Ophidia

CHAPTER TWENTY ( The truth comes out.)

    Jenka looked at Jackandi , looked at everyone else and then sighed. "There's no point in keeping

this secret, since we're going to die anyway."

    "Die?" Mupo asked her. She then turned to Jackandi and asked.

    "Didn't you get the poison fruit from him?"

    "Not yet but-"

    "I told you that I'm not going to retrieve that fruit for anyone it's too dangerous." He interrupted

him. "And why do you want to eat it so badly."

    "Because we want to die!" Jenka said with tears in her eyes. Everyone at the table was quiet until

Benga broke the silence.

    "But why Jenka?"

    "We've lived long hard unbearable lives." Jackandi said in a softer tone.

    "Why don't you just jump off a mountain or drown yourselves or stab yourselves if you want to die

so badly." Benga suggested.

    "Benga!?" Wolani nugged him.

    "Don't you think I've tried that?" Jenka said." I've spent a thousand years in this place, unable to

leave, unable to die and when the chance of me escaping this prison I call my life finally shows up,your

telling me I can't take it?" The tears in her eyes filled up even more. Jackandi then embraced her.

    "Calm down it'll be just fine." Mupo's tone of voice then changed to a more softer one.

    "A thousand years? What's going on ?"

    "If I tell you will you consider giving us the fruit?" Mupo took a deep breath.

    "Yes I may consider it" Jackandi then looked at Jenka.

    "Should they be told the truth?" He asked her. She then sniffled,thought for a bit and nodded her

head. "Okay then....you might want to sit back for this one. Grab something to eat too."

He explained everything to them leaving out the part of how they became cursed. The others

sympathised with them, of course you would want to die after living an enclosed life and also a life

where there is danger lurking around every corner. They understood why Jackandi killed those Chiefs,

he had to see his beloved before he died.

    "That must've been awful." Nima said.

    "I'm really sorry." Wolani said.

    "I will consider getting that fruit for you." Mupo said.

    "No wonder the entrance kept pushing me back." Benga added.

    "Benga?!" The three of them said in unison.

    "But why did you keep it s secret from the rest of Ophidia?" Mupo asked the two. Jenka looked

downwards and Jackandi took a deep breath.

    "If you were the last two Black Mambas, what would you have done? If you had faced the trauma

of the rest of your tribe being killed, what would you have done?"

    "I think I get it now, if the Cobras found out they'd try to kill you. But they won't be able to so

they'll just keep torturing you. They'd make you there slaves without question."

    "Exactly." Jackandi replied.

    "But how did you keep this massive secret from the Cobras?"

    "Your tribe is not as smart as you think Mupo." Jackandi replied.

    "I have a question." Nima stated. "This is one of the five tribal temples known through out all of

Ophidia."

    "Yes that's true."

    "How come no Other tribe has tried to enter it or destroy it, considering that they have the

impression that no Black Mambas are alive."

    "Well." Jenka said." It's the temple barrier that surrounds each temple. If you can't get in then

you can't visit if you can't destroy it, then leave it alone."

    "Did people not try?" She asked.

    " People did try. During the Mamba m******e, Jackandi and I entered before the Cobras started

guarding this place to prevent any Black Mambas from seeking refuge here."

    "Did they try to destroy it?"

    "People tried to demolish and break in for the first three hundred years or so. But they gave up

when they came to the conclusion that they temple guardians had gone crazy."

    "Why were you cursed again?" Benga asked.

    "We mentioned that we're not going to tell you." Jenka said.

    "It's getting late people, we're supposed to be starting off early in the morning." Mupo said. They

had been so indulged in the story that they didn't notice time passing by."Where will I be sleeping?"

Mupo asked her.

    "You'll have to share a room with Benga. Just ask him where the room is he'll show you."

    "And the loo?"

    "Ask him too he knows this place like the back of his hand." Benga then looked at his hands in

confusion.

    "Huh?"

    "Come on big guy lets go, you need to show me around this place." Mupo said as he got up. Wolani

and Nima walked to there room without saying a word.

Jenka and Jackandi were the last ones to leave the table. When they laid on the bed that got them

cursed, Jenka turned to Jackandi.

    "Scourge?" She asked trying not to laugh.

    "They gave me that name because of the people's lives I took." When she looked at him, she gave

him a concerned look. "What's wrong? " he asked her.

    "Was it worth it?"

    "Was what worth it?"

    "Killing all those people and becoming a criminal." She then turned and faced the other

direction. Jackandi then massaged her on the shoulders .

    " When guards fired arrows at me it hurt , when they stabbed and hit me with their weapons it

hurt, especially the Pythons those guys have a really really hard swing." Jenka felt even worse than

before. "Where they punched me, kicked me, choked me and all sorts of stuff it hurt. That pain only

made me stronger. But there was more pain every felt single day, not being able to see you. That

pain, made me weaker. That was the most unbearable pain I had ever felt." Jenka facing the other

side was crying her eyes out. " Jenka? Jenka? Are you asleep damn it she fell-" she interrupted him

by grabbing his head and they shared a passionate kiss.

    "Thank you." She said.

    "For what?"

    "For making me happy again."