“So, what do you have for me?” asked Casser as he entered the cavern where Remuel led him to. They had left the previous cavern where they had the green ant tea short after Remuel had one of his men guide Eldion and Mira to the kitchen to help the cook, Sela. The den was actually a string of caverns that were interconnected by narrow tunnels dug up by Remuel’s men to hide themselves from the imperial soldiers. There was no daylight coming from above and the only light came from lamps that were placed at regular intervals on the walls of the tunnels, but more were installed on recesses carved on walls of the more spacious caverns. “Well?” said Casser as he stood in a room where there were shelves and tables filled with all sorts of bags and boxes of merchandise.“Hold your horses, Casser. It’s not like you going anywhere soon,” said Remuel. Then, he went to a table where there was an assortment of different objects. “It’s not really a magical object but a weapon that we were able to a
“Are you sure about that?” asked Casser trying to recall the feather bag that Mira-Wen had always kept with her. “I thought it was just some fashion accessory,” said Casser, rubbing his chin.“Ha! What do you know about women’s fashion?” asked Remuel, raising an eyebrow.“I don’t!” said Casser. “I’ve never been a woman before, but I do know someone who had become a fat woman for a time.” Casser laughed loudly.“You got me there,” said Remuel, admitting defeat.There was a pause before Casser spoke. “About Mira’s feather bag though, I don’t think those are melsip feathers. Melsip feathers are quite rare and are as rare as the magical birds themselves.”“Yes, I know. The birds could turn themselves invisible at the first hint of danger and it would take powerful magic to be able to track them in the jungle,” said Remuel. “I haven’t really come across a lot of them, but I’ve seen one or two and I think that bag was covered with melsip feathers.”Casser was quick to reply. “Nah! Melsip fea
There was a cluck of a chicken and Eldion turned towards the sound. He found a small rusty cage in the corner of the kitchen and inside was a chicken, looking scared and agitated.“I didn’t realize there was a chicken in here,” commented Eldion. “Are we going to cook it?”Mira craned her neck and found the chicken clucking in the corner. “It does look frightened,” she said.“One of Remuel’s men came barging in here and brought it, expecting me to know what to do with it,” said Sela.“Maybe you’re supposed to cook it for dinner,” suggested Eldion.“I haven’t had chicken in a while,” said Mira.Sela looked at the remaining firewood in the stove and the covered pots above it. “Well, the broth is almost done and I suppose we’ll need to have more food with you three joining in.”Mira stood from where she was seated and approached the closed cage with the frightened hen. She unlocked the cage door and took out the chicken. Surprisingly, the chicken went silent when Mira held it and even issu
Remuel chuckled as he took the chicken from Mira.“Ha! So, you already know. Beats me how were you able to know whose chicken this is,” said Remuel.“Mira recognized the chicken,” answered Eldion.“You recognized this one from so many others? I thought all chickens looked alike,” replied Remuel with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. He looked at Mira and produced another smile.Eldion, hearing what Remuel said, suddenly turned his face to Mira and smiled as well. “I told you they all look alike,” said Eldion.“Men,” said Wen’s voice and Mira imagined her sister rolling her eyes. Mira merely shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly.“Where are you taking it?” asked Sela. “I was just about to cook it, but Mira stopped me.”Remuel turned to Mira and said, “Oh, did she?” Remuel turned to Mira. “I’m glad you stopped Sela. She can b
Eldion returned his gaze to the man who was tied to the large wooden apparatus in the middle of the cavern. There was blood streaming down a cut from the man’s left eyebrow. His body was tied against the apparatus while his arms hung limply from the thick beam where his hands were secured with thick rope. The man’s chin was resting on his chest that moved with his labored breathing. Eldion could only place the man’s face at the ancient temple in Alanca when he attacked and was able to subdue Verna, but he could not remember him before that. No other memory was triggered upon seeing the man in front of him. Eldion knew who the man was, Mira had told him who he was. Mira told him how that man placed magic-imbued slugs on his temples and how Eldion screamed in pain as the psylugs did something to him. Yet, Eldion had no memory of it all. Everyone around him was probably thinking that he should feel anger or hatred against the man, but instead of feeling animosity at the man who was respo
Remuel held the chicken in front of Lankko’s face, but the keeper turned his head and tried not to look at the frightened chicken.“Ha! Seeing you flinch when I haven’t even pulled a single feather from this worthless looking chicken just confirms how much you value it. Is it possible that it’s even more valuable to you than your master?” Remuel toyed with Kora, shaking the chicken from side to side. Kora clucked nervously and seemed to have gotten dazed after the vigorous shaking that she received from Remuel.Remuel continued with his questions. “Now, tell me, my dear Lankko, keeper and protector of chickens. How did you get this one to grow into a giant bird that flew you over the fortress walls and over the
Remuel led Casser out of the cavern and they walked through the narrow tunnels until Remuel came to a closed door. He fished a set of keys in his pocket and unlocked the door. Then, he took a torch from the recess on the wall and entered the cavern with Casser.What Casser saw inside the small storage room made his jaw drop. There were amulets hanging on the walls and artifacts of different shapes and sizes were placed on open shelves. Remuel lit a torch inside the room before placing the one he held on an empty socket on the wall.“Hey, Casser! Close your mouth before the flies could enter.” Remuel chuckled. “I did not really intend to show you this room, but I need your help to select the right pieces for that experiment the keeper talked about.”Casser looked around him at all the glittering objects that sparkled even more with the torches’ flickering light. He then approached the amulets that were hanging from a wooden peg that
“Well, how do you know? Don’t they look like the real thing?” asked Casser.“That’s what they all told me. They do look like the Pearl of Sorrelia when it was still displayed high on the fountain at the place where water had sprung from the desert, but I was just a boy when I saw it last and I couldn’t quite recall how it looked like,” admitted Remuel.“They’re right, you know. These do look like the real thing,” said Casser as he dropped the fake pearls back into the box. “But how do you know that these are all fake?” asked Casser.“Because of the rumors that the real pearl surfaced in Alnoc. And for Dalik to come to Alnoc, it must mean something,” said Remuel.“Do you think Enzir or Lankko knows where it is?” asked Casser.“If they do, they’re not telling. After what I’ve made them go through, I don’t think I can get anything el