THE LOST PEARL

AGAPANTHUS LAPIS LAZULI

"Well?" came the annoying voice of Bulab.

We looked back at him from the huddle we had formed to try and reason why the business men would be interested in a flower now. If we are going to start investigating the matter then we have to first let him go.

"I have told you everything you needed to know so you have to let me go" he continued.

Have to? who said we have to. The appropriate term would be we will because we haven't fulfilled the wishes of our client yet. All we have been able to get was information we didn't even know how to use and insults. A lot of them. We are supposed to teach him a lesson and right now I don't know what method would be most appropriate and because of the information he just have us, I can't think of anything other than to go home and investigate properly.

"Should we leave him here for the night while we find out more about this? We can come back in the morning to get him out" Caleb suggested.

I looked at him and thought why not, either way I don't have anything we could do to him since his crime is not that great. Amira also nodded her head and we were all in agreement. Suddenly, there was a sharp sound that pierced through the air like a needle followed by shuffling of feet. We all hissed as we covered our ears with our hands and when we looked back, Bulab was busy scraping the chair he was sat on and the contact with the cement made a very disturbing sound. He was also shuffling his feet as if to run away. It seems he heard our conversation and is currently trying to run away. Caleb walked over to him and held the chair firmly all while shaking his head in a bid to dispel the effect the screech had on his ears. It was a struggle of strength between two men with one trying to move the chair and the other trying to stop any movement. The result was decided before the fight ended since Bulab was pretty weak from all the thrashing about he had done earlier.

When the noise finally stopped, Bulab was breathing heavily and we could finally hear each other.

"What a troublesome man you are, spending the night at a warehouse is not that bad and besides considering what you did to that poor business person, this is nothing" Amira said.

" What do you mean? I did nothing to that person you speak of whoever they are" he replied.

What is he doing? Why is he trying to clear his name in such a weird way?

"Have you hurt so many people that you don't remember any of them? If that is true, then spending the night at a warehouse is the least of what you deserve" I said to him.

What he has told is making me feel very nervous for some reason and I feel as if there is a looming doom. A hurricane or a discovery that will throw us off. We are the protectors of the purple pearl and as we look for it we also dispel any kind of threat that would come to it and I fear this is a threat. A very big one. It's just a feeling but uneasiness is creeping at the back of my neck and I feel nauseous. I shook of the feeling and focused on my surroundings. A question suddenly came to mind and I voiced it out without thinking.

"Where is this land anyway?"

Amira and Caleb looked my way and I walked towards Bulab with a serious expression. I half sat near him and repeated my question. He suddenly looked down and hid his face from view. I narrowed my eyes and put a finger below his chin. I raised his head and he was grinding his teeth. Why is he not saying anything? What is this place that makes him grind his teeth? I waited for his answer and the silence kept stretching on and on until he suddenly looked up, shaking his head vigorously. He was keeping his mouth shut with his teeth on his lower lip.

" I can't tell you that" he exclaimed.

He has told us everything about the land but where it is located. Is the feeling I was having creeping it's way closer to reality or is it the fact that I believe reality will always be harsh. I'm I trying to force this situation in to a looming disaster when it isn't? Caleb and Amira looked confused and as they stood there with no idea of the anxiety I was feeling, I thought to myself, am I going to lose them too?

" Amira, tell us all you know about this agapanthis flower" I looked at her and asked.

"Well, it is a deep blue starry flower through summer that can tolerate most soil types and is suitable for growing in a container especially in areas with cold, wet winters. Its foliage is dark green during all seasons and its general care is prunning. It is also an insect pollinated flower" she narrated.

The name Agapanthus feels very familiar and I can't seem to fish it out of my information filled head. The more I try to figure it out, the more my head hurts and I feel as though this is very important therefore I have to figure it out before we find ourselves in a situation we can't come out of. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and when I looked, it was Caleb, wearing a worried expression.

" Hey, I can see the wheels in your head turning and it looks like you are pushing yourself, tell us so we can help" he said.

He is right. We can discuss it like we always do and maybe figuring out what is bothering me will be faster.

" I feel as though I've heard the name of this flower somewhere and I can't seem to figure out where" I answered him.

Amira furrowed her eyebrows and twirled her dark brown hair on her finger. We all kept quiet for a moment and the silence was loud. Even Bulab did not dare move. I held my brown locks in my hands and due to the frustration I felt, pulled on them. I could feel the early signs of a headache coming on but beyond the headache was an answer to the matter at hand and so I have to pull myself together. Amira suddenly started talking,

" You learnt everything about gemstones and so you could've either heard it from me or one of the gems"

She suddenly stopped talking and I thought about what she said.

" Agapanthus lapis lazulli" the name came to my head like the ding of a doorbell and I said it out loud. We all looked at one another with horrifying expressions on our faces and it seems like we have all figured out the problem with the name of the flower.

The pieces of the puzzle were fitting in but something was missing and so I decided to speak to Bulab once again.

" I'll ask the same question I asked before, where is this land located"

He decided to keep the silence and he was starting to irk me so I decided to take another road.

" Remember, we will douse you in water if you fail to answer any question so get on with it" I said.

He is afraid of something. What would the place do anyway. If I took my time to think about it then I am sure I can figure it out but with the impending headache, my own troublesome speculations and the cold night air, I can't think clearly.

Leaving him here no longer looks like something we will do and it looks like time is ticking. It looks like we will be spending the night here with Bulab since it doesn't look like he will be speaking soon.

I feel like Bulab was tricked by those businessmen but if he was, then it would not have been hard for him to tell us the place he sold. However, it looks to me he was sworn to silence and he is trying his hardest not to expose the place and I sort of understand him but if this little information is what is between my pack and extinction then I have to make him speak. I'll do anything to save the few who remain as stallions from extinction.

Bulab suddenly raised his head and the words that came out of his mouth put the puzzles in my head together and the worst outcome was seen. That which I was forcing to become reality could just be a nightmare that will take everything we have to stop it. A cruel truth that we have to stop and it looked like only I understood fully what we were dealing with.

" Northern Afghanistan " he blurted out.