The whispering river
1086 Words
The forest had a way of swallowing sound.
Daniel didn't realize how far he had wandered until the voices of his friends faded into nothing more than a distant memory.
Sunlight filtered through the towering trees in thin golden beams, dancing across the moss-covered ground. Strange birds called from the canopy above, and somewhere nearby, water rushed over smooth stones.
He followed the sound.
Soon, the trees parted to reveal a narrow river unlike anything he had ever seen. The water shimmered with an unnatural silver glow, reflecting a sky that seemed too bright to belong to the world he knew.
"...Beautiful," Daniel whispered.
He knelt at the riverbank, reaching out to touch the water.
The moment his fingertips brushed its surface...
A voice echoed in his mind.
"The past remembers what the future forgets..."
Daniel jerked his hand back and stumbled to his feet, his heart pounding.
"What was that?"
Silence.
Then...
The river rippled.
Not because of the wind.
Not because of a fish.
Something was rising from beneath the water.
Far away, Grace suddenly stopped walking.
"I don't know why..." she said, clutching her chest.
"...but I think Daniel is in trouble."
Daniel follows the mysterious river and still hears the strange voice
"The past remembers what the future forgets."
He thinks he's imagining things... until he notices someone watching him from across the river.
Not a monster.
Not an animal.
An old man dressed in white.
The old man smiles... and vanishes.
Daniel is left wondering if he really saw anyone.
Back with the others.
Labi arrived at the place where the friends were standing
"Look guys am sorry for yelling at you all earlier. I was just frustrated. I've been waiting for you guys for hours and I was starving and you know as theysay a starving man is an angry man"
"I'm sorry too. I was frustrated. We're lost in a world we don't know, and everything feels strange. I took my anger out on you."" Grace said. Then lase and Loba smiled
"Friends??" Loba said
"Friends!" The three friends chorused
"Where's the noisy one?" Lase asked
Everyone looked around.
Daniel is gone.
Grace sighs.
"I knew it..."
Ethan rubs his forehead.
"We've been here for less than an hour."
Sophia mutters,
"He's going to get himself killed."
Labi groans.
"The Staff of Time really chose him?" He said
"Let's get out of here before anyone wander off again" Lase said which made Ethan chuckle
Labi, Lase, and Loba lead them to a hidden hut beneath an enormous sacred tree.
The Old One is already waiting.
Before anyone speaks, he says:
"One of the four has left the path."
Everyone freezes.
Sophia whispers,
"How did he know?"
The Old One simply smiles.
"The forest speaks."
"Wait why are you young??" Grace said
"What??" The old one replied "am not young. You call a 53 years old man young?" He continued
"Exactly. They kept saying old one, old one so I simply thought you would be a grandpa or something" Grace said again crossing her arms underneath her breasts
"Of course am a grandpa. Labi is my grandson" the old one said
" What the....?how old are you Labi?" Grace said like a mother questioning her child
"Am 19" labi said
"Same" Ethan replied
"And Daniel too" Sophia said
"See and our parents ain't grand anything. I was expecting a man of the age 80 or 90. Am disappointed" Grace said pouting
"What is wrong with your friend?" Old one said
"You suppose to know everything why ask her" Grace replied an Ethan immediately tapped her mouth
"If you talk again you won't like what I'll do to you” he said in a cold voice making grace gulped. The only person who could put grace in her place is Ethan and her already did
"So what are we going to do to Daniel now??" Sophia asked
"That should be the list of our problems. I heard from lase that you people have a foreign name. It would be a problem if the king finds out so now think of your native name to make it easier for people to call" th old one said
"My native name is Dayo, Grace is shewa and Sophia is also Loba" Ethan said
"Then how do we do it we can't call them both Loba" Labi said
" How about Loba boy and Loba girl" Loba suggested and everyone agreed
"What is the name of the wanderer" Lase asked
"His name is Segun" Sophia calmly responded. Grace tore the tape off her mouth and said
"Why isn't your hair braided?" She asked lase " and why are you both with long hair?" She asked the boys
"My hairdresser isn't around I'll plait it when she's back " lase said sitting close to labi
"The only thing we can use to cut our hair is knife and snail shell. But It is utterly painful so the king said we could all keep our hair. We also don't know the king that said that but it has been passed down from generations we only shave our beard nothing more" old one replied
"So you mean you don't shave the hair in your armpits too?" Grace asked her eyes widened
"Of course not we do" Loba said
"Oh.. now let's go get Daniel" Grace said
"Let's go!" Loba echoed smiling sweetly
🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰
The man who was spying on labi and his crew was seen in a magnificent place right in front of him sat the king
He kneels before the king.
"My king..."
"The strangers have arrived."
"They went to the Old One instead of Your Majesty."
The king's expression hardens.
Then he says something chilling.
"Bring them to me."
"If they refuse..."
"Make them regret."
Meanwhile... 🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️
Daniel finds something hidden beside the river.
Not treasure.
Not a weapon.
A broken stone covered in strange Yoruba symbols.
The moment he touches it...
He sees flashes.
A burning palace.
The Staff of Time breaking apart.
Someone wearing a crown.
A mysterious girl crying.
Then—
Everything disappears.
Daniel falls backward.
"What... was that?"
"Wow now am hallucinating. Can today get a little bit better??"
Just as Daniel gets back on his feet...
A deep voice speaks behind him.
"You shouldn't have touched that."
Daniel slowly turns around.
Standing there...
...is a tall warrior holding a spear.
The warrior isn't smiling.
He simply says,
"Come with me." His voice strangely enchanting making it hard for anyone to resist
- Writer
