The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

76.

Chief Banga was still in disbelief. A mere member of the dare, the youngest one of them all at that, had not only challenged his authority but made him look weak in front of his other peers. The young farmer's guts were to his detriment because now, all the member of the council were demanding results that he could not possibly deliver.

The hunter was gone, the deal for the return of his son was broken and the village was in shambles. There was no seer to help them through their mess and that was yet another problem that he was supposed to address. Before Ranganai was made seer, when his father was still alive, there were several masvikiro, who helped with communicating with the gods alongside the seer himself. They would have stepped in if a situation like the one they were facing had occurred, but unfortunately, they had been eradicated as people's faith in all things spiritual started to dwindle.

The absence of a seer in their midst was a bigger problem than he had initially estimated because it created a lot of its own problems, for example, if Ranganai was still alive, he would have approached him about what the strange messenger had asked him to do, perhaps he would have, only done so when push came to shove, but definitely considered it. He had been able to implicate Hombarume in all the grim happenings within the village, but his meeting with the council had proven that people still had doubts and questions about what was happening in the village, therefore, he needed to capture Hombarume and make an example out of him before the situation became completely out of control.

He knew that looking for his son at this point would be fruitless, but the council was still asking him why nothing was being done about retrieving the heir, not knowing that there were other less natural details to it all, if he did not rectify this problem, it could become big enough to swallow him anytime soon.

The Chief had sent out the search parties the previous day in all directions with the hopes that they would catch Hombarume before he went any further from the village, but what he needed was a sure way that would bring Hombarume back in one piece as he had been instructed to do because he was steadily growing more impatient by the moment.

That night he received another visit from the messenger of doom. It was as eerie as it was the first time it happened, as fast and as mortifying it had originally been as well. This time, it was not here to bargain, but to bring bad news and announce the anger of whomever it represented. The horned man, still maintaining his unwavering composure communicated all that he needed to.

'Banga, do you know how much anger and discord you have caused?' the deep voice asked.

'What happened was completely out of my control, how was I to know that my most loyal guard would betray me?'

'Your task was simple, but now, what lies ahead is not,' the horned man said.

'What do you mean?' Banga asked.

'The deal is void,' he replied.

Banga was experiencing a dangerous mixture of emotions, anger and pain.

'Return him to me now! Return him, you vile spirit!'

Just as before, the masked man remained perfectly still, then suddenly, he burst into a raucous fit of laughter.

'You are not in the position to be making such demands, mortal. You failed a simple task and now you will pay for it.'

'If you wanted Hombarume dead so much, why would you not kill him yourself, you evil spirit?' Bana said.

The horned man was still laughing outrageously, then he stopped as abruptly as he began.

'And what do you know about evil spirits, Banga?'

'I know that only those that are merciless would capture my son who has never hurt anyone in his entire life,' Banga said.

'And what makes you so sure that either I or my master captured your heir? You know so little about so much that is happening around you. I do not blame you,' he said.

'You came here to bargain with me, did you not?' Banga asked.

'I knew you were a crooked man, easily gullible, easy to entice into making questionable decisions without putting much rational thought into them. You feeble mortal men are all the same, you see, too predictable for my liking,' he said.

'Is that why you tried to make me kill Hombarume, do you even know the whereabouts of my son? Is he even alive?' Banga asked as he was very close to breaking into tears.

'Your epic failure and foolishness has cost you your heir, Chief of Rujeko village, remember that.'

Glossary

Masvikiro - Spirit mediums