TOR ONE

By Lola Jesse “A tower symbolizes the law of purification and represents Personality, the structure built to support your vanity.”—Zadore, The Volah Transmissions Now where were they? Two oil lamps, one on each side of the door, shed the only light into a dim, dark, circular space built of raw stone. When Pip’s eyes adjusted to the dimness a glow came slowly into focus in the centre of the room. At first it was faint and insubstantial. As he stood there, feeling the glow more than seeing it, it waxed clearer and became more defined. And it was a light. I’m inside the tower, he thought. His gaze followed the coiling golden rings until they were a whirling haze lost in a great height. He sucked in a sharp breath. Then felt the Tor Lord’s eyes upon him. ‘The true and only Tor,’ said Lord Roland. ‘The original construction, built by First Lord Zend. Then, it stood alone on the windy plain. A couple of years later he built the building around it that we have now and call the Inner Tor. High tower, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes, Sir. I can’t see to the top,’ said Pip. He followed the golden rings back down to where they coiled out of a deep black pit in the floor. He sucked in another shocked breath: I dreamt about this pit! Have I been here before? Somehow? ‘What was the Tor built for, Sir?’ he said, hearing his voice shake. ‘I read that towers were once built as observatories; but how do you climb this one? Did something happen to the stairs?’ ‘No. This one never had stairs. This tower is a symbol of mankind’s desire to reach to the Infinite, to the heavens. For that alone it was built.’ Surely not, thought Pip. The longer he stayed in the Tor-room, the brighter its golden energies became. Tower, black pit and light-coils interwove, and there must be a reason. He would have made the observation that there might be another purpose to the Tor, only he knew without asking that Lord Roland couldn’t see the coiling lights. Just as, years before, Father Parvano had failed to notice them. And yet, being Pip, he couldn’t let the matter rest there; he just had to ask the question… ‘Sir, what is that pit for?’ ‘You mean the Well?’ said Lord Roland, as an expression of faint puzzlement crossed his face. ‘The same reason: to complete the symbology – underworld versus the heavens. Haven’t you covered Symbology in your studies?’ ‘Yes, Sir. And that ladder going down into it – what’s that for?’ ‘Simply for the safety of the builders.’ Lord Roland tapped the top bar with his stick. It rang like a chime. ‘After all these years the thing is probably unsafe. I should have it dismantled.’ ‘Is there anything at the bottom of the well, Sir?’ Lord Roland smiled indulgently. ‘No … nothing down that well … I’m sure.’ But he wasn’t sure; Pip could see the uncertainty on his face. He wasn’t sure because, in all his time at the Tor, he’d never bothered to climb down there. They left the Tor-room and its mysterious well. Lord Roland showed Pip the system of prediction – The Equation, as it was called. It proved to be a mathematical formula. ‘First Lord Zend devised it,’ he said. ‘He was a first-rate thinker and a great man. Of course, you will have an advantage over the rest of us, Sarannan, with your sensitivity to the moons.’  PDF Book Fantasy Novel