THE ANCIENT HUNT

NEW EXPERIENCES

They followed a big soldier whose voice was husky, deep and thick through the buildings of the palace and after walking for a while, they turned to the right and entered another part of the palace. It was a little darker and has tunnel-like passage but there were burning lamps to brighten the passage.

They walked for some few minutes and the rooms were visible, the building was made of limestone and it was built in a special way where all door posts were curve like.

“Wow this is so cool” Aditsan gasped as they moved further into the building till they were stopped in the big square of the building

“Now” the husky voice guy blared out and everyone stood still, his voice is indeed intimidating 

“Check your tags and go to the room tallying with the number on the tag, that’s your room” he roared and they all chorused a “Yes sir” before matching to their various rooms.

Aditsan and Ahiga ended up being in the same room and their roommates were all bigger than them with different tattoos on each one of them, one could tell they were gangsters

“Hello” Aditsan greeted as he came in while Ahiga just strolled in and went to his bed

“What a rude brat we have here” one of them said but Ahiga didn’t flinch a bit, he just pulled off his clothes, changed to a lighter one and climbed on his bed facing the wall

“Does he have trouble hearing?” He asked facing Aditsan who just shrugged before quickly climbing his own bed and rolled the sheet over his head, he doesn’t want any trouble as soon as he came in.

***** 

WAKE UP SOLDIERS!!! Rang through Aditsan’s ears and his eyes flung open immediately, he was confused about what was happening, he rolled over to his side with his eyes heavy with sleep.

“What’s happening?” he groaned and saw Aditsan already changing into his uniform

“It’s time to wake up you log of wood, do you think you are in the orphanage?” Ahiga fired and buckled his belt around his waist

Aditsan got down from his bed and lazily reached out for his clothes before trudging along with others to the square, the cold was killing but the clothes were kind enough to give them the warmth they needed at that point.

“We are going for training this morning and I hope you are prepared, we will be jogging all the way from the palace to the third market stop then back to the palace” the husky guy announced and murmuring filled the air

“Are they like trying to kill us?” Aditsan grumbled as he measured the distance in his head 

“You can’t die from jogging, let’s go quickly” Ahiga hissed and Aditsan gave him a deadly look.

“He’s becoming annoying” Aditsan whispered as he followed him out

They set out for the jogging and some soldiers were already complaining of being tired and exhausted but the husky guy leading the troop was not having any of the complaint, they were roared at to continue as moans and sounds of tiredness filled the air. 

Ahiga kept going with sweat all over him while Aditsan was struggling to catch up. After forty-five minutes they arrived at their destination and everyone wobbled to the floor with their chests heaving up and down

“This is suicide, how can they make a human do this?” Aditsan declared through his shallow breathe and turned to Ahiga who has been quiet all along, he just sat in a corner trying to regain his strength

“Were you a horse in your previous life? How come you are not tired?” He asked in confusion

“Who told you I’m not tired? It’s just because I have to do this” he replied gently, he was out of breathe too after all

“Well, it’s understandable for you, you are after something but I still can’t understand why I’m doing this? I don’t need all this, I should just go back to the orphanage, I might as well die in peace there than die of running for nothing here” Aditsan stated but Ahiga ignored him before the husky came roared for them to get up and their journey back to the palace began.

**** 

“I haven’t seen Ahiga and Aditsan all day, is something wrong?” Alona said to Aylen as he entered the room

“They might have gone to the mountain, they are not kids, they will come back soon” she replied and picked her knitting pin to resume the muffler she was knitting the previous day

“Well I’m just asking after them since I didn’t see them and that’s unusual” he muttered and lie down on the bed

“They will be back soon, stop worrying and go get something else to do if you can’t sleep, there are tons of work waiting to be done” she answered and adjusted her position to knit properly.

*****

Aditsan and Ahiga had finished washing up after their exercise and headed to the kitchen for their food while Ahiga kept looking around as they walk by the buildings 

“Are you looking for something? You have been scanning the environment all these while” Aditsan asked raising his brow

“Well nothing, I’m just trying to look around” Ahiga coughed but his friend was not having it, he knew it was more than that and his worried face gave him out already

“by chance Morgan? Are you looking for her?” He dropped and Ahiga eyed him 

 “I’m correct then” Aditsan said teasing him 

“it’s not like that” he snapped with a low voice warning him to stop but he kept blabbing his tongue at him which made Ahiga give him a hot chase but they soon caught up with each other and laughed it off as they filled their growling stomach.

They were gathered at the soldier building where they were addressed by Liam last night and most of them were getting to know one another while Aditsan stuck to Ahiga’s side. Ahiga is not the type to make friends or entangle himself with others but Aditsan was the opposite, it took him all his strength to stay back and not mingle with others so Ahiga wouldn’t feel bored all alone. 

After ten minutes, Liam came in a very beautiful purple checkered kilt with his knee length boot and a thick fur to match the weather

“How are you all feeling?” He asked with a smile and they all chorused a “fine” answer

“You will be trained in martial arts, running and other areas for the next two weeks and note every five days, there will be an evaluation to pick those who are fit, I will urge you to put in your best and also get along with one another, feel free to ask any question if you have and also try your best to obey any given command” he addressed them and they listened with rapt attention.

After the speech, the martial instructor came on board and paired them with experts to train them rigorously for more than three hours. The instructor blew the whistle and signaled for them to rest before they continued in other aspects.

They finished their training in the evening and strolled back to their quarters in groups before they saw a terrifying scene from afar and they all rushed there to see what was happening. A man putting on a uniform to indicate he’s a slave was tied to a tree, stripped of his upper cloth and left with his brown kilt and was being whipped hard by two hefty men while he cried out in excruciating pain. His flesh was swollen and some parts torn from the effect of the whip, blood was seeping through the wounds but the guards were not stopping.

Minutes later his head hung sideways and everyone gasped but others were not fazed, he was untied and carried on the shoulder by another guard while they all watched the evil sight. 

He had fainted.

“If you don’t want to end like that, you better don’t annoy the king and stay as low as possible” the husky voice bummed through from the back and jerked them. They quickly scrammed from the area and ran to their quarters in fear

“I’d rather just jump into a river than get whipped like that” Aditsan shuddered as they passed through the passage to their room

“That’s so terrifying” Ahiga admitted 

“I will never want to be in that shoe” he added and Aditsan seconded.

  ****

Morgan and Chepi entered the room decorated with different art illustrations on the wall and a small chimney by the right side. The room is very large with different ceramics and porcelains sitting prettily on some tables. Flowers were at the left side and the room smelled of rose.

They looked around before their eyes landed on the magnificent bed suspended on the wooden bed bunk. It was laid straight and neat without any crease with a white bedspread that has pink flowers embroider on it.

“This is huge and beautiful” Morgan gasped and Chepi nodded in acknowledgment

“What are you doing not greeting the queen?” A voice thundered before them and they turned to see a tall figure in front of them. She was fairly tall, neither skinny nor fat, has a porcelain skin and reeked of wealth. Her head was carrying a silver crown which holds unto expensive gems at the side. Her pink robe was flowing with the cool air.

“Are you going to stare at me all day?” She spit out to them and they both knelt and bowed their face to the ground

“My queen, good day” they both chorused and she brushed past them without returning their greetings

“You were the ones assigned here?” She asked as soon as she settled down on the bed

“Yes my queen” they both chorused with their heads still bowed to the ground

“I hope you’ve been truly lectured on how to serve me, I won’t hesitate to have your head for dinner if you make any slight mistake” she spoke out softly but intimidating and cold shivers ran down their spin

They are in for it.