Codex/Volume 1

Sam Stone was lost. Yes, he knew he was standing in the back room of his Aunt Kerry's Bookstore. What had Sam feeling so utterly lost was the fact that Kerry would never set foot in the bookstore that she spent the last 12 years building. By the time they discovered the cancer six months ago it had been far too late for any meaningful treatment. Sam Thought it was horribly morbid to plan your own funeral, but Kerry was always the pragmatic type. The rest of the family couldn't really complain if all the arrangments were made except the exact date.

That date had turned out to be last Wednesday. The will had been read on Monday and here Sam was lost in his thoughts in the back room of his Aunt's bookstore, His bookstore.

Sam didn't know what he was going to do with a bookstore. He had a job. It was a safe job. a bit dead end though. Sam never really wanted to be just another low-level accountant in a corporate monolith but he wasn't sure if the risk of running the bookstore would be worth leaving the stability behind. Sam had seen the financials for this store, hell he had done the taxes for Kerry for the last 7 years. The shop barely made enough money to support itself and the one full-time employee. Sam was fairly certain that Kerry had never actually paid herself a full wage.

Thoughts of that one employee weighed heavily on Sam's mind. Maggy had been working in the store for about 3 years now. She was renting half of Kerry's house for what basically amounted to chores. Sam's house now. That was another aspect of this that weighed on Sam's mind. Maggy and her girls were practically family by now. Sam understood why he was bequeathed the store and house rather than Maggy. The estate taxes would have cost Maggy everything. There were some tax loopholes that meant that Sam would be paying significantly less to take ownership of everything. There was also the fact that Kerry had felt that Maggy didn't quite have the business acumen to keep the store running without help.

Sam still couldn't decide. He could have a life here with an unstable, unknown future or he could head back home to the other end of the state where his future would be completely stable and known. Thinking about it almost made Sam shudder. The next 20 years would be spent in a cube farm. He would sit every day watching his bosses family be hired on and then promoted in front of him. He would slowly drink himself to death as his job was automated out from under him.

In the end, it really wasn't a hard decision, it's just that Sam felt that he was some sort of imposter for daring to think that he could run his Aunt's store. If he did stay he would likely have to move into his Aunt's house which would be weird, to say the least.

Still not out of his funk, Sam opened one of the boxes of used books awaiting cataloging. The topmost books were all from a line of trashy romance novels that he had heard bordered on pure smut. It wasn't the most believable porn but something to line shelves with at least. Sam was fairly certain that these books would sell, likely to some lonely housewife at that.

Underneath the almost-porn was an oddity. It was a thick leatherbound tome. The beautiful dark brown oiled leather book was slightly larger than a standard A4 notebook and about 5" thick. The wonderfully detailed, inlaid gold spelled out the title "Codex of Law: Volume 1" except the careful swirls and loops of gold spelled out no such thing. Sam stared in confusion for a moment. The cover clearly said "Codex of Law: Volume 1" and yet there was not a single English letter in the graceful design on the cover.

Entranced Sam opened the book to look for the copyright information. The first page was blank but the next, the next started to weave a tale of blood and war. A tale of strife and conflict amongst brothers. The tale told of a king who grew weary of watching his kingdom fall to pieces around him. The king commissioned his greatest sorcerers to create an item of power. They succeeded, but could not grant the king's wish for a single item. 27 tomes were created, each with the power to enact laws in the king's name. The king used the powers of the Codex to restore order to his realm. The king knew that such a powerful magic would survive well past his own death and that his kingdom would be torn to the ground over such power. The civil war would reignite anew. The king again sought out his sorcerers. He knew that they could not unmake the power but they could make it scatter upon the king's death.

As Sam read further into the King's story he didn't notice the fact that he wasn't reading English words, he didn't notice the cover of the book glowing. Couldn't see the Sigil on the cover shifting into a new form and completely missed the birth of a matching sigil on the back of his right hand. All Sam could see was the story of Power and Law and the rules that even Law must obey.