Chapter 3 The Getaway

The Empress of Haaland who has just declared herself God of the Martian Planet was furious that Voithós refused to recognize her Lordship.

Voithós, who moves around like cloud, made a disturbing revelation that gave God sleepless nights.

"Your majesty, am afraid that there is a lad under your administered territory that is above the sovereign authority of her majesty and has continued to live in isolation in one of the conquered territories now under her majesty's jurisdiction, this young man's name is Hargreaves. Further consultations with the higher beings brought forth a disappointing fact: that this sapling holds the Elixir, which makes him outlived her majesty and the whole of her an ancestors. This youngster will one day rise and usurp power from her majesty; either here in the Martian Planet or another world entirely and the only way to stop him is for her majesty to have sexual intercourse with him, then, those powers that make her majesty beholden to him will tannish, only then will her majesty be able to seize the elixir and become a true God."

"Incest!" Roared Zuma in defence of the Empress. 'God' is not meant to have such thing with ordinary mortals; why then must she stoop so low before a filthy boy to allow him to desecrate her sacred body when she could have done so with the powerful, handsome and wealthy kings she has perished in battlefields?"

"Because that lowly servant was kind enough to have allowed her majesty continues to live despite what she has done to his people. If he wishes, he would have cut short her existence. In other words, she is his slave; until her majesty do something fast to change the status quo, she will die a pauper sooner than later."

The other two wise men, Viafiang and Nding gave the self-declared God a wise piece of counsel: "Your majesty, meet with this humble and yet powerful youngster and offer him your hand in marriage as directed by the Oracle; a gesture he will find too tantalizing to allow it go with the wind because he will be hypnotized by your beauty. While he is still in that state, you will quickly find out what makes him tick and then kill him before he experiences canal pleasure of her majesty."

Her Lordship, Serenity Negrasario, the Empress of Haaland and a God designate of the Martian Planet agreed to their advice and made arrangements to put their ideas into motion without further delay.

She sent out the three wise men on a chariot of a typhoon to meet this self-acclaimed custodian of powers that are said to be greater than the Sorceress, and God of the Martian planet to appear before her to accept an offer of marriage from her.

They travelled for one day and one night to Woulf, where this "important filth" lives. It was a deserted ghost town, devoid of buildings standing erect on their foundations except for one. They were astonished to find out a structure could still stand unaffected even after the severe battering by a powerful force of the Empress.

They advance closer to this structure and find out there was a flickering ray of light pouring out of the window. They did not hesitate to announce their presence to its owner.

"Peace be unto this house," greeted Zuma as they saw a figure seated on a rug. Without raising his head, the person wearing a white but soiled toga and a turban covering his head were writing in a large book with black ink and a long white eagle feather under a hurricane lamp answered them saying: "and also with you."

They were appalled that the young man did not show a sign of fright or apprehension.

"What must I have done to deserve a visit from such a powerful delegation of noblemen?" Demanded the lad absentmindedly. They were enraptured with the words of recognition coming from their host, who looks like an accomplished scholar of sorts to them. He offered them a seat on the floor made of jute, they accepted the offer and sat down facing him.

"I have no bread to offer you except ordinary water." Said their host who seemed to be worried about the wellbeing of his visitors. But his guest slightly leaned forward, meaning they are alright.

"We are not here on our own accord but of the Empress of Haaland, her majesty, Serenity Negrasario to deliver an important piece of information to you, teacher."

The teenager stopped writing and paid them the needed attention. "Go on," he said, I am all ears."

"The Empress desire you to appear before her, unfailingly the next day and without delay for an important meeting." The teen did not utter a word. He bends forward again and begins to write. After some time, he sat up straight and said to Zuma, " what wrong have I done to deserve to appear before the one who has wreaked havoc on my city, causing the untimely death of my brothers, and the destruction of their livelihood? Tell her that, Hargreaves moves not an inch from his position; if it is so important that she must see me, let her come to me alone." After saying those fords, the youngster did not say anything to them again until they left.

Her lordship, the God of the Martian went on a tour of the future city being built in the underworld and was impressed with the frightening pace of technological advancements and breakthroughs achieved by her men; huge steel mills were put in place and in it were hypersonic aircraft carriers that can go airborne within seconds, hypersonic missiles, jet engines, trains, cars and additional technologies not yet known to the worlds. "Bravo, Knightly, you have done well. However, break more barriers in the field of innovations and bring to life your creations quickly, we have little time in our hands."

Empress Serenity Negrasario became smoke and filtered out through the nozzle of the Tuulu and met the three wise men standing before her throne for more than six hours. "I cannot see Gandola with you, or is my eye deceiving me?" Asked her lordship, the God of Martian.

