And all shall be smitten with fear and the Watchers shall quake, and great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth…while the judgement shall come upon all, even to the righteous.’

Book Of Enoch

The library was comprised of 3 levels whose interior had a high dome shaped ceiling adorned with the intricate Arabic calligraphy, and the horseshoe arches and columns supporting the entire structure. Hundreds of aisles and naves in the library with the bookcases were stacked with the books and manuscripts from different countries in their respective sections.

The first level had books on natural sciences and mathematics, second level on philosophy and theology, and the third one was for language translation and history.

The library had a pentagon shaped structure and was divided into five circles or chambers. The first and the second circle of the library were accessible to the public, the third circle for the students of science and theology, the fourth one was for the young scholars and scribes working on exegesis and theology in a manner that it acted as a school for them, and the last and the innermost part was a private area reserved for the senior scribe or scholar in charge of the library.

As Dylan and I passed the second circle of the library, a handsome young scholar dressed in white and in his early twenties, came to receive us.

“Are you here for the Master?” The young scholar asked us, and Dylan told him that, he, the dagger keeper had come to see his master with a guest.

“Master has already informed us about your arrival.” He looked at me. “He has been waiting for you in the innermost chamber.”

He smiled, and I had never seen someone of his age with such a radiant face and deep eyes that held wisdom in them. His voice was calm and composed, and he carried himself with a grace of a high scholar than as a disciple.

The disciple led us through the third and fourth circles where the young scholars and scribes were working on the manuscripts. The afternoon sunlight that filtered in through the windows painted the burnished floor in the ocean of ochre. He opened the door of the innermost hall, and led us inside announcing our presence to his master.

“Master, your guests are here.” He said to his master.

In the middle of the hall at a table, sat a bearded man in his white turban and robes. His silver white hair fell to his broad shoulders; his pale blue eyes hidden underneath the thick bushy brows spoke of the knowledge and wisdom earned with age, and his forehead lines marked the years he had spent among the books.

“You are here.” The scholar directly addressed me.

 “Do you know me?” I pointed at myself, and he smiled asking us to sit at the table before we could talk about it.

“ I have been waiting for you to come all this time. What took you so long?” The man asked before looking at his disciple and said, “Ahmet, go and bring tea for the guests.”

The disciple, Ahmet, excused himself and closed the doors before leaving us with his Master.

Seeing me anxious, the scholar smiled at me and said, “You must have had a lot of questions for me. What do you want me to answer?”

I removed the hairpin from my hair and placed it on the table for him to see.

“Why is this hairpin connected to this place?” I asked him, but he slid the hairpin back to me without sparing a look and asked,

“Let me ask, what are You and the Dagger keeper here for?”

I briefly threw a glance at Dylan to silently ask if it’s alright to tell him and replied, “To find the Gate of the Heaven and close the barrier between the two worlds.”

“If you are to find the gate, what do you think this hairpin is for then?” The scholar asked me, and things finally fell into place as I realized what The Hand and The Key engraved on the gate of Alhambra actually signified.

“It’s a KEY!” I said in a surprise. “It is to seal the barrier. It is the key of the heavens.”

“You’re the Holder of the Key, The Gatekeeper. What took you so long to realize it?”

 The scholar asked me again, and I had no answer for it.

If Dylan’s dagger could act as a bridge between the realms, I should have figured out sooner that this hairpin of mine had been a key in closing the barrier. However, this key also brought me to this world, so I figured that it could both open and closing the gate.

It’s the reason Dylan and I were connected to each other. Like Yin and Yang, life and death, light and shadow, we belonged to two different worlds, balancing each other out and each having his own responsibility to fulfill.

Him as the Destroyer, and I, the Sealer. The fate has sealed us two together in something far greater that none of us could apprehend.

“I didn’t know about it.” I said as I examined the hairpin in my hand. “The hairpin belonged to my late grandmother. She left it to me when she died.” I told him.

“Your grandmother had been here before too.” The scholar told me that took me by surprise.

“She had been here?” I was completely stunned.

The scholar nodded and said, “Yes, she’s here, but it wasn’t in destiny to complete this task. She’s simply a carrier to pass this KEY to you.”

I had never expected to hear something like this about a woman who had lived an ordinary life and devoted herself to her family and husband. She had never mentioned anything of this sort to us, not even in her stories that she used to tell us when we were kids.

“But why is it me?” I asked him. “Of all the beings on the earth, why it has to be me?”

“Why? There’s no reason to WHY as there’s no reason to why You and I, or The Dagger Keeper are born. If cosmos could make any sense, no of us would have suffered.”

“What if I choose not to do it?” I asked the scholar. I was hyperaware of Dylan’s eyes, but the weight of responsibility was starting to crush me down.

“Whether you do it or not, the fate will not change. You can’t run from it.” The scholar said to me, and I fell silent at his words.

Running? Running is what I have been good at. All my life, I have been running away from my fear, pain, people, life and even MYSELF. How could a person like me in charge of FATE of the world?

What a joke; what an irony!

I was lost in the thoughts when I heard Ahmet return with the tea and served us with a cup of it. I thanked him for it and took a sip of mint tea when I remembered Dylan mentioning about The Watchers.

“May I ask who are The Watchers?” I said to the Master.

“Are you asking about The Watchers, the Biblical angels or the Iyrin?” The scholar asked as poured us more tea.

“Iyrin?”

“Iyrin are the Sons of Heaven or the Fallen Angels who descended the heavens to watch over the mankind but committed sins against the humans for inhabiting the land and corrupted the earth by spreading evil.”

