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
Mira hid her bag of diamonds among Casser's clothes. She did not have time to gather her things from Thunka's entertainment palace and she knew that getting them would only attract attention. Since she only kept a few items at Casser's house, the diamonds would come in handy to buy the things that she and Eldion would need for their long journey. Mira just hoped that they could still make it to the caravan. She was hoping that with the confusion of looking at so many travelling merchants and their goods, she and Eldion would have better chances of slipping through the gates unnoticed by the guards. There was just something that had been worrying her as she escaped with Eldion from Thunka. The three members of the troupe were not with the other dancers who were rehearsing. Mira remembered how strict Thunka was with the rehearsals, meting out punishments for dancers who were late or missing. Only dancers who were given permission to go with customers were allowed to miss rehearsals an
Mira revealed herself from behind the stall and Eldion stood behind her. "Rentha! Why am I not surprised? And you have your back-up dancers with you," Mira said."Thunka told us to follow you if we see you leaving the palace. It seems she could smell a deserter," said Rentha.""I saw you following us a long distance. Perhaps you need to practice your covert tailing skills some more," said Mira."Enough of this!" said Rentha, clicking her heels and revealing pointed nails attached to her shoes. "You will come with us and return to Thunka.""Or what?" asked Mira, taking a defensive stance. Casser, upon seeing Mira's pose, decided to follow her and stepped a foot forward while lifting his fists awkwardly. Eldion planted his feet firmly on the ground and waited."Maresha! Do it!" said Rentha and Maresha started swinging her ball of yarn."Watch out for her ball!" cried Mira, but was too late. Maresha released her ball and it hurtled through the
"This is hopeless!" remarked Wen, expressing her impatience as the carabao plodded on slowly. "We're never going to reach the north gate in time.""Don't speak that way at Noha. You'll hurt her feelings," said Casser, his own feelings hurt over Wen's nervous remark."We would have made it to the north gate already had we walked." Wen heard Mira's voice and Wen could only agree."Patience, Wen," said Eldion. "Noha's pulling a heavy load. She walks slow, but she's steady and dependable."Noha bawled as if in protest at Wen's impatient remarks. The carabao turned her head sideways as if to look at Wen and flicked her ears to drive off the flies.After what seemed to be an interminable wait for Wen, the north gate came into view. Like the south gate, it was heavily guarded and people who were on the way out of the city had lined up as the guards interviewed each person and examined their belongings. It was unusual that the queue of people and carts goi
Soon, Wen saw that it was their turn to be interviewed at the gate and she quickly covered her head and the lower half of her face, as was the custom for some women travellers. Noha stopped obediently when Casser clicked his tongue and pulled the reins."Casser, my friend!" said the guard, recognizing Casser. "Where are you off to? The caravan had passed by early this morning.""I woke up late. We'll just catch up with the caravan on the next stop," said Casser coolly."Who do you have here?" The guard asked as he looked at Wen and Eldion while another guard lifted the cover off the cart to examine Casser's goods."You're not bringing out any magical artifacts with you, are you?" said the guard looking at the cart."No magical artifacts on board. Those are illegal. I know." Casser chuckled. "This is Wen, by the way and her brother." Casser pointed a thumb at Eldion.The guard peered at Wen and instructed her to uncover her face. He also look
The director placed the back of his hand over his forehead and closed his eyes. He seemed that he was going to faint, but he quickly dropped his hand after a moment and stared at the scene before him. The star dancer was able to sit on the floor, but she was still crying and holding on to her ankle while the other dancers crowded over her. The singer was kneeling before the dancer with his hands clasped tightly together as if praying that everything would be alright.“Do you think you can dance tomorrow?” the director asked the dancer.The dancer tried to stand up with the help of her fellow dancers, but when she tried putting some weight on her injured leg, she gasped and fell on a heap. The dancers gasped and crowded over the injured dancer.“Obviously, not!” said the director. “Quickly get her to the healer and pray that her injuries would heal soon.” Then, to himself, “Or pray that you’d dance at least half as
It was early afternoon when the three men arrived in the center of Dagos. Gent held the reins up and the horses pulling the carriage stopped by the entrance of an imposing wooden building. The door of the carriage opened and a servant garbed in the green garments of local peasants came out. He bowed low while keeping the carriage door open for his master. After a few moments, a man in bright red and purple clothes descended from the carriage.Lankko appeared regal in his red shirt and crown of glorious blonde hair. The heavy gold chains around his neck as well as the sparkling jewels on his fingers completed his attire. He played the part of a wealthy merchant quite well and walked with his chin high, barely looking at the ground. At first, he made a slight tumble upon stubbing his foot on a protruding rock, but Enzir and Gent were quick to steady him.“Thank you,” said Lankko to his servants as he recovered his elegant pose. Then, he wiggled his arms to re
