William Silvercrona and the magical goblet E-Book

E.S Andersson

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: William Silvercrona
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 460

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Welcome to the sequel of the exciting tale about William Silvercrona and his adventures in the magical kingdom of Thyrridea. The series about William Silvercrona is perfect for young readers who love adventure and fantasy. You will appreciate the enthralling battle between light and darkness and perhaps be inspired to think about friendship and courage. The stories offer magical encounters and clever riddles that will challenge your imagination. In book 2 you will follow William as he first enters the magical kingdom of Thyrridea. Life is not easy and darkness has begun to take hold of the land. The battle between light and dark magic has intensified and William finds himself in the middle of it. William experiences a lot in this adventure. For instance, he meets a very talkative magical goblet, learns to use a magic wand and tries to solve a 500-year-old murder case. The story takes place in catacombs and magical passages where the castle Kalvador has a very special place.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I FLIGHT OVER THYRRIDEA

CHAPTER 2 A TRIP BY BOAT ON THE WATER

CHAPTER 3 ROSENDAHLS STREET NO . 7

CHAPTER 4 THE UNKNOWN GRAVE / MAGICAL SHORTCUTS

CHAPTER 5 MEETING WITH FATHER ORMUND AND THE CATACOMBS

CHAPTER 6 SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION

CHAPTER 7 FRITZ

CHAPTER 8 WILLIAM AND LIBRAS OLDEST BOOK AND ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSTORE

CHAPTER 9 THE VAULT

CHAPTER 10 WILLIAM AND FRITZ

CHAPTER 11 A VOYAGE

CHAPTER 12 KALVADOR CASTLE

CHAPTER 13 THE WALL ACE MIRROR

CHAPTER 14 THE WATERFALL

CHAPTER 15 ENTRANCE TO THE BLACK MAZE

CHAPTER 16 THE BLACK MAZE

CHAPTER 17 MUD

CHAPTER 18 THE BLACK BIRDS

CHAPTER 19 MEETING WITH THE NEUTRAL MAGICAL TREE

CHAPTER 20 FOLLOW THE ROOTS

CHAPTER 21 THE BOOK OF THRUTH

CHAPTER 22 THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNSIL

CHAPTER I

FLIGHT OVER THYRRIDEA

William looked out the glass window. Far away, through the gray morning haze, he glimpsed land.

“I can't believe we're almost home,” dad said, hugging both William and Anne. The glass bubble floated peacefully through the air. William turned around and looked at the captain who was navigating the glass ship with a joystick on the black keyboard. He looked relaxed. The captain looked up and met William's eyes and said with a smile, “Would you like to try steering the ship?” He saw that William hesitated a little and added, “I will help you.” William went over to the captain.

“What fun,” Tim said, I’d love to watch.

Captain Nickodemus pointed at the keyboard and the different symbols on it. “You don't have to worry about them. You only need to use the joystick to steer the ship. If you pull it towards you, we'll rise, if you push it forward, we'll fly lower, if you point it to the left the ship turns to the left and if you point it to the right we'll turn right. It's not complicated at all.” The captain handed the control table to William. William wrapped his right hand around the joystick and the captain put his hand over Williams and helped him to steer. “Now you can try to point the joystick half a centimeter to the left.” William did as the captain said and he noticed how the glass bubble gently swung to the left.

“Now, push the joystick half a centimeter forward.” The glass ship responded immediately and began gently to descend. William then straightened the joystick so that the ship leveled out. “You're really good at this,” the captain said and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You can continue to steer the ship straight ahead and I’ll go and talk to your parents for a while. Let me know if you need any help.”

Tim stood next to William. “Isn't it cool to steer the ship,” he said with a smile.

“Mm,” William answered and nodded, he was fully focused on steering. He looked out and saw how they were slowly approaching Thyrridea. After William had steered the ship for a few minutes and noticed how easy the glass ship was to steer, he began to relax. Tim was still standing next to him.

“Do you want to try?” William asked.

“Of course,” Tim answered quickly. William handed over the joystick to Tim who continued to steer the ship straight ahead.

As they approached land the captain looked up. “You can continue to follow the coastline. I'll take over when we approach Libra.”

“Ah yes,” William said, “the capital is called Libra. I had almost forgotten that.”

“I can fly a little lower so you can see more of the coast?” Tim said.

“Yes, please do,” William replied.

The ship descended and William could clearly see the landscape beneath. The coastline of Thyrridea was surrounded by a rough and turbulent sea with waves crashing over the cliffs. The steep rock formations looked almost majestic as they rose up out of the dark blue sea. The wind picked up slightly and William watched as the waves splashed in over land. William noticed a white lighthouse at the far end of a small island off the mainland.

“That's the Lantern,” Tim informed him, pointing to the lighthouse. “It has saved many ships from running aground. You see, the rocks are treacherous. It's really hard to navigate in this area,” he said frowning. “Some rocks are barely visible and are located just below the surface of the water and you really have to watch out for them otherwise it's easy to run aground.”

William was completely taken by the beautiful but dramatic landscape. “Is there anyone who lives out here?” William asked.

“Of course,” Tim answered and pointed with his left hand. William saw that there was a small wooden cabin on one of the cliffs. “If you look a little further inland, you will see a farmhouse.” William looked towards where Tim was pointing and saw that there was a farmhouse on a small island. In the center of the island was lush green grass that sheep grazed on. The island was surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs that plunged almost vertically into the water.

