Cursed Books
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Chapter 1: Frost in the Spring[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Along the bristling road, the wind blows along the grass to carry the seeds of flowers out onto the world to bloom next light of spring. The air feels warm to the touch yet so clean and clear, accompanied by the sweet scent of honeysuckle thriving in the vines that grow alongside the dirt path. On the ground, unconscious, a man in teal hair twitches his eye as the sun's beams reflect upon his face. A gush of wind blows by, giving him the final push to open his eyes, sitting up with a bump on his head and a book sliding into his lap. He had been wondering how long he had been out as he stretched his arms and legs, getting up off the ground to survey the land scape. Behind him, a cart containing broken machine parts, lopsided from carrying something the heavy weight of the parts the cart contained. Upon closer inspection of the cart, there were a set of words engraved on the side "Property of Talos Grey." It then dawned on him, his name was Talos, he was attempting to bring the cart of machine parts he purchased from the junkyard back to his workshop to complete a project he had been working on for the past week, though he could not recall why he was laying down in the road.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]What's more is the book that he found on his person did not belong to him. Touching the tome sent mere chills down his spine as he brushed his hand over the hard leather cover. The spine looked as if it were made of steel as the cover had an engraving of a box with two circles and a set of triangles pointing at one another in it's center. He didn't have time to deduce what he was holding in his hands, for all he knew, it could have been what caused that bump on his head while a theif or raider could have taken something of value from him. He checked his cart, tossing the book in with it, his tool belt was still hanging on the side, so was his leather coat. His wallet was still in his pocket, untouched and his googles with the special night lense was still around his neck. Talos pulled on his tool belt and went to work on the axle of his cart in order to get the parts he procured home. After fixing the cart, Talos began to tug the cart on home as he made the attempt to recall what had happened to him the night before.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]"TALOS!" a voice called as he looked up to see his friend Henry, wearing oil stained overalls, a dust beaten shirt along with a fedora to hide his oily amber hair. "Where in the world were you last night? The benefactors from the council of Twan are here in Ray Haven. They've come to look at the proto-type engine you wanted to present to them." Talos sighed and smiled a little as he was walking by and glanced at Henry. "I think I got mugged. I woke up a few feet up the road with a broken cart and a bump on my head." Henry stood there before following him, inspecting his cart and glanced at the contents. "Was anything stolen? Money? Metal?" "Nothing. My tools are in their place and my wallet remains untouched. Whoever it was, they left me with a headache and a book." Henry shifted his view and spotted the book Talos had mentioned, picking it up and looking inside at its contents, only to chuckle and put it back. "The book is blank Talos, maybe you can use if to keep notes for half of the machines you develop." "Or you can use it to keep track of the automobile parts you keep 'mysteriously' misplacing in my workshop; which you've yet to get that pallet of wheels out." "I said I'll get them out when the inspection at the plant is complete; I'm paying you with free food to keep them, so whats the worry?" "You pay me in honey bread and wild berries. Both of which your girlfriend brings you every morning. It would be nice if you brought me some pork, beef or some hot ramen."[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]"I see your point." Henry chuckles as the two men reach a fork in the road, one leading back to town while the other leads back to Talo's workshop. "After your presentation, come by the plant, I got a surprise for you in store." "It better not be another steam mule. The last one you built went on a rampage and destroyed the workload it was carrying." Henry laughed and looked to Talos. "I built it using spare automotive parts we had extras of. You can't deny my genius of that!" Talos ignore his last comment as he took the path home. "When does the presentation end?!" Henry calls out. "4P.M." Talos reminds him, keeping his mind to the road. Henry smiles widely and runs off back into town in order to make preparations.[/FONT]
