remain in Atlantis but she would hear none of it. So, while the Book kept Wesley from aging; Sadria’s proximity only slowed the inevitable. Can you imagine the agony of watching your true love slowly die, knowing that you were destined to everlasting life without her? It was the ultimate sacrifice for the Book’s safety.”
    Cody recalled Wesley’s tired, almost relieved , eyes before his death and his haunting words: “ Boy, I’m sorry it had to be you. Destiny is a sly devil, my lad. ” Cody felt a tear welling in his eye. “I’m sorry...I didn’t realize.”
    “Wesley’s death was devastating, but I was prepared to take the torch, to offer my own life as a sacrifice. That is, until you pranced into the Sanctuary. An outsider; an oblivious Surface-Dweller sharing none of Wesley’s burden. It was all a game to you. Each day as Under-Earth’s newest celebrity you became smugger. Then, just when I thought you’d pillaged every bit of my wasted life, you stole the one I love.”
    “What are you talking about?” Cody cut in, “Jade’s just a friend and…”
    “Not her, you idiot—Ti.”
    Cody’s face grew cold. “Tiana? I had no idea…wait…you call her Ti , too?”
    Xerx laughed joylessly. “You seem surprised? I still remember the way she looked at me her first morning in the Brotherhood.”
    “Wait…Tiana was trained by Stalkton in the Monastery?” Cody’s mind was in overload trying to fit together all the pieces.
    “She was special. What took most trainees years, she mastered in days. We had an instant connection. It’s hard to explain, but whenever we were together she made me feel a way…I’ve never felt before.”
    “What happened?”
    “I proposed.”
    “You did what?!” Cody exclaimed in shock. “What did she say?”
    “Nothing. She stared at me for a moment, and then she just turned around and left. The next morning came and she didn’t show up for training. She never came back. It was like our relationship never existed.” Xerx stopped, suddenly realizing he had said more than intended. “Not that I expect you of all people to understand.”
    Cody’s heart rate was increasing. Oh, I do, better than you know.
    “I think Wesley was right about you.”
    Xerx coughed as he retracted the words already exiting his mouth. “Excuse me? Right about what?”
    Cody continued assertively, “There will come a time when it’s up to you to protect the Book—and I think that time is now . I’m sorry for the hurt I’ve caused you. I was blinded by my new power and everyone else paid the price for it. But through my many mistakes I’ve realized that I can’t do this on my own. As badly as I want to be the mighty hero of Atlantis , I can’t …not without help….” Cody hesitated. “Xerx, I need you. You are a more gifted creator than I will ever be, even with the Book. I’m asking you, despite the grief I’ve caused, to help me. Maybe this was your destiny all along.”
    Before Xerx could respond the air sounded with the beating of drums. Cody tensed up. A procession of men came