THE WATCHMAN

An Old friend

The Oraha followed the young man from behind as they walked for miles. He struggled to keep up with the young man because of his drunken state.

Finally, the man walked into an uncompleted building, the Oraha followed him as he climbed up the stairs and entered into a corridor.

The Oraha tried to make out the familiar inscriptions on the wall, which were attributed to the HigaSuki.

They seem to walk on that corridor for minutes unending.

When they finally got towards the end of the corridor, the young man stopped at a door, turned around to look at the Oraha, smiled, and said, Welcome to China!

He walked in and the Oraha followed and found himself in China.

They walked through the city until they entered the mountains. As they were climbing the Oraha became dehydrated and could not continue the climb. After a while, he passed out

When he woke up, he found himself in the room of an ancient Chinese monastery.

Rays of the sun trickled in through the tiny window and He could hear sounds of young men training outside.

He got up and walked to the door, he took a deep breath before pushing the door open.

The view he met took his breath away, beautiful birds were flying everywhere and whistling beautiful music to his ears. It was one of the most beautiful scenes he had seen in a very long time.

It was as if the events happening all around the world seemed not to affect this place.

"Nice to see you again old friend". A familiar voice behind him suddenly said. The Oraha turned around to see Jose Reyna smiling and standing behind him.

Jose Reyna was a man in his late sixties. He had full grey hair down to his beard and wore a robe. For a man in his sixties, he looked as fit as a fiddle.

The two men shared a long and warm embrace. "I missed you old friend", the owner has said as he held his friend in his arms. "I never believed you were dead. I always knew that you were somewhere. It's so good to see you old friend".he continued.

"Same here Bernard!" Jose Reina replied addressing him by his real name.

"Come let us eat, you must be famished from your long trip". Jose Reina said as he led him into one of the rooms in the monastery

Their meals were already laid on a low table and as was their tradition they sat on the floor to eat. The table was filled with all types of greens vegetables and natural meals. And as was the way of the HigaSuki, they never ate meat.

"Dear friend, the reason I came here is..." The Oraha tried to go straight to the point. "Please, we will not discuss such issues at the meal table". Jose Reyna cut him short as he was about to speak. "Whatever but you want to discuss, can wait till after our meal". he said.

After they had finished their meals, Jose Reyna looked at the Oraha and said. "Bernard let's take a walk and you can tell me that which is on your mind".

After they had gotten a fair distance away from the buildings. Jose Reyna said, "You can speak freely now my friend".

"Brother," the Oraha said, "a lot has happened all these years you have been away, so many things have changed. The world is in turmoil, the league is in shambles, both the watchmen and the timekeepers have no one to lead them. They are moving like a ship without its rudder. And to make it worse, Lord Murillo and his wife duchess Murillo have come out of hiding!"

The Oraha had expected a reaction from Jose Reyna, knowing the bad blood between him and the Murillos', but Jose remained calm and just stared into the distance as he listened to the Oraha speak.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Oraha asked, clearly surprised by Jose Reyna's calm reaction to what he had just said.

Jose Reyna didn't still didn't reply to him and continued walking.

" I just told you that Lord Murillo and Duchess Murillo are alive and tearing down everything that we built together and you are being calm about it? What does that make you? A coward!" The Oraha said trying to wind him up.

"What would you have me do?" Jose Reyna replied. "Would you want me to go there charging in like in the mindless bull?" "No, I have no bone to pick with these people anymore.

"Don't you care about the league anymore?" The Oraha asked, surprised at Jose's response.

"Where was the league when I was unlawfully banished and thrown to the dogs? Where was the league when I was threatened and almost killed? Everybody knew what was going on but nobody came to my rescue even you Bernardo!" Jose Reyna furiously replied

"You were all scared for your lives I understand and I do not hold that against you. I know Lord Murillo was a very strong man, so nobody dared stand up to him, but I at least expected some support from you. But I do not hold it against you my brother, these things happened so long ago and they're in the past now". Jose Reyna said

"And as you know it is not the way of the Higasuki to revenge evil deeds. It is best left to the Fates to repay people for their actions". He concluded.

