The Ancient Beast (Adere's Mission)

Chapter 64

The king's desire to move out without having to consult the watchers of the land of Abah did not trouble the people of Abah who were inside the palace because they were thinking that if the watchers had been unable to defeat the ancient beast or find a solution to it there was no need still trying to make it feel like they are still too important in any case that had to do with the ancient beast. This issue troubled them and they began to wonder what next they were to do if the king went outside and was not able to return with the men that he was taking with them. They decided that it would be better if they were optimistic instead of expecting evil to befall them.

Inside the palace where the king of Abah was seated with Adere's mother he looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Guess what happened that very day? It was still raining as it is raining now, yes, it was still raining then as it is raining now. I would not say that there was no hope for us but the chances to escape was very slim" The king spoke and then continued with his story;

While the king of Abah and the five hundred men with him were outside they Instructed the gate keepers to lock the palace massive gates at once and the gates were shut. The king of Abah and his men were outside now and they could see that most of the Abah people who were struggling to enter the palace were already wounded by the ancient beast. One of them on recognising the king went to him and holding him by the hand fell to his knees and began to cry out painfully. The king did not need that distraction because already he had been informed by his men that the ancient beast, the beast that everyone feared on earth was approaching. The king then began to shout at the people to remain calm at once and they did. He Instructed the gate keepers who were standing on the gates to open it for the people to troop in at once and suddenly the gates were raised up and the people who were at the front of the gates began to move in. The king and his men grouped and charged against the beast but they did not attack first. The people kept struggling into the palace compound but they were too many and there was no way all of them could be able to enter before the beast could attack. The king commanded the gate keepers to shut the gates and the keepers obeyed at once. The gates were brought down at once and some of the people of Abah who were still struggling to enter the gate were crushed by the might gates. The king and his men remained outside and charged against the beast. One of the soldiers said something that caught the attention of the king; "Can a gate stop a beast such as this?" The king did not know what to reply him but one thing that he knew was that it was already time for him to prove himself before his people, to prove that he was capable enough to lead them. The men charged again but then the beast was already rushing towards them. When the beast was upon them he jumped on them and they found out that their swords were useless against it. They struck the beast all they could but they were loosing their heads to his sharpened teeth and his aggressive claws. The king of Abah did not know what else to do. He was not ready to allow things to spoil everything that his father had built over the years and his name which he was so bent on making sure that he protected, his reputation, his ego, they were all coming to crush before him. The king continued to urge his men never to give up, telling them to remember their families, their loved ones, their unborn children, those still in their wives wombs, how they should not give up on them and watch he ancient beast devour them after he must have devoured the soldiers. At that moment the men continued to fight, they continued to fight not because they are not aware of the fact that the beast was going to have them all killed, they were not fighting because they were going to be able to defeat a beast that had been in existence for years, a beast that had stopped at nothing but killing everyone and would kill not less than five hundred people each time he came out to attack the Abah people. When the king realised that he was now the only one standing, with two other men who stood by his sides he looked at the bloody mouth of the beast and kept looking at him. He was sure that the beast was going to have him killed but what he was not ready to allow was to watch and not do anything while the beast did anything he liked with him and with the rest of the remaining two men who were with him. But the beast was not ready for what he was seeing, he was not ready to kill the king just yet. The king who had never ever in his entire life been told that the beast could speak saw and heard him speak to him. He stood there wondering what it was that the beast said all to no avail and at some point he said to the two men that were with him, "We are here and we have seen the kind of animal that is standing before us. You both have witnessed that the beast can talk but who will believe us?"

Then the beast said, "Who will believe you king of Abah? Nobody. You will not have a witness with you because I am going to ensure that they both die and then when you begin to tell your people of what you have witnessed they will think that you are mad, they will say that there king had not only faught with with the beast, the ancient beast that their ancestors fought but that he had fought with him and has gone mad" When the beast said this the king got angrier and moved to attack the beast but saw two of his remaining men in the ground and the beast went away, leaving only him alive. The king remained standing there and looked at the five hundred men as they littered on the ground outside the palace. He knelt on both knees and covered his face with both palms. He remained like that and did not know what else to do..He was not sure if there was a way that he would be able to get away from the very thing that had happened but he was sure that there was no way the people of Abah would be able to believe him if he was to tell them that the ancient beast spoke to him. During this time the soldiers, that was the army of the land of Abah from their camp where they had been before they were informed that the king of Abah needed their arrival in the palace to help fight the beast. they saw their king on his knees and before him were five hundred men from the palace. They did not know what to do or say. The generals sent and helped the king to stand and they ordered that the gates be opened and the gatekeepers opened the large gates and they went inside the palace.

