The Ancient Beast (Adere's Mission)

Chapter 24

At that moment what Rira wanted to say was to say words that could make Aboro forget to make them stay there for eternity or even have their heads on a platter.

*****

When Edu recovered inside the forest the first thing that he asked Adere was,

"Where are the rest. I think by now you all must have met with each other"

"No my friend we have not been able to meet and this worries me because my mother and some old people were among them when we got to leave them because we had wanted to build the camp. We were looking for them before we found you. If you are not willing we can leave you to go back to your village for you have tried for us already. Me and the rest of us will go on seeking for the rest so that together we can find a way to leave this forest for good" said Adere but Edu was not okay with that arrangement as he said to Adere,

"What will I be called if it is said in the future that I missed road with my friend and when I met with him again he saved my life and then after I had recovered I was made to believe that he had been in a mess only for him to come out now and show the fact that he had not been in that situation. What will be said of me; that i left him on his own and walked out on him because I have gotten well and he was meant to look for his mother on his own. I am not that kind of friend. If we are friend it means we are out to support each other when ever the need for support arises not to abandon one another because we are selfish, because we are not selfless enough to understand what love is, what true love is all about. This has made me to understand that you truly care about me. I am a friend who is now willing to do whatever it is that I can do just to make you realise that I truly care. You see what will happen? let us look for your mother together"

At this juncture Adere looked at Renu and Renu shrugged her shoulders, she was no longer ready to be the one who was called the bitter one. She knew that if she went on to try to talk Adere out of his decision to make Edu part of their search party Adere would not heed her advise because somehow he had been entirely taken into Edu's supposedly care towards them. Edu on the other hand did not want anyone that would distract his mission else he was ready to have someone killed for it.

Adere had accepted and they all moved together.

****

Where Adere's mother was with Mori and the rest of the men and women that escaped the land of Zinu, Adere's mother was actually enjoying the whole story of how Mori was able to escape the hands of the man that was out to eliminate her and take her god given gifts. Mori cleared her throat and began;

"I would have decided not to stay with the diviner in his shrine, I would have suggested to my father that it would be better to have me stay at home while the man came to us to visit us and not the other way round. I was not ready with the whole arrangement but I acted like I accepted it because I did not want my father to feel disappointed in me once again. Hear of how it all went on;

On the very day that Mori had to stay with the man, the very first day the man did not speak to Mori. Mori did not know why he suddenly did not want to speak to her but she felt suddenly that that could be part of the training and so she decided that she was going to mind her business but did not want to do anything that would make the man begin to suspect her movement. That night she kept her eyes wide open while the man went to sleep in his hut. What Mori was not understanding was why the diviner was not showing her where to sleep since there was only one hut for him. He stood there wondering what next to do when all of a sudden she decided to sleep inside the shrine. When she spread the big leaves and laid down on them she knew that there was no way she was going to be able to sleep comfortably on them. She kept her eyes open because even if she was going to be able to sleep comfortably on them she was not ready to do that. She instead kept on looking around and wanted to make sure that no one neared the shrine or entered it without her notice. She remembered her father and something told her that her father could also not be sleeping as well. This did not change her mind but she was going to make sure that she saw him the next day otherwise she would see herself complaining all through the night. At that moment she heard a noise outside and she stood up at once. She walked to the door that led people who entered the shrine to the outside and stood there looking intently outside. She was convinced that she heard the footsteps of someone. She then suddenly saw the man as he was coming back to the shrine and he was carrying torchlight with him. This made her to go back to where she was lying down and when she had laid down she pretended that she was asleep just to know what the man was going to do but when the man entered inside he stood by the door and kept looking at her where she was lying down. She looked at her for sometimes and then shook his head before returning to his hut. Mori did not know why he came to check on her and then somehow she believed that he had neglected her throughout the day just to know what she would do. This having been done there was a time she wanted to allow things to work out the way that they were supposed to work out but it failed her woefully. She remained there and thought about her father once again and this time she could could not wait for dusk so she could visit home.

When morning came she walked straight to the hurt where the man entered and then stood by the entrance door and knocked. She wanted to know if truly there would be anything that could make sense but there was no answer from the inside. She remained there and knocked again and this time she said a word to know if the man would respond but the man did not respond. She then decided to go inside to know if he was there but when she entered she did not see anybody. She turned and was about to walk away when all of a sudden a hand grabbed her from the back and when she sharply turned to know who that was the person sprayed a white substance that intoxicated her and she lost balance, and fell. There the old man stood before her fainted body and kept panting like a lion. He had succeeded in his one attempt and it was time for him to follow up with every of his plans.

***

Adere's mother was listening attentively as Mori told her stories about herself. She did not know why she developed so much interest to know her the way that she did but all she felt at a moment that the reason she was so anxious to know her was because she mentioned the name of her son when she was under the influence of the gods. She did not know if that was the reason but she was not ready to be asking herself all of that question. All she knew was that she was interested to know much about her and she was ready to hear her tell her every bit about herself. She adjusted herself and just as she was about to say another word to Mori they heard some of the elders screaming and it downed on them that something was wrong somewhere. As they stood up they saw from where the elders were as a lion tore itself out from the thickest part of the forest and headed straight at them. This shocked the two of them to the brim and they wanted to know what else to do. The elders were running towards so many directions and what Adere's mother thought was that for them who could not run very fast death was the only option. She held Mori's hand so that they could start running but Mori drew her back and said,

"If we run we will die" she said.

"If we stay we will die so we better run" said Adere's mother but Mori was not ready to listen to that. She was not ready to pay attention to all of that prompted her to hold onto the hand of the woman still and refused her to move an inch. The both of them stood there with Adere's mother loosing her mind. She did not know what Mori was trying to do.