Ikenna then chuckled with mockery when Uche grumbled and shifted uneasily in his seat.
“Why not bring yours?” Uche glared angrily. The two men started arguing, and soon, the small room turned to an uproar as each man tries to voice down the other.
“The elf and dragons have destroyed us already.” Pa Uta whispered weakly.
The room quieted down when they heard his voice. It was so soft but powerful enough for those arguing to halt.
He was the chief of Umudike—the mage—and even though the threekingdom had been beaten into one by the whip of the taskmasters.
The people within themselves ruled their own affairs. Pa Uta’s respect spread throughout the people.
“We shouldn’t devour ourselves yet. The taskmasters would do that for us.” Uta’s eyes went to Uche and Ikenna, who still glared at each other but saying nothing.
“This is a proper proceeding, and I won’t tolerate elders who have the propensity for brawling. Yes, for raising your voice in this meeting, both of you will present the circle with two tubers of yam each. If you are unhappy with this, you can use this displeasure in the battlefield, towards our enemies.” Uta added.
The offenders grumbled uneasily but accepted their punishment without further ado. They both knew how futile it was to argue with Pa Uta. It will only worsen the matter.
Uta bit his lower lip and nodded to the other clan’s chief, who was smiling at the noise penalty he placed on both offenders.
“Thank you, Pa Uta,” Ndu said, “We are here to discuss our progress, not our downfall. Well, if we keep deliberating on who would willingly bring his wife so that a child will be born of the power of Gini, then we would spend another day without achieving anything.”
“Besides, this is the 12th meeting we are having concerning this issue, and it is not fun to keep on talking about it, but nothing is happening. We must finalize it now. Anyway, I have a proposal. Let us just pick a lucky winner via a lot. In that way, we would find a candidate without necessarily forcing anybody.” Ndu continued it casually as if it was a joke, but no one treated it as such.
Ndu’s words hung on the air for a while until the clansmen finally reacted.
It divided the ten men in the room into three different groups. Some of the men agreed with him. Others disagreed, while some neither disagreed nor agreed.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Uta said. This time, his words made the party that agreed with the casting of the lot to chorused a big, Yes.
Though they agreed, the fear that walked in their faces could easily be seen.
Nobody wanted his wife to meddle with the power of Gini, an ancient power that the fathers had talked about for thousands of years.
It was a cursed power, which has brought nothing but sorrow and pain to the land, but despite that fact, they needed it, they must bring it back to the world, since it was their only choice
Ndu, walked outside, but came back almost immediately, bearing a small goatskin bag. He undid the lace, which was used to tie the bag and placed it on the center of the circle, underneath the standing torchlight.
Uta could see the eyes of every man in the room as they studied the bag. The looks on their faces reveal the anxiety. It was as if every man was waiting for a snake to crawl out of it.
“The bag you see has been imbued in bitter kola juice, so as to prevent the seers or the mage from unveiling its content. We would like each pick from the bag in a clockwise direction.” Ndu shook the bag to mix the content properly. “Pa Uta, you go first.”
Uta’s heart skipped a beat. He studied the bag on the dusty floor and the faces of his fellow countrymen.
A part of him told him to decline, to find an excuse to avert his picking. But deep down, he knew it was for the betterment of all and sundry.
Shooting the men one last look, he heaved and deepened his hands into the bag. He picked up something that looked like a twig.
The bag was passed around until the men were done in their picking.
Uta’s heart was racing as he held tightly and hid the twig-like object under his weak palms.
“Please,” Ndu’s voice cracked, but he recovered his composure with a quick uneasy smile “kindly place what you have picked on the floor where every eye can see.”
Uta, again was the first to drop his own object. True to his thinking, it was a twig made from the cedar tree. The rest of the people dropped their own object, each man bearing an identical twig with that of Uta.
“What next?” Uche asked, “They all look the same.”
“No, there must be a mistake somewhere,” Ndu stood up from his seat. Alarm and worries were crisscrossed on his aging, tea-colored face. “I am sure I marked out one,” he said and picked up the goatskin bag.
