The Missing Pearl

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, my love, is the fabled Pearl of Sorrelia!"

"Oh!" Mira gasped and Lankko looked at her intently. She found it difficult to take off her gaze from the pearl and the spectacle happening around it. "How did it come here? How did you get it?"

"Let's just say that it was given to me for safekeeping," replied Lankko.

"But what are you doing with it?" asked Mira, noticing the different kinds of glassware and the network of glass tubes that occupied the wide tables inside the room above which the pearl was perched. Clear water passed through tubes going upwards to the circular vessel containing the pearl while the liquid leaving the vessel gave off a soft bluish light.

"Uh-oh, but that would be telling my secrets," Lankko replied in a playful tone and raised his eyebrows as he shook his head at Mira.

Mira realized that she may have asked too much and looked at Lankko. "You're so cute when you do that." She pinched Lankko's cheek and laughed with him.

"It wasn't like that when it first came here," said Lankko pointing at the pearl. "The first time I saw it, it looked just like any dull blue stone. I did all sorts of experiments with it until I accidentally dropped it into the water. Then, I saw blue sparks flying and the living waves of light that floated behind it."

Mira knew exactly what Lankko meant as she watched the blue ripples of light move around the pearl as if it were alive. She was reminded of the ripples formed when she passes her hand on the surface of the water, yet this one moves and undulates on its own. Another spark passed in front of Mira, leaving gentle undulations of light behind it. Mira passed her hand through and the ripples she made were like disturbing the water.

After a while, Lankko took Mira's hand and placed it on his forearm. "Come, my dear, let's go back to my observation room where it's more comfortable," said Lankko. Mira took one more look at the blue pearl before Lankko closed the door and locked it.

Mira reflected on what Lankko just revealed to her as they went through the narrow corridors and doorways back to the dungeons. She knew the stories surrounding the legendary pearl. How Sorrelia used to be a poor outpost in the middle of a vast desert, devastated by sandstorms and frequently raided by desert pirates. Stories tell of a stranger who suddenly appeared among the people of Sorrelia and diverted the sandstorms that were coming. Using the power of the blue pearl, the stranger siphoned water from under the sands and created the largest lake in the whole of Sendorra. With ample supply of fresh water, the outpost grew quickly as it made travel across the Sorrelian desert possible for traders and merchants, many of whom eventually settled on the shores of what came to be known as the Pearl Lake. Raids became less and less as the desert pirates discovered that they could make more money by trading in the outpost and fishing in the lake than attacking the heavily guarded ramparts of the incipient city. Eventually, the lonely outpost grew into one of the biggest and most important cities of Sendorra.

The Sorrelians were extremely grateful to the stranger who brought the pearl and the water to them. They constructed a huge water monument in honor of the stranger and placed the pearl within so that everyone could gaze at the source of the city's pride and enormous wealth. The City of Sorrelia grew bigger and ever richer with the steady influx of goods and traders. It became a melting pot of different cultures and was the envy of kings and emperors for a hundred years.

When the pearl suddenly went missing one night, news of it spread like wildfire through the whole of Sendorra. The beloved pearl simply disappeared from its place of prominence on the fountain with none of the guards alerted. Water stopped gushing from under the sands and the fountain dried up. Citizens watched helplessly as the water of the Pearl Lake started to recede. Many of the wealthy merchants, seeing the impending gloom of the city, decided to leave with their families. Those that remained experienced a slowing of trade in a region that depended entirely on the Pearl Lake. They continued to rely on the fish that they were still able to catch. However, as the waters of the lake receded, more and more fish were dying as a result of the increasing salinity of the water. The City of Sorrelia that once flourished with the abundant water of the lake was witnessing its imminent demise and realized that its own fate was resting on the return of its beloved pearl.

Lankko opened the door of the observation room for Mira. He then lay among the soft cushions and beckoned for Mira to join him. "Come join me, my love," he said, pulling Mira's arm.

Mira wrested her arm free of Lankko's grasp and slapped his hand hard. "Naughty!" she said. "You should know that I hate naughty men as much as I love creative geniuses." She then withdrew farther from Lankko who was still trying to reach for her. Mira noticed distilling equipment on a table nearby and flasks containing clear liquid. "Is this another one of your experiments?"

Lankko's eyes brightened. "You are quite observant, my dear. You've stumbled upon my little distillery. Yes, I use that in my experiments, but I also use it to distill my own rum, especially when I am in need of something stronger."

"Can I have some, my sweet? My throat is parched," said Mira, touching her throat.

"Help yourself, my love. I just distilled that this morning and that will have to be the best rum I have ever made, if I may say so myself. I hope it's not too strong for you."

Mira picked up two glasses and started pouring the clear liquid from the flask. "I'm pouring a glass for you as well," she told Lankko.

"Oh, don't mind me, Mira. I think I've had one too many glasses of wine with Thunka," Lankko declined and rested his back comfortably on the soft pillows.