“It’s very windy on the coast,” Tim said. "The family has had to reinforce the house and they have wooden shutters to cover the windows so that they won’t break in the strong wind that sometimes occur.”

“How do they get food and how do the children get to school?” William wondered.

“Twice a week they get food and supplies by air transport and the children can choose whether they want to be taught remotely by computer or if they want to go to a boarding school. I think the younger children are taught from home while the older ones go to boarding school during the week.” Tim said.

“Right.” William said. Then they never have to go to school if they don’t want to, William thought, but of course, it can get a bit lonely sometimes without friends to play with.

Tim interrupted William's thoughts. “But not many people live out by the cliffs. Most people live more inland. William continued to look out through the ship.

The glass ship continued over the coastline, passing the high cliffs. Beneath them, the land changed to what looked like a mixture of moorland and pebbles.

“For how long does this steppe spread out?” William wondered. “Probably for at least 4 kilometers,” Tim answered, “But I'm not entirely sure, it could be longer.” Mm, William thought, no wonder that there's little that can grow here, it seems to be a really windswept landscape. It looked desolated. “When do we reach the capital?” he asked.

“In about 20-30 minutes,” Tim said.

“Tim, change course about 1 centimeter to the right!” the captain called out. Tim did as Nickodemus said and the ship steered gently to the right.

William saw that the landscape began to change character and below them lush meadows and hills began to spread out. The hills were low enough so that the landscape still gave a fairly flat impression. Here and there were a few groves of trees that provided shelter from the wind. But he still didn't see many houses. “How many people live in Thyrridea?”

“It's a pretty big country,” Tim answered. “I believe it's about 20 million, but most people live in the three major cities of Laubery, Keansbridge and of course Libra which has about 7 million inhabitants.”

20 million, about twice the size of Sweden, William mumbled.

“How are you feeling?” William's mother asked. “I’m really excited to see Libra,” William answered, “but it’ll be much larger than Sigtuna.”

“That's right, William.” I think we'll land in the middle of the city. There's an airport next to the school that you are going to go to.” William's mother called out to the captain, wondering. “Are we going to land at West Clermont Lincoln University?”

“That's right,” Nickodemus replied. “It’s the nearest airport to your destination.”

Below them, a mountain range began to spread out. “I'll take the controls now,” the captain said, thanking Tim and William for their help. Nickodemus guided the vessel over the mountains and continued to fly over one mountain range after another. The ship was now high above the clouds and the wind increased significantly. The ship swayed violently in the wind. William sneaked a look at the captain as he steered the ship, but he seemed very calm.

“Please sit down in your seats and fasten your seat belts. This part of the flight is always a bit turbulent,” the captain said calmly.

William and the others sat down and fastened their seat belts. Luckily, it was just in time because suddenly they hit a huge air pocket that almost took William's breath away.

“When the green light is turned on, you can remove your seat belts,” the captain informed. After about 10 minutes of flight, the red light went off and the green light came on.

“Welcome to Libra! Nickodemus exclaimed solemnly. William quickly ran up to the window to look out. Below him, a huge city spread out. It was nestled in between several mountains. Tall buildings and clocktowers were visible everywhere. Several buildings were made of natural colored stone.

“Look there is the cathedral,” William's father Henry said, pointing to a huge cathedral. The building was made of some kind of white sandstone, William thought. The cathedral was pointedly built and had large windows.

“We're going to visit it later on,” dad continued.

One side of the city was open to the sea while the rest of the city was surrounded by mountains. When William looked down, he saw that the buildings were arranged in what looked like several small city centers on different islands within the city. There were several bridges over the river that snaked through the city. In some places the river was wider and some places it was narrower with a small footbridge over it.

“Libra is a city that is best explored from the water,” Henry said.

“There is a boat trip I thought we should take so you can see the city,” his mother filled in.

The city was built on slopes. Some areas were high up on the mountains while others were at sea level. William really liked what he saw. He liked the mixture of the high mountains with their steep cliffs and the proximity of the sea. “What a fantastic city!” he exclaimed.

Anne looked at him and gave him a hug. “I'm glad you like it.”

“It's beautiful, almost majestic,” William said, looking at the magnificent stone buildings. Some skyscrapers were built with glass, some shifted in a mixture of blue and gray while others shimmered in pearl and pale yellow. “I like the mix of the old stone buildings and the modern glass buildings,” William said.

“Yes, it's beautiful,” William's mother Anne sighed. They passed a large green area with several large leafy trees that almost formed a small forest. In the middle there was a lake. “It's the big park in Libra,” Anne said. “This is where people go to have picnics, swim, run or relax. Sometimes we call it the lungs of Libra. You know photosynthesis and our need to breath in the fresh air of green vegetation and relax.”

William nodded. The glass ship steered to the right and began to rise higher into the sky. I think we're getting closer to West Clermont Lincoln. William saw that they were flying over the older part of the city. There were no glass buildings here and most buildings were built of stone. The streets were a little narrower and the river only ran through it in a few places. The ship rose higher and the surrounding mountains were huge. There, almost in the middle of the city, he saw a gigantic building in light gray stone. The building lay on a hill that was covered with cobblestones. But the cobblestones were not as small as cobblestones usually are, instead they were much larger stones that were worn and slightly rounded and shiny from people walking on them through the years. William thought they almost looked smooth. An avenue with large oak trees along both sides led up to the entrance and a massive stone staircase led up to the two large green copper doors. At each side there were torches burning, placed in black wrought iron holders.

