Mira raised a finger and poked it at Lankko's shoulder. Slowly, Lankko dropped sidewards among the cushions. Satisfied, Mira rose determinedly and took Lankko's keys. She then ran out of the observation room and retraced her path through the corridors and doorways until she reached Lankko's laboratory. She unlocked the door and opened it, beholding once again the Pearl of Sorrelia. She looked around the room and wondered about the best way to reach the vessel in which the pearl was contained. Seeing no easy way across the tubes and glass vessels on the table leading to the pearl, she climbed the wall like a cat and went across the beams on the ceiling. When she was directly above the pearl, she grabbed the beam with her legs and reached downwards into the circular vessel. The lights that danced around the room were immediately extinguished when Mira took the pearl out of the water and she found herself looking through an almost inky darkness. She felt the pouch that hung around her neck and placed the pearl inside. She then waited for her eyes to adjust until she could just see the outlines of the beams and her footholds on the wall. Aided by her memory, she was able to climb down to the floor with the pearl still safely inside her pouch.
Stealthily as a cat, she went back to the observation room, making sure that no one saw her. She looked at Lankko and found him to be sound asleep with the empty glass of rum still on the floor. She had just grabbed the glass when there were three loud knocks on the door. She placed the glass on the table, loosened her hair, and wrinkled her dress a bit before opening the door. Two soldiers stood outside asking for Lankko.
"We're here for Lankko. We discovered a stranger at the marketplace whom Jad Enzir may want to question. Is Lankko inside?" asked one of the soldiers.
Mira opened the door wide and beckoned the soldiers to come in.
A few hours later, Mira stepped over the paralyzed body of Lankko and then she tried to revive the unconscious prisoner. She did not expect him to be so young, not much more than a boy. She felt a surge of panic through her when the prisoner once again lost consciousness. She appeared perturbed, very much unlike the resolute woman who was able to trick Lankko and take the Pearl of Sorrelia.
"What should I do? What if he dies?" she asked herself, close to tears.
"Calm down, Wen. Just finish what you need to do. Then, you can escape from this place," came Mira's confident voice in her head. "You need to ask Lankko what he's doing with the pearl. Don't worry, if what he said about those poor slugs he experimented on is right, you should be able to ask him anything and he won't remember what happened tonight."
Wen heard Mira's voice inside her head. She shared the same body with her twin sister, but somehow she did not feel Mira's strength and confidence. She rose unsteadily and walked towards the slumped figure of Lankko. She was unnerved when she saw Lankko's eyes wide open as if looking directly at her.
Mustering her courage, she asked him with a wavering voice, "C-can you hear me? What are you doing with the Pearl of Sorrelia?"
Lankko's answer was direct, almost a monotone. "I extract the pearl's power and use it to imbue living creatures with magic according to what Jad Enzir wants.
"What's so special about the pearl? How did it come to be here?" Wen continued with her questions, her face showing hesitation instead of the cold intensity that Mira could exude.
"I found the Pearl of Sorrelia to be an inexhaustible source of power. When the Emperor outlawed the use of magic and had all magical creatures hunted down, I could only use whatever magic-imbued objects I could get my hands on in order to continue my experiments. Jad Enzir knew that I needed magical objects to perform all the work that he wanted me to do. He chanced upon the group of healers on their way to their temple and found the pearl in their possession. It was he who stole the pearl from the Healer's Guild and placed the pearl here."
"Ask Lankko if he will remember anything that happened tonight, Wen," came Mira's voice.
"W-will you remember any of these? Will you remember me?" Wen asked Lankko, her voice wavering.
"I will have no recollection of what happened tonight and won't remember that you were ever here," answered Lankko.
There was a low groan coming from the prisoner and Wen turned to his direction. She heard Mira's voice inside her head. "You have to go quickly before you're discovered. Don't forget to lock the door."
Wen locked the door and ran back to the prisoner who seemed to be gaining consciousness. She took another glance at Lankko who still lay on the floor paralyzed. Then, she took out a small bag from her pocket and pulled out a small purple stone that reflected the little light that was coming from the torches. After replacing her small bag safely in her pocket, she held on to the prisoner and raised the purple stone high above them. The purple stone glowed brightly until the whole room was filled with violet light. Wen then slowly lowered her hand watching the purple stone remain floating in the air. The purple stone started to spin very quickly and the light it emitted pulsated brighter and brighter until it covered Mira and the prisoner.
After a while, the purple stone stopped spinning and dropped to the floor, where it turned to a coal black color. Later, when the locked door was finally forced open and soldiers looked around, finding no one except Lankko, the master's keeper of secrets still lying on the floor with a glowing psylug stuck on his forehead.