There was a coded knock on the door and Lankko peeked through a hidden peep hole before removing the latch. Lankko insisted on the additional precaution, knowing that it would be very dangerous for his master as well as himself should they be discovered by the Imperial soldiers hiding in the cabin.Lankko saw that it was Gent standing at the door and he was holding several woven baskets. He appeared to be alone. Lankko opened the door to let his cousin in and immediately closed it behind him.“Are you sure no one followed you,” asked Lankko as the metal latches clicked, effectively locking the door. Then, Lankko slipped a thick wooden bar across the door.Gent nodded at Lankko. He then walked towards the kitchen where he placed the woven baskets on the table. Then, he methodically removed the contents of the baskets one-by-one, revealing them to be different food items for Lankko and Enzir. Lankko followed his cousin to the kitchen and helped h
Enzir remembered the Imperial soldiers whom they fought at Remuel’s den. Those he hit with his energy bolts collapsed to the ground and turned into dust as smoke rose to the air. He also remembered how those whom he thought to have been stunned and lay unconscious would suddenly stand up when an Imperial officer held up a glowing necklace in his hand.Enzir was filled with concern as he realized the forces that he would be up to if he joined the resistance to topple down Terdu’s regime. “What can we do then, Lankko?”“I have to admit that I don’t know, Jad Enzir. Terdu has become too powerful that I don’t even know if it is too late to resist him,” answered Lankko.“You mentioned that the people could rise against him. Why don’t they?” asked Enzir.“As I said, Jad Enzir, people are afraid. They need a leader to rally them into action like Rodan did during the time of Sukram, however&n
“If those healing stones really do work, I think it’s bad that there aren’t many of them left,” remarked Enzir.Lankko nodded. “I don’t know if you still remember, Jad Enzir, but we used to have a lot of sun stones at the fortress. You place them under the sun during the day and they will shine at night when activated, replacing the need to burn candles or oil.” Lankko’s face brightened as he remembered how it was when the use of magical artifacts was ubiquitous.“I remember that. I had a lot of those in my bedroom,” said Enzir.“When Terdu banned the practice of magic, I think we lost a lot of our simple joys and freedoms,” said Lankko, hanging his head.“Why did he ban magic in the first place, Lankko?” asked Enzir.“You really don’t know, Jad Enzir?” asked Lankko, scratching his bald head. “I thought your teachers in magic history covered
After serving breakfast and washing the dishes, Lankko decided to go to work in extracting energy from an old healing stone that he was able to get his hands on. It was an old magical artifact that he got from his cousin who also managed to get it from an old friend. According to Gent, the stone worked by rubbing it vigorously between the user’s palms and placed over the painful area. The stone would produce enough heat to warm the area it was applied on and helped in the healing process. Lankko that there was not enough energy in the healing stone to extract but still went on the laborious process of finding out how it worked and develop a method for extracting its power. After several tries, Lankko was finally able to discover that the stone drew energy from the sun and placed it outside. He then directed several mirrors towards it before dropping the stone inside a glass vessel filled with a mixture of salts and minerals. Only then did the stone start to create bubbles that
The following morning, Enzir woke up early with the sound of Kora’s nervous clucking. He looked out his window and found that the chicken was not without company. A rooster was walking around her excitedly and after flapping his wings, gave out a loud crow that could have woken even the heavy sleeper. Enzir smiled as he saw the two chickens eyeing each other and flapping their wings in some form of dance. Slowly, Enzir lowered his window to give the chickens some privacy.There was the sizzling sound of frying along with the delicious smell of garlic being fried. Enzir stretched out his arms and then got out of bed to see what Lankko was cooking. He walked to the kitchen and saw Lankko busily adding ingredients on a frying pan where there was already a steaming pile of rice.“Good morning, Jad Enzir!” said Lankko to his master after giving him a quick glance. “Did you sleep alright?”“Slept like a log,” replied Enzir. “W
Dinner with Lankko’s family was a rowdy affair, but Enzir did not mind. After all the chaos and not being able to eat at a proper table in the past few weeks, he realized that dining with other people on plentiful was really a luxury. He remembered the many times that he did not even recognize the efforts of his own cook who feisty as she was still made the most wonderful dishes that he had ever tasted. Lankko and Darla tried to control their children, especially the little ones who kept on arguing while trying to outdo each other in telling stories of their journey to Dagos. The children really do miss their father, thought Enzir. He had not really thought of Lankko’s family and failed to recognize that his Keeper of Secrets did have his personal life outside his work. Enzir did make Lankko work a lot, especially after he discovered that he could extract energy from the magic artifacts to make an elixir capable of infusing power to whoever drinks it. He had Lankko
“What are you saying, Lankko?” asked Enzir, his voice rising as he felt his blood rushing through his veins. “What do you mean my mother may still be alive?”Lankko suddenly felt warm. He felt sweat forming on his forehead and he wiped it off with his hand. He could not look at Enzir whose eyes seemed to drill into his own. “I have to apologize, Jad Enzir. Your father forbade everyone to speak to you about your mother and I had to obey his orders.”Enzir felt weak. He wanted to shout at Lankko and destroy everything he could have his hands on, but there was nothing to break, nothing to smash against the walls.“Aaahh!” cried Enzir. He finally managed to pick up a rock and threw it hard towards the lake. He felt his breathing quicken and he stood on the slope watching the rock he threw fly through the air and landing on the water.“Please, Jad Enzir,” pleaded Lankko. “Please don’t be angry wit