“Look to the right of the building William!” the captain shouted, “that's the airport.” William looked to the right of the huge light gray stone building and in contrast to the old building, there was a large round black runway.

“You know William,” the captain continued, “this ship doesn't need a long runway.” To the left of the runway was a hangar where William glimpsed three aircrafts. A little further away was an air traffic control tower. Nickodemus steered the ship above the round runway and the ship landed softly. William saw that the huge building continued at a 90-degree angle behind the front. “Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to disembark.” One of the doors in the ship was lowered and at the same time a staircase appeared from the lower part of the ship.

First out of the ship was the king of Thyrridea, Victor the first, with his two assistants, followed by William's mother and father, William and finally Tim. The captain saluted them all and wished them a pleasant stay in the country.

“I had forgotten how heavy my luggage was,” William whispered to his mother.

“Oh, how hot it is!” William exclaimed loudly. It was really hot even though it was only morning. The temperature was over 25 degrees Celsius. “I really need to change into something lighter,” William sighed and squinted in the sunlight.

“We will,” Anne said. “Just wait a little while, I think the king wants to say something to you.” William looked up. “Dear Mr. William. I want to thank you on behalf of the people of Thyrridea for your wise intervention. Without you the balance would not have been restored. Truly an excellent performance. Thank you!” The King cleared his throat again and looked at Tim. “Tim, I would also like to thank you for your efforts.” The King then shook hands with William, Tim, Anne and Henry and then left in a brightly polished black car.

“Alright,” Tim said, “I have to run to school and see what's on today's schedule. I'll see you around!”

“We will,” William replied.

“Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Silvercrona,” Tim said and shook hands with William's parents. Tim started to walk towards the entrance. He turned to William and shouted

“I would love to show you around the school but it's against the rules. It's decided that your mentors will do it.”

“What a shame,” William shouted back.

“I know” Tim called back and waved.

“It will be a few years before I start at West Clermont Lincoln University. I will have a few years of home school first so that I can get used to the country,” William said.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Tim said, “but we can stay in touch anyway.”

“Of course!” William replied. He felt incredible happy that he already had a friend in Thyrridea.

CHAPTER 2

A TRIP BY BOAT ON THE WATER

“What do we do now?” William asked.

“Well,” Henry said, “either we go home and change or we go on that boat trip we talked about.”

“Let's take the boat trip,” William said.

“All right, let's do it,” Anne said. “We just need to figure out how to get there. It's a bit too far to walk. I wonder which bus route it could be?”

“We can take a boat taxi or an ordinary taxi,” Henry filled in. William saw a black car with tinted windows pull up next to them. A window was rolled down.

“Excuse me, Silvercrona family? King Victor the first wanted me to tell you that this car is at your disposal all day.” The driver explained.

William's mother shone up. “How thoughtful, please do express our thanks to the king. Let’s get into the car,” Anne said cheerfully. The driver got out of the car and opened the trunk and put in their luggage. He then opened the door for William who jumped into the backseat with his father and finally he opened the front door for Anne. William sank into the dark blue velvet plush seat and enjoyed the cool air from the AC. The driver got into the driver's seat, turned the key and the car drove off.

“I would like to welcome you to Thyrridea,” he said with a smile. “Where do you want to go? I can take you anywhere you wish.”

“We would like to go to King's Square and take the boat trip through part of the city.”

“Yes, it’s a perfect day with perfect weather for a boat trip,” the driver nodded. “Yesterday it would not have been pleasant as the rain poured down, it was a real thunderstorm. Towards King's Square!”

William looked out the car's tinted windows while the car cruised through the traffic. William could see that Libra was a capital city. Everywhere he saw stressed people walking hurriedly and huge traffic jams.

“As you can see,” the driver said, “we're driving through the old part of Libra.” William had also noticed it. The buildings were relatively low and most of them were built of stone. The roads were not very wide and paved with cobblestones. They crossed several bridges that led over the city's waterways. William rolled down the window as they waited in a traffic jam and the warm air fanned through the car.

“It almost feels like vacation, William told his mother.

“That's right, dear.”

“When does my homeschooling start?” William wondered.

“Not for another three weeks, so take the opportunity to enjoy,” William's father said.

“This is how life should be! William said happily.”

“We will soon arrive at King's Square,” the driver informed. “You can buy tickets on board the boat.” The car stopped and William and his parents got out.

“I'll wait here until you return,” the driver said.

“How incredibly kind of you,” Anne replied smiling.

“We'd better hurry. It looks like the boat is getting ready to leave.” William looked up at the boat on the quayside.

The boat blew it’s horn once and William and his parents ran towards the gangway.

“You're lucky,” the skipper said smiling. “Three tickets I assume? Would you like to sit on the upper deck?”

“Three tickets will be fine,” William replied and turned to his mother. “Mom, can we sit on the upper deck? We’ll get the best view of the city.”

“You don't think it’ll be too windy?” his mother wondered.

“No, I don't think so,” William said firmly.

“Three tickets to the upper deck then!” the skipper said.

“Perfect,” William replied. They walked to the front of the boat and then followed a narrow steel spiral staircase up to the upper deck.

“What a tall boat,” William noted as he walked up the spiral staircase.

