Part 6 (3)

"Suzie!" shouted Babida as he woke up from a nightmare.

The tragedy of last night resurfaced and he remembered that he left the young maiden on the balcony of the administrative headquarters alone with the late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo and the dead body of uncle Bibi.

He looked through the window and the day had completely risen. So he quickly rushed to the bathroom and geared up.

Done, he wasted no more time, grabbed his axe and walked away. The logger went straight to the balcony and it was empty. The young Miss had departed from there.

He turned to the imperial sentinel that was supervising the corridor and asked him the whereabouts of the young maiden, to which he replied that she had finally left the balcony just right after dawn accompanied by Polo and a squad of his comrades.

The imperial sentinel added that he heard the late Governor's henchman suggesting to the young maiden Suzie that they travel to Ekule and organize a farewell funeral for the late uncle.

The imperial guard went on by saying to Babida that though the young miss was still in shock and had cried all night long, she became reasonable as the night was advancing. Thus, she accepted to leave the balcony and give her cherished uncle a decent burial.

The new Commander of the imperial forces was saddened he couldn't do much to support his companion and crush since he couldn't leave Okunde and go to Ekule because of his imperial mission.

He thereupon went back to his room and invoked the ancestors.

"My forefathers, be praised!" The lumberjack said.

"Last night you elevated me to the rank of Commander of the imperial forces." He confided in the ancestors.

"What a great honor this was!" He then declared.

"The men in uniform were boosted and together we smashed the terrifying bats." The logger pursued his statement.

"However, we also sustained losses among which the fall of a man of great value, a devoted fighter. The Commander Bibi." Babida painfully confessed with a shaking voice.

"But I know as I speak Commander Bibi is up in the sky with you. Thank you for giving him a warm home over there!" The logger concluded his prayer.

He left his room and went to the headquarters hall.

On his arrival in the main room of the administrative headquarters, the imperial sentinels that were surveilling the place, greeted their new Commander in chief with a military salute.

Babida greeted them back and asked them how they were feeling after last night's combat. They confessed to him that his presence on the battlefield had been essential for the victory against the devilish bats.

They told the lumberjack that they felt boosted under his lead and there was no way they would not have defeated the wicked flying mammals.

However, regarding the newborn Monster above the mountain situated in the north of the village, they believed they would need better preparation, for the beast was far stronger than the bats.

Their new Commander assured them that he had a plan and he would soon unveil it to them, to which the imperial guards responded that they had total trust in him.

After the heart-to-heart conversation with the imperial sentinels, the woodsman went outside and walked up to Okunde's garden to meet with the rest of the troop.

Some of the warriors were still dozing in the tents. They had all night long celebrated their victorious defense against the hellish bats' attack.

Babida greeted each of the men in uniform that were on the lawn of Okunde's garden. He congratulated them for their commitment and told them that the gods and the Emperor had certainly appreciated their determination in protecting the land.

Rapidly, the new Commander of the imperial forces Babida was surrounded by tens of soldiers who interrogated him about when the expedition to the forbidden mountain was going to happen.

"Soon. I shall let you know." The logger replied to them.

"Meanwhile, train and be prepared!" He then advised them.

All queries answered, he hence ended his visit to Okunde's garden by instructing his men to resume whatever they were doing before he interrupted them.

And as they were executing his order, the new army superior Commander returned to the administrative headquarters.

With the late Governor's henchman Polo gone to the imperial city Ekule to assist the young maiden Suzie in the burial of her dear uncle Bibi, Babida was alone in the management of the administrative headquarters.

So he thought about designating an interim aide-de-camp until Polo would be back in Okunde.

He went to the latter's office and checked the files on the desk. He saw a folder about the military expedition to the forbidden mountain.

He skimmed the pages thoroughly and noticed a scheme related to how the troop would defeat the newborn Monster that dwelt in the cursed hill.

Indeed the late Governor Kola II before passing away had instructed Polo the cunning to draft a victory plan over to the beast, for his aide-de-camp's ingeniosity was unlimited.

The lumberjack studied the strategy and learned it by heart because he thought it was a great one.

In the appeasing silence of Polo's office, the new Commander in chief of the imperial forces began to visualize how he and his men invaded the forbidden mountain and destroyed the villain bird that threatened the peace of the Batang empire.

Done perusing the secret document, the logger needed a man around him he could trust and together exchange ideas on how they could successfully implement the plan.

Before he was nominated in the position of new Commander of the imperial forces, Babida had remarked on a young imperial sentinel that was keeping safe the corridor to his guest room.

He found the rookie who answered by the name of Baba very sympathetic and smart.

After another thought, the woodsman was convinced that the youngster would be a great fit as the interim henchman.

"Guard!" He shouted.

And immediately an imperial sentinel showed up at the door.

Sitting behind Polo's desk, Babida ordered the imperial guard in front of him to call his comrade Baba, which the latter hastened to do.

"At your service, My Commander!" The imperial sentinel said to the lumberjack then left the office.

Toc, toc!

The imperial sentinel that was commissioned by the lumberjack knocked at the office's door and came in accompanied by the youngster Baba.

"Greetings, My Commander!" Both the imperial guards said as they gave a military salute to their superior.

