I had this small back chapter laying around that shows how everyone has been endlessly searching for the Pearl of Wisdom for the past five hundred years.




*THIS IS A QUICK BACK STORY FROM THE BOOK TWO HEADS TWO SPIKES BY JASON PAUL RICE.
THIS IS SET 29 YEARS BEFORE THE CURRENT EVENTS IN THE BOOK*

IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND

The short sixteen year-old sneaked up to the docks. This was probably just another lead that would finish in a dead end. Then he spied the glimmer in the merchant's hand and his heart thumped with excitement. The tall, wind-knot salesman shoved the object into his pocket and rushed away. Ali-Samuel Wamhoff, the red headed soldier from Donegal, realized this might finally be the one and followed at a brisk pace. After an entire year on these dreaded mountain filled islands he just saw the object every man had been hunting for the past five hundred years. The tall, bald merchant, who wore a long cloak, looked around for possible trouble before nonchalantly heading into the woods. Ali-Samuel crept over to the tree line and saw the bald man holding the giant pearl.
The man was so entranced by the stunning object that he was nearly drooling over it and didn’t notice Alisamuel take his long bow from his shoulder. He started to pull an arrow but it got stuck on the way out of the bag. His small struggle with the arrow attracted the merchant’s attention and he spotted Ali-Samuel. He immediately took off at a smart pace, swerving back and forth in a jagged pattern to avoid an arrow attack. As Ali-Samuel readied his bow to shoot, he noticed the man was repeating the same back and forth pattern. The loosed arrow ripped through the dusk and found its mark in the pearl holder’s back. It pierced the bald man’s heart and he dropped, but fought hard to ward off death. Alisamuel ran up to the struggling man who was trying to get back onto his feet. The merchant barely rose to his knees, then suddenly turned into black liquid and fed the thirsty soil.
Ali-Samuel stopped immediately. He had heard stories as a young boy about the coldomores on the Pearl Islands. Their name came from the Scribenese language from thousands of years ago and it meant cold black-hearted. Count Silzeus regularly told tales of the skin-changing demons that came from Venom Island. The coldomores would take over a human or animal’s actions and soul when they invaded the body. The castle Count had said that the coldomores turned into black blood and ran inside the earth, searching for their master Travibero. Only the clothes of the demon remained in a pile on the ground without a trace of the living being it had invaded.
He shook off the shock of the moment and pushed the dirty clothes around as he searched for the ultimate prize. There it lay, glowing in the fading sunlight, mesmerizing Ali-Samuel. A huge smile spread over his face for the first time in months. He bent down and picked up the Pearl of Wisdom. It was as big as the purple fire balls they used in battle, just as the Captain had said. It glittered with gold speckles that captivated the young man’s blue eyes. This could really help him get the respect he was searching for.
Ali-Samuel’s father was the twin brother of the King of Donegal, Ali-Stanley Wamhoff. After refusing a marriage for political gain because of his love for Ali-Samuel’s mother, he was run out of the kingdom. The King’s guard captured his mother and the newborn Ali-Samuel before his father could save them. They slit his mother’s throat in front of the castle and were about to smash Ali-Samuel’s head on the stones until the Queen ordered them to stop. She wouldn’t let them slaughter an innocent child and allowed Ali-Samuel to grow up in the castle.
However, his grandmother, Queen Tomeo, was the only one who didn’t treat Ali-Samuel like a servant. The King and Prince despised Ali-Samuel and barely acknowledged his existence. He grew up as the royal bastard of the castle.
“Their attitude will surely change when I stroll in with the Pearl of Wisdom,” Ali-Samuel thought.
On the walk back to the Donegal camp site, he thought about trying to use the Pearl of Wisdom to summon the dragons for his own personal use. Ali-Samuel had trouble understanding why he should return it to King Ali-Stanley, the man who had always hated him. The King would be powerless to stop him if the stories about the Pearl of Wisdom were true. The legend said that if one chanted “Boloteeso” seven times and held the Pearl to the sky, the dragons would submit themselves to the holder’s command. No, Ali-Samuel finally decided, he was going to act with honor even though the King had treated him like a peasant.
The Pearl hadn’t been used in five hundred years, which was when a small force headed by a man named Rockarius annihilated the Damian Doome-led coldomore fighters. Almost every man and woman in the world knew the name Rockarius, and soon they would remember the name Ali-Samuel Wamhoff. He thought about the reception he would get in every kingdom of the world. Kings would treat him like a hero and men would throw their daughters at Ali-Samuel’s feet.
He stopped daydreaming as he neared the campsite. He saw Captain Fulbont and walked toward him with a big smile. Ali-Samuel quietly steered the Captain into a vacant tent.
“What is going on? You never smile.” The Captain looked suspiciously at Ali-Samuel.
“Feast your eyes on this.” Ali-Samuel pulled the Pearl from his pocket to show the Captain.
“Allow me to hold it.” Captain Fulbont held out his hand and Ali-Samuel placed the shining object in his palm. Its reflection glimmered in the Captain’s eyes.
“It’s fake,” Captain Fulbont said dismissively.
“What do you mean it is a fake? I got it from a coldomore I will have you know.” Ali-Samuel’s face turned bright red, almost as fiery auburn as his hair.
“I don’t care if you got it from Rockarius himself, it is a good fake, but still isn’t real nevertheless.” The Captain tried to leave but Ali-Samuel stopped him. He had a skinny body frame, but Ali-Samuel seemed to have some unusual power for a man of his stature.
“How do you know?” Ali-Samuel tried to be calm but his hopes and dreams were crashing inside his head.
“Run your hands carefully over it. The gold is painted onto the surface, feel it. It definitely has the look and size, but it has been painted to give the appearance of the Pearl of Wisdom. I would like it to be real as much as you, but that doesn’t seem to be in the stars.” The Captain patted Ali-Samuel on the shoulder and exited the tent.
Respect and fortune had just slipped through the sweaty fingers of Ali-Samuel Wamhoff. The past year of endless fighting on four different islands where hundreds of men claimed to hold the Pearl, had been getting progressively more and more tiresome. He had tracked the merchant for the past week from the tips he received from a wizard named The Crippler. He thought his giant pearl was an end to the madness, but he was right back at the start.
The Captain poked his head into the tent. “Let’s go Ali-Samuel. We just got solid word about someone who has the real Pearl on the west side of the island. Pack up so we can leave as soon as possible.”
Ali-Samuel lowered his head and slowly followed the crew as they broke down the camp site. He realized that he was being naïve. Some men had spent over fifty years searching for the Pearl of Wisdom and he thought that he had already found it. It appeared that his foreseeable future would be spent on these rocky islands, fighting for an invisible pearl.