“At least four floors,” his father said breathlessly. “It’ll be nice to sit down!” When they reached the upper deck, it was really windy. William and his parents had been given seats at the front of the boat. The boat blew it’s horn again and a bell rang.

“Welcome to ‘The Pearl’ and to the grand tour of Libra. The tour will take about 1.5 hours. We will show you the most famous buildings in Libra and at the same time tell you a little about the history of Libra,” the speaker voice continued. “If you are sitting on the upper deck and find it too windy, you can press the red button that is located at the end of each row at the boat's railing. If you press the button, a pane of glass will rise up through the floor and protect you from the wind.” As soon as the speaker voice became silent William's mother quickly leaned over William's father, who sat the end of the row, to press the red button.

“That was quick,” William joked as the glass pane went up through a slot in the floor. William thought it felt good to be out of the strong wind, but he didn't really want to admit it to his mother.

Looking around, William saw that most of the seats were empty. On the upper deck there were about 100 seats in many rows of transparent plastic chairs that were bolted to the floor. William leaned back to feel if the chair was comfortable and it was. It feels like I'm sitting on something, William thought. He stood up and saw that he was sitting on a fairly thin, flat white cushion. Ah, he said quietly to himself and sat down again. The boat began to slowly leave the quay and went out to sea.

“We're now leaving King's Square,” the speaker voice said. "It's where the King of Thyrridea, King Victor the First, was crowned 10 years ago. He took over after his father Wilhelm the First, who hastily fell ill.” William looked up at King's Square. It was huge, built almost like an amphitheater with rows of seats carved out in a semicircle. At the bottom was a flat stone stage and in the middle of it was a marble statue representing a royal crown and a scepter. Both the crown and the scepter were covered in gold leaf.

William's mother leaned to William and whispered “Sometimes they have concerts at King's Square and it's great to sit and listen to music while looking at the water.“ Behind King's Square was a gray building with two large stone columns on each side. The boat slowly began to turn around so that William was looking directly at the sea. William stood up and saw how the blue water hit the boat. “Now we’ll leave Kings Place and steer the boat towards the cathedral,” the speaker voice informed. The boat picked up speed and headed straight out into the open sea.

“Wonderful!” William cried out.

When they reached the open sea, Anne nudged William in the side. “Do you see that island over there on the right?” She pointed at a gray dot far out in the sea.”

“Not really,” William answered, “but maybe when we get closer–” William was interrupted by the speaker voice which continued “We will now approach Gardon island. This island actually consists of a mountain range that has risen out of the sea. The mountain range contains a lot of caves, even underground caves. It is said that there is to be underground passages from the mainland, but it may well be a tall tale.”

The boat approached the mountain island at high speed. William looked fascinated as the island came into clearer view. Such huge cliffs, he thought.

Henry leaned to William. “There is an old folklore that says that King Oscar, who lived hundreds of years ago, had to take refuge in the underground passages of Gardon. Many have since searched for these passages, but so far there is nothing to prove that they actually exist.”

“Exciting,” William mumbled as he enthusiastically continued to look at the island. The boat passed the island and then continued forward.

“Now we are approaching the All-seeing lighthouse. The reason it is called the All-seeing lighthouse is that it has saved many ships from sinking in these waters. However, when Thyrridea was invaded in the 2nd century AD, it sent out false signals that caused the destruction of several of the enemy's ships. That’s why many sailors joke about it and says ‘Let's see if I've been nice today’ when the lighthouse sends its signals. I assume that our skipper has been nice,” the speaker voice said with a laugh.

William looked at the lighthouse. It was a large, sturdy stone lighthouse. It appeared that it had been repaired several times and William could well understand that it was very old. Exciting with a lighthouse that seems to have magical powers, he mused.

The boat passed the lighthouse and began to head inland. They passed several islands. Most consisted of rocks, but some had grass and other vegetation.

“We will soon approach the old parts of Libra, the speaker voice continued. The oldest parts of Libra are from 700 BC. In fact, Libra is the oldest city in Thyrridea. Its history has been both long and varied, but since about 1350 AD, the same family has ruled Thyrridea. Do you wonder who ruled Thyrridea before that? Yes, it's a good question and not so easy to answer. But what we do know is that different families fought for power and the rulers usually did not last very long on the throne.”

The boat began to slow down and sailed slowly towards a paved square.

“This is the Celestial Square. Here, King Leopold, the first king of Thyrridea was proclaimed king.”

The square was made of polished marble with large marble stones lying in a zigzag pattern. In the middle of the square was a statue.

“It's probably Leopold,” William whispered to his mother.

“Yes, Henry said who had overheard William's whisper.

“That's right, William.”

The boat steered into a canal that was to the right of the square.

“Awesome,” William exclaimed, “that we can continue the tour inside Libra. It's almost a bit like Venice!”

“Mm,” Henry said, “Libra has many canals and this is one of the biggest!”

They followed a relatively wide canal. On both sides of the canal, different shopping lanes ran.

“Look, they’re waving to us,” William whispered to his mother. “Yes, they do!”

William looked around and saw that other people sitting on the upper deck were laughing and waving back.

So nice people seem to be here, William thought as he smiled and waved back.

“Do you see mom? Even dad laughs and waves.”

“Yes,” Anne giggled, “even dad.”

William saw a stone bridge a little further ahead.

