Magnifico

A changed Man

Jonas left Magnifico alone in the palace, headed to the physicians’ to get himself treated. When he arrived at the physician’s place, the physician refused to take him in.

“You must go, I can’t treat you, Sir.” The physician pleaded with Jonas.

“Why? But I’m bleeding.”

“No, I can’t. I’m sorry.” The physician said as he jams his door. Jonas couldn’t pinpoint the actual reason why the man refused to treat him. Many thoughts came to his mind but he only came down to a conclusion.

He thought maybe because he wasn’t fair to everyone or wasn’t a nice person when he was still a king or maybe Magnifico had ordered all the people in Alaphas not to respond to any of his calls. He regretted being an inconsiderate person when he was a king and promised himself that very moment that he is going to be a changed person once he escapes from Alaphas.

He headed back home with his wound but before he went home, he branched to the market where he bought honey and turmeric. He wanted to use this to help heal his wound, this method is an ancient practiced by physicians in Alaphas, it helps wounds to heal faster. When he finally arrived home, he grinded the turmeric and mixed it with the honey. The honey was to remove all the germs that could contaminate the wound and the turmeric was to help the would heal faster. He wrapped the wound with a piece of fabric because it was believed in Alaphas that when you have a very deep cut, if you don’t wrap it with a piece of fabric or something, it will be possessed by a spirit and this may make the wound appear fresher and fresher. After wrapping up the wound, he went to his bathroom immediately and took his bath. After taking his bath, he came out and sat down on his chair and started thinking of what he needs to do next and how to escape from Alaphas possibly that day. He agreed that things were getting out of hand and it will ruin more for him. He gave a thought to how he could smuggle a horse with him so that his escape would appear smooth and faster. He also thought of his finger, how a king who was once worshipped became a puppet, a puppet that lost a finger.

“Who knows what I might lose next time? My tongue? Or possibly my head. I won’t forgive Magnifico for this. No, not this one.” Jonas keeps questioning himself.

Jonas has readied his horse and had brought along the map that was hidden with him. He wanted to take a horse with him by all means because he knew he can’t possibly outrun the soldiers when they come looking for him. He took all the necessary things that will aid his escape and also took a bottle of wolves bane with him.

He kept the horse at the secret passage leading to the underground floor so no one could see it. He must pass through the eastern side of the pagoda before he heads to the secret passage where he would later follow to escape. When he approved the eastern side of the pagoda, he was expecting to see soldiers guarding the area. He was also have been trying to solve the puzzle of passing through the pagoda without being seen by the soldiers.

“Why is everywhere so quiet?” Jonas asked himself. It seemed weird to him so he guessed maybe, Magnifico was around. So he decided to move closer to the wall so that he will get to know what Magnifico was doing. When he got to the wall opening, he saw Magnifico through the wall casting spell. He was watching as Magnifico placed the scroll he had taken from him, this time around Magnifico wasn’t only reading from his head, he has a scroll he was reading from.

“Muraki bshh demoonee baski et Magnifico estrade nostre dominee okipus sanchili ohhhhhh demooneee…” Magnifico was saying repeatedly as his iron sword turned red. It was glowing and shining and at a point, the light started dying down. It appeared Magnifico was cursing his sword but Jonas didn’t know this. He was using the knowledge from the scroll and was reading the spells that were written in the scroll. It appeared this scroll contains some knowledge that is not supposed to be in the wrong hands and most importantly not in Magnifico's hands. With his cursed sword, it takes a miracle to survive a deep cut from it. Jonas was watching as all these were happening and he wondered why Magnifico's sword had glowed. He has never seen a sword turn to another colour unless, it’s inside an oven, in a molten form. He had only seen that with the blacksmiths' and nowhere else.

“What might have turned his sword? Was it the scroll this time around? Or my eyes have been made to believe this or maybe, just maybe he just brought out his sword from the oven?” Jonas questioned himself as he stood watching. Jonas concluded that he must leave before Magnifico is through with whatever incantations he was doing. He quickly left the pagoda and made his way through to the secret passage where he had hidden his horse. He quickly mounted the horse and started riding it towards the secret passage as fast as he could. Running through this passage, it looked at though the whole place looks ancient, it seemed no one plies through this passage. There were cobwebs all over the walls, it got to a point where he had to come down from the horse and used his sword to remove the cobwebs in order to get a better view of where he was heading to. The rats in this route look well-fed and were running through the whole places, scattering all around the route. It didn’t bother Jonas, he mounted back to his horse and also started riding. He rode for 4-5 miles or around 10,000 foots before he saw the other gate where he would later follow to escape. He opened it and made his way through the gates. When he came outside, he looked back with joy because he never knew his escape would look so swift. Without a second thought, he started riding as fast as his horse could carry him because, in no distant time, he will be a hunted man. He didn’t want to follow the road path but choose the water path instead because he knows that’s exactly where the Alaphas soldiers would follow when they come looking for him. He got to a point after traveling for a few miles, where he saw a river. It appeared to be the Long River, a river that connects almost entirely three kingdoms and has its origin from Quinax. It also passed through the Kingdom of Zuix and also the kingdom of Oak.

