9 Chapter Eight

"What's this?" Megan asked Arun few hours later. "As you can see, its a baby boy" Arun answered his angry wife. "I know. Its a black baby. Where did you get him from?" She asked. "The gods sent him to us. I saw him at our doorstep this morning" Arun answered looking up to thank the gods. "If the gods wanted to help, they would have sent us a white baby and not a black one. How do you intend raising him in this kind of world?" She asked her husband. "He will face a lot of hate and neglect but we will show him the best love there is" Arun said trying to convince his wife. "Which love? I am not comfortable with a black baby. You know what they did to my brothers. You were there." She said angrily". "Reduce your voice. I can't just leave him out there. He is a young ,innocent baby who knows nothing about his country's wickedness. We will show him a different way of things" Arun said while trying to give the baby to Megan. Megan refused but after a while, took the baby from him. She looked at him and smiled. "Such a cute baby" she thought. "What will we call him?" She asked Arun. "Luke. We will call him Luke after my father" Arun said and smiled. Hopefully, things would work well but they knew that Luke would face challenges while growing up. Only their love can keep him going.

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"Did you do as directed?" Baptiste asked Luis. "Yes, but it was a baby boy" Luis answered. "Just keep it a secret. I hope he will be fine because that's the best for him" Baptiste said and asked Luis to leave. The next question on his mind is when Xander would come to play pick Anthonia.

Red capital

"Is Aroon mad? Another war? Is he not tired of the bloodshed?" Rafael said after reading the contents of the letter. He looked at the messenger and shook his head. "We are not ready for a war at a time like this. Yellow country has fallen, The dwarves won't fight with us and my country suffered the most from the last war" he added. The messenger understood what he meant with the last statement. In the last war, the red lost almost three quarter of their army while fighting the blacks. That really removed every ounce of courage they had. If they were to go to war against the blacks which he hope they wouldn't, they would have to convince the dwarves to fight with them. Only problem is, the dwarves are currently hiding. He looked at Rafael and greeted him respectfully. "I will convey your message to Aroon. Thanks for your time" he said and left.

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Few months later..

Burspor

"Why are you here with a child?" Mia asked her husband. "This is our new child" Xander replied his wife. "Child? Where did you see it? Do you have a concubine or what?" Mia asked looking confused. "No, she is from my brother. We will raise her as our own" Xander said. "Own? Can't they raise her themselves?" She asked again. "Take this child from me woman and don't question your King" Xander said and gave the child to his surprised wife. "Yes my Lord" she said and added silently "I hope your ego won't lead to your downfall". Xander looked at her as she left his presence. He had done everything possible to make her pregnant but all to no avail. She should be happy that he is a man of honor or else he would have gone to another woman. Even though the baby's name is Anthonia, he would call her Lucy.

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Yoovim (Black colony)

Bosede was pacing down her room thinking about her people when one of her husband's friends came in. " Bosede, how are you doing?" Tohib asked. "Oh, Tohib. I am good"she answered. "How's Mola?" She added. "My wife is fine." Tohib said and smiled. "I am here to discuss something important with you" he added. Bosede motioned for them to sit down and they did. "Have you noticed the way Black soldiers have been coming in and going out of Yoovim recently?" Tohib asked. "Yes, are they not trying to make their claim on Yoovim stronger? " Bosede asked. "That's what everyone thinks. That's not what's happening. They are selling yellow children to the blacks". Tohib said. Bosede could not believe it. She stood up and shouted " And you are just telling me now?" Tohib stood up to try and calm her down. "I had no choice. There is nothing you can do to stop it. The ones who fought against them were killed or sold" Tohib explained. "I wonder where the chosen ones will be born. We need that prophecy now more than ever" Bosede said referring to Madelyn's prophecy. Tohib knew what she meant and could only nod. Their ancestors told them about the prophecy. Many assumed it was a lie because it has not come to pass but some still hoped. "Even if they are born, how will we know?" Tohib asked Bosede. "I have no idea too. May the gods help us all" Bosede said. "What will we do about this Slave trade?" She asked. "We can't go to war against the blacks now" He answered and sighed. The blacks are just too powerful. Tohib waited for a while before leaving. Bosede saw him off and came back to check her daughter.

Afua was lying gently on the bed playing with her cloth. Bosede looked at her beautiful daughter who was looking more like her father. "What will I do with her? How can I protect her until she is older" she thought. What Tohib said hit her hard. No where is safe. Other countries are also being sold to the black capital. She can't even stand the thought of seeing her daughter as a slave. She knew what to do. The best thing is to make her strong and that can only be done by teaching her how to fight. For now, she has to take care of her baby girl. The fighting part will be later.

Village in the woods

"Please, have mercy! I was lost. I didn't mean to go out of the forest" a dwarf begged as he was being dragged by other dwarves into an opening in the village. "Liar! You know the way. You just wanted to see the outside world and that's against our laws" a stout dwarf shouted at the dwarf being dragged. "Nuus, you have known me since we were young boys. Why will I lie? I was really lost" the dwarf said. "People change as they grow older" Nuus said and urged the fellow dwarf to drag the culprit along with him. They brought him to the centre of the village and waited for the leader to come out. As they waited, other dwarves came out in masses to witness what would happen next. They knew the punishment for what he did but it was still something to watch.

An old dwarf with a long gown worn over failing skin with an axe behind him came out of a hut and blinked hard to adjust his eyes to the sun. He looked around and smiled as best as he could.

The others bowed down to him and he waved at them. The culprit was brought before him and he looked at him with almost sad eyes. "You went out again, Bis?" He asked. "I was fetching for wood when I got lost. It wasn't intentional. I heard a noise that made me run and before I know it, I was lost" Bis explained himself. "He is lying. This is not his first time" Nuus said angrily. The old man looked at the two of them and made some signs in the air. The signs meant one thing "kill him". Bis became stunned when he saw this sign. He was lost. He didn't go out intentionally. Now, he would die for it. He looked among the crowd and saw his wife and son. His son was scared and all he (Bis) did was smile at him and then to his wife.

He was taken to an hidden part of the forest and was beheaded. That was his punishment. The guards who beheaded him brought back his head and placed it on a stake in the village's center to show others what would happen if they do what Bis did.

Xhom- The Old dwarf called Nuus in and asked him about how they can improve the defence of the village. " My Chief, I think no one knows where we live. We have stayed hidden for more than three decades. Most of the outside world thinks we are dead. The only people we should be worried about are the giants and the winged creatures. I heard the giant sent scouts to look for pur hideout and some guards said they saw the dungs of the winged creatures not far from here" Nuus explained. Xhom sighed and got up gently. "Get some guards and secure the hideout. We need to keep them(Giants and Winged creatures) away from us. Also, take some food to the family of Bs. They will need it" Xhom said and Nuus nodded and left