“That’s a low bridge. Can we really manage to pass under it?” Just when William asked the question, he heard the speaker voice say. “Now we will soon pass through one of the many bridges that exist in Libra. Hold on tight and don't stand up. It’s a narrow fit.” William swallowed and saw how the stone bridge got closer. When they were just under the bridge, William impulsively reached up with his right hand to feel the stone of the bridge. He thought he felt something rough so he looked up. He saw how a luminous little text quickly was written “Welcome to Libra, I’ll see you soon/ A.” William quickly blinked to see if he really had seen it but the text remained. “What fun!” William mumbled. A new text appeared “Relax and enjoy the boat trip." William almost began to giggle. He nodded and the text disappeared. Imagine, how cool it is that Arild can communicate with me here, William thought and felt light in his heart.

The boat passed under the bridge and a little further ahead William saw a huge stone church on an island. At the top of the church there was a tall tower with a large brass bell.

“Ahead you'll see the Cathedral of Libra. If you look up under the bell tower, you'll see a carillon, or as it's also called, a glockenspiel,” the speaker voice enlightened them. William looked up, he had to put his hand in front of his eyes to be able to see because the strong sunlight almost blinded him. He squinted at the bell tower and saw small finely made marble figures that appeared to represent seven men in different costumes. Several of them had long caftans. He just began to think about what the seven different figures represented when the speaker's voice continued

“The carillon shows the seven men watching over Libra. According to legend, they stand for the balance of the country. It plays a tune twice a day. Seven o'clock in the morning and at midnight. The figures move in a circle and bless the land by looking out at the city while bowing their heads. As they pass each other, they bow to show the other respect and prosperity. The carillon rotates 3 turns and if you have the opportunity to listen to it during your visit, I think it is well worth the time. In popular speech, the bells are usually called the heavenly chimes because of their clean and delicate sound.”

The boat rounded the cathedral and the speaker voice continued

“If you look at the left side of the cathedral, you will see a huge glass wall. The wall was built to let the first rays of the morning sun in and provide a magnificent light inside the church.” William looked up at the formidable wall of glass mosaic that shifted in different bluish-purple tones.

“How beautiful!” William exclaimed.

“Yes, it sure is,” his father replied. “Just wait until you have graduations at West Clermont School.”

“Oh,” William answered, “will all the school graduations be here?”

“Yes, Christmas and summer.”

“Exciting, what a magnificent end to the semester,” William said cheerfully while trying to imagine himself inside the cathedral.

“You will be able to visit the cathedral many times William,” Anne said. “You will even have lessons in the cathedral if you choose that topic in your study plan.”

“What?” William said surprised, “can I already choose which subjects I would like to study in school? That wasn’t possible in Sigtuna.”

“Yes,” William's mother replied. “That's right, but not all subjects. Most subjects are still mandatory for you but there will be some optional subjects. One of these optional subjects is about significant churches and historical facts, but you'll find out more on your introductory day when it’s time for you to go to the West Clermont school.” William, who had always liked history, was delighted.

“Do you remember, Mom, when I was little, I wanted to become an archaeologist?”

“Of course, I do!” Anne smiled and stroked his hair.

The boat passed by the western side of the cathedral and continued slowly through the old parts of Libra. There were well-maintained old stone houses with small windows and shutters everywhere.

“If you look to the left, you'll see Libra's main shopping street. It leads straight to a large shopping mall filled with shops and restaurants and even a library. Speaking of libraries,” the voice continued, “I want you to look to the right at the big mountain top. If you use the binoculars attached to a pocket under your chairs, you can see Libra's oldest library located almost at the top of the mountain. In the past, you had to walk along a specific marked trail to get to the library and, as you can imagine, it took several days. Nowadays, there is a cable car that quickly takes you safely to the library.”

William struggled to get the lens caps off the lenses of the binoculars, which were unfortunately a bit stuck.

“What the...” he said impatiently, but just then the lens caps came off and William could finally look at the mountain through his binoculars. William zoomed in and saw that on a cliff, just as the voice had said not far from the top lay something that almost looked like a fortress.

“But it looks more like a castle than a library.” William whispered to his mother.

“You’re right,” his mother answered. “The library holds some of the most valuable books in the history of Libra, so the library was built as a fortress to defend against attackers, and believe me, many have tried to take over the library.”

“Did anyone succeed?” William wondered.

“Yes, I'm afraid so. I think it has happened three times in the history of Thyrridea. Is that right?” Anne said wondering to Henry.

“Yes, that’s right,” William's father answered, “but it was nearly a fourth time, but it was repelled just before we moved to Sigtuna.”

“Yes, I remember that,” Anne said shivering. “I'm glad they didn't succeed.”

“Security at the library is rigorous and every visitor has to identify themselves before entering the library's various rooms. The area is patrolled by guards both day and night and the surveillance systems are numerous and advanced. If you as a tourist want to visit the library and have forgotten your ID-card at home, you can get a temporary one at the nearest police station,” the speaker voice informed.

William zoomed in on the library a little closer. The fortress was really impressive. Around it there was a moat filled with water. The fortress had four powerful towers and the walls seemed to be at least several meters thick and made of gray carved stone blocks. A stone bridge led across the moat to the two wooden gates. There were no windows but here and there on the fortress there were small openings. William wasn't sure if they were there to let daylight in or if they had some other function. William found it hard to take his eyes off the library and only when the boat turned into another canal did he put down his binoculars.

