Chapter Four

“I accept to be the Bushika or whatever I have to be. I need the power to avenge the death of my sister. I will rise from being a common bread thief to the savior of the world!” Those were the last words of Alves to the people of Westlands during his goodbye speech. He bid farewell to them letting known his intentions of going in search of Arithayal, the wizard who was recommended to him by Trent Auriel, the first man he'd ever seen beheaded for doing nothing wrong. 

“Arithayal? Who's that?” some of the people around asked. 

“I know Arithayal, he's an old friend of mine.” An old woman said in the crowd. “I know exactly where you can find him. If your quest for vengeance will help us fight the tyranny of Arman Butshaf, then we would support you in anyway possible.” Citizens of the Westlands found hope in someone rising up to do what every man had been scared of doing in all the years past. They clapped and hailed young Alves as he walked out of the Westlands in search of knowledge from the great wizard, Arithayal. 

*****

The night was darker in the forest and Alves was all alone around the camp fire he set, taking little bites of the meat he'd roasted. 

Just when about to take another bite, his medallion glowed red. “Oh, what's that? Why did it glow red?” He wondered for a short while then continued eating.

He attempted another bite of his meat and the object glowed red again but this time, brighter.  “Give it to me now! Give me all the money!” A voice came from a distance. “Please that's all I have left. What kind of taxes are you collecting from me at night? Please, I also need money to feed.” A female voice pleaded. 

Alves rose to look towards that direction and he saw a house, two Doshikan soldiers at the door of a young girl in her early twenties. 

“I need to help her.”

He drew his sword and ran in the dark. 

“Leave her alone!” He sounded heroic coming out of nowhere with a sword looking all ready to fight. 

“Now look at this tiny man, coming up to be a hero.” one of the men said and laughter erupted among them. “I'll pretend I didn't hear that. I give you a chance to pretend you didn't see this, now go home boy, it's dangerous out here.”

“Its not dangerous out here, you're the one's who are dangerous. You're the danger!”

“Are you speaking to me? Boy!” The sound of his sword being drawn out almost melted the girl. “Please don't hurt anybody. Take the money and go.” 

“No! This piece of shit has disrespected a Doshikan, and he must pay for it.” Just after saying this, the soldiers lunched an attack at Alves forcing him to take steps backwards, blocking their attacks with perfect sword movements he learnt from the man who raised him. “Uh!” One of them screamed when Alves’s blade sliced through the meat of his laps. “Let's go brother, we'll come back another day.” The other Doshikan suggested, seeing they stood no chance against the young man they underrated. 

“Oh now you're running away? Don't want to harass innocent people anymore?” Alves mocked as they faded in the darkness. 

“Thank you so much for saving me.” The girl happily picked up the purse containing her coins on the floor. 

“It's okay, I'm not from here but I know what the Doshikans can do. They're all over collecting people's hard earned money in name of taxes and taking advantage of every weak person they see.”

“You're not from here? Where are you from?”

“I'm from the Westlands.”

“What? Came all the way from Westlands to the Midlands? Do you have any family here?” Her curiosity was mixed with concern. 

“No I don't have anyone, my destination is the Eastlands.”

“You still have a long way, do you mind if I offered you a good meal? A warm bath and a place to sleep for the night?”

“I'd be happy to have that. All of that.” Alves had the brightest smile since the death of his sister. It was awesome to see a beautiful stranger care and offer some hospitality. 

*****

“You have a beautiful home miss umh…”

“Nhevia, my name is Nhevia.”

“Thank you for welcoming me into your house.” He smiled brightly, seeing her approach him with a bowl of fruits, “You should start with these. I'll make you some porridge.” It was the best thing he heard that evening ‘porridge’ his very best in all the meals his sister used to make for him. 

“So Uh… All the way from the Westlands huh? What drives you must be really important to you.” Nhevia stirred the pot on fire. 

“I'm on a quest to find Arman Butshaf!” 

The cup of water in Nhevia’s hand fell out and hit the floor in shock. “Arman Butshaf?”

“Yes! I know everyone is scared of him and no one dares to stand in his way. But the world cannot be ruled by one man as he wishes. He can't keep making us suffer.”

“What's really pushing you to do this? Alves Bushika.”

“What?” He was shocked. He couldn't remember telling her his name! “Really? How did you know my name? And how did you know about the Bushika?” His eyes remained wide open and his Jaw dropped. 

“This is the Midlands, Alves there's magic and superpowers everywhere.” She replied simply with a smile on her charming face. 

“Wait, you're a witch?” He suddenly realised ‘Witch’ might sound too evil, “What I meant is, Uh… You got magic?” 

“I can see your past!” She said, handing him a cup of water. 

“That is amazing. But how is that possible?”

“I was born with it. When I gave you that bowl of fruits, I touched your hand, and that's all I need to see through anyone's past.”

“A physical connection with them?”

“Exactly! You seem really smart.”

“And you're really beautiful.” He took a bite from an apple then resisted the urge to wink at her. 

