Late in the middle of the night, there was a knock at a door. With no answer, another knock sounded out. "I"m coming, I"m coming!" a youthful but groggy voice rang out. Oli opened the front door to see his visitor basking in the moonlight. "Eefran?""Yes, Young Master Oli," The elderly voice clarified, "we have come here seeking refuge."
"We? Refuge?" rubbing the newly formed crust from his eyes, he got a better look at his surroundings. Sure enough, there was a large number of Tri-horned Wildebeests, young and old. Oli called for his mother and stepped out, waiting for her outside with the wildebeests. She exited the house and followed her son along with the wildebeests as they departed to the south, far from the wildebeest camp. "Okay, now spill it Eefran. What happened exactly? And save the formalities for the council."
"Very well, young mas—" Eefran stopped when he saw Oli"s sharp glare. "Very well, Oli." Reluctantly, Eefran allowed himself to see this youngster as an equal, due to the earlier demonstration of the boy"s wits. "Some internal conflicts has risen among us wildebeests."
"Some?" Oli asked.
"Okay, a lot of conflicts. Due to the conditions needed to remain here, the tribe was split into two factions."
"One that follows you and one that follows that idiot Ratten, right?" Oli guessed.
"Precisely. We didn"t want to cause to much trouble and our side even compromised, agreeing to flee the territory if needed. But the others wished to stay and try to talk things over with your uncle, trying to avoid you and your "troublesome mouth", as they put it," Eefran didn"t hide anything from Oli, knowing that Oli prided himself in seeking the truth. "And just so you know, their side has more of the younger generation that was taught personally by Ratten. They act mindlessly, accepting his false ideals of their greatness as truth. His father made me promise to support him and try to correct his rotten behavior, but as time pa.s.sed and he grew power-hungry, his arrogance reached unimaginable heights."
"So, to avoid more internal conflict, you just left?" Oli kept trying to learn more.
"We fled from our former brothers in hopes to stay here and build our own clan. Would you be willing to accept us? No matter the conditions, we will accept them," all thirty-three of the wildebeests present bowed before Oli in sequence, waiting for his decision to determine their destiny.
He looked at his mom, who shrugged her shoulders and smiled. It didn"t matter what he chose, she and the clan would follow him and his decision. Oli scratched his head and finally spoke. "Are you all willing to live in the plains to the north?"
They stood at attention and nodded. Eefran calmed himself down and nodded as well. "Thank you Oli, we"ll always be in your debt."
"Think nothing of it, I just hope to see your loyalty and willingness to work in the future."
"Of course!" the mob of wildebeests boomed out, following their new leader"s example.
"Great," Oli turned to a dark opening in the rockface to the south. "As for where you all can stay for the night, follow me," he led the ma.s.s of them to the entrance of the mine. "I presume that you know of this place?"
"We"ve heard mention of it, but we don"t know what exactly is in it," Eefran was shocked to see that Oli would easily let them enter now.
"Well… Would you like to find out?" a curious smile streaked across Oli"s face. Before they could answer he entered the cavern. "Come on in, you"ll be staying here for the night if that"s okay. I"m sure they won"t find you here. And hurry up before I change my mind."
The cavern twisted and turned until the light of the moons was unable to reach them inside. Eefran and the wildebeests didn"t know what to think and were soon surprised to see many small crystals surrounding them lit by Oli"s essence. They were blown away by the collection of magicite that only seemed to grow the further they went in. "Oli, are these—"
"Welcome to the magicite mine!" Oli stopped and announced to the wildebeest crowd. "We have far more magicite then we will ever need, but we will still need to control its excavation so that the territory can gain the most benefit. As for you staying here, don"t worry about yourselves. I"ll send someone for you in the morning and as long as you don"t take any magicite, there will be no further conflict between our two clans. With that, I"ll take my leave and wish you a good night," Oli bowed his head as he finished speaking and immediately turned around to leave with his mother. Eefran and the wildebeests were amazed by their surroundings and even more so by Oli"s kindness. It was hard for Eefran to believe that this Oli was the same one that had condemned the wildebeest clan not too long ago.
Ania and Oli exited the cave and stopped just outside of the entrance. They looked to the side and noticed Vloz emerging from the shadows. Oli was the first to speak, "How bad is it?"
"You already know that they"ve split into two factions, but I was surprised that Ratten"s faction was preparing to kill the other while they slept, I guess Eefran will be a wise ruler after all. Based on this, I think Ratten"s faction will either seek out Eefran"s or they will just wait till morning and claim to have driven out anyone that would"ve been against our plans. Personally, I think it"ll be the latter," Vloz gave his report without any emotion.
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Oli agreed, "Let"s plan for the second option. I have to go wake up Rathe and prepare for tomorrow. We"ll have to move forward sooner than we expected, but there shouldn"t be any issues. For now, keep monitoring Ratten"s faction and let us know if anything changes."
Vloz nodded and departed into the night. Ania and her son began their walk towards Rathe"s hut, already starting to set things in motion.