Ring Of Fire

Ring Of Fire 28

The Great war was about to start and the army from Anani was almost upon Ifite palace. The soldiers in the palace of Ifite were filler with confidence knowing fully well that they had Dan and Adola fighting beside them. They first positioned their arrows and spears while another set of the soldiers were ready with their spears. Other sets were sword soldiers and they wore blue. They were the strongest set of soldiers after the Dark Men of Ifite. Dan and the seer of Ifite were talking inside the throne room when the ruler of Ifite approached and tried to make Dan see reasons while Adola should be fortified by the Seer.

"Fortification? I don't need that. She won't need that. She is already fortified, what are you talking about?" asked Dan almost impatiently.

"She may be fortified by her mother but her mother is dead. Whatever fortifications she gave her will be wearing off by now and she won't know this until she begins to fight and then realises that she is more vulnerable than she thought. She is the woman you love and you would want to see her alive after this war. She is the woman the god of destiny have chosen to stand by you and I have chosen to fortify her in the name of the god of destiny. I implore you to think about it and think about it fast" he said and began to walk towards his shrine.

"I pray you listen to him for he speaks the truth" said the ruler of Ifite. Dan looked back at Adola whom they had told initially to excuse them and noticed she was crying. He walked up to her and held her shoulders.

"you are crying" he said to her and she shook her head.

"I'm only said that she had to go in a brutal way. She had always meant well to the people of Randa. She saved a lot of people yet none of then were there for her when she needed help" she bursted.

"She was a servant of the most powerful god. You need not cry for her for she will be basking in glory" He said and cleared his throat while Adola cleaned her eyes.

"Meanwhile there is a new development and I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it but you will have to do it for my sake; I want you to go into the shrine of the seer of Ifite and have him fortify you what lies ahead" he said and Adola withdrew a bit, examining him for a while before she scuffed and then spoke; "you don't believe in me all these while?"

"Why do you say that? a powerful army accompanied with the great witches of Anani are almost in the doorstep of Ifite. Don't you think you need more fortifications. I'm not implying that you are not capable but what happens to making you more capable; my heartthrob and my sweetheart" he said this and smiled. Adola could not hide the butterflies in her heart as she smiled too.

"all I have ever known was fight and speak in parables and talk about the fate of the world and then when you came I realised I'm a woman. You make me feel like a woman" she said and embraced him. "I will go to his shrine" she included and walked away from him. Dad stood there and watched her. The King of Randa approached him and stood beside him as he watched Adola go.

"She is a woman the god of destiny has chosen for you. All men have their destinies and one must follow his in order to discover more of who he is. I have followed mine for years; from being a prince to being the king of Randa. I believe it is who I am" he said.

"Kings have this desire to commit more sin than any living person on earth" said Dan.

"Sin? what is sin? Sin is what you don't like not what you like and for those that come to kill us, they have their own views about sin. You, Dan Anoshi in your mind you are fighting for the good of the world but how many will you kill to protect who? If the whole world decide not to worship the god of destiny will you kill them all? will that make you a righteous one and others evil and sinful. The god of destiny is regarded as the most powerful god yet he needs humans to function. He needs everyone. He needs you to prove his power over his enemies and he needs his enemies to prove his power in you. I think about the god of destiny and I think he is a game player. And I look at you and I say to myself; why talk against the god of destiny when he is standing right here with me. Do not be offended Dan Anoshi but sometimes life proves us wrong in a bad and terrible way. I hope you won't have anything to regret after this. I will leave you for now. The soldiers I brought from Randa are now waiting for me to come and lead some of them to death; isn't that what it is; yes, they await me to come and lead some of them to their early graves. Some of them are married with children and their children await their return. Some of them are newly married and have only laid with their wives once and the wives curl up in bed praying that the return to their arms" he finished saying and walked away.

Dan stood there for sometimes, looked towards the direction Adola took and decided to take another direction, to meet with the positioned soldiers outside and prepare them to advance towards the direction of the enemy.

Inside the shrine of the seer of Ifite Adola had walked in and was now seated before him and listening to the strange language he spoke. Most of the time he spoke to his deity and only spoke to Adola when he wanted to ask her questions. After sometimes the seer stopped and turned to face Adola. "What is your destiny?" he asked her.

