Obsius was a Roman. An explorer. Happiest when his eye was on the horizon and his goal beyond that.
Having travelled through Egypt and the Sudan he arrived in Ethiopia and as was his wont he eschewed the well travelled roads setting out alone into the Mountains of the moon, somewhere in the Amhara region.
Close to exhaustion he came across a woman living alone on a mountain side. She was like no other woman he knew; she stood tall and proud, skin a deep brown, almost black, bright flashing eyes again deep brown almost black.
They eyed each other suspiciously but she led him to her cave, gave him food, allowed him to sleep, to regain his strength. Not a word passed between them; she had no language to offer him and understood none of his.
They communicated by glances, by gesture, by glottal clicks, by smiles, by frowns. Finally by touch.
Compass spinning, the explorer had found his promised land. He called her Xenia.
He stayed with her for some months, exploring the region, making his maps by day. Exploring elsewhere by night.
One morning they came upon a long dormant volcano, it's caldera filled with water, the surface shone like a mirror; it gave the appearance of having no depth yet seemed bottomless. Xenia seemed panicked by this strange place and tried to drag him away but Obsius would have none of it, leading her down to the waters edge.
Where at once they were confronted by a strange and terrible brigand. a brigand of such cruelty and ferocity that no other man would serve him lest they die by his sword.
Now this brigand had a particular liking for challenges and sport. He said to Obsius: 'There lives in this pool a serpent of obscene nature and unsatiable greed. It regularly snatches my goats from the waters edge and has had a lunge for me on more than one occasion. If you can enter his domain, dispatch the foul beast and return with an eye as proof of his death I will reward you with your freedom.'
He, of course had no intention of letting them go.
Before Obsius could respond Xenia had plunged headfirst into the black water, instantly disappearing from sight. the two men could do nothing but stand there and wait. And wait...
Unbeknown to them there was a cleft in the rocks under the surface it led upwards to a cavern. Through the cavern ran a small stream. The bed of the stream was littered with perfectly smooth (the result of thousands of years erosion) spheres of black volcanic glass. Xenia made her way to the cave, selected a sphere she felt was the right size for a serpent's eye then returned to the surface. Whereupon she held up the 'serpents eye' for both men to see.
The brigand, quite naturally furious, pushed both Xenia and Obsius into the lake...
They disappeared from view as She led Him through the blackness to the cave, then through a labyrinth of tunnels to safety.
the brigand meanwhile, out of curiosity went to the waters edge to see what was going on down there. At once the serpent's head smashed through the surface, snatching the brigand, taking him down into it's jaw, it's gullet, it's gut, the black depths.
The last thing to register in the brigands brain were the serpents yellow eyes.
Sadly for the serpent the brigand's unsheathed sword ruptured it's spleen and caused a long agonising death.
Time passed peacefully on the mountain side but both knew that he must return home. On the morning of his departure, wordlessly she handed him the black sphere, pointing out the mist that appeared trapped beneath it's surface then indicating the tear that seeped from her eye. He kissed away the tear, tasting...
Back in Rome the black stone was the talk of the town. It sat upon his table where he worked. He told no-one of the tears trapped within it, not even his wife who knew better than to question him about the strange piece of glass.
The Romans learned to call the thing Lapis Obsidianus.
He called it Xenia.
Amazing story
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