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
Lankko stepped inside the room and found a small space lit by the two torches installed on the walls. There was a large table in the middle of the room along with a couple of chairs. There was a recess on the far wall next to a stack of firewood. Lankko saw that it was a fireplace yet to be lit. Nearby there was also a large jug that Lankko guessed contained drinking water. There was a small wooden bed at one side, but it was bare and looked hard and uncomfortable.Suddenly, the door swung shut behind Lankko and he heard the lock being turned. He found himself imprisoned inside the room and thoughts began to race inside his head on what he was going to do when a small window on the door opened and Remuel peered in.“I hope you like your new accommodations, Lankko. I reserve this room only for my most important guests.” Remuel said with a raised eyebrow. “I have two of my men stationed outside your door. You’ve met them already when they got bett
Lankko watched the pot that he hung above the fire and saw how the disguise stone’s power slowly leached into the boiling water. It was a slow process and Lankko knew from his previous experiments on magical artifacts of the same nature that it could take hours, sometimes days, to attain sufficient concentration of magic in the water that would be viable as magical elixir. The disguise stone given to him by Remuel was not as powerful as the Pearl of Sorrelia and it could only give so much of its magic. At the end of the process, Lankko knew that the amulet would lose its color until it faded into dull gray or black. Such was the fate of magical artifacts imbued with lesser magic or those that could not channel magic directly from its source.There was a loud knock and Lankko turned from the pot of boiling purplish water to the small opening on his door. Pong’s face withdrew from the opening and another face appeared. It was Remuel.Remuel peered inside the
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