THE ANCIENT HUNT

THE LAST TEST

Argan walked into the palace the following morning at the command of Great Maeil who wanted to discuss with him about the missing scroll which birthed the recruitment and the hunt preparations

"Long live Great Maeil" he greeted as soon as he entered the big palace hall where the king was already waiting for him

"Come on in Argan and take your seat, we need to discuss over something important" the King replied and the maids trooped in with trays of different snacks and teas, they tabled it before each of the men neatly and carefully before heading out of the hall to give them the privacy

"Did you by chance asked to see me because of the scroll?" Argan asked after dropping his tea cup gently on the small table in front of him

"Yes, I did! Don't you think we should know the location of the scroll by now? I'm getting impatient already" The King countered immediately

"I agree my king but I have fasted, prayed and did everything on my part as the chief priest to get the location but it's not telling or showing me anything. The only way out is to hand out the searching stone to the men you have recruited so that they can find them by themselves, that will be the best way out for now" Argan explained calmly and carefully

"the searching stone? this is my first time of hearing about that, what is that?" Great Maeil asked with a confused expression and Argan sneaked a smile

"The searching stone is used for guidance, it has been in existence for ages and it has never failed to guide whatever it was being used for or the person using it, we have only one on the altar which means only one person will have access to it and lead the team to search for the scroll" Argan explained further,

"That means the strongest and wisest will be the leader of the team will be the one to handle the stone" The king remarked with a grunt

"That will be the case my King" Argan replied with a small bow before picking up his cup once again for a sip

Maeil sent for Liam immediately and instructed him to carry out the last competition with immediate effect so the team can troop out as early as the next day.

"This is sudden, my King" Liam protested

"I know it is sudden, it just happened like that and we have no choice but to skip the rest of the competition and process so make sure you get everything that will be needed for the journey ready by midnight" Maeil countered

"I don't know how fast we can put them together and how fast we can do that but we will make sure to do our best". Liam said accepting his fate

"You had better do your best, the result should be tendered this evening and by tomorrow morning, I want them to set out on the mission. Remember, no one outside the palace must know what's going on because the people will rebel when they hear that the scroll is not in our midst, it's already hard as it is with this famine all over the land" he instructed

"All your commandments will be carried out duly my king, I shall head out to make everything available", Liam assured him and left the hall

"So is that all my King?" Argan asked

"That will be all for now, you can go" Great Maeil responded and dismissed him

Ever since he had taken over the throne, the scroll disappeared into the thin air and rain ceased, the scroll has always carried the chant and instruction of the rain ritual and it's absence means that they cannot hold the ritual which means there will be no rain for the time being and that was causing serious drought and faminine.

He was forced to organize the hunt for the scroll for the fear of people turning their back against him. Although he is brutal on his part, he still feel like he has to do what is expected of him as a king simply because he understands the power of unity amidst people, it will lead to a great calamity.

******

The clothes that were washed by Morgan's team were folded into the queen's wardrobe neatly and arranged according to sections and types early that morning, the queen woke up, took her bath and told them she would be picking her outfit herself for the since she will be visiting the king. She got to the wardrobe and started searching for possible clothes to wear when her hand landed on her lemon green robe, she decided to go for the bright color so she could attract the king's attention

"This is awesome and beautiful, this is will be a perfect fit" she muttered to herself as she turned in front of the huge mirror mounted by the dressing corner to check herself out.

She turned to check the second side when she noticed a small stain by the hip side. Her yell made everyone gather up within few seconds as they assembled to find out what was going on with her

"Who washed this cloth? who is the maid?" she yelled as she yanked the robe angrily from her body but no one moved, they all scurried to the back then bowed in fear and that only infuriated her the more

"I said who washed this particular robe?" she growled subtly showing her rising anger

Morgan meekly brought herself to the front to avoid more trouble that might arise if she repeated herself the third time.

"I washed the robe My Queen" Morgan gently informed her with her head still properly bowed, but the next thing that sounded in the room was her cheek that was met with the queen's hand.

"How dare you wash my clothes half-heartedly? Do I look like some kind of cheap queen? How can you wash my clothes so lightly and poorly?" she asked with her teeth clenched in anger

"I'm sorry my queen, I didn't know that there was a stain on the cloth, I would have washed it carefully" Morgan pleaded, and that only rubbed the queen the wrong way

"You have always been an annoying brat ever since you came, I should teach you some lessons so you will know where you are and who you are dealing with" she told her and Sharon fell to her knees immediately.

