Ophidia

CHAPTER ELEVEN( The hunter and his promise.)

    When Benga reached Skalia he had a hard time finding the person Jenka sent him to find, it took

a while but he finally found him and in good time too. The man he was supposed to find went by the

name of Mume, he was an aspiring healer, who at the time had a small shop and was selling elixirs for

healing and other purposes.

    After entering his shop,Benga cleared a table and laid Wolani on it. "Your friend....she's quite

beaten up there." Said the owner of the shop. "What happened to her?"

    "Mountain crawler sting." Benga replied and handed him the paper which Jenka have him. He took a

good look at the list.

    "When was she stung?"

    "About two days ago. "

    "And your bringing her in now?!" He said as he went to check for something on one of the shelves.

    "I was just following Jenkas orders."

    "There's no way in Ophidia Jenka would allow something like this." He said as he sat Wolani up and made

her drink it. She looked like she was about to die, but wasn't going to let that happen. She used the

little energy she had left to swallow the elixir, for she had a feeling that it was her last hope. "Maybe

being cooped up in that temple is starting to get to her." Benga chuckled.

    "Say, why doesn't she leave that temple? The Cobras have tried to destroy it and but its like the

temple is invincible or something."

    "They say, you can't destroy the temple until every single member of that tribe is vanquished."

    "But that's not possible the Mamba m******e happened over one thousand years ago. There's no way

some could possibly be alive."

    "Maybe Jenka is a Black Mamba." Benga and Mume looked at each other and then laughed in unison.

    "Ha ha ha....anyway she's good to go. Just let her rest for two days and she'll be as healthy as a

Zebra."

    "Okay...thank you very much." Benga paid the man, stuffed the vile in his pocket, picked up Wolani

and left the shop. He carried Wolani all the way to the carriage, set her down and started off.

When he was riding back to Mamba ruins, the thought of Jenka never leaving the temple lingered in

his mind. "Why would someone spend their entire life in a temple, healing the sick, caring for the weak

and tending to the wounded. It doesn't make any sense." He thought.

    He was still grateful for everything she had done for him. He just had a strong feeling that it

wasn't her choice to lead such a life." Maybe she's scared to leave, maybe she faced a great trauma

that has forced her to stay in closed in that temple. Whatever it is, it's pretty damn influential. "

Benga recalled the first day he met her,was five years ago, he 20 years old at the time and he was

out in the Mamba ruins, hunting for a bronze boar an extinct species, that at the time was on the

verge of extinction. He travelled all the way from the Python tribe

    It had fur that was the colour of bronze and had tusks that could cut through iron. He camped in

the black forest for several days and nights. He was determined to retrieve it's Tusks, he wanted no

weaker than the strongest tusks on his club and he wasn't going to give up because he didn't find it.

He camped for almost a month, when one night, he heard some loud grunting noises nearby his tent.

He slowly and quietly grabbed his axe, so that he wouldn't startle the beast. He slowly moved out of

the tent.

    When he stepped out his pupils widened with awe. It was the most magnificent beast he had ever

sought. It's bronze fur shimmered in the moonlight and its tusks were as big as twin daggers. It was

truly a site to behold.

    He walked slowly towards it but he accidentally tripped over some stones and his axe fell to the

ground, causing a ruckus. It got startled and took off. Benga grabbed his axe, jumped onto his Zebra

and chased after the swine.

    It tried to shake him, but Benga wouldn't budge. They weaved through the forest for 20 minutes,

then he chased it to a dead end. The cornered beast had no choice but to attack him. Benga jumped

off his Zebra and when the Boar charged, the Zebra bolted from the scene.

The boar sank it's tusks into Benga's leg." Ahh", he wailed. It came close to biting his leg off,

when he struck it in the eye with his axe. The hog released him from it's grasp and hardly had that

happened when he sliced its head off.

    He had no intention of killing it, but he had to if he wanted to stay alive. He extracted the bloody

tusks from the animal's carcass. He tried to stand up, but it didn't work out his leg was on the brink of

breaking in two. So he tied the tusks to his arm and crawled using one leg.

He crawled to the Mamba temple, in search for medicine. A thought then crossed his mind. "I need a

Black Mamba for me to access the temple. But Black Mambas are extinct so I bet the temple's snake

field is broken now."

    He crawled up to the entrance of the temple. Jenka heard a man grunting outside as she was

having her meal and reading. When he was at the steps he saw her standing by the door. He crawled

towards her. He reached outside the entrance and was ready to pass out. But Jenka couldn't exit the

temple."Come on just a few more steps you can do it." She cheered him on. Benga crawled a bit more

and passed out when his hand passed through the entrance.

She pulled him in from his hand and treated him. When he woke up he found his leg wrapped up and

Jenka beside him. "You were really clinging on to your life there." She said. "But luckily you came to

the right place."

    "You saved me how can I repay you?"

    "Just give me food."

    "How about I bring you food every fortnight and aid you in your medical work."

    "Ohh that won't be necessary I'm-"

    "I'm a hunter, it's no trouble for me and as soon as I'm able to walk again I'll find some nice food

for you. Plus I was planning on staying here anyway, it's really quiet and peaceful."

    "Thank you but It really won't be-"

    "Too late... once I make a promise I always deliver."

    "Well." She looked at Benga and thought, 'what a great man'. "Okay then it's a deal." They both

laughed in unison.

    Benga smiled as he rode the carriage but something made him stop. He saw a row boat docked in by

the sea of the Skalia forest. Inside the row boat was a girl passed out,covered in blood, with a spear

in one hand and a paper in the other. But the paper was drenched in blood so he wasn't able to see

what was on it. She was still breathing so he picked her up and set her down next to Wolani. He also

picked up her stuff for her. "Looks like I have another patient for Jenka." He mumbled and got back

onto the carriage. "Just one after the other." He started the Zebras and took off.