After the king of Abah was done narrating this story he said to Adere's mother, "You see my dear, the funny thing is that you are the first that is hearing for the first time that the ancient beast can talk. I never wanted to tell anyone about it, I was not sure if there was any need for that, infact I was so scared and all I wanted to do was to look on while things went terribly bad. But look at the way things are going and you will see why I had to go to the window to look out while you are still here. I went to the window to look out because the rain, yes, the rain is getting too much and I am beginning to have a feeling that the ancient beast might attack the palace once again. You see my dear I am not sure if there is a way that I can take my mind off what happened but ever since then, ever since what happened happened I became a very terrible man, having my own family killed and believing with anger that a day would come when I will lay my hands on the ancient beast and force him to speak before my people, to plead and to say that he would want to serve me"

Adere's mother did not think she heard him clearly. She said to him, "You want to control the ancient beast or that you want to kill it, which one?" The woman was asking because she was beginning to think that if care was not taken them the real beast the world should fear was not the ancient beast but of a man who is willing and planning to use the ancient beast. The king stood up once again and went to the window and standing there he said to the woman, "This is why I need your son woman. Your son's name was mentioned by men that I respect so much and these men are willing to do what they could do in order to get their hands on the very thing that they need. What else am I going to do if not to get my hands on the very thing that matters the most in the whole world. You have to see for yourself and hear for yourself what the watchers of this land has to say about your son"

"Whatever it is that they have to say about my son has nothing to do with my son because I gave birth to my son and what I am saying about my son is what matters the most. I would not want this to continue. If you have brought me here so that I can help you get at my son then you are making a whole lot of mistake. Mind you too that there a times when things go astray not because there is anything that stops them but then there are those that have been given the very love that they need. My son is mine and I am telling you to leave him alone and also leave me and the young woman that you captured me with. Let us go our way"

"Your way to where? I heard of what happened to your land. The king of Agori, that mad man keep on making mistakes because he has Aboro. What else does he have apart from the mighty warrior. I have chosen to respect him for that but then he should know that the biggest threat lives in my land and the biggest power also lives in my land. What I am now asking you woman is this; who do you think is capable enough to ensure that you and your son and all those that you care about are able to return to their land safely? What do you think would be the outcome of you if I am to say that you can go from here. You should play along with me woman and get your son, a man who is destined to bring the ancient beast to his knees to come here and do what his destiny speaks"

Adere's mother was about to say something but her mind went back to what Mori said to her right there in the dungeon where they were kept by the men belonging to the king of Abah. She opened her mouth and closed it. At that moment the king of Abah was thinking that for sure his words were getting at her and he went further with; it is time for us to stand on our feet and do what we are supposed to do. It is left for us to stand on our feet and fight what we can fight. I know that you know exactly what I am talking about. You know that you have nothing to loose if your son lives his destiny, yes, his destiny, you know what it means to have your son live his destiny. You know what it means. You should have it at the back of your mind of what it means. You know of what it means and that I do not need to tell you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I really do understand you. I am willing to do what I have to do if that is what it takes to make my son's destiny come in play" the woman said and the king waited for a while, wondering if it was not too fast the agreeing of the woman but he needed to make sure the woman was saying whatever it was that she was saying from the dept of her heart. That was exactly what it was.

"I know that this seems like it is not what you expected but there is something that you have to know. There is something that you must understand. If I am to go ahead and do what I have to do I need your full support. Your son will be brought here and..."

"He must not be hurt. if I must play along he must not be hurt. You are not going to hurt him. If you hurt him I will instantly go against all your plans, I do not mind having to die for it but you must not hurt him"

The king nodded and assured her that he was not going to be hurt.

The king had to have another meeting with the watchers. The watchers assembled before him and he said to them (this was not in the presence of Adere's mother) "I have discussed with Adere's mother. I know that she will do what needs to be done in order to get his son to do what we need him to do. She has agreed to play along but insisted that the son's major duty was to find a way to have the ancient beast killed and not tamed"

"But that was what we all already agreed on. We agreed that the beast, the ancient beast will be tamed" said one of the watchers and the rest nodded in agreement. The king did not say a word to that instead he said to them, "Go on then and find the one that needs to do what he needs to do to put our land out of this great misery that had been with us right from the time this Kingdom was established" The watchers left the palace in search of Adere while Adere's mother was taken to a chamber and Mori brought out and taken to where she was. Both of them hugged each other when they saw one another and Adere's mother said to Mori, "I hope you are fine. Let me find you something to eat first"