CHAPTER I

Inside a dark office, a man could be seen standing, facing his window blinds. All of a sudden the lights were turned on, he was unfazed and generally unbothered, 'Thomas….' He said turning to face the person. The man looked to be in his early 50s dressed neatly in an all-black navy-blue suit and an eagle badge pinned to his breast pocket. 'Sir!' Thomas greeted, 'the paperwork is done' the tiniest of smiles appeared on the man's face. He sighed 'over a century ago, planet earth was paralysed …only of recent have we managed to discover, its assailants are not from this world…'his expression became grim. 'Our sweet, sweet planet has had 69 percent of it robbed ...this' he clenched his fist 'tis is most likely our last chance' Thomas looked torn on whether to reply or leave him to monologue. The man looked at Thomas, 'ever since ''the raid'' the major clans have been eradicated and now we have to turn to unlikely aids. 'But sir' Thomas finally found the urge to speak. 'For what?' the man was quiet, '…planet earth has been asked to provide ten individuals for a chance of survival ...' Thomas stared at him wide-eyed 'so these individual files of different nationalities are…' '..representatives' George finished 'our entirety has been reduced to rubble Thomas, the only populations strong enough to call themselves countries are the ones on those files …even ..Them' he said the last part with clear disgust. Thomas was in awe 'but sir, aren't they the ones said to have suffered the most from the raid?' George nodded in affirmation, but no one has been able to colonise them...They are unbeatable' George spoke like he couldn't believe what he himself was saying. 'Wow' Thomas shook his head 'when are they supposed to be sent?''Tomorrow, and, they…' he shook his head 'Nigeria, haven't submitted their candidate.

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''Esta come on already…' a lady walked tiredly as a younger boy tugged her arm clearly still full of energy. She was of average height, dark skinned which complimented her jet-black woven hair and her marine dimmed eyes. 'Fester I would appreciate it if you would desist being a bug' she sighed

Esta's pov

my hands felt like bricks , a whole day spent digging holes and dropping seeds In them, farming was definitely leagues above ''difficult'' my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of instruments from a little distance ' Esta, Esta lets go see' fester said as usual excited by anything. But I knew what was happening prince keji was being sent out to represent the nation. 'great another accolade for that pompous fool to boast about' I muttered 'Esta, what does ''pompous'' mean' fester asked, curious as ever 'it means being proud' his confused expression didn't waver, 'it means always letting people know about things you have done or are doing' 'ohhhhhhhh' he smiled, but the confused expression came back ' why don't you tell everyone that you're the one who works for the food we all eat and take care of ma-mas treatment' 'you see, exactly, now that would make me a pompous fool like prince deji' 'what?' oh no, I knew that masculine yet sassy voice anywhere, I turned to see price deji adorned in a gold garment, a whole lot of bracelets and his signature crown. He gave a smirk that screamed cockiness. 'You seem to have an opinion about the ''future of Zorro republic huh'' he said strutting a pose. Keji was easily close to 6 feet, sparkling brown skin, biceps occupying his arms and white teeth he made sure to showcase, enough attributes to make all the maidens of Zorro republic fall head over heels for. Well not proper thinking ones like me. 'oh yes, what is our self-proclaimed future doing around this parts' as if on cue, the instruments became louder 'that is none of your business…farmer' he laughed to himself, 'now run along ' he said gesturing in dismissal, now I knew something was wrong, keji never dismissed a maiden, never, he was a widely reputed as a womanizer. 'Interesting' I thought to myself.'C'mon fester, let's get home!' I said loud enough for keji to hear, once I was some distance away, I let fester go home and followed another path to the location I saw keji head towards. I carefully crawled along, using the bushes and sprouts as cover, I could hear his voice, was he talking to himself? 'C'mon man off all times, I need it now' I poked out my head a little to see who he was talking to. 'You refused to pay me as agreed in our previous arrangement' came the reply, one good look and I instantly recognized him. A robust belly, rough, hairy dark skin doused in white chalk, beads of different shapes and sizes hung around his body, Ori-damji, an infamous witcher 'I'll pay you when I return, if anybody knows my strength is gone, I'm finished' damji shook his head vehemently ' boy! We've gone down this path before, you deceived me last time, I won't fall this time around and besides there is no assurance that you will survive whatever you have been chosen for' then something I had never seen happened; deji went on his knees, hands clasped around damji's ankles, his face buried in-between his feet, 'please!!!' he wailed ' the outsiders have promised 50 million prize if I survive ,' damji wasn't fazed '…that is 2500 bags of cowries' he explained damji's expression softened , he sighed and dug his hand into his pouch 'oh thank you' meanwhile, it was now I realized what was happening, members of the Zorro republic formerly known as Nigeria have more than average strength , for royals most especially the males, their physique is evolved beyond that of the commoners especially deji's father, king bade the boar, conqueror of many nations and bane of the outsiders and colonists. But now, for some reason the heir to the throne widely regarded as the most powerful the republic had ever produced, was here begging for charms from a witcher. Damji was digging into his pouch for something but suddenly, he stopped, frowned and looked up, after a long pause he said 'NO' and walked away 'please ,I'm begging you' he was close to tears, but damji wouldn't listen ' besides someone already knows your secret' he said pointing at my direction. Fuck! Deji sprinted to where I was and grabbed me out of hiding 'YOU!' he gritted his teeth in anger I already braced myself for pain until a voice saved me 'prince deji!' someone called, probably looking for him he scowled and flung me into the river nearby, as I tried to swim out I saw him rearrange himself and walkaway…bastard!

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Here I was soaking wet, tired, hungry and walking home. At least I discovered somethings like deji's predicament and little details about what the programme with the outsiders, as I reached home, I noticed something was off, it was quiet, too quiet. I increased my walking pace and entered the house, traces of blood were on the ground. An ominous feeling swelled at the back of my head. I ran into the room 'oh my gods' normally my mother was always laid here, but this time she was bleeding profusely from her nostrils, wired to a monitor by ... 'nurse Ervo what happened' I was answered with a disappointed expression it was then I saw him, fester , lying on the bed, also wired to the monitor . Your mother started having a seizure, young fester ran to get me, before we both could come back she had already started bleeding and had lost 62 percent of blood, the only way to save her. She sighed but I had caught on. '..Was to stabilize her with blood from fester' 'and in that process, due to his young age and an anaemic disease I now discovered...' 'Wait anaemic disease?' 'they probably have about two months to survive, unless you have over 40 million' she said, her face devoid of any emotions except maybe little sympathy ' I will take care of them for that duration, clearly, you're not responsible enough' she said a chunk of disappointment evident in her tone . She called a few of her assistants and in an hour her equipments were carted away, another hour and stretchers were brought, a third came and my only family were taken away under more capable and responsible hands.That night for someone who had been tired all-day I couldn't sleep, I pondered on different solutions from begging to plain stealing and even killing myself before they would die. I shrugged the last one off, my mind ventured back and forth, question and answers , alternatives and aids, none was forth coming, even if the harvest season came five times in a year, I doubt I could make 40million, then something entered my head, 'Deji...'