“So, are they demons or the extraterrestrial beings?” I concurred.

“Is it what you call them in your world?” He smiled, then said, “Why don’t you see the library, so that you can find more about them yourself. Perhaps, you may find a new insight on them and about the Fate of the world.”

“Can I really change the fate of the world by sealing the barrier?” I questioned again.

“No, the Fate of your world and ours is already determined. You can only delay it till its time finally arrives.” He told me, and I half-heartedly agreed to him.

If it couldn’t change fate, then, why Dylan and I were still trying? Why we were burdened with it and unable to escape it?

Seeing me disheartened, the scholar said, “At times, things cannot be reversed or changed, yet we persist in changing them. There is no meaning to this life either, but do we stop living altogether? Sisyphus must go one despite his suffering.”

When he said it, I realized that he’s right. Mustn’t one imagine Sisyphus being happy? It might not change anything, but we couldn’t give up without trying.

Dylan and I got up, and Ahmet led us to the upper level of the library to the history section.

“Let me know if you need something.” He excused himself giving us some privacy.

As I looked around the room, there were hundreds of aisles and thousands of ancient scrolls and manuscripts on the shelves. I turned to Dylan and asked him, “Where do we start from?”

Going through one scroll after another was tiring. Although the manuscripts were written in Aramaic or some translated to Arabic, I was able to read and understand them in this realm.

Some texts mentioned Iyrin who mated with the humans on earth transgressing against the Heavens and bore Nephilim who were wiped out in Great Deluge, while some recorded about the Annunaki, the Sumerian gods who taught knowledge to the mankind to reap benefits for themselves.

It’s surprising that how these ancient scrolls and texts were in the library that appeared much later in my world. I suspected if these texts and scrolls were sent to our world from this world to learn about these extraterrestrial entities that threaten existence of the mankind.

I opened another scroll which was hard to tell which era or civilization it’s from, but it roughly mentioned the term Intruders for the dimension walkers, the otherworldly beings that kill and bring havoc to wherever they go.

To put it simply, they are the advanced civilization or alien beings that either want to reap the benefits of mankind’s advancement or want to replace humans on the earth after exhausting their own energy sources which sounds more plausible.

I look for the author’s name, but the corner of the scroll had been chipped, so I couldn’t find its authorship.

As I had become tired, I lay down on the floor among the piles of books and scroll to rest and looked over at Dylan who was lost in reading. I said nothing and continued to observe him in silence.

The sharp slanting shadows on his face contrast to the soft glow of light from window casting a dusty halo around his frame made him appear ethereal. In the moments like these, I often forget that he’s a ruthless killer who protects the gates of the heavens.

I didn’t know what thought came over me, but I sat up upright with the scroll in my hand and asked, “Are you a watcher?”

“Are you still at it?” Dylan briefly glanced over at me and laughed amusingly, but when I didn’t answer him, he leaned in closer and took the scroll from my hand and said, “Are you worried that I might hurt you?”

He looked at me with the molten irises of his and patiently waited for the answer.

“I’m afraid that I might not see you again after all this is over.” I admitted to my own surprise.

The thought of not seeing him again pained me. Maybe, he had been around for too long that I grew accustomed to his presence, so the parting sorrowed me.

“I exist as long as you exist; I’m bound to find you because of our fates.” He pulled back and returned to reading the scrolls again as if nothing happened.

“Will you also perish if I die?” I asked him again, and this time he took his time to answer.

“The beings, like us, don’t know death unless Lord wills it, but if you’re to die, the meaning of my existence will be futile. I’d rather die than live.” He spoke with heaviness in his voice, and I scooted closer to sit beside to him.

“But, If I were to die, I’d rather you lived than died.” I told him.

“Then, I’d rather you not die.” He looked at me with a vain hope in his eyes and I half laughed at the fate.

“I’m a human. I can’t live forever.”

“Then, don’t ask me about it either.”

“Dylan—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He discontinued the conversation and fell silent. I had never seen him acting like this before. I didn’t know what happened to him, but he wasn’t like this in the Desert.

I returned back to reading the scrolls and came across a text that looked like some prophecy of the end times. I nudged Dylan and asked him to take a look at it. He looked at the text and read it aloud:

When the Light disappears, and the Sun turns Black, Gates of the Heavens will open and the Walkers will wreck havoc and bring chaos on earth, until Bearer of the Light will come and deliver Son of Adam from the Great Evil.

Before Him, there shall be Wars and Bloodshed, Anarchy will loose and no corner of the earth shall be free from Evil that devours the man.

Death will be Victor, and Sickness shalt rule over the Man,

The army of Hell will feed on their Flesh and Blood;

The Land will Burn, and there Shalt be no Rain,

There shalt be no respite during the Years of Tribulation.

“This…” I was horrified after listening to it.

“It’s the same prophecy recorded in the Book of Orders, but there are five gates and I don’t know which one is breached. We need to find that gate before it fully opens and walkers cross over.”

“Does your prophecy tell you nothing about it?” I said to him.

“There are three gates in the east, and remaining two in the west. According to the prophecy, the eastern gates will open, but says nothing about their location.” He told me.

“And you don’t know which one either.” I asked him to which he nodded.

“Let’s ask the scholar, he should know about it.” Since he had long waited for him, he should know about these two eastern gates.

As Dylan and I put the scrolls back in place and were about to go to the scholar, something disastrous happened.

The library was set on fire.