“Here.” The caretaker handed me a pebble. “Take that and close your eyes.”
I did as I was told, feeling the smooth shape of the pebble in the palm of my hand.
“I want you to focus on the pebble.” The caretaker’s voice became clearer, losing some of its throaty rattle. “Picture it not just as a single stone but as a part of all the stone that is in the world, a vast flow of the energy of the earth. Can you feel it?”
I thought about stones. About the ones in the roads I’d walked today, the ones making up the houses I’d passed, the vast slabs forming the city’s great bridge. It was easy enough to see how they all shared a common nature. As I thought of that, I imagined that something flowed through my fingers, like an energy connecting the pebble to the rest.
“Now, feel that energy flowing through you,” he continued. “Open up a pathway and let the energy pass along it.”
I imagined a trail running up my arm, the energy of the stones speeding through it and into my body.
Except that I wasn’t imagining it. I could really feel it coursing through me like an electric current. I gasped and opened my eyes. The stone fell from my hand, bounced down the steps, and clattered against each one in turn until it landed in the dirt.
“What was that?” I stared at the caretaker.
“That was proof that you are who I need you to be,” he said, “not some demon posing as the one I’m meant to meet here. Welcome to the world, young man.”
“To the world?” I narrowed my eyes. Did this old man know more about me than he was letting on?
“Yes. To the Seven Realms.” He stood and brushed specks of dirt from his grimy robes. “I’m hungry,” he announced. “Let’s go eat.”
I followed him along a porch that ran around the outside of the temple. As we walked, I tried to work out how best to get more information. Should I challenge him directly or wait to see what he had to say first? Would I get more from confrontation or cooperation?
We entered a simple wooden outbuilding and I forgot those concerns. A pair of chickens were roasting over the fire, with a pot of rice steaming beside them. On the table were plates, knives, and a chopping board. The smell of spiced meat filled the room and washed away every thought other than how hungry I was.
The caretaker took the long skewer from above the fire and slid each chicken onto a plate. With a large wooden spoon, he heaped mounds of rice onto the plates. Then, he sat down on a stool at the table and gestured for me to do the same.
“Eat up,” he said. “You’ve had a long journey, so I made plenty.”
I tore a leg from the chicken and bit into it. Delicious juices filled my mouth. I smiled as if I’d just won the jackpot.
For the next few minutes, we sat in companionable silence while eating chicken and rice with our bare hands. A black cat came in and leapt onto the table before being shooed off by the caretaker, who then fed it a slice of chicken in compensation. As the cat gobbled his prize, the old man finally spoke.
“What’s your name, traveler?” he asked.
“Ethan Murphy,” I said through a mouthful of meat. “And you?”
“My name is Tolin. I take care of this temple, among a few other roles. And I have to say; I’m very happy to see you here.”
“Don’t you get many visitors?” I asked.
Tolin laughed. “Not like you. I had feared that my service to the temple would prove fruitless, that no young man would come to undertake the training. But here you are.”
I looked up and grinned at the old man. I doubted I’d ever do any training with him—he seemed too much the ‘wax on, wax off’ type—but he could definitely make a scrumptious meal.
“Of course,” he said, “I never expected you to come from another world.”
“How do you know I’m from another world?” I set aside my food. I could have eaten more, but my hunger’s edge was gone, and now, I could face less urgent concerns.
“Your clothes, your energy, the way you talk.” Tolin laughed again. “Gothrog might look like he was sculpted from ugliness and horse shit, but at least he belongs around here. You? Not so much.”
The reminder of the orcs made the caretaker’s previous underhanded offer of training seem like something I might actually want. If I was going to be in this world for more than a little while, I’d need more than just my bare hands to defend myself. I probably wouldn’t find a talking sword that spewed flames, but one with a sharp blade would be sufficient. Even simply walking around with a weapon might deter any would-be attackers.
“You said something about training?” I asked Tolin.
“Yes, my boy,” he answered. “You must learn to walk the True Path.”
Now, it was my turn to laugh. I’d had a Buddhist girlfriend once who liked to talk about true paths, and I knew well enough that they weren’t for me.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not interested in religion,” I said.
“Really?”
Tolin threw a piece of chicken into the air above the table. As it reached the top of its arc and began to fall, he flashed out a hand. The meat vanished, leaving only a brief black shape where it had been, like the after-effect of staring at a bright light. Soon, that too was gone.
I stared in amazement, and the cat hissed angrily from the floor.
“Hush, you.” Tolin handed it another piece of chicken.
“How?” My mouth hung open. “What? Why?”
“Does no one walk the True Path where you’re from?” Tolin looked at my expression of pure surprise.
“Hell, no.” I laughed. “But if it can do things like that, then I’m