Jonas came to the shore and saw a man who was on a boat, he appeared to be a boatman who crosses people and their properties across the river if the pay is good.

“Sir, can you carry me and my horse across this river?” Jonas asked the boatman.

“You must be running from something. Are you a soldier?” the boatman asked while chewing a stick in his mouth.

“How does being a soldier matter here? I don’t think it’s your business if I am running from something.” Jonas quickly replied to him.

“I can’t remember the last time I crossed a single man with a sword and a horse on my boat across to the other side. You know you look as though you are running from something, I just don’t know what that is but you need to run as far as you can. However, you must be careful about the road which is narrow for people of your kind. Hope you got your payment?” the boatman asked. Jonas wondered why the man said what he said, he wondered if the man knew him or who he was. He assumed the man didn’t know what he has passed through so, he guessed the road can never be narrower than it has been.

“Yes, I got my payments. How much do I need to pay you?” Jonas asked.

“ You alone, I will take 50 gold coins but with your horse, I will take 100,” the boatman said.

“What? That’s too much. I won’t pay that amount.” Jonas claimed.

“You can’t pay or you won’t pay? Then no business.” The boatman said as he tries to paddle away. Jonas thought of killing him and taking the boat instead but he has promised himself to be a changed man and always keep his promises.

“Wait! Alright, you win; let’s go.” Jonas replied to him as he pulls his horse inside the boat and they started sailing off to Quinax.

Magnifico was done with his incantations when he decided to visit Jonas in his home to know he was up to. When he arrived, he knocked but no one answered, It wasn’t his style to knock but he did anyway. He waited for a few moments and decided to kick the door open. He called on Jonas but he didn’t reply. He suspected that there was something wrong somewhere so he called on the soldiers to search for Jonas. They searched the whole palace but couldn’t find him and he declared Jonas missing. He knew that Jonas had escaped so he ordered the soldiers to go search for him outside the kingdom and bring him back, dead or alive.

He also instructed all the soldiers, about 30 soldiers that were stationed in the main gate to come to see him in the palace while they are replaced by new soldiers. When all the soldiers came to the palace, Magnifico was sitting on the throne with one leg hanged on the side chair while the other was on the floor.

“I will ask only once, who among you released Jonas or granted him a pass? I will take it slowly with the person if you will honestly say it out” Magnifico asked as he stands up from the throne.

The soldiers looked so confused, they don’t even know where the question was coming from or why they had to be involved with anything that concerns Jonas.

“My Lord, please we don’t understand you,” a soldier said.

“You don’t understand me, maybe I have water in my mouth when I said what I said?” Magnifico asked.

“We don’t know anything concerning Jonas or anyone that helped Jonas to escape from the Kingdom.” Another soldier added.

“Hmmm! Are you saying that you all have no idea how Jonas escaped from this kingdom even though the main entrance is guarded?” Money asked as he keeps touching his sword as though he was sharpening the sword with his fingers.

“No My Lord, we honestly don’t know” the first soldier replied.

“You must be the brave one eh?” Magnifico asked the solider as he swings his sword across his neck and killed the soldier immediately.

“You all should draw your swords, if you get passed me and manage to get behind that door, you will walk out here alive.

All the soldiers tried to rush outside that door but were blocked by Magnifico as he started fighting with all of them. He smashed the first soldier’s neck with his sword and he turns to the second, used his left fist to clinch another soldier on the neck, he carried him up and threw him to the other five soldiers staying close to each other and they staggered and fell to the ground. His fighting style was gracious, heavy, and unmatched in the room. Before the next couple of minutes, he has dismembered lots of soldiers with his sword and he has also left many unconscious.

He carried the whole bodies and threw them inside the lion cage as he leaks blood off his sword and swallowed it. It appeared that Magnifico had killed all the soldiers in the room as though it was trees that were being cut down or destroyed.