South Sinai Desert, 1312 B.C.
(2448 years to creation according to the Urpalian calendar)
On a pleasant spring morning, Almos went out to his garden. Fayis, the new gardener, was about to arrive and he needed to prepare tasks for him. Until recently, Almos liked working in the garden himself, but due to the workload at the clinic and his troublesome lower back, he decided it would be nice to have a little help every now and then. The garden's appearance surprised Almos. The bed he had planted with Amaryllis, Triteleia and Squill Bulbs at the beginning of winter had more plants in it than the number of bulbs he had planted. But that wasn’t the end of the strange occurrence. Part of the plants stood tall and proud and were blessed with a fresh green color, while others were withered-looking and faded grey.
This rare phenomenon fascinated Almos. He bent down and looked intently at the plants, trying to understand, and reached out to touch them. A puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"I'll uproot a healthy plant and a plant with a sick root, I might learn something from that," he thought.
He grabbed one of the stems and pulled. He was greatly astonished to discover that that the withered stem he uprooted was connected to another stem by the roots – a strong and healthy one. One after the other, Almos pulled out healthy plants from his garden, and they were all exactly the same, two stems, one healthy and one sick attached to the same root.
"I have never encountered such a phenomenon," he thought, and a grim feeling of anxiety crept into his heart. Almos had no problem with unnatural phenomena. On the contrary, they always fascinated him. However, this time a cloud of unease descended upon him.
"Daniel!" called Almos. His son breezed out of the house, and stood in front of his father, looking at him.
"Yes father?"
"Please go to Sage Akila and tell him I would like to show him something."
"Is everything all right?" Daniel asked at the sight of his father's worried expression.
Almos nodded.
After about twenty minutes, Akila arrived, walking briskly. One could see a certain tension lurking behind the peaceful expression he wore permanently.
"How are you Almos my friend?"
Almos replied politely while looking at Akila's wrinkle free face, which seemed to contrast his grey hair and beard.
"Sage Akila, the bulbs you gave me in the autumn have sprouted."
"So they have," Akila replied.
"But something strange has happened," Almos whispered, "I have never seen anything like it, you should see for yourself."
"This is not just another plant disease," Akila replied after lengthy observation, "but as you know my friend, things don't happen for no reason. Everything has a reason even if we don't always understand it."
"Sage Akila," Almos looked directly at him, "When you gave me the bulbs as a gift for my garden three months ago, did you know that there was something special, something different about them?"
Akila took a deep breath and nodded his head towards the house. "We should go inside."
"My dear friend," Akila said in a low voice once they had sat down in a quiet corner of the spacious living room. "I was afraid this might happen, although I wasn't sure. The bulbs are not normal bulbs. They can convey information about our most bitter enemies."
"The Afgorians!?"
"No need to yell," Akila hushed Almos, confirming his assumption with a nod. "Its better not speak of it of course. It will create unnecessary panic."
Almos was agitated. Numerous questions flooded his mind and he tried to put them in order.
"But how do the bulbs convey information?"
"That’s a complex matter and I cannot elaborate. I will only say that it is a combination of personal ingredients, such as soil walked on by Afgor, the leader of the Afgorians, and remnants of saliva from a meal he ate – which are part of the ingredients in the bulbs' fertilizer, along with minute engravings of letter combinations on the bulbs. You couldn't see them of course, nor did you think to look for them."
A smile spread across Akila's face.
Almos was shocked from what he had just heard. He recalled the little package containing soil that came with the bulbs.
"So the fertilizer you recommended I use was…" Akila nodded.
"But how did you get hold of soil Afgor had walked on?" Asked Almos, horrified at the thought someone had gotten close the greatest of wizards, who was feared even by those closest to him from his own people.
"Rulers of his kind like hunting expeditions," said Akila and got up from his chair, "All we needed to do was follow from afar and collect the remnants. Anyway, thanks for cooperating Almos, and I apologize for any distress it caused you."
Almos got up to walk his guest out. After closing the door, he sank into deep thought, trying to grasp all he had seen and heard.