The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter (27 page)

“Twilka?” Bomani asked “Like the berries?”
Farra bashfully smiled in response. It did seem odd to her though,
that a bird would be named after a berry.

“They eat the twilka berries as their main
food,” Baina explained. “Sure, you can get the adults to eat
something else, but not the young. They eat twilka berries, and
twilka berries alone. If there are no twilka berries for them to
eat, they will starve themselves.”

Farra walked over to one of the animals to
pet it. Its eyes closed as she rubbed its head. “Well, it’s a good
thing you have plenty of them around.” The animal seemed pleased by
her affection. “Can I have this one?”

“You can choose anyone you like. Just
remember, once you have reached your destination, they will return
here, back to us. I warn you though, these are very fast creatures.
They ride with the speed of a magical wind.”

Bomani walked over to one and it lowered
itself to allow him access on to it. He climbed upon it adjusting
to the odd way the center of gravity shifted under him. There were
no reigns, so he leaned over and gripped his hand tight onto the
feathers just behind the animal’s head.

Farra too mounted onto one of the twilka,
with Pupa sitting snug in her pouch. She was surprised at how
comfortable and warm the animal was. She did her best to get a
tight hold onto the animal.

“Take them to the gates of fear!” Baina
commanded.

With that, the animals spread their wings.
The children felt a breeze growing around them which became
stronger every second. Soon, the twilka’s were hovering with their
wings spread wide and pulled their feet in. Then they slowly turned
facing the same direction. Suddenly, with one quick sweeping
motion, like a swimmer pulling the water behind him in a frog
stroke, the wings pulled back in line with the body and the animals
were thrust forward, first Farra’s twilka, then Bomani’s.

The wings did not continue flapping but
stayed flush against the twilka’s body. Like a torpedo, they zoomed
out and over the ground weaving in and out of the trees. Farra held
on tight making no attempt to guide her twilka. Although she was a
bit frightened, she trusted, and left it up to the animal’s own
agility to keep them from crashing into anything at this great
speed.

Soon they exited the Manga village and
entered the dangerous Petrified Forest. Now the twilka’s quick
movements would really be tested amongst these sharp trees. Bomani
wasn’t frightened but more exhilarated by the experience. He liked
the feeling of zooming two feet off of the ground around, under,
and over fallen trees and obstacles. His twilka’s flight was far
more aggressive than Farra’s, rotating its body almost upside-down
as it turned. Even at these great speeds, whatever magical force
was used to move the air around the birds was also physically
pushing Bomani and Farra down onto the animal, keeping them safe
from falling off.

Soon they exited the forest and now they
were in an open land that was flat and covered in an orange-like,
rust-colored dirt as far as their eyes could see. With nothing
ahead of them but open land, the twilkas really put on speed. The
children were having the ride of their lives. It was now a race in
which all bodies involved felt the competition. They each urged
their twilka on to go faster and faster.

The twilkas understood the game; they were
like missiles speeding over the surface. As most birds flap their
wings to maintain and gain speed, twilkas instead would gain speed
by doing a series of
dolphin-like
motions waving their
bodies through the air as if they were in water. After five to
seven of these wave motions, they would have enough speed to
torpedo for another three hundred to four hundred yards.

In time, the flat terrain suddenly drew
itself up into a large sharp mountain range. This mountain range
was thin, but spanned for hundreds of miles in each direction, all
the way to the coast. It would have been impossible to go over the
top of it. Twilkas were not used to flying at high altitudes. Where
the peak should have been was a valley that stretched across the
entire mountain range; a rift between two plates that frequently
smoldered with hot, fresh new magma. There were only two paths
across the entire range. This pathway led to the
Gates Of
Fear
. The being that guarded it, was named, The Kitunusi.

The children riding the twilka approached
the entrance to the path with speed. Suddenly, the twilkas' wings
opened wide, which slowed them like huge drag chutes. Their speedy
flying changed first to that of a slow glide, and then to a halt.
They hovered above the ground until birds lowered themselves to
their feet. Farra’s twilka let out a high pitched purring sound and
bobbed its head.

“Wow,�� Farra said. “I have never moved so
fast!”

“Yeah, fun though. I wouldn’t mind having
one of my own. I wonder if they can fight.”

“I guess this is as far as they are going,”
Farra said, looking at the entrance to the path. She climbed down
from her animal and caressed its head. “The gates must be through
there.” Farra gestured at the gap between the ridge. “We’re going
to have to walk.” She reached into her pouch to grab Pupa and put
him on the ground.

Bomani also climbed down from his twilka,
“Yeah, looks like there’s only one way to go. I sure wish we could
keep these. No matter. I suppose that you can return to the Manga
village,” he said to the bird, patting it on the head.

With the twilkas left behind, Farra and
Bomani proceeded forward down the path with caution. Farra walked
one step behind him and clutched Bomani’s left arm. Farra felt a
great deal of anxiety; she wished that whatever was supposed to be
there would show itself. She felt trapped in this valley with only
two ways to go, forward or backward. She looked at Pupa who had
made it a point to keep close to her. She could sense that he too
was uneasy.

The passageway narrowed and ahead of them
was a small hut that had just barely came into view. They stopped
for a moment to wonder if this was a good or a bad thing. In the
Forbidden Expanse, it was best to assume the worst. At least this
is the way that Bomani went about it.

“Who do you think lives in the hut?” asked a
curious and frightened Farra.

“I don’t know. But if this Kitunusi is
anywhere near by, probably no one,” replied Bomani. “It’s probably
Ragga.”

“Ragga?”