In order not to aggravate her majesty's anger, the wise men relayed to her in their words, and not in the hurtful words of Hargreaves that he will appreciate it if her majesty, the Empress of Haaland and the God of the Martian Planet to see him in person as it was a taboo in his culture for a man to go to a woman to discourse such weighty issues proposed by her lordship."

"I have seen this coming," said the angry Empress to the Voithós. "Do you think I should go there alone as requested by him?"

"Yes, your majesty," said Voithós. " am in total support of the idea; that would expedite her majesty getting intimate with him without ordinary mortals like you watching, it will also Fasttrack his elimination if you play your cards right, your majesty."

"You are dismissed," said the Empress to the three wise men.

"Come, Voithós," said the Empress. She took her to a large pond of clear waters, twenty metres long. "Wait here and guard against foreign body entering this water; I will be back in five minutes."

She migrated into the crystal clear waters and fades away and reappeared at the other end as if she has just walked out of her room and appeared outside.

"Puknik, daughter of the legendary Sulhu," said Hargreaves behind her. With her ability to turn three-sixty, the Empress has not to turn around to see who is behind her. There was a wild look of surprise on her face as Harvreaves addressed her with her Maiden name. Though curious and wanted to know how he knew the name of her ancestors, she doesn't want to give him the pleasure of knowing she was taken aback.

"It took you a long time to respond to my call, Puknik, now that you are here, go ahead and tell me what you want of me."

"I need you to marry me, Hargreaves," she said upfront, without sparing words for fear of rejection. Her outfit was transparent and radiant so that he sees in-between her thighs.

"Don't come any further than you have," he warned, "If you want me to take you in as my wife, go and give away all that you possess."

"What will happen to you if you failed?"

"There will be no failure, Puknik."

Without warning, Empress Serenity became very light and was blown away by a gentle breeze.

The Voithós looked at the Sorceress questioningly as she emerged from the water, with not a single part of the Sorceress drenched.

"He is nuts," confessed the Sorceress, "and a hundred times wiser than his generation."

"I need to be left alone," she said to thee Voithós and then strolled over the water to where the three rivers meet, beating each other by throwing walls of waves upon each other. The water at the middle of the river rose to great heights in human shape before her majesty, waiting patiently to hear what she has to say. "Am sorry that I have to do this," she said to the combatant and then compelled all that belongs to her to move into the Tuulu, including the glittering Castle, the three wise men, Voithós and all the wild and domestic animals on the Martian Planet. She held the cherished possession close to her chest and went after Hargreaves.

She met Hargreaves standing in a roofless part of the structure destroyed by the invaders, inspecting a complicated oval-shaped maze with a circumference large enough to admit two hundred people standing. At the centre of the maze was a large dark hole.

"What is the significance of this to you, Hargreaves?" asked the Sorceress as she waddles barefooted around the maze until she finds herself standing face to face with him. "It's a game of chance that we used to play when things were not as dismal as the present; where a coveted item will be thrown in the labyrinth, and the contestants will strife to get to the prize, whoever got there first will take it all." Serenity Negrasario paid little attention to what he took pains to explain to her. All she was after is her grand plan to milk him empty of whatever powers he has and get out of that miserable place.

"Now that I have effected your wishes, it's your turn to carry out mine." Said the Sorceress poignantly.

Hargreaves, for the first time, reached out to the Sorceress and held her around her waist. He lured her into the maze and lay her down and ran his hands gently over her body. She seems to be enjoying it but also her mind was on her coveted belonging. He spoke smooth words into her face, not known to the Empress they were spells. The Tuulu slipped out of her hand and lands into the maze and began a rapid journey towards the dark hole noiselessly at first. When the Sorceress noticed that Hargreaves was no longer paying attention to her but on something else, she set her eye in that direction also and found out that all she possessed was about going down the drain. A powerful surge of strength swept over her and lifted her off the ground and went after the Tuulu. Instantly, both of them altered themselves into flames and fought each other dirty with weapons like streaks of lightning.

With one powerful thrust, Hargreaves sent a thunderbolt to the Empress, sending her crashing into the stone walls. Seeing that she is about to lose the battle to Hargreaves, she melts the stone walls into red hot volcanic lava and shaped the boiling magma into an Octopus' tentacles; with each tentacle bearing an old woman's hands; full of wrinkles and talons, and whipped them to all direction but missed Hargreaves by the whiskers.

The Sorceress launched another attack again and was almost within striking distance to Hargreaves but was too late, for Hargreaves had already harked the Tuulu and went down the dark hole with it, beginning a voyage of a billion miles into the cosmic superhighway into the unknown; leaving behind the Sorceress feeling robbed and bereaved. Out of sheer greed and hardheadedness, the Sorceress gave Hargreaves a good chase.

At the twinkle of an eye, Hargreaves has hit the Exosphere, a region about 400 miles above the Martian Planet, then, a Pharaonic blast followed, shattering the Martian Planet into pebbles and sets the entire universe aglow.