Sibuor Ratong" was flying high in the dark clouds. It pierced through them like a needle through a cotton cloth. Those on his back were squinting as surges of winds knocked them. No one wanted to talk since no one was in the mood of doing so. The flowers of the crew had been stolen. Only Apeleka and Jakony were females in this group of two humans and beasts. Their presence was being missed greatly.Roar! Roar!
After travelling for around fifteen minutes, a loud roar of an angry beast resounded just ahead of them. Everything appeared like a dot from afar but as Ratong" flew closer, everything became clearer. Everyone with Ochieng" at the moment had a consummate eyesight. It made no difference whether it was dark or not.
"That is where Apeleka"s odor is coming from!"
Mang"weya suddenly jumped excitedly waking the others from their own thoughts.
"Are you sure?" Ratong" asked.
"Of course I am."
After receiving Mang"weya"s rea.s.surance, Ratong" hurtled and arrived before the roaring beast. The beast stopped and looked at Ratong" with "I have failed my master" expression. The beast was as large as the enlarged Ratong" and looked exactly like a gorilla except for its creamy round eyes and brown furs. Ochieng" and the other beasts were looking at it ill at ease.
"Tell me where she is before I tear you into pieces."Ratong" vociferated in Lu language.
"Who?" The beast asked with a raised brow.
"Hey! How are you there, my fiancee has been captured by a certain creature we do not really know. The lady is pretty and was dressed in a scarlet furred skin. She is around 1.6 meters tall and has a chocolate skin. Have you seen such lady around?"
Ochieng" asked before Ratong" gave its answer in an anxious voice making the beast look at him sympathetically. In the end, the beast only shook its head to show that it had no idea of where the lady was.
"That is a lie! How can her smell really be here if she wasn"t here! Tell me where she is before I tell you how I deal with those who steal my sister in law behind my back!" Ratong" roared angrily making the beast quiver in fear.
The beast looked strong and could fight on equal grounds with Jade Eagle and even win. The reason it was fearful before Ratong" was because the lion"s glare made it look indomitable and it made the beast" hair stand on end as ominous feeling rose from the bottom of its heart. The only reason it was able to face Ratong" was because it had long known that the man on the beast"s back was an Ordainer.
"I have not even seen the girl let alone knowing where she has gone." The beast answered staidly.
Ratong" wanted to start a fight with the beast but was stopped by Ochieng". It immediately stopped though unwillingly. Ochieng" knew how unreasonable this lion friend of his was. It could not just be left to handle matters as it wished.
"Please tell us what had annoyed you the other time to an extent that you were uncontrollably roaring." Ochieng" asked with a grave face.
"I am Demure Monkey. I was "ordained" by Samoi Samoi from Sobu sub tribe. Sobu is one of the sub tribes that make the Lang tribe located above Kalek tribe. Samoi lived over ten thousand seasons ago. He left his tribe in my hands to protect it before he left to go and protect the whole of Keniya. The people of Sobu have never seen me in this form before but I have been watching them since brother Samoi left the tribe. All was perfectly well until a season ago when a sorcerer appeared in the tribe. He had been offended by the sub tribe head. To revenge, he created vacuous bravo to kill humans for him." The so called Demure Monkey recounted.
"What is vacuous bravo?" The ever gentle Mudho asked.
"They are dead humans forged by the sorcerer"s spell. He kills people through magic and then make them his puppets. They obey his orders unconditionally. It is impossible to destroy them and even I have been helpless against them. They have killed several people who have been turned into puppets as well. I think it is a matter of time before Sobu is turned into a park of puppets controlled by that sorcerer."
On hearing the beast"s narration, the others sighed in fear. Before any of them even spoke, the beast"s excited voice resounded,
"Ordainers are meant to save mankind from such evils and the One from above will always direct them to where they should do the saving. Maybe through following your woman"s trail, you were led here."
"How do you know I am an Ordainer?" Ochieng" asked looking at Monkey intently.
"Why should you ask that brother? I followed the twenty ninth Ordainer for more than a hundred seasons. If I can"t even recognize one, what is the point of living?"
"Oh, I am sorry. I am Ochieng" Lwanda, the thirty seventh Ordainer." Ochieng" smiled sheepishly before continuing, "If the One from above sent me here to save Samoi"s sub tribe, I will be more than glad to help. please lead the way."
"I am sorry brother Ochieng" but the people are already too scared. You cannot just match with your friends to the clan like that." Demure smiled shaking its head helplessly.
The others understood the monkey immediately. They also knew of Ordainers responsibilities since Ochieng" had told them everything. They did not want to cause him trouble. Ratong" and Jade Eagle smiled before turning into humans. The former was still enlarged since it was holding the others on its back. The tribe head, Mudho and Mang"weya looked at each other with bitter expressions for being out of this.
Demure also transformed into a human before they sent the other three lions into hiding. Instead of leaving, Ratong" realized everyone was looking at him with widened eyes and fallen lower jaws.
"What?" The confused Ratong" asked.
"I have lived among humans but this is the first time I am seeing such an ugly one." Monkey replied shaking its head with a smile.
The others burst out laughing. The angry Ratong" walked away with twitching lips and a scowl on his ugly face. Ochieng" and the other two followed it until they caught up.
It did not take long before they were in Sobu under the cover of the night. While walking across the "manyattas", Ochieng" discovered that the buildings were scattered in a large piece of land. The dry land was bright such that it could be easily seen even by ordinary people in the darkness.
"Follow me to my house" said Demure Monkey, "I am known as a human here. No one knows my true form. My existence is also mysterious to many here since I keep on shifting my dwelling places. Those creatures do not attack at night. I think we should have a good rest because we have a lot of work to do in the morning."
"Why did you stop us if you knew they do not attack at night? Do you have any idea of what we are after?" Ratong" asked angrily.
"This is also important brother. After it is over, we are going to find Apeleka. Do not just scold everyone here. Do not also forget that Demure was not the one who stopped us. I miss her a lot as well, you know."
Ochieng" retorted. This brother of his was annoying. The others could only shake their heads since they were powerless before Ratong".
Ratong" could only follow quietly in a dejected manner. They walked to Demure Monkey"s residence silently. Ochieng" was surprised to find that Demure had a wife and a beautiful one at that. The woman was just an ordinary human and was not even aware of Demure"s true nature. The monkey was popularly known as Kiptoo Ontoko and was known to be a hard working man.
Ontoko had appeared in the clan not very many seasons ago and because of his hard work and love for a clan he did not even know, he was given a place to build his home and was bestowed a wife. That is how he had been living since he was left by his master. He would move from clan to clan within Sobu with different appearances. He would live in one clan with a particular face and disappear when the disguise was old enough to die. He would then move to another clan as a youth. He was miraculously welcomed in every clan.
"I have lived for a long time in Sobu tribe and I have always done my best to ensure that it is safe. I did not know I would encounter this sorcerer at my old age and when on the verge of death. It is a good thing you have appeared Ochieng". I really did not know what I could tell my master if I was sent to the infernal region." Demure Monkey said with a sad face after they had cleared the meal his wife had prepared.
They chatted for a few hours thereafter and agreed to rise very early in the morning to go and deal with the puppets and their owner. During the chatting, Ochieng" and his friends learned that the vacuous bravos did not raid at night because they could not see at that time.