“Heh, yeah. Hagga and Shagga’s sister.”

“Ha ha that’s great.” The joke eased her
fears just a bit.

They moved on toward the little hut until
they heard a voice. “I am the Kitunusi. This is my passage. You
cannot pass.” This voice was not deep or scary at all. It didn’t
sound like a monster of any kind, but more like a feeble old man.
And to match the voice perfectly, that is exactly what came out
from behind the hut, a man, as old as anyone’s grandfather, or
great grandfather. He didn’t move too well, his body hunched over,
frail from age and was covered in a less than fashionable cloak. It
had holes in it; the side was torn, or wearing to the point that
many of the individual threads had widened from the larger part of
the cloth. His slow movement was nothing unexpected from his bony
little legs. It was exactly the kind of shaky careful movement one
would expect him to have.

“That is the Kitunusi?” asked Farra.

Bomani was thinking the same thing. He
chuckled lightly, then spoke loud and firm. “I am Bomani, I am the
King’s son. I demand passage.”

“He doesn’t look so tough, but maybe we
should still ask him nicely,” Farra whispered into Bomani’s
ear.

“Demands! The boy demands!” the old man
said.

“If you please, sir. He doesn’t mean to
demand. But we must get across. It’s really important,” cried
Farra.

“Always important. Always important, people
say. That’s what they say when they need to pass. What if I said it
was important NOT to pass. Maybe that is important to me!”

“We cannot argue with you old man,” shouted
Bomani. “We will pass by you whether you give us permission or
not.”

“You do not have my permission. To get
through the gates of fear you will have to get past me. It suits me
just fine. I have not eaten in a while. Perhaps I will have you two
for dinner, and eat the rat for dessert.”

“He’s not a rat, he’s a wolf,” Bomani said
defending Pupa’s identity. Farra was surprised at Bomani’s
willingness to defend him. That was usually her job.“Remember what
Baina said, no fear,” said Farra proceeding forward.

“I don’t fear old men,” Bomani replied
taking steps with her. He intended on walking straight past the old
man who called himself the Kitunusi. He didn’t want to under
estimate him but why would Baina warn him against something that
presented no threat? From what Bomani could see so far, he had no
reason to be cautious.

The Kitunusi watched them get closer and
began to make good on his promise. With a simple thought, the old
man began to grow. The startled children froze as the man grew
hair, and horns, and his face changed to that of a grotesque demon.
He growled as he continued to grow in size until he was about 25
feet tall. Farra shrieked in terror, overwhelmed by the fear that
suddenly consumed her. The Kitunusi fed on this fear, with once
glance, he paralyzed her in her spot.

“I told you, you may not pass.” His voice
was different from that before, changing along with his appearance;
it was deeper, and he snarled with every word.

Bomani tried his best to keep it together.
“Okay, now I see.” He thought to himself. He reached for his spear
and mounted his shield onto his arm.

The beast leaned down, roaring viciously at
Bomani. His breath was almost strong enough to knock Bomani over.
Bomani placed his shield firmly in front of himself to defend
against it. He had never felt anything like it. For a moment he was
almost frightened, but an ounce of fear for him usually amounts to
a gallon of courage. “
No fear
,” he chanted to himself.
Everything has a weakness. He is bigger and stronger than you,
but you are better, you can beat him.

Just as he was ready to fight, he heard a
voice in the distance. “Bomani!” it called in a familiar voice.
Bomani turned behind him to see his father approaching along with
some of the Kingdom’s warriors. “Bomani! Stand back!”

“Father!” He shouted, both happy and
confused at his appearance. He took steps away from the Kitunusi.
“Father, how did you find me?”

His father rushed to him. “Anan has told me
what you have done. I sent scouts all over the Forbidden Expanse to
find you. Why did you go off alone?”

“I’m sorry father. I know that I shouldn’t
have. I wanted to prove to everyone, to you, to Mongo and mother
that I was strong enough to be king.”

“What were you thinking?” replied his
father, upset at Bomani’s motives. He became enraged. “You? —Strong
enough, or good enough to be king? You didn’t have to come all this
way to try and prove anything to me. I can tell you now, that you
will never be good enough to be king, ever! You are not even GOOD
enough to be a King’s son.”

“Father, what do you mean?” Bomani cried
out. “I am good enough. Just give me the chance; I can prove it to
you! I can prove that I am worthy to be your son.”

“Your disobedience is proof, you are weak;
both in mind and in body. You were never a candidate for the crown.
The decision has been made long ago. Mongo is ten times the man you
are. He is my only true son. The people could never love you the
way that they love him. Your mother and I could never love you the
way that we love him!”

The words that fell on Bomani’s ears may
have well been swords slashing through his heart. How could his
father say such things to him? The tears rushed down the sides of
his face, as he stood there motionless, unable to move. He may as
well had been a statue, his feet were locked into the ground, his
arms became stiff, too heavy to move.

The Kitunusi laughed. He reached for Farra
and grabbed her into one of his hands, picking her up. “Heh, you
should have listened to me and turned back. Now, you will satisfy
my hunger.”

Farra screamed out, “Bomani, help me. Snap
out of it. Whatever you see, it’s not real. It’s not real. If it
were your father, he and his warriors would be fighting the
beast!”

Bomani heard the screams of Farra. Suddenly
his thoughts were not of himself but he was worried for her safety.
She was right, common sense started to set in. His father wouldn’t
bother to stand there and degrade him while there was danger
around. He would fight the beast. His warriors would have attacked
by now. He gathered his thoughts together, ready to speak back. He
looked at his father, and suddenly he wasn’t scared anymore, he was
angry.