Ancient Illusions by Joanne Pence

Author:Joanne Pence
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quail Hill Publishing

After the doctor left, Ceinwen sat alone in the main tatami room, worried and forlorn. Michael entered with two open bottles of beer.

“I’ve decided,” Michael said as he put a bottle in front of her and then sat on a zabuton. “I’m going back to Idaho to retrieve the pearl. It might be the only thing to help Seiji and Rachel.”

“So it is in Idaho,” Ceinwen said, reaching for the beer. “I think it’s time you explained what this pearl business is all about.”

“You still don’t know?”

“Not for lack of trying! To tell me it’s a ‘philosopher’s stone’ means nothing. My meager study of alchemy tells me the whole thing is a hoax and its supporters charlatans.”

He looked dismayed. “I can see where you’d think that. Most people do.”

“But you don’t?” Her gaze was skeptical.

He didn’t answer for a long while. “It all began last year. I was in Florence, and an old priest showed up at my door with something that looked like a reddish-pink pearl.”

Michael explained that the pearl was an ancient Chinese artifact from the Shang dynasty—a dynasty so old historians had assumed it was mythical, until modern archeologists proved it really once existed. The pearl was a philosopher’s stone. Demons desired it so that they could have power over mankind. Those demons destroyed the Shang empire, but eventually were defeated and captured within the pearl.

All remained quiet for centuries until Marco Polo made his famous travels to China over the Old Silk Road. He discovered the pearl, stole it, and then brought the pearl—and the demons within it—back to Europe, where the demons did much damage. Eventually, the pearl reached Michael with instructions to return it to the place from which it had been stolen. The demons battled to stop him.

Michael and others managed to overcome the demons and then he and Jianjun buried it deep in a mountainous area of Idaho with no roads, no people, few animals, and an abundance of rare earth elements. The ancient Chinese knew those elements somehow neutralized demonic power.

“I’ve heard of rare earth elements, but I’m not sure what they are,” Ceinwen admitted.

“They’re metals—ones you’ll find listed near the end of the periodic table. They weren’t valued until recently and now become more valuable each day. They’re used in cell phones, computer hard drives, wind turbines, hybrid cars, solar panels, catalytic converters, and so on. Also, since they make other metals even stronger, they’re used in airplane engines.”

“They sound amazing,” Ceinwen said.

“They are,” Michael agreed. “Right now, China is heavily invested in mining the elements in what’s called ‘Inner Mongolia.’ Whenever another country makes progress in mining their own supply, China drops the price until the competition goes bankrupt. Then, China once again raises the price of the elements.

“Also removing them from the ground is dangerous since they’re often connected with toxic low-level radioactive elements that can be airborne as dust or leach into the water supply. In the US, mine operators must follow strict, expensive rules. That’s why most rare earth elements there remain left untouched and unmined.

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