The Ancient Beast (Adere's Mission)

Chapter 16

The victims were beginning to wonder what he meant. He then said aloud, "You know that death is not something that anyone would wish anyone but then we are in time of war and in times of war death happens. You all are hiding out here because you do not want to die but yo forget that it is your brothers and sisters that actually died out here. You know for sure that there are atimes when it would seem like there is nothing else to show for it but there is always something to show for it. You can not escape from death, it is one thing that was programed for everyone and most times you would wonder how it is happening and you know for sure that it does not happen that way. You all are going to die someday and leaving you not to die here will make no difference. Men who strive to keep living end up having nothing to show for their lives and this is what I offer to you; mercy. You know mercy when you have it and you know power when you have it and so here is my proposal; I will be going to sleep in one of the rooms in this house and I am going to leave you all here to figure out on how to go away from this house. if by the time that I wake up I find any of you here I will be forced to have your heads on the platter and I know that that is not what you want" Aboro left them there and went to one of the rooms in that house and locked the door from the inside. He laid on the bed and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh of relief.

Inside the place where the elderly ones and the young men and young women of Zinu were they had begun to think of a way to escape the house and not bring death on themselves. One of them by name Rira, a very pretty lady stood up and wanted to know what exactly was happening. She was convinced that there was no way things was going to be easy for them if they managed to go out of the house, if they were to leave the house it meant that not all of them would be leaving he house because actually the elders amongst them with their sicknesses and wounds would not be able to escape with them. This made Rira to begin to think twice about the whole thing. She began to think of a way to make things better for everyone and also to keep each and everyone of them alive, not leaving any behind to suffer the death that Aboro would bring them. She stood up and said to the young men with them,

"You would be the first that Aboro is going to kill if he wakes up and finds us here. If he wakes up and realises that we are still like this he would have our heads without thinking twice. This is why I am pleading that it is better to have you all go now and leave me with this old ones. I know for sure that this is not how my life is going to end. I did not come this far to die like this. I have a mission to fulfil here on earth and I do not think that it is over for me yet, yes, it can not be over for me yet, not in this life. This is why I am asking that all of you go away from here and leave me with this old men and old women that are here with us. Take yourself out, free yourselves and do not bother about us"

The young men with them wanted to say no to what Rira was saying but there was this finality in her voice that made them to understand that actually she meant every word that she had just spoken. The stood up, wished her well and even though they were also heavily wounded they managed to drag themselves out of the house and off they went.

Immediately they left Rira sat back with the elders and waited for Aboro to wake up.

While Aboro was sleeping he saw himself in his dream where he was out in a strange forest gathering some fruits and when he had gathered them he bent over them to pick them from the ground where he placed them and was shocked to see that what was on the ground was no longer fruits but actually human body parts. This shocked her to the brim and she arose and kept looking downcast. He looked around and then his eyes came face to face with a man that he had seen before. The young man stood before him and lot looking at him..This made Aboro to call his name. In the reality Aboro did not know the name of that young man but in his dream he called the me of the young man and when he called him Adere the young man turned and left. Aboro woke up and was sweating..He could not tell what that dream was all about. He could not tell if what he had was a revelation. He decided that it would be better to share with the rest of the men that were with him in the land of Zinu what he had seen in his dream. He suddenly remembered who owned the face that he saw in the dream. He remembered that the face looked like the younger face of the man that he fought, the man that was bent on standing for the handful of Zinu people whom he, Aboro insisted on killing before the city of Zinu was finally taken by the soldiers of Agori. As he sat them ruminating over this issue he did not know when all of a sudden his inner man said to him,

"You know that the fruits you gathered in the forest were actually things that you wanted to eat. The fruits that you gathered were actually meant to bring you to the point of happiness but your happiness which you have achieved was actually achieved through killing innocent people. You have lived your entire life killing innocent people and it is not a thing to be proud of. Now that you have decided to kill those ones inside the house that you resting in will it add anything positive in your life, the answer is no so it is better that you start now to think of a way to make things work out for you. You have what it takes to do good but all that you have always done and continued to do was to cause harm and to kill. You have killed more men than any known killer in the land of Agori but what has that earned you, nothing but nothing. You have to know that the man you saw in you dream was there because he wanted to stop you. You can be stopped Aboro and you can be stopped by someone that you least expects. Why must you bring yourself so much bad luck, rise now and instead of continuing in bad things continue in good things, let people see the good in you and let them share in that goodness.You know that one thing that the gods do for people that are willing to do what they want is that they end up having their names not forgotten in history in a good light. That light is what we all need, we need that light and I know that despite the fact that you have achieved a lot in life your heart still seeks for peace..That peace you can always have it if you create it, that peace you can always earn it if you strive for it, that peace you can always amass it if you go for it. Why not try peace and see if you will be stuck where you are"

Aboro looked round himself and wondered if he was the one that just spoke to himself or if actually something spoke through him. He still could no understand why the strange feeling of guilt that had begun to make him look like a guilty dog. He sat up and adjusted himself on the bed that he laid on and kept wondering if there was something wrong somewhere. He stood up and wanted to walk but fell back to the bed. He could still not make out anything for it. He remained there, thinking so loud and trying to make out something from the whole thing. There was a mirror in the room and he felt it would be a nice idea to go close to the mirror and look at himself in there. When he got up and walked up to the mirror he looked directly into it and what he saw was a man standing behind him in the same room. He was shocked and he looked back at once but did not see anybody. He was filled with fear and he wondered why, for the first, a man that had fought with spirits and powerful men and had defeated them all and here he was afraid of a spirit that entered his room. He refused to look at the mirror once again because he was afraid, instead he went down on his knees and remained that way for close to an hour.