Enzir appeared to be alarmed at the sudden reaction of the prisoner to the psylugs. He had never really used them on any of the prisoners before, but Lankko mentioned that they were very effective in eliciting the truth from those they latched on. The psylugs continued to change colors rapidly and appeared to swell. Enzir was dazzled by the brilliant display of color and seemed transfixed until he realized that the prisoner’s screams had gone silent. Enzir shook his head and blinked his eyes as he saw the psylugs fall off the prisoner's temples to the grimy floor. The psylugs continued to writhe, eventually returning to their original dull gray color.
The prisoner’s body went limp and Enzir saw that he had become unconscious. He turned to the soldiers who were still holding onto the prisoner’s restraints.
"Wake him," Enzir said, turning away from the unconscious prisoner. Lankko heard his master and gave instructions to the soldiers. One of the soldiers tapped the prisoner’s shoulders to see if he would respond. The other soldier looked around the room and found a bucketful of water. He approached the apparatus and threw the water over the prisoner. Still, the prisoner did not move.
"Jad Enzir…” said Lankko, his voice low as he called his master’s attention. “The prisoner is unconscious. I haven’t totally discovered the effects of a psylug attaching itself to a human and attaching two of them is something I haven't done before. I didn’t expect the prisoner to react that way with the psylugs. He was supposed to be paralyzed and answer truthfully any question asked of him.”
“What are you saying?” asked Enzir. He faced Lankko, avoiding the sight of the apparatus and the unfortunate prisoner still strapped onto it.
“He may not survive if we do any more of this," Lankko said, motioning to the limp body of the prisoner.
Enzir glared at Lankko and appeared displeased at not being able to continue with his questioning. After a moment's pause, Enzir said in a loud voice, "Tell me if he wakes up!" He then marched briskly out of the room followed by his soldiers.
Lankko watched Enzir and the soldiers as they exited the dungeon, leaving him standing alone inside the chamber with the box of psylugs still in his hands. He glanced at the motionless body of the prisoner and sighed. He covered the box of squirming psylugs and proceeded to return to the cabinet where he retrieved it earlier, all the while mumbling complaints against his master.
“Why can’t he just play with his board games like he used to?” Lankko shook his head slowly. “All this questioning the prisoner and making me do all sorts of things so early in the morning is getting tiresome,” Lankko said to himself. “I told him the psylugs are still experimental. I told him to just focus on the affairs of the city instead. Yet, what does he do? I want to be like my father, he says. It’s not like his father did a lot of good in this world.”
Lankko had just set the box down on its space in the shelf when he felt a hand over his shoulder. He shouted expletives in his surprise and quickly turned around to see a slender woman standing behind him.
The woman was wearing a long dress made of intricately woven threads of reds and yellows that revealed much of her slim figure. A white shawl made of translucent fiber and embroidered with intricate floral designs was draped over her breast and left shoulder, leaving her right shoulder bare. Her black hair fell in luxurious cascades over her shoulders and framed her face.
"So, those were the psylugs you were showing me last night!" the woman remarked, her modulated voice was like music to Lankko's ears.
"Mira!" said Lankko in surprise. "You're not supposed to come in here. I told you to wait in the next room and watch from there."
"I did just that, my sweet." Mira touched Lankko's ear and caressed his cheek. "I heard your prisoner screaming ever so loudly and saw those colorful slugs drop off. Then, I got bored."
"The psylugs! I forgot! They fell to the floor." Lankko exclaimed and was about to walk past Mira to collect the psylugs when Mira stopped him in his tracks.
"You mean these?" Mira held the two squirming psylugs in her hands and placed one of them on Lankko's forehead.
Lankko cried in a mixture of surprise and pain as the psylug attached itself to his forehead and started to glow. He raised a hand to pull the psylug off, but the glowing creature was already firmly attached to his forehead and Lankko felt his limbs grow heavy. Lankko did his best to shake off the psylug from his forehead by moving clumsily about. In his struggle, Lankko bumped into the shelves which crashed to the floor along with the boxes and metal implements it contained. After some time, Lankko stopped moving and thrashing about. He collapsed to the floor and stared at the ceiling with his eyes wide open.
Mira approached Lankko where he collapsed and saw that the psylug remained attached to his forehead. The psylug continued to glow in waves of blue and green. Mira looked at the psylug and wondered how much of what Lankko said about it was true. She lifted a foot and gave Lankko’s shoulder a nudge. Lankko did not move.
“At least, what you said about the paralysis was true,” said Mira. She then glanced at the prisoner who still lay strapped motionless to the apparatus at the center of the room. Mira stepped over Lankko's paralyzed body and walked towards the prisoner with graceful and self-assured steps, catlike in manner.