The speaker voice continued

“Straight ahead you can see the huge glass tower in Libra. If you, during your visit, want to get an overview of the city I recommend that you go up in the tower. From there you have a fantastic view of the whole city. You can also take the opportunity to have something to eat or drink in one of the restaurants up in the tower. I can really recommend this and especially in the evening when most of our large buildings are illuminated in different colors. It is almost magically beautiful.” the speaker voice said and sighed dreamily. “And speaking of beautiful, if you are interested in space I recommend that you also plan a visit to our observatory. You can see it on your right side.” William looked to the right but saw only a department store.

“I need to clarify myself,” the speaker voice continued, “you need to look up to the right.” William did as the voice said and now he saw a high platform. The platform was like a 30 meter high cylinder and on top of it was the observatory. The observatory was a gigantic round glass building that shifted in a faint gray-blue shade.

“Wow,” William said.

“We have to visit it,” Henry whispered.

Anne and William nodded.

The voice continued; “The observatory opens at eight in the evening and at half past ten they have tour.”

“Why do they open at eight when the tour is not until half past ten?” William heard a child whisper behind him.

The child almost immediately received a reply from the speaker voice. “At eight o'clock the film screening begins and you also have the opportunity to visit the space museum. At the Space Museum there is an opportunity to test what life is like inside a spaceship. This is usually a very popular attraction so make sure to get tickets in good time.”

The boat passed the observatory and William immediately saw that a canal was closed. He took out his binoculars and read the sign, No unauthorized access. How strange, William thought, but he did not have time to think much about it because the speaker voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Now we will head out on one of the major canals and visit what is commonly referred to as the Lungs of Libra, which is the great park in Libra. “

The boat turned into a large wide canal and it was not long before a park spread out on both sides of the canal.

“Now we have arrived at Libra's largest park. It is over 2,3 square kilometers in size and contains several ponds as well as swimming facilities along one side of the canal. The park is carefully landscaped with an herb garden, a tropical garden and a ZOO. Of course, there are also a number of restaurants and cafés for those who so desire. The park was first built by King Leopold, but has been expanded over time. It is safe to say that the park is one of Libra's most popular destinations.”

The boat passed through a part of the park and then turned west.

“We are probably on our way to the modern part of Libra,” William's mother whispered. “I think you're really going to like that part of town.”

The boat moved forward and William noticed that the houses began to change. There were still the cobbled streets, but instead of the lower stone houses, various large glass buildings could be seen.

“As you can see,” the speaker voice said, “we are now in the modern part of Libra. It was built a hundred and fifty years ago and is a manifesto of glass, innovation and modernity. Several of these high-rise buildings are office buildings but there are also buildings that are dedicated to advanced research and contains many top-secret laboratories.”

William saw a large atomic ball made up of small glass triangles and that shifted in all colors.

“The atom, or glass ball as it is called in popular speech, was built for the opening of the big research week held here in Libra two years ago. The atom symbolizes the beginning and the end of research, meaning that all research leads us to the beginning of the creation of all things. We will now go out into the sea again and then return to King's Square.” The boat guide informed.

The boat entered one of the large canals and then out onto the open water. The boat increased speed and the wind picked up. William stood up and looked out over the dark blue water. Wonderful, William mused to himself. I can't believe I will live in this beautiful and exciting city. Although he had enjoyed living in Sigtuna very much and liked the small scale there, this was a more exciting and a considerably larger city that had more to offer. Libra is much larger than Stockholm, which is Sweden's largest city, William thought. If I miss them at home, I can always visit them. William felt happy and he liked the way the wind ruffled his hair. The boat went fast and made big waves in the water. William felt a rush of happiness in his stomach. This is really a new chapter in my life, he thought. William began to understand why his parents were so excited about moving back here. He stood in the bow of the boat for a long time and enjoyed being out at sea. What William had liked at home in Sigtuna was the proximity to water and here he also got to live in a town that was right next to the sea, he noted with satisfaction.

“We are approaching King's Square and I must therefore ask you to prepare to disembark.” The speaker voice said. William saw King's Square in the distance. “We who work onboard the boat wishes to thank you for your interest during the tour and wishes you a pleasant day to stroll around in our beautiful city. Please watch out for signs that say ‘private’ or ‘No unauthorized access’, these areas are off limits and you should absolutely not enter. Having said that, I hope you will have a pleasant afternoon.” The guide fell silent and the people began to stand up.

CHAPTER 3

ROSENDAHLS STREET NO . 7

When William and his parents got off the boat and stood on the quayside, they saw the black car waiting for them. The driver got out of the car. “Did you have a pleasant boat trip?” he asked.

“It was incredible. It was really amazing to see the city again,” William's mother answered with a smile.

“You are welcome into the coolness of the car,” the driver said while he opened the door to Anne. William and his father took the opportunity to open the back doors themselves.

“Where do you want to go now?” the driver wondered when they sat down in the comfortable seats.”

“I think it's time for us to go home to grandma and grandpa,” Anne replied.

“Perfect,” William said, who longed for his grandparents.

He was also curious to see the house they were going to live in.

“Let me find the address. Where is it now?” William's mother said while rummaging around in her bag. “Here it is!” Anne picked up a folded piece of paper and read it aloud. “Rosendahls street no. 7.” The driver entered the address into the GPS and started driving.

