Who Burned Alexandria Library Novels & Stories

"I don't care about the kingdom, Zara. I just want to be the man who stays in the rain with you. Let’s go find the neighbors." We moved toward the exit, but as we reached the McGraw Rotunda, the heavy silence was shattered. The massive front doors of the library didn't just open; they were blown off their hinges with a localized thermite charge. The white-hot glare blinded us for a second, followed by the rhythmic, heavy thud of tactical boots. High-powered searchlights cut through the dark, pinning us against the marble stairs.

Alexander walked back to the table, his expression heavy. "It's the Northern Territory," he said slowly. "The warehouse... the one holding our new shipment of medical supplies and goods for the charity foundation. It was attacked." "Attacked?" Ivan frowned, putting down his fork. "By who? Pirates? Rivals?" "No," Alexander shook his head. "It wasn't robbery. They didn't take anything. They burned everything. And they left a message written on the wall in blood." He looked at his father. "THE RETURN OF THE KING."

Alex crouched beside one of the lower shelves. "Beauty." She joined him. He pointed toward the floor. A faint gray powder formed a narrow trail leading away from the empty shelf. Beauty frowned. "What is it?" Alex rubbed a little between his fingers before smelling it. "Ash." Gabriel looked confused. "Ash?" Alex nodded. "Not from wood." "This is burned parchment." Beauty's eyes widened. "They destroyed the records." "No." Alex looked toward the open doorway. "They destroyed copies." "They took the originals." That meant whoever had planned this understood the archive system.

As she turned the next page, though, she came upon an elaborate color illustration of the Sphinx of Egypt, the sun shining behind it, its rays filling the page, so bright it looked as if it might jump out at her, and as she read the inscription, in tiny letters, she was immensely relieved to discover that the author did, indeed, revisit the topic: Considered the greatest library known to man, the Hall of Records is a mythical lost library containing the most precious scrolls known to man, supposedly hidden under the Sphinx in Egypt. Various theories have the library being built there by aliens, by a civilization ten thousand years old, or by a race of vampires.

Aria and Yuria looked at her. Laila bitterly smiled. “And, maybe, the West Kingdom’s royal library, too…” she told them. After all, it is where the witch now and the princes are fighting against her. Aria and Yuria fell silent, for they knew what Laila wanted to say. That is, the royal libraries of all the kingdoms were now destroyed. So, they no longer have any documents left by their ancestors. “This is going too far!” Aria said and clenched her fists in anger. But, what can she do? She has no more power to fight against the witch. Worse, the witch can actually easily pinch her to death.

I watched the images, and my heart was still. "They're beautiful," I said calmly. Then I snatched the book from his hands. "Rosa? What are you doing—" I threw the grimoire into the nearby font of holy water. "NO!" Kaelan screamed in horror. The moment the book hit the water, it burst into flames. White fire consumed the precious images. 998 roses turned to ash in the inferno. Kaelan lunged for it, but the second his hand touched the holy water, it was severely burned.

"If I sent you a check, you would have used it to expand your hub. You would have stayed in that city. You would have stayed within reach of the people who were trying to kill you." Elena’s heart skipped. "What are you talking about? Who was trying to kill me?" "The fire wasn't just my doing, Elena," Alexander said softly, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I merely accelerated it. Your 'investors' the men who lent you the capital to start JustDirect were using your trucks to move illicit cargo. When you started auditing the logs last week, you signed your own death warrant. They were going to burn the building down with you inside it. I just got there first."

“The fire was strange. Unnatural. Like the one you described… the one from when you lost your baby.” The word lost made my chest clench. I gripped the edge of a table so hard a paint jar rolled. It was happening again. Fire. Witch fire. Someone was tying threads together—threads I didn’t have time to unravel. “I need to see it,” I said. “Laila… you’re running out of time.” His eyes lowered to my cheek. “Your face—” “I know!” My voice cracked. “I know, Alex. But I have to drop the book before it consumes me. If I don’t… I die.”

“I’ll handle it.” He ended the call. Vanessa stepped closer. “What happened?” Alexander’s eyes were dark. “There was an incident at the warehouse Collins mentioned earlier.” “The harbor location?” “Yes.” Vanessa frowned. “What kind of incident?” Alexander hesitated for a brief moment. Then he answered. “A fire.” Her eyebrows shot up. “Accidental?” Alexander shook his head. “No.” The weight of that single word filled the room. Vanessa’s mind raced. “Helena?” “Most likely.”

They were here to destroy. Noah reached the fuel depot. "In position." Lena's voice was calm. "Light it up." Noah set the charges while Damien lobbed another grenade. Evelyn covered their retreat. Lena fired one last shot—straight into a fuel barrel. BOOM. The fire ripped through the docks, destroying everything. The night exploded like a second dawn. Kane's empire was ablaze. They ran; the fire was at their heels. Sirens wailed in the distance.