Babida who was analyzing another set of documents on the late Governor's henchman's desk stopped what he was doing and glanced in the direction of the door.

"Oh, you are back. Great!" The new Commander of the imperial forces said to the envoy as he was pleased to see behind him the rookie imperial sentinel Baba.

"Well, your mission is over, for now, comrade. You may go back to your post." The woodsman enjoined the envoy.

The latter obeyed immediately, leaving the youngster Baba alone with the new Commander of the imperial forces.

"Please, come closer comrade!" Babida told the young imperial sentinel Baba.

The rookie executed hastily his Commander's order and moved forward. He halted his walk at one step from the desk.

"How old are you?" asked the lumberjack to the young man.

"My Commander, your humble servant is twenty years old." He replied to Babida.

"Yes, surely!" asserted the Commander of the imperial forces.

"Well, comrade! If I have called you, it's because I have a mission of extreme importance for you. However, it demands the man in charge to be as silent as a cemetery. Are you a tomb?" uttered the woodsman?

The rookie was shaken up by the declaration of his Commander since he wasn't expecting to be trusted so soon in his just beginning military career.

"Well, My Commander, just the fact that you ask me a question of such significance is already an honor for me because it means you thought about entrusting someone like me," Baba answered.

"Anyway, I'm ready to put myself at your service for any mission you will assign to me." The youngster added.

"Then it's perfect. Please, you may have a seat comrade." The logger instructed the rookie, Baba.

"Let's talk now about some state affairs!" He then said as the young imperial sentinel pulled the chair in front of him and laid his rear on it.

The new Commander of the imperial forces Babida then began to pass on key military intelligence to the youngster Baba who in a matter of seconds was no more a simple imperial sentinel but a henchman of the third most powerful man in the Batang empire.

"Well, comrade, we have here a war strategy drafted by Polo under the guidance of late Governor Kola II" whispered Babida to his aide-de-camp Baba.

The youngster was paying the utmost attention to his Master. His face looked serious as he was understanding that the moment required full focus.

"From now on till the return of Polo to the administrative headquarters, you will be in charge of this office. Your immediate mission is to study all parts of this war scheme, improve it if necessary and come back to me to advise me about how we can successfully implement it to defeat the newborn Monster of the forbidden mountain." The lumberjack instructed his new man of trust.

"At your service, My Commander." The youngster Baba replied with a heart filled with emotion.

The young man couldn't still believe how swiftly his life was changing.

"Well, comrade, let me leave now so you can occupy your desk and do whatever you have to do!" The woodsman then said and got off the chair.

Baba stood up as well and saluted his Commander as the latter walked up to the door and left the room.

The youngster was now all by himself in the spacious office that used to be occupied by the late Governor's henchman Polo and slightly shook his head, for he was still in the clouds.

He wasn't sure whether all that had just happened was real until he sat behind the desk and laid his hand on the top-secret defense document containing the war scheme against the newborn Monster of the forbidden mountain.

The youngster Baba sighed and prayed to the ancestors for their guidance.

Done invoking the divinities, the interim henchman Baba immediately started his assignment.

He probed all the sheets about the war strategy against the redoubtable beast above the cursed hill.

Bit by bit he mastered the contours of each stage of the scheme. Finding more studious than him in the empire would have certainly been a hard task, for the rookie was just a rookie by name.

The youngster Baba looked more like an experienced officer who had been accustomed to missions of high magnitude.

As the sun was about to set in Okunde, the interim aide-de-camp finished his study camp.

Feeling ready, he got off the chair and went out of the office to look for his Chief, Babida the lumberjack, and met him in the hall of the administrative headquarters.

"Greetings, My Commander!" The henchman Baba told the logger as he gave the latter a military salute.

"We may go back to the office shall you have some minutes." He then addressed the Commander of the imperial forces.

Knowing that the youngster was surely requesting his presence in the office for matters related to the war scheme against the newborn Monster of the forbidden mountain, Babida replied to him in the affirmative.

"Yes, I do. Please, let's go!" He said to his henchman.

And together they moved back to the circular bureau.

The youngster let Babida sit behind the desk, stood by his right side, and described to him how he thought the plan could effectively be put into action.

"My Commander, after carefully reading this masterpiece of strategy, here is how I believe we will get a victorious outcome." Baba began his explanation.

"We all know that it's a difficult and likely impossible task to go on a toe-to-toe fight with the villain." He then uttered.

"Therefore, though it's risky, instead of taking on the newborn Monster on its territory, we shall attract him to Okunde's north gate then drag him to the west gate where he would fall in the river and drown." The henchman advised the Commander of the imperial forces Babida.

"Hence we shall organize a commando mission to the forbidden mountain for two or three of our men to tease the animal and lure it to its grave: the river that flows on Okunde's west border.

Babida heard the words of the twenty-year-old henchman Baba and was in awe of his wisdom.

"Oh my goodness, the god of wisdom, Dibiyê, without any doubt lives in this young man!" exclaimed the lumberjack his eyes wide open.

"Comrade, let's then start without any further ado!" The Commander of the imperial forces Babida added as he stood up and looked at the now dark sky through the office window.

TO BE CONTINUED...