“I think it’ll take about half an hour to get there. It depends on how heavy the traffic is and whether we get stuck in any queues.” the driver informed. William made himself comfortable in his seat and looked out the tinted window.

The car cruised through the traffic. Several roads were multi-lane and William thought there were cars coming from many different directions. William couldn't help but admire the driver and his driving style. He drove smoothly while fast. He almost floats through the traffic, William mused. William looked out at the dramatic surroundings with the high mountains all around. A little further away, he saw a large bridge that stretched between the mountains. In one place, the bridge was very long. It was a bit rounded and had bridge railings and poles that stretched high above the roadway. Under the bridge and between the two mountains was a deep ravine. From a distance the cars that drove on the bridge looked like little toy cars crawling along. Imagine how big the bridge really is, he thought. It must be gigantic. The driver changed lane and direction and William saw that they were heading towards the older parts of Libra. They continued through the older parts and the road started to go upwards. The Traffic began to thin out. The driver turned left and into a street where the street sign said Rosendahls street. He drove to the end of the street and stopped in front of a large black wrought iron gate. He rolled down the window pressed a button on the gate post and announced that they had arrived. The gate opened and he drove into the gravel driveway. The driver drove around a small grass circle in the gravel driveway and parked in front of the house.

William looked out at the lawn and the lush garden. It was obvious that it was an old garden that was well settled and lush. Towards the road there were tall bushes that gave the garden privacy. William could make out a high black wrought iron fence that stretched around the plot. The house was large brown brick house with bay windows and a shiny black roof.

“What a house!” William exclaimed, “it looks like an ambassador's house. (Houses where ambassadors live tend to be large houses that give a powerful impression). “Yes, it really does, and they have maintained the house very well while we have been away!” William's father said happily. On each side of the front door of the house were two black bronze lions. William thought they were very impressive and ran up and patted the lions.

“Are you the ones who are going to protect me and the house?” He said laughing. There really was something different with the bronze lions, William thought. They looked almost alive.

That's all William had time to think as the dark brown massive oak door opened and William's grandmother and grandfather came out. William threw himself into grandpa's arms.

“Oh grandpa, I've missed you! It's been so long.”

“Haven't you missed grandma then?” William's grandmother asked jokingly.

“Of course I have,” William answered quickly. William's grandmother Ruth was a cheerful, plump and very kind woman in her 70s. She had light brown, slightly curled hair that ended just before her shoulders.

“I've missed my kind grandmother,” William said and gave her a big hug. William immediately noticed that his grandmother was pleased.

“It's nice to finally see you again,” William's mother cried out and jumped up and gave first her mother and then her father a big hug.

“Come in, come in,” grandmother Ruth urged. William and his parents thanked the driver who then returned to the car.

“I want to check out the house,” William shouted.

“You may do that. Grandpa and I were thinking that you

would have the top two floors and we'll take the ground floor. Your moving boxes and furniture have already arrived and we took the liberty of unpacking them for you.”

“How sweet of you,” William's mother said.

“Thank you very much, Mr. and Mrs. Silvercrona!” William's father added. “I can't believe you did it all on your own.“

“Well, not really all by ourselves,” William's grandfather Fritz said while clearing his throat.

“Can you imagine,” Grandma Ruth filled in, “the same day that your furniture arrived, five movers came and told us that they had been instructed by Captain Nickodemus to help us to unpack all the boxes and furniture so that it would be ready when you arrived.”

“That's amazing,” Anne said sighing with satisfaction. “It feels good to not have to unpack all the moving boxes and screw together the furniture. We can just enjoy and relax.”

“You'll have to see if you think the furniture is in the right place, else we can always move them around,” Ruth said.

“William, we have put your furniture and things in two rooms so you can choose which room you want to sleep in. I think we've chosen the right room,” Grandpa Fritz said, winking.

“You are absolutely wonderful,” William's father said and gave both of his in-laws a hug. “What a lovely house this is! I have a feeling we're going to love it here. “

William quickly ran up the large oak staircase that led up to the upper floor. When he reached the top, he looked around. Straight ahead was a large sitting room. At the far end, by the bay window, was their dark brown Chesterfield group, which consisted of two leather sofas and matching armchairs. On the left wall was a large glossy dark wooden bookcase that was full of various books. Next to the bookcase was a recliner with a reading lamp. In the room there was a dark green tiled stove with various ornaments at the top. The room led on the right side to a smaller room which had a billiard table to the left and straight ahead there was a large flat-screen TV in the middle of the wall. Below the TV there were three black shelves where there were different forms of TV and computer games, a computer, an x-box and a playstation console. In front of the TV was a large dark green carpet that looked really soft. On each side were two dark brown wooden shelves that were full of different movies and series. In front of the TV stood a solid dark wooden table and a dark gray plush sofa with lots of cushions. The sofa was made up of three sections joined together. It made the sofa look like a U with straight corners. It looks really cozy, William thought. I can sit here and watch movies and play video games.

“Ah, you’ve found the media room,” Ruth said who had snuck up behind him and was now standing in the doorway. “We kept all your movies and series even though most of them are available to stream these days.” Ruth smiled. “You know, I had to convince your parents that it a media room was an absolute necessity, his grandmother said winking. “Sometimes you need to relax and not think, I was about to say a single sensible thought, but you know what I mean?”

