Chapter 8 CLASH OF THE TITANS

Seven nights later, the cheering news of the misunderstanding between Pwasskop and King Dulaney Rumba tactlessly fell in the ears of Emperor Mariopole Barnaby and the delighted Emperor called out to Van Doren.  Van Doren greeted the Emperor's call with a triumphant gaze into his eyes and said to him, "yes,  your majesty,"

"Dispatch this message of hope to the disputed Diva at the other end."

"yes,  your majesty."

Because the super smooth spy is good at her job, she penetrated the Queen's chamber,  a highly restricted area to non-royals except with permission. She disguised herself in a white hooded Abaya just like Pwasskop's maids and went all the way to her presence before pulling back the hood to reveal herself.

"You have lots of guts to have gotten this far; I admire your courage. Who are you?" Inquired Pwasskop anxiously.

"Van Doren," she answered.

"Well,  Van Doren,  what can I do for you?"

"I was sent to deliver this message of hope to you,  my Queen: that the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the one you sought after is demystified by the one who sent me,  that he will help to bring him before you only if you agree to marry him."

Pwasskop went into reminiscence,  rubbing her chin with her fine fingers for a moment.  "who is this man that knows the whereabouts of my enemy?"

"He is of the noble house in a faraway land." Pwasskop sighs satisfactorily and said to Van Doren,  "It's volatile to see this nobleman and discuss this issue.  But tell him,  this is what he must do to perfect his prayers..."

                            ***

As the camaraderie between king Dulaney Rumber and Pwasskop continues unabated,  Van Doren,  the bearer of bad news went to deliver yet another message,  this time around to King Dulaney but the king wouldn't want to see anyone,  therefore declared himself indisposed. He sent his chief of staff to find out what this messenger has for him.

"Where is the king?" Asked Van Doren. The King's proxy replied: "it is as good as speaking with the king when you speak with me." Van Doren shrugs off and said to him, "the Emperor of Kazakh prays you to relinquish the alien in your custody or be faced with a crippling  discomfort of a war."

When Dulaney heard of this,  he refused to treat the news with a kit glove because he knows what his opponent is capable of doing. So,  he took Pwasskop to a secured location and mend all roads leading in and out of his city to checkmate the infiltration of Trojans.

"Ask the watchman about the situation at the front line," said Dulaney Rumba to his chief of staff. In a live chat with a palm-size gadget, the watchman told Bora that the situation out there calls for urgent action; the war that will be fought is going to be quite different from the conventional warfare we used to know. They came with strange flying devises that I will not be able to describe to you." "Take heart,  soldier," said Bora,  "we are going all out to confront the cowards."

Mariopole Barnaby led hundreds of thousands of his warlords to the front line with an assortment of weapons unseen and unheard of by the Dulaney's men. Unruffled by the sight of their war machines, Dulaney's men chant war songs and trod gingerly down a large expanse of a gentle rolling hill for a head-on collision with Mariopole's men. without warning, came a shot from heavy artillery fired into his regiment, ripping through them and downing scores that never rise again. Astonished at what he had heard and seen, Dulaney Rumber ordered his men into a temporary retreat and regroup again. at his command, his archers let loose sheaf of arrows into the firmament, forming a dark cloud of a locust-like swarm, moving rhythmically towards the enemy line before blanketing them in a split of seconds. The impact was a cosmic scale of devastation.

Despising the dangers posed by the loose arrows from the other camp, Mariopole Barnaby lets out an unholy ululation, pointing his spear in the direction of the enemy. Without batting an eyelash, his men barreled down the hill in a projectile motion, panting and groaning. like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, they plunged into each other, sparking a noisy clattering of spears and shields. The result was excruciating agonies of dying men taken over the airwaves

While the battle rages on, Van Doren hurried underground in a castle where Serenity Negrasario was hidden, and together, they melted into the thin air and appeared at the Emperor's courtyard. Serenity Negrasario was struck with the extravagant style of living of the Emperor that she asked, "how does this man look like?" Van Doren replied as thus: "you will get to know who this extraordinary gentleman is,  soon, my Queen."

When the vanquished licked their wounds, the victors jumped onto a motorcade of articulated vehicles and hit the streets of the Kazakh Kingdom, rolling in style. The procession waltz down major streets of the city and we're given a rock star reception by a hoard of praise singers, flattered and admirers,  displaying pulsating cultural drum beats. Foot soldiers protecting Mariopole Barnaby were swamped,  rendering their toil to dust off the crowd that sandwiched the Emperor like moths to a tiki torch, futile. Mariopole was pleased with the frenzied and weird moves of the addicted dancers,  whose senses were taken over by corrosive drugs,  thereby, giving them a false sense of confidence; running in an unruly manner,  wielding g their clubs and spiked balls.

Infected by the brewing crowd trailing his convoy, Mariopole flashed a broad smiled and jumped into the mix of the tumult and began to tilt and gyrate to the throbbing drumbeat,  smearing his face seamlessly with an immaculate piece of clothing in a bid to ward off the perspiration. His subjects tripped over one another trying to get a close look at their hero but his guards wouldn't allow them. They shoo the spectators away and staked claim to his person jealously.

At a certain point, Mariopole alighted and sashayed with grace into a dazzling castle with grace glazed with a superior taste of luxury,  built especially for the would-be king of the Kazakh Empire and was greeted by an urbanity polished woman, carrying an unmistakable sweet accent of the Necromancer,  she is the honourable Chancellor of the exchequer of the royal household, professor Basil Awol. He acknowledged the heart flourishing smiles and the cheering ovation from the soldiers with a pious hand wave.

With a minimal effort, the knob to an imposing golden door manned by two hefty men was squeezed open by one of them, laying bare ahead of him in a lavishly furnished chamber, leaven with gold and diamonds,  was a tall figure; slim like a hyssop stick. The sultry woman wore a pink transparent gown on scorching hot skin, revealing a perfectly curved body of a goddess and a fatally attractive look that commands attention wherever she goes.

She stood at the centre of a dome whose diamond chandeliers sparkles with the brightness of the sun, peering at the man that just walked in, whose face was concealed under a gold plated helmet. The man approached the sizzling Negrasario with a pacifying smile and a smooth but non-threatening style of communication saying: "my Queen, well one to my world," but Serenity Negrasario did not say anything in return.  She trained her eyes on him, analysing the personality of the man standing before her.

"My princess," he said, mindful of what comes out of his mouth in order not to stir up the heap of trouble right in front of him to avoid a merry blaze that could take an eternity to put out. "come to me," he said gently, stroking her hair.  But the Sorceress deflected his hands away. "there is something strange in your silence that I cannot poi t my finger on, is anything the matter?"

"If you would allow your guest the luxury of seeing the face behind the mask, they should feel free to reveal to you that strange thing g in their silence that you cannot particularly point your fingers on." The Emperor retreated to Van Doren. "I will not," he said point-blank.

"Well then, your majesty, I am here for a business and not to play the love game with you. Remember,  we agreed on delivering Hargreaves to me; put your words into action first and every other thing shall follow. She said snarled,  ready to pounce on him at the slightest of provocation. Van Doren looked trap set to rush in for the kill should Serenity launch an attack on her boss. Serenity Negrasario threatened to leave should the Emperor bridge the gentleman agreement they striker and promised to help his arch-enemy overrun him in a fresh upheaval.

"Bull shirt," he said,  slamming a pillar with his hands. "You haven't changed a bit, Serenity Negrasario," said the angry Emperor who walks furiously to Van Doren and removes his helmet and handed it over to her and turned around to manifest his real identity to his fire breathing out time friend.