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 her white shawl at Lankko who smiled sheepishly and brought the shawl to his nose. The dancer's perfume was intoxicating and Lankko was even more enamored by her. The dancer smiled at Lankko and stared with her dark eyes before joining the other dancers as they finish their performance.
The singer climbed onto a platform and sustained the last high note of her song with gusto. The appreciative crowd applauded and Lankko jumped to his feet, clapping his hands enthusiastically. The dancer who threw her shawl winked at him and blew him a kiss while he waved and whistled loudly. When the applause died down, the performers retreated backstage and came out of view.
Lankko was still standing and clapping his hands long after the performers had left. When he realized that he was the only one still clapping, he immediately sat down and resumed eating his food. A large woman sitting across Lankko's low table snapped her fingers in front of Lankko just as the latter was sinking his teeth into a large piece of meat. The woman in front of Lankko was garishly clothed and gold necklaces hung around her neck. Three gold rings, each studded with diamonds and sapphires, sparkled brightly from her fingers.
"Hey! Lankko!" the woman snapped his fingers repeatedly.
Lankko seemed to wake up from a trance and looked at the woman across the table. "Uh, I didn't realize you were talking to me. It's just that your performers were mesmerizing. Just where do you get your dancers, Thunka?"
Thunka laughed raucously, her gold necklaces tinkling softly. "They come from all over Sendorra, Lankko. I select my dancers personally during my travels, with the same careful attention I devote to choosing all my precious jewels." Thunka smiled meaningfully and winked at Lankko. "Speaking of jewels, there are rumors going around."
"There are always rumors going around," replied Lankko. He finally found a knife and used it to cut his slab of roast beef.
"Lankko… Lankko… Stop trying to fool me. I know that you know precisely what I'm talking about," said Thunka playfully as she leaned nearer to Lankko. "I'm talking about the Pearl of Sorrelia, of course."
"What about it?" asked Lankko as he took a bite of meat and washed it down with a gulp of red wine.
"Everyone's been looking for that pearl since it was stolen from Sorrelia. The good citizens of Sorrelia desperately want it back, the magic hunters are tracking it, and buyers in the black market would pay astronomical prices for it."
Lankko scoffed at Thunka and said, "And I'm sure you're one of those interested buyers."
"Of course, I want it, Lankko. That pearl would be the centerpiece of my collection." Thunka's eyes sparkled like the diamonds in her rings. "Unless someone with deeper pockets would pay me handsomely to part with it."
"Good luck finding it then," said Lankko, drinking his wine to avoid Thunka's gaze.
"Oh, but rumor has it that the pearl was stolen from the Sorrelians by desert pirates who gifted it to the Healers' Guild for saving the daughter of the pirate king…"
"I do not associate with that guild!" said Lankko, but Thunka raised a hand, with her palm towards Lankko to indicate that she was not finished yet.
"…and the healers decided to bring it to their temple vault for safekeeping, but was intercepted on the way to Borondi by yet unidentified men - one of which, according to witnesses, wielded a peculiar kind of sword." Thunka paused momentarily. "Now, I can't think how weapons would be described as peculiar. They can be double edged, pointed, straight, curved, but it is rare that they would be in the form of a moving snake... like the sword carried by your master. Now that would be… peculiar."
Lankko started to shift uneasily from his seat as Thunka followed her logic.
"I suspect, therefore, that the missing Pearl of Sorrelia has been in your master's possession all along and that means you, as Jad Enzir's keeper of secrets would have it hidden in a secret vault somewhere." Thunka had been watching Lankko's face intently. She observed that Lankko flinched slightly every time she mentioned Sorrelia and its legendary pearl.
"The rumor's not true, of course… like most rumors," Lankko said, dismissing Thunka's statements with a wave of his hand. "I do not have such a valuable pearl in any vault anywhere." Lankko said with a hint of anger in his voice and then pulled at his earlobe unconsciously.
"Forgive me for being too brash," Thunka apologized. Then, she looked at the dancer's white shawl on the table and said. "I see that you still have my Mira's shawl. I can ask her to accompany you tonight as a sign of my sincere apology."
Lankko's face brightened at the mention of the dancer. "I accept your apology then," he said as he bit onto a large piece of roasted meat.
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
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