"To follow Dan, to be his companion while he accomplishes his mission on earth" he said and the seer chuckled and said, "Yes, and you will follow another whom Dan will not be able to stand. I see betrayal in your eyes. I see your heart changing all of a sudden. Dan's journey will pause and then start again but during the time he will loose confidence in himself you will not be by his side. You will be by the side of another. I have spoke at length with the gods of Ifite and equally heard the voice of the god of destiny. They are going to allow something terrible to happen. I pray for Ifite, I pray for us all" he finished saying and Adola could not comprehend it all. She knelt immediately and began, "Sometimes in the past my mother said almost the exact words you just said but she said it while sleeping and when I woke her up she said she couldn't remember saying anything like that. Does this mean that what she said was inspired by the god of destiny?"

"We mortals cannot understand gods. They are called gods because they don't operate like us and they have the ability to connect the past with the present and the future. They are gods and I'm merely a servant. But yes, I have spoke words inspired by the gods and even I myself am afraid; we might loose the war" He concluded and stood up. Adola was greatly disturbed as she waited for him to fortify her. After the fortifications she rose and left.

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

The army from Anani was already upon the gates of the palace of Ifite and they were blowing their trumpet to announce their presence and send fear to the enemies. Yama moved like s lion in his full regalia. A mere look at him an one would understand how powerful and important he had become. He moved to and fro until he stopped beside his mother. "The enemy are scared to come to meet us. If they are scared and want their lives spared they should simply come out here and bow to your feet. I will then spare them and make them your subjects but mother the soil of Ifite forbids me to use my possession powers. I can only possess a mind I get hold of"

"Your words gladdens my heart son of mine. What would I have done without you. The leaders of Ifite had treated us how they liked because we were beggars in their land of Anani but today they will beg us or cease to exist. You don't need to posses all the minds of our enemies in order to bend them to our will for the army we carry will do that" spoke the mother witch and the rest of the witches made strange noises in response to her utterance. Yama paced again before he said to his mother. "They are coming"

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

The gate of Ifite palace was raised and a soldier from the palace of Ifite rode to them and stopped on their front. "This is a message from Dan Anoshi to you witches of Anani and to you Dark Men of Ifite; he gives you the last chance to change your mind and return to the land Ifite gave to you. The ruler of Ifite is ready to forgive you all if you... before he could finished one of the dark men had speared him right in the mouth and he fell of the horse and died at once. The Dark Men of Ifite roared like animals while their solidarity shouts reached the heavens.

inside the compound of the palace of Ifite, Dan who had seen what happened to the messenger he sent to the army from Anani put on his helmet, drew his sword and the rest equally drew theirs. Adola rushed out in her full armoury and was ready to fight the battle. The king of Randa was commanding his own army from the left side of Dan and the soldiers of Ifite. The ruler of Ifite was standing with Dan while the army from Amori was readied by their war leader and they were ready to advance against the enemy.

"Raise the gates and let heavens bear witness to this day. The god of destiny will prove himself today and our enemies will fall on our feet!!!" screamed Dan and the gates were raised.

Outside the gates Yama was was ready to command his own army and the Dark Men of Ifite were readily waiting. The witches of Anani had begun their incantations and this was turning the skies blue. The Seer of Ifite disappeared from his shrine and appeared before the army of Ifite and stood in their front. He screamed into the air and thunder blasted the skies and the mighty rock at the back of the enemies split and began to descend against the enemies. The witches used their powers to hold the rocks halfway the hills and the Dark Men of Ifite swept towards the enemy. The clashes of swords filled the air.

The Great War had begun and Adola was fighting like a beast. Dan was like a ball of fire against the enemies. The witches used their magical powers to direct the rocks to the cliff top and they rolled down the cliff. Then they decided to join hands together and bring Dan Anoshi to his kneels. They began their enchantments and the seer of Ifite appeared in their midst to disrupt their prayers but the fire in them was too hot for him and he disappeared at once. Dan could feel the effect of their prayers and he was screaming. He dropped the two swords he was carrying and continued to scream. Adola saw him in that condition and advanced towards him. Yama saw Adola advancing to save her man and he made straight to her, held her by the neck and immediately got possession of her mind. Adola lost her will and slowly went on her kneels in front of him and begged him to command her. Where Dan Anoshi was kneeing he was witnessing this occurrence between Adola and Yama and he was too weak to intervene.