The small city of Alnoc lay on the southern tip of the land of Sendorra, bordered by a long stretch of mountain ranges that extended from the north and northwest to the almost impenetrable jungles of Alanca in the east. The treacherous waters of the Corian Sea made up the southern borders, making Alnoc one of the most isolated cities in Sendorra. Nevertheless, Alnoc's location in the warm south, far from the administrative clutches of the imperial government made it a center for merchants trading in the black market. Occasionally, trader ships would sail through the rough waters of the south seas or venture through the dense Alancan jungles to reach Alnoc where they would negotiate and sell to the highest bidder. When the emperor decreed for magic to be prohibited to all citizens and that magical artifacts to be confiscated and brought to the capital, many of the black market merchants flocked to Alnoc, far from the probing eyes of imperial soldiers.Governance of Alnoc, as w
"Would you like to have your breakfast at the dining hall or would you prefer to have it in your room?" the servant asked Enzir with a bow. It was a sunny morning and Enzir wanted to make the most of it, so he followed his servant to the dining hall where the large windows let in the sunlight and the cool morning breeze.There was no one else at the dining hall except for the servants who waited on him, the rest of the household still very much asleep at that time of the morning. Enzir preferred these quiet times over the chaos of lunch and dinner when most of his household would be dining with him. He wanted the silence of the morning to help him think about his affairs and what he would do the rest of the day. He enjoyed the rice porridge that was served him and left the boiled egg in his bowl for last. He observed that it was smaller than what he was expecting and would like to talk to the cook for not boiling a larger egg. He was to be told later by the feisty cook that i
The giant pig snorted and squealed as it ran past surprised servants and guards. The amulet hung from its mouth and sparkled as it dangled in the wind. Enzir ran after it and a breathless Lankko followed. A frightened servant let go of a cart loaded with vegetables and it turned to its side, spilling carrots and cabbages to the ground. The giant pig stopped and sniffed the spilled vegetables, but snorted and jumped over it when it heard Enzir running from behind. Enzir's feisty cook appeared out of her kitchen with hands on her waist, wondering what the commotion was all about when she saw the giant pig jumping over the pile of carrots and running past her towards the open gate."Close the gates!" shouted Enzir to the soldiers guarding the gate, but they were slow to react, shocked to see a giant pig running towards them. When the guards saw Enzir running after the pig, they started to close the gate, but were too late. The pig did not show any sign of slowing down and hurtle
A bright glow suddenly illuminated the green foliage surrounding a clearing in the forest near Alnoc. It started as a small ball of light, but grew into outlines of two people. In a moment, the two outlines grew sharper as the light faded, revealing a man and a woman.Wen gasped as they dropped a few inches from the ground. She expected it, having used the purple pulko stones a few times before, but the feeling of momentary weightlessness still surprised her. The man she held groaned and fluttered his eyelids. Wen gently lay his head on the ground and watched him. He seemed to be breathing normally, she observed.Standing up, Wen looked around her and realized that they were in a forest clearing. Just above the trees, she observed Alnoc Fortress on top of the hill. She sighed in relief as she saw how distant they were from the place where they came from. She wondered if they had really made a clean escape.A butterfly passed in front of Wen and perched on a tree
Wen led Eldion to a house not too far from the clearing where they appeared. It was a small house made of wood and bamboo with a thatch roof that effectively repelled rainwater while insulating the inside of the house from the heat of the sun. There was plenty of firewood stacked neatly at the side of the house, partly hidden by a small dugout canoe that had not been used for a long time. A wheelbarrow with a broken axle stood neglected along with some garden implements that had long rusted and decayed. There were flower pots that lined the small path to the house, but the flowering plants had been overgrown with weeds and failed to bloom with the season. Wen saw that the door was locked, but she only needed to lift the nearest flowerpot to obtain a rusty key from underneath.When they opened the door, they saw that the house was composed of just two rooms, typical of the houses in Alnoc. The main room that served as the living room was larger and could also serve as a dining
Mira slid the door open and came out to the living room. There, he saw a tall, stocky man wearing clothes made of dyed cotton and wool with a hat and belt made of leather. In his hand was a bamboo pole and he was using it to threaten Eldion. Mira recognized the pole as the one she used to prop the window open. On the floor were a few leather bags that Casser had dropped when he saw the stranger sleeping in his living room."Get out of my house!" Casser shouted as he threatened Eldion with the bamboo pole. Eldion stood speechless with his back against the wall."Casser!" Mira shouted. "Stop it! He's with me. We just needed a place to rest. You were not here so I just let ourselves in."Casser lowered the bamboo pole and stared at Mira. "Oh, it's you," he said, his face and posture relaxing as he looked at the flower in Mira's hair. "Sorry, Wen. I didn't know that you were visiting either."Mira realized that she still had the pink flower in her hair.
Mira's mind was abuzz with thoughts of how she and Eldion could escape. She knew they could not make a run for it without the Troupe catching up with them. She knew that she could defeat any of Thunka's three dancers in a fight, but to defeat all three would require all her strength plus a lot of luck. Besides, she did not know if Eldion had sufficiently recovered from his ordeal with Enzir."What do we do now?" Wen's voice was full of worry. "What if Thunka finds out that you have the pearl? What if she discovers who Eldion is?""Hush, Wen!" was all that Mira was able to say. She wanted to think clearly.Eldion looked at Mira, but realized that she was probably talking to Wen. Rentha heard Mira and glanced at her from behind. She smiled wickedly and walked on.Thunka's entertainment palace was a short distance from Alnoc's main square. There were few people on the streets and the palace itself looked deserted from the outside. It was a huge octagonal str
Thunka's eyes glistened in anticipation. "Give it to me. Quickly!" she commanded.Then, Mira took out a psylug and placed it on Thunka's palm. Thunka was confused and surprised."What is this? What are you…" The psylug immediately latched onto Thunka's palm and started to glow. Thunka stared at the glowing creature and dropped her knife. Then, she collapsed among the cushions with her eyes still wide open.Inside Mira's head, she heard Wen erupt with joy. Mira went about coolly, knowing that there are things she still needed to do. Looking at Thunka, she asked, "Where are the keys to the cabinet?" she asked.Thunka groaned and said, "Inside a box under my pillow." She remained motionless and only her mouth moved.Mira rummaged through the cushions until she found a metal box. She tried opening it and found it to be locked."Thunka, ever protective of her treasures." Mira mumbled to herself. She turned to Thunka and asked again. "Where