Chapter 9: The Island Ahead

Two days had gone by in vain, and all our efforts to find her amounted to nothing. The city was too big to be combed in two days, but our search came to an end when Tonio, who decided to pick up a profession as a head porter, for the purpose of gathering information, met a fisherman, who would not stop talking about some unholy experiments being carried

out on an island not far away, he insisted that each time he went fishing, there was always explosions, and people in white apparel racing to and fro.

This piece of information was important, as it gave us a lead to where the Igwoba might be. Once I got the information, I decided to go out alone for scout work, I could not risk anyone dying on my watch. The sea next to the city was littered with guards in boats. Luckily for us, the rulers of the city did not want their subjects to panic, so they did not put out a search warrant for us.

It was a calm day with pure white clouds, and a steady glow of yellow sun, these made sailing easier. I found my way through the city, and discovered at the seaport that they took tours of the city. Armed with only my dagger, I bought a ticket, and joined one of the tour boats.

The tour host was speaking

The city of Jube started out as a mere clan, but the heroic acts of our Queen Jubelo, and how she conquered lands, gifted us this great and mighty nation we have today. From a nomadic people to a powerful well established kindom, that is the tale of Jube city. Over here to our left, we have the bay of dragons; the historic location where the battle between Queen Jubelo and the last two dragons took place

At this point of the hosts speech, his voice droned out of my hearing as I climbed down the boat into the cold blue water as discreetly as I could. Wading through it, I let myself sink, patiently waiting for the tour boat to move a lengthy distance and not be able to spot me when I began my escapade. I decided to begin moving when I noticed they were afar off, but something whizzed past me and made me hold my ground.

Arrow? I wondered if I had been spotted.

To my dismay or relief, whichever it was, I was not sure. It turned out that it was no arrow, neither had I been spotted, but it was something else; a brocodile. If we were on land, I would have little to no problem finishing it off,but I was in the legendary predators domain, a fate that meant death for anyone. Twisting and whirling, I made an effort to move faster away from the brocodile, and onto the island where it was no match for me, but my efforts could not propel me forward fast enough, and once again, it whizzed past me. Legend has it that the first two whizzes were tactical,and the third one was the attack. Instead of pushing straight ahead towards the island, I changed direction and dived deep into the ocean. Darting my eyes to and fro at the bottom, I saw the reptilian charging at me with its tail swinging sideways, it swung by me, and came close to nicking me, but could not get away with a bite. Relief engulfed me, but I knew it was not over, predators dont give up easy. I had begun to run out of air, and I knew whatever I was to do must be done fast. It had turned roundabout and was approaching me again with full speed, calculating its movement perfectly, I waited till the last possible second, then spun around it. It fortunately missed me again, but what I did not see coming was its flexible tail that smashed into my back and sent me spiraling on the seafloor. The impact knocked all the air I had been conserving out of me and left me gasping for breath. The Broco turned around again, and I knew that was to be my very last sight before hell's gate swung wide open for me, but I was wrong, because from nowhere, an invigorating electric charge ran through my veins, and my eyes felt like they were burning. With newfound strength, I unsheathed the dagger in my cloth, and felt more like the predator than the prey, I knew I was stronger and could move faster than the Broco by instinct, I don't know how I knew, but I just knew it. Patiently waiting for the Brocodile to be within striking distance, I gathered enough momentum, and like a torpedo, cut through it from mouth to tail. Its body halved, and the sea around it put on a colourful red. Gathering the same level of momentum, I shot myself up to the surface of the sea, and swam with blinding speed towards the shore of the island. From the view of a bird above, I was a black streak in the water moving towards the island.