Chapter 6: Escape from the Dungeon

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.