“Do you always flirt with girls you hardly know?” She tried to hide the fact that she liked the compliment. 

“You just saw my past, you should tell me. And I might not really know you, but I know you have a good heart.” He had another bite. 

It had been long since Nhevia smiled the way she did that night, living alone in the house her parents left behind after being killed by the Doshikans. She missed having company, and with Alves right there, it felt different. 

“So, how do you intend to get to Arman Butshaf? I guess you know the level of his power, the wizards he has on his side and the size of his armies. The Doshikan soldiers are everywhere.” She was concerned. 

“That's why I need to find the old Wizard Arithayal. The man who gave me this medallion said he's the only one who can help me understand my power and how to defeat Butshaf.”

“I know Arithayal, He's in the Eastlands, Oak.”

“Yes! Yes! But…”

“Yes I know, you don't really know how to get there.” She completed his statement. 

“Wait a minute, you read minds too?”

“Ha ha… No! That was just instinct.”

“Oh”

“Don't worry, I can take you to him.”

“What? It's a long journey that could take a week without horses. You would leave the comfort of your home to go with me?”

“I believe in your course. My mother always used to tell me stories about the past Bushikas, and when I looked at your past, I saw that your birth wasn't ordinary, you were born to help fight evil. I will gladly offer my help to you as long as your course is pure. And I have horses.”

“I can't thank you enough Nhevia.”

*****

“Ah…” A male voice screamed outside in the early hours of the morning, making Alves jump off the comfortable bed he spent the night in. “What's that? He wondered. 

He rushed out of the bedroom which belonged to Nhevia’s dead parents. “It has come again! It has taken my son! Ah….” The man continued the screams outside, making Alves more confused.”

“Good morning Nhevia, what is happening? He asked immediately he saw her approaching. 

“The Kodrogo! It's the Kodrogo!” Nhevia whispered in fear, “You need to keep yourself safe.” She added pushing Alves back into the bedroom. 

“What is the Kodrogo?” His forehead squeezed in confusion. 

“It's a beast! A scary beast that has been tormenting us for so long, it comes to feed on the people, now it has taken Michael's son!”

“What? Let me see the beast, it needs to be killed!” He drew his sword from under the bed. 

“No! It's too dangerous, even tens of men have tried to kill the beast but they couldn't. Don't risk your life like this.”

“Let me see it for myself.” He opened the door and made his way outside. 

There was no one out, everyone ran into their houses to keep themselves safe from the big claws of that scary beast. “Where is the shitty creature?” Alves asked, taking cautious steps down the corridor to the open where he saw fresh blood, definitely the blood of Michael's son. “Where are you!” He screamed. 

Whoomp! The beast landed right behind Alves “Oh spirits!” His shock was electric, seeing a creature twice his height and way over his size. The Kodrogo had a frog-like skin which was obviously thick, making every sword harmless to it. It walked on four legs and had sharp claws accompanied with a big scorpion-like tail which poised to strike with venomous stingers. One touch and it could leave a man paralysed. 

“Oh no!” Alves trembled, looking at those big bulgy eyes. He took a pill of confidence in the saliva he pushed down his throat, then ran for the attack, striking the Kodrogo’s leg with his sword repeatedly all to no effect. The beast growled and hit Alves with its big hand, the force of its attack pushing him to hit his back against a tree. “Ah… uh…” He grunt in pain. 

“You can't kill me! Not today.” The young, brave man declared as he saw the Kodrogo coming for him again, he crawled to reach for his sword, blood coming out from his mouth. “Oh no, oh no!” He cried seeing the beast dance its dangerous tail at him. “Ah!” His pain was let out in a scream as the Kodrogo stung him with it's most dangerous weapon, the tail. It opened its big mouth revealing a long sticky tongue. “It wants to feed on me. It wasn't to eat me!” Alves got hold of his sword. Immediately the creature's teeth reached for his leg, he shifted back, rose from the ground and jumped to sit on its rough back. Kodrogo moved in different directions trying to swerve him off its back but it couldn't. Alves held his sword firmly and pierced its eyes, making it emit a haunting cry, a mixture of primal anguish and unearthly howls. Alves finally fell off leaving the hurt Kodrogo to wonder it's way back into the bush it came from. 

“Thank the spirits you're still alive. No one has ever dared to face the beast like that.” Nhevia rushed to where Alves had fallen. “Can you stand?” She went on her knees and placed his head on her thighs. lifted his shirt up to reveal his belly and she saw claw marks, “Oh no! You're hurt more than I thought.” She cleaned the blood from his mouth. “Can you stand? Alves?” There was no answer. “Talk to me, can you stand?” Alves’s eyes were just looking up at her, not a single world uttered. 

A man rushed to the scene, looked at the young man's neck and he knew he'd been stung by the Kodrogo. 

“The Kodrogo, it stung the boy.”

“Oh no!” Nhevia cried. 

“The boy is paralysed!”