“Yes, thank you.” William said smiling.

“Come on, I'll show you the rest of the house.” William followed his grandmother. “Here you have a bathroom,” Ruth said and pointed to a room on the left. William peeked in and saw a bathroom that was all white marble with a bubble bath on the far right. William had not seen the two guest rooms to the left of the stairs when he came up. Grandma pointed to the rooms and said, “In case you want some friends to stay overnight.” The rooms were typical boys' rooms in different dark blue and dark green colors. Each room had a dark brown English desk and on the desk there was a laptop.

William turned around and walked over to the large windows by the sofa group. When he looked out, he was stunned. Outside he saw cliffs and the sea. To the right was a large wooden bridge. On the lawn were several old trees and rose bushes. When he looked to the right, he saw a low building that was also made of bricks.

“It's the relaxation area,” his grandmother informed him. “You can sit and relax there in the jacuzzi and look out over the water and the sunset, or you can take a bath in the indoor pool or soften your joints in one of the massage chairs. You can also use the sauna and then go out on to the jetty for a cool dip.”

“How wonderful!” William exclaimed. “I always wanted my own swimming pool.” Ruth ruffled his hair.

“I'm glad you've got one now.”

“Let’s go upstairs and look at the third floor,” grandmother said. William ran ahead up the stairs and Ruth followed. The third floor differed from the slightly dull colors of the second floor. Here the décor went in beige, white and light yellow. At the far end of the room, William saw a large glazed in balcony with white mullioned windows. William immediately walked over to it. There were two cream-colored fabric sofas facing each other and an armchair. In the middle was a square braided tin table. Some beige plaids lay over the sofas. Mom will like this, William thought, who knew that she was weak for bright colors. In the corner were three silver candlesticks.

“It must be wonderful to sit here and look out at the sea or to crawl up on the sofa and read a book,” William said.

“Over here you have mom and dad's study.” William went to his grandmother who was standing by a door to the right. He peeked into the room and saw that the room also went in bright colors. There were two white desks and two beige leather chairs on black wheels.

“You never know,” Ruth said, “sometimes your parents might need to work a little from home and then it can be good to have a workplace and a computer each to write or email on.” William nodded. William turned around and looked again at the large middle room. Their large white Gustavian table stood in the middle of the large room and above it hung their crystal chandelier.

“If you open the door to the right, you will see your library where we have collected all our own books and some of your books that we thought were important in some way.” William looked in and to his amazement he saw a large room that certainly was about 70 square meters. There were books on every wall. Some bookshelves stood in a row one after the other. On a bookshelf were lots of newspapers and several different scientific journals.

“You have to keep up to date,” grandma said, winking at William. William quickly noted that a lot of the books looked very old. Their spines were leather and slightly worn. On the right side was a large white tiled stove. Around the tiled stove stood seven white leather armchairs. Next to each leather armchair was a brass reading lamp.

“The room is huge, William whispered

“Mm, Grandmother said, and it continues.

“What do you mean, continues?” William asked.

“Come on, I'll show you,” she replied.

William went after Ruth and where William thought the room ended, he saw that it instead continued at an angle to the left.

“Now we are in the left flank,” Ruth said. Everywhere there were dark brown wooden bookshelves.

“You really have a lot of books,” William said.

“Yes, we have collected quite a few over the years,” she replied. “I think you will find several of them useful.

William noticed that there was not a single window in the library, the light came from built-in spotlights in the ceiling.

“Where's my room?” William wondered.

“Over there is your parents' bedroom,” Ruth said and pointed at a brown wooden door. The door next to it is one of your rooms.”

William immediately ran over to the door. He opened the door and peeked in. He immediately recognized his desk, computer and chair that stood by the big window. The room felt bright and airy. The walls were white and the curtains were also white. William didn't see a bed in the room. Strange, he thought to himself. Where the bed should have been, there was a dark square wooden table. Around the table were eight black desk chairs. On the wooden floor was a thick white carpet

“I thought that if you have group work at school you might need a bigger table to sit and work at,” his grandmother said who saw that William looked questioning.

“Where's my bed?” William wondered.

“Oh we put your bed in your bedroom,” Ruth said cheerfully.

“Where is it?” William asked. Ruth pointed to a door on the right side of the room. The door looked a little different from the other doors in the house and looked a little like the door to Longtails tower room. It was a thick old oak door with a large brass key in the lock.

“Sometimes you might need to lock the door,” she said. Ruth opened the door and William saw that there was another wooden staircase, though this was narrower than the others he had seen earlier in the house. The staircase was about a meter wide. When William came up the stairs, he saw his white bed standing in the middle of a square tower room. There were four large windows and the view was magnificent. William took a deep breath.

“Wow, what a room!” he exclaimed. William saw his stargazer and two other binoculars standing in front of one of the windows. When William looked up, he saw that the ceiling was made of glass, almost like a glass pyramid.

“That's awesome! Now I can sleep under the open sky and look at the stars before I fall asleep.”

“If you want it dark just turn this knob, his grandmother said. When she did, a dark blue thick blackout curtain appeared that ran on a rail around the room and began to cover the windows. “To remove the curtain, turn the knob in the opposite direction.”

“That's clever,” William said.

“If you don't want to look at the stars when you're sleeping or if you're disturbed by rain dropping on the glass ceiling, turn this knob,” she said and pointed to another knob that was sitting next to the other. “You can