After an otherworldly experience in the caverns where he was given a gavel by a mysterious being of light, Torus Spinn found himself hurrying to find his mentor and the only person of magic he knew, Eon.
Torus walked quickly towards the outskirts of Valkhaldur on legs that felt as though they could barely support him. What had happened in that cave? If he wasn’t still holding the gavel that had been given to him, Torus would have started to doubt that he had experienced anything unusual at all. In the light of day and out of that ethereal cavern, it was hard to imagine that he had been visited by a magical being. At least he thought it had been a magical being, but how could he know for sure?
Hopefully Eon would be able to explain what had happened. Torus had known Eon since as far back as he could remember. His father and Eon had been friends for ages and Torus felt a closeness to Eon that rivaled his feelings for some of his actual family. Eon was mysterious and, while he didn’t advertise or flaunt it, he had the aura of magic about him. Surely he would know something about who or what had visited Torus.
Finally reaching the small, stone house that Eon called home, Torus barely rapped on the door, before he opened it and rushed inside. This one time, Eon could forgive his rudeness.
As Torus crossed the threshold, Eon sat staring straight at the door as though he was expecting him. He couldn’t have been, Torus thought, but then again, this was Eon.
“Eon, I need…” Torus started.
“Calm yourself, young Torus,” Eon interrupted. “What you need is to sit down and have a smoke with me.”
“But…”
“Trust me young Torus. I know why you are here. Have a seat.” Eon then pushed a wooden pipe and a small leather bag of tobacco in Torus’ direction.
Torus pulled out the chair in front of him and forced himself to sit down and be silent, even as his lips trembled with the urgency of his story. He picked up the pipe and loaded it and lit it with the flaming match given to him by Eon.
As he drew the first wisps of smoke into his mouth and felt his heart rate beginning to slow, Torus gazed at Eon. As a human, Eon should have looked older than he did, if he had really known Torus’ father as long as they both said he did. But he looked no more than middle-aged, with his hair only partially gray. Eon kept his long mane neatly braided and while his hair had drawn back from his forehead some, it did not diminish the health and beauty of the black and gray twisted strands. But what had really always intrigued Torus was the smaller braid behind Eon’s ear, twisted with the feathers of a bird of paradise. It seemed oddly decorative for a simple man like Eon.
Torus wasn’t sure of what human nationality Eon was. His eyes had a slant to them that Torus hadn’t seen on the humans in this area and Torus wasn’t sure if his skin was darkened by sun or by birth.
“Alright Torus, tell me what happened,” Eon said, breaking into Torus’ revelry.
Torus jerked, realizing that his mind had wandered while he smoked.
“Eon, I don’t even know where to start. I just, well, I was in…”
“Calm yourself again, Torus. Tell me about your visitor,” Eon said.
“You know about the visitor? Do you know who it was? Because I had never seen anything like it!”
“Tell me, Torus. Start from the beginning.”
Torus exhaled, grounded himself for a moment and then told Eon what had happened, from when he first entered the cave until after the being had disappeared and he was left holding the gavel.
“So, what do you think?” asked Torus. Even though Eon seemed to expect the story, he still felt a bit nervous telling his old friend about his encounter in the catacombs. But Eon was the only person he felt he could confide in regarding such a thing.
His mentor sat deep in thought for what seemed like a day. “Have you told anyone about this?” Eon asked.
Torus shook his head. “No, not a soul. You were the first person I thought of and I came right here.”
“Good,” Eon nodded, “keep it to yourself for now.” Eon stood and walked over to his travel bag and pulled out a rolled parchment and handed it to Torus. “Here.”
“What is this?”
“Take a look.”
Torus unrolled the parchment and scanned what appeared to be a blank sheet. “I just see an empty parchment.”
“Are you sure about that?” Eon asked with a slight smile.
Torus shook his head, but looked at the sheet again. “Heh, no, I don’t see anything.” But just as he finished speaking, something on the parchment caught his eye. A faint blue outline of what appeared to be letters of some sort began to emerge. While light, there was definitely something there. “Wait, I do see something. Words, I think.”
Eon dipped his head, “My boy, you truly have something, then.” He patted Torus on the back and said, “We have much to discuss and you have much to learn.”
Stay tuned for more installments of the story of Moebius Spinn.
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