"I am so sorry my queen, it will not repeat itself again, I will be more careful the next time" Morgan pleaded with tears but the queen only scoffed

"Did you think I didn't see you talking to some dirty riffraff instead of washing my clothes yesterday? I only left you because I had something urgent to attend to but it seems we will have to revisit that issue now that this happened, you didnt take me serious that was why you abandoned my clothes just to talk to someone insignificant" the queen said with an evil grin

"My queen, he's just a friend from the orphanage, we have nothing going on, he's just a childhood friend" Morgan quickly explained herself

"You prioritizing your friend over I and my clothes is the reason why you will be punished, somebody there should get me my whip now" the queen ordered and Morgan burst in hot tears

The whip was brought quickly and the queen made sure to lash her till she was satisfied while others just had their heads bowed but Chepi was so unsettled, she was feeling her agony but there was nothing she could do for her poor friend.

"Let this be a lesson to all, I will not tolerate any disrespect, I mean any form of disrespect" The queen said while fuming with her chest rising and falling due to beating exercise she just performed

Morgan was helped out by Chepi and led to the room where she was laid on the bed with her back facing up since she couldn't lie on it, the skin was swollen due to the lashes.

"This must hurt a lot, how can she whip you this hard over some stains on the clothes? so inhumane!" Chepi remarked as she saw the maps the whip drew on her back.

She gently helped her to apply ointment and left her to cry herself to sleep while she went back to finish her core and also helped Sharon with hers since she was sick at the moment

****

Liam gathered every of the participants and announced that their last test will take place right on that spot and they wondered what the test could be, they were also scared that it was not announced previously so they could prepare themselves for it

"Distribute the sheets to them" Liam instructed and within minutes, everyone of them were holding a sheet

"You must connect all the maps by a dot on the paper in your hands, the first fifteen people to finish the task will be the final contestants and remember you have limited time" Liam announced to them and immediately they started their tests with murmurs and rants before they were told to keep quiet

Ahiga calmly scanned through the scattered map and thought carefully about how they were linked, for the first ten minutes he didn't touch his book or do anything, he was just staring at it. After another ten minutes, Aditsan was forced to call out to him to ask why he was not doing anything when the time was ticking away

"I have to think first, I will start when I'm sure of it" he replied and Adistan scoffed

"The test is easy, we are both good at map reading so this is a piece of cake, don't waste any more time trying to think deeper than necessary" Adistan remarked showing his matched dots to show him he was almost done

"I have a feeling that it's more than that, it's not just a map this time around" Ahiga replied looking at it critically

"There is nothing more to it, just do what you are expected of and submit before you get disqualified" Aditsan advised and before they knew it, people started submitting their works

Aditsan finished quickly and submitted while Ahiga was yet to start but unknown to him, he was being watched by the general who was waiting for him to start whatever he wanted to write

Ahiga finally picked up his feather pen and started writing few minutes to the deadline and in few minutes he was done with a smile on his face

He caught unto something!

Everyone submitted and they were accessed accordingly to how they submitted. The first fifteen contestants were picked and Ahiga's name was not among which made Adistan sad because he was called but before he could express himself, the general cleared his throat to garner all the attention to him

"The first fifteen contestants have been announced but I'll gladly announce the extra person who has proved himself worthy as an intelligent and strong leader" the general started and they all listened with rapt attention

"Ahiga has found the puzzle in the map and will be leading the team for the hunt, you all should rest now and prepare because you will be heading out for the hunt tomorrow after meeting with the king" the general added

"The disqualified ones can now go back to their houses before evening, make sure you leave on time after being fed generously by the king as the farewell meal" he said before leaving the yard

Aditsan ran to hug Ahiga who was still puzzled that he was named the leader for the hunt and hugged him tight in happiness,

"We are a step closer to our goal, we finally made it to the final stage" Aditsan remarked and Ahiga nodded in happiness

"We indeed are" he confirmed and ran off before Adistan could blink

He ran to the laundry side where he luckily met Morgan quietly battling with the robe she was beaten for, he went closer and hugged her from behind as she hung the robe on the line. She winced in pain and turned to yell at whoever it was but just smiled when she was Ahiga

"You still did the laundry today, you must be tired bynow" he stated and she nodded

"I have good news, I have been selected for the final batch and I will also be leading the hunt. Just wait for me, everything will be over soon, you will soon have your freedom" he said to her and she only nodded

"I will make sure I win the hunt and get you out of here, don't just worry about anything", he added before slowly looking into her eyes and placing an affectionate kiss on her lips for a brief moment.

"I love you Morgan" he stated with a smile before waving and running off but Morgan only watched him go in tears which she wiped with the back of her hand before bursting into fresh and loud wail.