Ndu searched the bag inside out but could not find the eleventh twig he had marked out.
“Did you also imbued the twigs in bitter kola juice?” Bola asked.
“No,” Ndu replied, “Just the bag.”
“Then you don’t have to worry,” Bola said. His eyes were white now, “I see a child, running to show his mother the beautiful colors on the twig.”
“Whose child?” Uta asked. The relief in his eyes knew no bound. But he would like to know the unfortunate family.
“It’s vague?” Bola said and snapped out from his trance, “I can’t place the face, I am sorry.”
Ginka’s eyes glinted with the moon and flickered to studied the dusty field. The path was clear, but he knew not to rest in its comfort as it might be dangerous, and he learned that in a hard way, that almost cost his life.No noise could be heard either, just the fluttering whispers of the wind above the roof of leaves.
“Or could it be that the taskmasters are already in the village square?” Dodo asked.“That would be the best explanation then, they’ve been gone for two weeks now, I just hope they came with more bread this time?” Ginika said. He looked over his shoulders, this time hoping to catch Zahra’s eyes, but the girl seemed distracted.
Slowly and reluctantly, he released her hand. Dodo didn’t know when she paused her lips and lick it. She averted her gaze back to the village, as if hoping that the fire would die down by itself.“What if someone is inside and needs help?” She asked“This fire looks as if it has been burning for hours!” Zahra pointed out. Nothing can withstand that heat. It’s only a matter of seconds, and everything would still turn to ash. Besides, what can you possibly do? You are a seer, I am a sword seeker, and Ginika is a mage. We have not had any training before; we are useless for now.”The fire hissed loudly, and as if bringing to life what Zahra had said, a
Everybody was in the village, from a day old baby to the oldest adult. They were all watching the men who were displaying their magical powers. All their worries from earlier were nothing. It was still better to see the village men all alive and well despite the weird fire around them. “Bread!” Ginika suddenly exclaimed with excitement when his eyes fell upon the taskmaster’s wagon. “I can’t wait to have a taste of that delicious bread of the taskmaster.” “We should hurry,” Dodo said and took the hands of Gini and Zahra. She tried to beat pass the bodies, which o
Bread? A shiver went down Ginika’s spine when he realized that he, too, was guilty of the same crime. They had given their lives to the masters in exchange for food. It struck him to realize that liberation was farfetched until they release themselves from every encumbrance of the emperor.A shrilling cry echoed through the night as a girl burst into the stage. At first, the people clapped their hands with admiration, thinking she was trying to be more fun while maintaining the act. But that expression dissolved into horror when they realized what was happening. She was kneeling down on the sandy floor, n
He ran as fast as he could. Sweat strolled down Ginika’s brow as he trotted towards the direction of their house, brushing pass the populace and calling out the names of his mother and little brother. The smoky air was harsh on his nostril, and he could taste it somewhere at the back of his throat. As he tried to swallow, he realized just then that there was no fluid in his mouth. His eyes walked pass the palm tree to the shadow beyond the other side of the grass, but he could barely make out the face of anyone from the paleness of the moon. Tugging his wet hair behind his ears, he stopped when he realized that it was a dead end. The disorder in the village square made it impossibl
“I said no, screaming!” Without warning, the taskmaster’s sword separated the mother’s head from her shoulders.Goosebump covered Ginika’s skin as he shrieked, but the hands of Bola, which covered his mouth, kept the screams trapped in his throat. His eyes were hot with tears that were gushing out.“You, the woman behind her husband,” The taskmaster pointed again to a couple.“That’s my mother!” Ginika hurried to meet them, but Bola’s muscle was an obstacle that he needed to beat. He tried to fight through the strong arms, but they were too big for
‘But where are the other members of the circle?’ He bit his lower lips and hid his body behind a palm tree. He wasn’t good at rescuing people, the last time he tried to rescue a teenage boy from being sexually harassed by one male taskmaster, had almost gotten him killed. They had scourged him on a pole and had whipped the living daylight out of him.The scar on Bola’s back pulse as if in agreement to his testimony. He just hoped that the other chief of the village were helping to eva