Pupa startled Farra, pulling anxiously at her arm to wake her. She opened her eyes and felt the ground shaking beneath them; a roaring rumble could be heard all around. A sudden spark of fear brought her abruptly out of her sleep as she looked up to see Bomani running across the field in the distance. She had been following close behind him through the night.
“You’d better run!” he said to her without so much as stopping.
“What’s happening?” she yelled after him, jumping to her feet, trying to catch up.
“Early morning hunt,” he yelled back, pointing in the direction from which he came.
She whipped her head around and saw a large herd of gazelles and zebras headed their way. She could not tell how many there were, but she figured it had to be more than a hundred. He wasn’t even going to warn me, she thought as she gathered Pupa and her things.
Farra took off running. The animals quickly gained on them until the children found themselves dangerously amongst all the running legs of the animals. Farra grabbed Pupa and quickly nestled the bottom half of his body into her pouch. Blinded by dust and the animals themselves, they were only inches from being trampled,
Suddenly, like a champion athlete, Bomani pulled his spear from his shield and thrust it into the ground, vaulting himself onto the back of one of a zebra. Farra looked up to him desperately and reached out her hand for his help.
“What about me?” she pleaded.
With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Bomani extended his hand. “Jump,” he said, “and hold on tight.”
“Are you crazy? I can’t jump up there!”
“You want help? Then grab my hand!”
Farra grabbed his hand and held on with all her might as Bomani swung her onto the back of the animal. Then he grabbed it by the neck and mane to try to control it. The defiant, untamed animal thrashed and bucked wildly to throw the unwelcome guests.
Farra frantically clutched onto Bomani as hard as she could to keep from falling off. “This is not good, not good at all. Can’t you control this thing?” Farra asked.
“I’m trying!” Bomani yelled.
The beast lost its footing as they came to a ditch and collapsed, tossing Bomani and Farra into it. Farra tried to stand.
“Stay down!” Bomani said. He pulled her back down and covered her protectively.
“Pupa!” she yelled and grabbed at him to make sure he was okay.
They lay at the bottom. Above them, countless legs and feet of the animals above jumped across the ditch. There was a brief pause and then lions passed, jumping over the ditch mightily as they chased their breakfast.
After a short while, Bomani sat up and poked his head out of the ditch. “They're gone now,” he said, “You can come out.”
“No thanks. I think I’ll just lie here for a moment. I’m still thinking about the fact that we just almost got killed. What were you thinking about — jumping onto that zebra’s back like that? We could have died!”
“We? What do you mean we? I knew what I was doing. You asked me to help you up and I did. In fact, I remember telling you back at the stream not to come with me; that it was too dangerous. And by the way, I knew you were following me the whole time.”
“You knew?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you are not my responsibility, that’s why.”
“You’re just mean.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“What does that mean?”
“What is that?” Bomani pointed to her face.
“What?”
“That mark on your face. It wasn’t there before.”
“Oh gosh!” Farra yelled. She touched the mark on her face gently. “It’s my mark of joining. It means that our sacred union has begun. See, Pupa has one too. You know what that means?”
“Yeah, yeah, your sacred thingy with your dog.”
“He’s a wolf. And it means much more than that. It means we are supposed to come with you. It means that the gods have approved my journey with you. It means I’m on the right track. It means….”
“Wait, wait, wait a minute! Does this mean I’m stuck with you?”
“Don’t be that way.”
“No, I mean it. Does this mean that you’ve made up your mind about following me around?”
“Yesterday, I went to see the Council and they gave me a test but I failed it because I let go of the crystal and there was a lot of crazy stuff happening in there but I thought I shouldn’t go because they said no but I came anyway and I wasn’t sure but now I am! Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah, just wonderful.”
“Don’t worry, if the gods have granted us the mark, it is for a good reason. It means you will need my help.”
“I am a warrior from Ufalme. I don’t need anyone’s help. But since you’re just going to follow me anyway, you can tag along. C’mon.”
He gestured to her with his hand to follow him, and Farra and Pupa trotted behind. They had only walked for ten minutes before Farra began to drill him with questions.
Bomani was quiet. He did not offer conversation or information about where he was going or why, even though he suspected that being kept in the dark was eating Farra up inside.
“Sooooo,” she broke in — an undeniable attempt at drawing something, anything from him.
“So, what?”
“Where are we going?”
“I am going to find a scepter.”
“You? But you said I could come.”
Bomani sighed, “Fine. We are going to find the magical Ifa Scepter of the gods.”
“Hah! No, really. Where are we going?”
“Yes, really. Long ago, we used it to keep relations with the god of harvest. That’s why everything has been drying up.”
“You mean the Ifa Scepter really exists?”
“Yep, and I’m going to get it, bring it back—and save the Kingdom, along with all the lands around it.”
“I have heard stories about it. They say that soon, our village will be affected by the drought as well. But, it is said that the Ifa Scepter can only be claimed by someone of royal blood, not just by some random boy.”
“I just found out about it. How would you know anything?”
“My people are sorcerers. They teach us things that a warrior wouldn’t learn.”
“I’m not some random boy, I am King Jumbe’s son, and someday, I will be King.”
“Mother was right then; you are Prince Bomani!”
“Yup.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.”
“Son of the King of Ufalme?”
“Yup,” Bomani said with pride.
“How cool. I’m going to tell everyone when I get back. That means Mongo is your Brother!”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Wow, Mongo’s brother!
“Well, yeah.”
“And so, where is it supposed to be?”
“The Scepter?”
“Yeah.”
“In the Forbidden Expanse.”
“What? The Forbidden Expanse? We aren’t supposed to go into the Forbidden Expanse. It’s forbidden.”
“That’s where I’m going.”
“Why would your father send you on such a quest alone?”
“He sent me because he knows I’m a great warrior. He knows that I should be king, “not my brother Mongo.”
“I don’t know. One boy, alone, in the Forbidden Expanse, It’s doesn’t sound right.”
“Hey, you wanna tag along? Deal with it.”
Chapter 4
BERRIES
The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter Page 6
