Chapter 3: The sorcerer's prophecy

The feel of water on my skin sprung my consciousness awake. I opened my eyes and saw that it was raining, the back of my head hurt a lot, and I relapsed into unconsciousness.

By the time I came to, the rain had ceased its dropping, and the sun had begun to shine. I got on my feet with a lot of difficulty, with thoughts of the condition of others on my mind. Their bodies were lying not too far from each other, and I feared Tonio might have hit his head against a tree because of the way his body was positioned. I ran towards him, got a feel of his pulse, and was relieved to find out it was beating steadily. There was no point going to check up on Tonia because she was already getting on her feet albeit with groans. I felt it in my guts that someone was missing, but could not quite figure out who it was. As if reading my thoughts, Tonio asked

"The dwarf?"

Yes! At that moment, it hit me, the dwarf that was tagging along. My conscience would not go easy on me if anything were to happen to the poor soul, I was truly bothered.

"Dwarf! Dwarf!" I called out, without getting a reply. After three minutes searching for his body, I eventually saw him lying beneath a bush, and was relieved to find out that he was snoring.

"Get up, Jonah."

"Sire" he whispered dreamily "I'm alive?"

"And snoring evidently, you're a drag, let's go"

We met up with the twins, who by then were ready to move. In a single file, we walked the clearing that led down the vale into the mouth of what used to be a gate. What used to be an active town had become a charred and desolate ghost town, all thanks to the mighty explosion whose shockwave tossed us like an adult would do a mango seed. The screams I had heard before the explosion rang in my ears, and I knew it was no doubt a siege, but by whom? I had no idea.

Tonia saw a burnt teddy bear in the dirt of a rubble, and picked it up. She swore audibly that she would get revenge for the atrocity commited. And it was indeed atrocious, for the smell of human flesh and hair filled the holes in our nostrils.

I stopped dead in my tracks, and while unsheathing my sword ordered everyone to keep silence. The sound of a door creaking found its way to my ears

"I hear it too", Dele the dwarf said out loud

"Shhhhh" we all faced and hushed him.

"Sorry" he whispered.

We had to split up so as to gain an advantage of surprise over the supposed enemy. I paired the dwarf with Tonio, and with Tonia, I trailed the sound to a basement door well hidden, it was probably the only thing that did not get blown to bits by the devastating explosion. While examining the basement, from the corner of my eyes, I saw a lance hurtling straight towards me and save for my sharp reflexes, I might have become impaled. I hit its tip with my sword which redirected its trajectory a few inches away from me. The man who threw it was dressed in white overalls, and had a full long goatee on a face that was devoid of any smile. Tonia assumed he was one of the destroyers of the town and charged at him. She swung her sword from her right side, but missed his belly by inches. I wanted to call her back, but that would make her lose concentration which could be fatal. Something about him made me want to stay back and not fight, but I had to help Tonia. Inhaling deeply, I sprinted, dug my foot in the ground and jumped so high, my sword glittered in the sun's reflection.

But the man was not to be caught unawares, and with a wave of his hand, he controlled the air and sent me flying in another direction. Then, with blinding speed which was ridiculous for an old man, he knocked Tonia out and approached me with the same dazzling speed, but I was ready for him, and was able to read his motion. Before he could lay a punch on me,I grappled him from his belly, and fireman lifting him from the ground, I smashed him right back into the ground. My sword had fallen when the air he manipulated blasted us away, so I picked it up from where it lay, and approached him with anger on my face.

"Who are you? Why did you destroy this village" I shouted, with my sword a few inches from his throat

"You're not Jube soldiers?" He asked

"Of course not, we're from Kosoko on a search for our igwoba"

His eyes lit up "You're the one"

I was confused "who?"

"You're the one, the chosen one"

"What nonsense are you muttering"

"Follow me", weirdly, this voice of his wasn't from the person lying in my front, I turned to my back, and saw a duplicate version of him. Looking back to the one at the tip of my sword, he had vanished.

"You're a sorcerer?"

"Call me whatever you want"

I was still unsure about whose side the old sorcerer was on, and leaving my sword unsheathed, I followed him. Off we went into the basement, it was dark when we walked down the steps, the light from the sun did not reach that far. The sorcerer snapped his finger and a flame stood on his palm, he used this light to show me markings that were etched onto the wall.

"Can you read it" he asked me.

It was written in a language I had never read before, yet I was able to decipher it at first sight.

I nodded my head in answer to his question. He answered me with words rather shocking

"This is the word of the gods, it was revealed to me that one would journey a great distance, and would be the salvation of all", he let me absorb it all in then continued "I have searched for who could read, but there was none until you. Read it out", he told me cheerfully

I cleared my throat and read the words "From whose mouth this is read, the same is the chosen one". I looked at him in disbelief and added

"I'm just a knight, I'm not chosen one. What am I even chosen to do?"

"To mend the soul of this world"

"How? That's impossible. How do I know this isn't even fake?

"You read something you haven't ever read before"

"Maybe you cast a spell on me" I retorted defiantly"

"Listen well!" He flared up " These people who got burnt were family to me. I went to gather herbs, and by the time I got back, they were dead. I am angry, and I want revenge! But my body grows old, and my magic weakens. And now, I have seen the chosen one who can bring peace to the land, and what I'm getting is complaints instead of determination and hope. What a chosen one?" He ended rhetorically, and walked out of the basement with anger.

"Old wizard!" I ran after him out in the open.

*Old wizard, I'm sorry! It's just too much responsibility to put on my shoulder"

"Then build more muscles", he replied cooly.

Tonia was already getting back to her feet supported by her twin who seemed to have just arrived at the scene with the dwarf. They, especially Tonia stared at me, confounded by the relationship I had started having with the sorcerer; the man who had tried to murder us.

"What am I to do now?" I asked the wizard

"What were you going to do before all this" he pointed his walking stick at the rubble around

"To save my igwoba"

"Well then... Let's go, fate will guide our path", he wittily replied

"Let's? Old man, your body can't take the journey"

"We'll see", he stubbornly insisted as my pleas fell on deaf ears.

I introduced him to the team, but made sure to skip the part where I was named the chosen one. The last thing I wanted was for the igwoba to see me as a threat to her reign, and word does travel fast. The hairpin still showed her heat signature on the map,but it seemed they had stopped moving, whether it was temporary or permanent, i was aching to continue the journey as fast as I could, although I figured the sorcerer would be a real drag.