*But you and I know very well that these things don't play out like that. Most times, evil people get away with their evil deeds so someone is supposed to hold them accountable for those". The Oraha said trying to convince him

" I have spoken my mind Bernardo, and nothing will change it! Nothing you say will make me leave this place. I have found peace here and I am happy here. Jose Reyna abruptly replied

" Even if you found out that the life of Antonio de Castillo is in danger?" the Oraha suddenly asked

His words stopped Jose Reyna in his stride and he turned to face the Oraha and said angrily. "Do not bring Antonio into this! Do not try to blackmail me into fighting your war! "You know how much I love that boy l, and how much I lost because of him, something you could not do for him, but I did. So don't you come here trying to blackmail me! He has done well for himself all these years, and I know that if anyone is going to get through this time it will be him he's a tough man".

"The Prophecy speaks about Antonio Jose!" the whole Oraha Suddenly said

Those words shocked Jose Reina to his bones, but he tried his best not to let the Oraha notice his reaction. "How could the Prophecy be talking about Antonio?" he thought to himself

" I do not believe you and you need to stop all these antics of yours! you are welcome to stay here as long as you like but when you are done, please leave. And I do not want to hear anything about the Murillo's or the league anymore!" Jose Reyna said as he walked away.

" I know you like it here and you are at peace. You believe you are safe in this monastery of yours, but just because the first wave of beastly attacks did not come to your paradise, doesn't mean that the next one will not if we do not do something about this. this menace will swallow us all up! Remember that when you go to bed tonight!" The Oraha said to Jose Reina as he walked away.

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Lord Murillo slowly opened his eyes. The bright light in the middle of the room hurt his eyes so he squinted a little before he could open them properly.

He looked around and realises he was laying on a bed with a wooden chair by the sole window in the room.

He tried to sit up on his bed but had pains all over his body so he slowly got up and adjusted himself.

He slowly placed his foot on the floor. After a while, he tried walking towards the window to see where he was when he heard footsteps coming towards the room

He quickly try to hide while looking for anything he could use as a weapon to defend himself but he found none.

The door creaked open and he was about to attack the person. To his greatest surprise, Ricardo Pereira walked into the room and greeted him. "Good evening my Lord he said. "Good evening Ricardo, how did I get here," Lord Murillo asked.

"I found you in the woods and I brought you back here with me. Ricardo Pereira replied.

"And where is my wife? Lord Murillo asked. Ricardo Pereira was holding a shovel in his hand which was dirty with sand and dust. Ricardo didn't utter a word, but he just looked down at the shovel. Lord Murillo then walked to the window and saw his wife's grave which was dug by Ricardo. He broke down in tears and began to sob. Ricardo Pereira tried to comfort him but he wouldn't be comforted.

Lord Murillo later went outside and sat beside his wife's grave and cried all night.

after a few hours, he came back into the cottage and sat on the table across from Ricardo Pereira.

" Ricardo" Lord Murillo called out. "Yes, my Lord" Ricardo replied

" I will need you to do me a huge favor". Lord Murillo said

***************************************************

Sergio Angel and Tina Gyang quickly reached for their weapons, as the banging on the door continued

"Who would have traced them to this motel?" they thought to themselves...

Suddenly they heard a voice that was very familiar to them... "Please don't shoot! I'm the one!" a voice said

" Julio?" Sergio Angel asked

"Yes it's me Julio". he replied ", Please don't shoot," he said

Sergio Angel and Tina Gyang checked the windows to see if there were any other agents or Watchmen around, waiting to sneak up on them as soon as they opened the door

When they were sure of their surroundings, they opened the door with their guns pointed at Julio and pulled him into the room, and locked the room door

Immediately he was inside An Angry Tina Gyang c****d her gun and pointed it straight at Julio's head and said

"You made a big mistake coming here after what you did to us. What did you expect a warm embrace?" She asked

"No! No!! I came for our good. I couldn't trust anyone, that's why I did what I did. It wasn't against us. I just had to play along till the right time". Julio said trying to explain himself.

"Sorry all you are saying doesn't make sense to me and I'm tired of listening to lies!" Tina Gyang furiously said as she pointed the gun directly at his forehead.

Just as she was about to pull the trigger, Julio shouted...

"Antonio De Castillo is not dead!".