The Conqueror Series

THE MISSION 1

When Adere left home that night his mother was worried because of the strange dream she had the night before. Adere was her only son and Adere was against her marrying another man after the death of his father.

The night before, Adere's mother had sat on her bamboo bed to recount the ordeal that led to her first husband's death'; Adere's father. This was after her dream. She had cried her eyes out that night and begged the gods to spare her only son. Adere had made plans to travel to his father's maternal home the day before and that night's dream was a warning. According to Adere' mother. "if Adere goes he won't return" this was a voice she heard in the dream and she wondered what it meant.

Adere's father was a great hunter and was well respected in all the nine kingdoms of Aba. Aba was ruled by one king and the other eight subordinate kings had reported numerous cases of the The Beast in the land. The Beast was half human and half lion and this beast first came into existence many centuries ago. According to Adere's father before he died he told Adere that his own father used to say a particular line,_"The Beast won't return" He told Adere that his father was killed by the beast and his father before him. There was hardly an old person in Aba because of the strange beast. The tears in his father's eyes that night troubled Adere and he was disturbed.

On the night Adere left, his mother ran to his front and knelt and began to beg but Adere's mind was made up. "Mama, if something is calling me then I must go and answer" he said.

"Not when you don't know what is calling you" said the mother as she cried even the more.

"Mama you cannot stop me and there is nothing anyone can say that will stop me. I have a calling...

"my dream last night...

"Your dream means a lot to me and so are you mother but I want you to know that this thing about our family has become our destiny. We know things and we see things. I have heard this divine calling and nothing can stop me on the way unless I choose to stop myself" Adere said and walked out while his mother cried. Her husband had come out to hold her up, saying, "There are some who come into the world as students but there are others as teachers. Your son is neither a teacher nor a student; he is something more. allow him to find out" The man said and Adere's mother stopped crying at once and nodded.

In the grand palace of Aba, the king had sought for solutions and had failed to unravel the misery behind the ancient beast and how to put an end to it. One day he said, "Even if I have to pay with my own life for the tale of the beast to become a distant memory I would do so. But now I can't do anything for my people. I can't save them. I can't even save my own household. My father saw this trouble and so was his fathers before him. Who then will stop this?" He sat on his throne and sighed deeply. The Queen was sitting and glaring at him. She coughed and the king looked at her. "are you okay?" he asked. The Queen stood and bowed before him before saying, "I know that this issue is not just giving you sleepless nights but also troubling the very foundation of Aba kingdom. The people are scared and they look up to you for solution. The mothers loose their children and the fathers don't get old. The streams are deserted and the weeds in the farms grow more than the crops. The people are scared to go out and the kings under you are helpless. My king, I had a strange dream last night.

"me too" said the king. "I saw a man embark on a journey...

"And he said he was going to put to an end the problem in our home" the Queen completed it and the King looked at her carefully. "that was the same thing I saw" he said.

"he was tall, dark and...

"and had a scar on his face" the King said and the Queen's jaw dropped. "if we both saw the same thing then it is as serious as it sounds. We must send for the Great Seer. let him reveal to us the meaning behind this dream" said the king and a guard was called and asked to send for the messenger.

When the messenger arrived the king said, "go now to the Great Seer's shrine and tell him that the royal household demands his presence. it is urgent and he must not give you any excuse why he won't be coming down here with you. take this seal" he gave him a royal seal.

"When you show him this he will know how urgent his presence is needed" the king concluded and the messenger left immediately. He went outside and took two of his subordinates and went to the Great Seers shrine.

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