She shook the prisoner's shoulder. “Wake up,” Mira said. “You have to wake up.” The prisoner remained unresponsive.
Seeing no response from the prisoner, Mira released the straps that held him and untied the ropes that held his body tightly against the apparatus. Then, she held him and let his body slid slowly to the floor.
Mira held the prisoner’s shoulders and shook him. “Hey, I’m trying to help you. Are you alright?” There was still no movement from the prisoner except for the slow rise of his chest as he breathed. Mira looked around the room and saw a shelf holding a collection of different labeled bottles and jars. She rose from where she was kneeling next to the prisoner and walked towards the shelf. She looked at the jars and seemed undecided on what to do next.
“Yes, Wen, I hear you. There are a lot of bottles here, but which one!” Mira said, lifting one jar after another and looking at the hardly legible labels.
“No, I don’t know which one. You know I don’t have the slightest clue about your herbs and powders,” Mira said impatiently at what seemed to be an invisible companion. She set down the bottle she was holding and waved her hands in exasperation.
Then, Mira said, “You will have to look for it yourself.” She took a few steps away from the shelf and squatted on the floor. She closed her eyes and breathed evenly. After a while, she opened her eyes and rose. She went to the shelf and picked up the jars one at a time to look at the labels. Then, she took out one jar and held it closer to the light to read the label. She nodded in satisfaction and carefully opened the jar. She held it close to her nose and sniffed its contents. Nodding once more, she scooped some of the white crystalline powder onto a shallow dish and poured some liquid from a dark bottle. The powder sizzled and issued a thin smoke. She quickly returned to the prisoner and held the dish close to his nose. The prisoner breathed in the vapors and responded with a cough before slowly opening his eyes.
"Who are you? Why did they bring you here?" asked the woman who until a while ago was Mira. Her voice was soft as she looked at the prisoner with concern. She saw that the prisoner was about to speak and she leaned her ear closer to hear him. The prisoner looked at her languidly and said in a weak voice, "El...Dion… Please… Let me go home…" After which, the prisoner closed his eyes and once again lost consciousness.
The previous night, Lankko sat comfortably on a soft thick mat and nibbled on the assortment of fruits that were served at his low table. He winced when he bit through a hard seed and threw the fruit away. Music drifted through the air as a small band of seated musicians played with percussion and wind instruments. The music rose to a faster beat and Lankko found himself tapping his thigh to the joyful rhythm. One-by-one, a group of dancers came out waving red fans and colorful scarves as a woman's soulful voice soared with the music.The dancers swayed and spun gracefully, their quick movements dissolving into flashes of color that were mesmerizing and pleasing to the eyes. Lankko's gaze was pulled towards the lead female dancer whose red dress hugged her body and revealed her slender frame. The dancer seemed to have noticed Lankko's gaze and danced closer to him. As the dancers pulled off their shawls and started waving them around, the dancer who caught Lankko's eye decided to throw
Later that night, Lankko dragged his steps over the stone floor of the corridor of his dungeons as the effects of the copious amount of wine he had consumed slightly affected his balance. He clung onto Mira when they stepped over the threshold as he almost stumbled to the floor."Careful, my sweet, you'll hurt yourself," said Mira, holding Lankko steady."I'm fine," said Lankko, steadying himself. "Let me show you the chamber."They entered a dark chamber used for questioning prisoners and Lankko smiled proudly as he showed Mira around."So this is the famous torture chamber!" exclaimed Mira. "Just how many prisoners have you had here?""Shh! Don't call it torture chamber. I'd rather call it the questioning room. Makes it less painful to the ears."Mira looked around the dark room lit only by two torches pinned to the far wall. "So, how many prisoners have you questioned here?" She asked, emphasizing the word 'questioned'."Let me tell you a secret," began Lankko. "I don't really do mu
Mira watched the pearl scintillate within the large circular glass in which it was immersed. It emitted flashes of blue light that sailed across the room, leaving mesmerizing ripples behind and casting bluish patterns on the walls and ceiling. It was unlike anything that Mira had seen before. It seemed as if the room was transformed into an ocean of flying stars and undulating waves. She watched in awe as Lankko looked on."Welcome to my laboratory!" said Lankko. "Amazing, isn't it?" He asked Mira who was still entranced by the spectacle before her."So enchantingly beautiful…" Mira murmured. She tried catching one of the sparks that darted across her, but only managed to disturb the undulating light it left in its wake. "It's like looking at living water."Mira's gaze followed the blue spark which moved around the room before it went upwards and encircled the circular vessel containing the blue pearl."What is that?" Mira asked Lankko who was also gazing upwards at the pearl."That, m
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
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