Mira's face expressed disappointment. "Are you sure, my sweet? Surely you won't let a woman drink by herself."

"In that case, pour me a glass." Lankko placed a hand over his forehead as he waited for Mira to pour her a glass of rum.

Glancing at Lankko and making sure that he was not looking, Mira took out a small vial she was hiding under her dress and poured its contents into Lankko's glass. She then went to Lankko and proffered the drink.

"Bottoms up?" Mira asked Lankko. She then watched Lankko drink from his glass and waited for him to finish before draining her own glass. "You're right! This is very good rum! Quite strong and sweet. Like you!" Mira teased Lankko.

"Yes, I distill very… strong …rrum," said Lankko, his speech sounding a bit slurred. "Perhaps… too.. strong…"Lankko stared at his empty glass, his eyes squinting as his vision blurred. He dropped his hand to his side, the glass rolling off the cushion and onto the floor. His chin fell to his chest which rose up and down as he breathed. Not long after, he was snoring loudly.

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 neck and placed the pearl inside. She then waited for her eyes to adjust until she could just see the outlines of the beams and her footholds on the wall. Aided by her memory, she was able to climb down to the floor with the pearl still safely inside her pouch.

Stealthily as a cat, she went back to the observation room, making sure that no one saw her. She looked at Lankko and found him to be sound asleep with the empty glass of rum still on the floor. She had just grabbed the glass when there were three loud knocks on the door. She placed the glass on the table, loosened her hair, and wrinkled her dress a bit before opening the door. Two soldiers stood outside asking for Lankko.

"We're here for Lankko. We discovered a stranger at the marketplace whom Jad Enzir may want to question. Is Lankko inside?" asked one of the soldiers.

Mira opened the door wide and beckoned the soldiers to come in.

A few hours later, Mira stepped over the paralyzed body of Lankko and then she tried to revive the unconscious prisoner. She did not expect him to be so young, not much more than a boy. She felt a surge of panic through her when the prisoner once again lost consciousness. She appeared perturbed, very much unlike the resolute woman who was able to trick Lankko and take the Pearl of Sorrelia.

"What should I do? What if he dies?" she asked herself, close to tears.

"Calm down, Wen. Just finish what you need to do. Then, you can escape from this place," came Mira's confident voice in her head. "You need to ask Lankko what he's doing with the pearl. Don't worry, if what he said about those poor slugs he experimented on is right, you should be able to ask him anything and he won't remember what happened tonight."

Wen heard Mira's voice inside her head. She shared the same body with her twin sister, but somehow she did not feel Mira's strength and confidence. She rose unsteadily and walked towards the slumped figure of Lankko. She was unnerved when she saw Lankko's eyes wide open as if looking directly at her.

Mustering her courage, she asked him with a wavering voice, "C-can you hear me? What are you doing with the Pearl of Sorrelia?"

Lankko's answer was direct, almost a monotone. "I extract the pearl's power and use it to imbue living creatures with magic according to what Jad Enzir wants.

"What's so special about the pearl? How did it come to be here?" Wen continued with her questions, her face showing hesitation instead of the cold intensity that Mira could exude.

"I found the Pearl of Sorrelia to be an inexhaustible source of power. When the Emperor outlawed the use of magic and had all magical creatures hunted down, I could only use whatever magic-imbued objects I could get my hands on in order to continue my experiments. Jad Enzir knew that I needed magical objects to perform all the work that he wanted me to do. He chanced upon the group of healers on their way to their temple and found the pearl in their possession. It was he who stole the pearl from the Healer's Guild and placed the pearl here."

"Ask Lankko if he will remember anything that happened tonight, Wen," came Mira's voice.

"W-will you remember any of these? Will you remember me?" Wen asked Lankko, her voice wavering.

"I will have no recollection of what happened tonight and won't remember that you were ever here," answered Lankko.

There was a low groan coming from the prisoner and Wen turned to his direction. She heard Mira's voice inside her head. "You have to go quickly before you're discovered. Don't forget to lock the door."

Wen locked the door and ran back to the prisoner who seemed to be gaining consciousness. She took another glance at Lankko who still lay on the floor paralyzed. Then, she took out a small bag from her pocket and pulled out a small purple stone that reflected the little light that was coming from the torches. After replacing her small bag safely in her pocket, she held on to the prisoner and raised the purple stone high above them. The purple stone glowed brightly until the whole room was filled with violet light. Wen then slowly lowered her hand watching the purple stone remain floating in the air. The purple stone started to spin very quickly and the light it emitted pulsated brighter and brighter until it covered Mira and the prisoner.

After a while, the purple stone stopped spinning and dropped to the floor, where it turned to a coal black color. Later, when the locked door was finally forced open and soldiers looked around, finding no one except Lankko, the master's keeper of secrets still lying on the floor with a glowing psylug stuck on his forehead.