Eldion saw the stone statue from afar and wondered who it was. He knew that it was bound to be of a famous character, quite likely a local hero celebrated by the locals. He would have wanted to ask Mira, but he maintained a short distance from her upon her instructions. Mira did not appear to be in a hurry as she walked and Eldion maintained a steady pace as well. When he saw that there were people nearby, he would pretend not to be following Mira and look somewhere else while keeping Mira within his sight.
Soon, Eldion saw Mira go towards an open area bordered with wooden stalls. He recognized the look and smell of the stables at Alnoc and guessed that they had arrived to their destination. Like Alnoc’s stables, there was an assortment of wooden stalls that surrounded an open area. There were a number of merchants and caretakers who were cleaning their animals and their stables as well as fixing their carts. The smell of manure was in the air and the grunts of animals coMira looked at Casser in disbelief as the merchant approached her with a blank expression on his face. She felt like she was slapped in her face as Casser’s betrayal was revealed to her. She had been warned by Eldion and Wen about Casser, but she chose to trust him. How can the man whom she had trusted and depended on would betray her? After all their experiences and adventures together, why would he choose to betray her to Thunka?Mira felt frozen where she was standing and did not resist when Casser took the feather bag from her. He kept the bag out of sight as he turned his back to Mira. “Casser!” called Eldion, not quite believing what he was seeing. Casser turned to Eldion and stopped in front of him. He frisked Eldion and Eldion felt Casser insert something in his pocket. Afterwards, Casser walked back to Thunka, giving the old woman the bag he had retrieved.“Thank you, Casser,” said Thunka, smiling at the merchant as she received
Mira was silent as the cart where she found herself and Eldion was closed and guards posted outside the entrance. She wanted to understand what motivated Casser to betray them to Thunka, but she could not think of any strong reason that could make Casser do what he did. She blamed herself for what had befallen them, thinking how selfish she was that she ignored the warnings of Wen and Eldion. Now that she and Eldion were being transported back to Alnoc, she could only think of how all their efforts in the last several days had been put to waste.She heard Wen’s voice talk to her. “Don’t blame yourself, Mira. It’s Casser who betrayed us, not you. If there’s anyone to be blamed because of our capture, it is he.”Mira agreed with Wen, but she could still not totally absolve her. She felt that she was still not entirely blameless. She felt that she had failed Eldion and only brought him back to where she found him.“Eldion, I&rsqu
As the light dissipated, Eldion tried to see where they were. He had to stifle a scream when he saw where the pulko stone took them. He was seated with Mira inside a moving cart that had two long seats at the walls. Seated were Imperial soldiers, all of whom were dozing off as they were being transported.Mira placed a hand over Eldion’s mouth as they looked at the sleeping soldiers. Then, Mira looked at Eldion and placed a finger over her mouth. Eldion nodded and Mira removed her hand. Mira then raised her finger, demonstrating to Eldion that he needed to try using the pulko stones again.Eldion nodded at Mira to show that he understood and pulled out the bag of pulko stones from his pocket. He again slipped the bag’s contents on his open palm and looked at the discolored stones. He was about to pick one when Mira pointed to a stone that was darker than the rest. She then pointed to her head to say that Wen told her which stone to pick.Eldion pinched the
“What do we do now, Mira?” asked Eldion, his eyes almost pleading.“I don’t know, Eldion, but we need to think of something fast,” replied Mira. She placed a hand under her chin as she thought of what to do.“We can try using the pulko stones again,” suggested Eldion. Immediately, he pulled out his pouch of pulko stones and placed its contents on his palm. He showed the remaining stones to Mira.Mira examined the stones and frowned. She knew that the pulko stones of dubious quality could not be depended upon. It had brought them closer to danger twice already and those were the ones that she thought were of better quality than the rest.Mira shook her head and grimaced. “No, Eldion. I think those remaining stones would be more dangerous to use. We are already very high up. I can’t risk getting us to drop even higher from where we are.”Eldion closed his hand as he thought of what else that they coul
The vast lake of Dagos came into full view as the giant statue of Rodan walked towards the Kanima Pass. The deep blue of the lake was enticing and beautiful, but it was the least in Eldion’s mind as he became occupied with the dangers that awaited them at the pass. The troop of Imperial soldiers Eldion saw barring their way was just one of the many that dot the sides of the mountains. There were holes dugout of the towering cliffs and Eldion knew that there were bound to be Imperial soldiers in most of them.The Kanima Pass was the only passage towards Alnoc and the lands beyond and was adequately defended with garrisoned troops. The hard rock cliffs were dugout centuries ago by Rodan and his army to protect their lands from the invading forces of Sukram. When Rodan was able to assume leadership over Sukram, there was no longer need for the garrisons and they came into disrepair. Mira was surprised to see that the holes on the rock cliffs were once again being used
“Eldion!” cried Mira as she fell to the water. She saw Eldion block the arrows with his energy barrier before he went underwater. Mira was able to take a deep breath before she felt the water press around her. Everything seemed to move slowly as she saw the surface of the water and everything became murky. She tried to swim to where she last saw Eldion, but could not see any trace of him. As Mira searched for Eldion in the murky waters, she noticed a familiar blue glow within the folds of her dress. “Could it be?” she asked herself. She immediately placed a hand over her pocket and felt within the round shape which could only be the Pearl of Sorrelia. As soon as Mira touched the round shape of the pearl, blue sparks came out of the pearl and surrounded her. The water lit up and Mira was able to discern Eldion struggling under water. Then, his body became tense as he lost consciousness. Immediately, Mira swam towards Eldion, hoping to reach her friend before he drowne
“Now, if only that pearl could also help us to get across the lake,” said Mira, thinking out loud.“That would be great!” said Eldion. The sparks around him glowed brighter as he concentrated. He closed his eyes and used his power to scan the lake. He felt the energy of the pearl flow into his hand and out of his body, scanning the lake like tentacles feeling the water and everything in it.Suddenly, Mira saw bubbles appearing on the water all around her. Then, she felt something brush against her feet.“What was that?” she said, swimming closer to Eldion. She looked at the water, wondering what could be stirring within the murky depths.Then, something gigantic rose from the water beneath Mira, lifting her several feet from the surface of the lake. It was a large serpentine creature with grayish scales and spikes around its head like a crown. It looked at Mira curiously but allowed her to sit on its broad back. The brigh
It had been few days since Enzir and Lankko flew over the Kanima mountains and the vast Dagos Lake, but Enzir’s thoughts went back to that day when they rode the transformed Kora to escape the attacking Imperial forces. He was seated outside a bamboo hut on top of a slope that overlooked the serene waters of the lake and his mind was transported to that moment when he knew that they needed to escape from the Imperial forces keen on attacking Remuel’s den.The fighting had been fierce and Enzir remembered feeling extremely exhausted as he held on to one of Kora’s enormous legs while they flew over the scene of the battle. Enzir caught a glimpse of the snake creature Verna lying on the ground as well as the giant that was tossed by Kora to the trees. The giant raised a fist at them as if vowing revenge.Enzir looked at the carpet of trees far below and felt the wind as they flew westward to Dagos. He had told his new friends to meet them there where Enzir h