The Sorcerer And The Protesters

      "Is he also with you? He seems restless. And I do not deem the restless folks fit for my attention."

   The sorcerer said sharing his gaze between the boatman and Jimin. Twas hard to tell who he was referring to in precision. 

    Jimin was about to talk when Tzu hopped on the discourse in his place,

    "He is our rider. He's with us. But we could make him stay outside if he should bother any further."

    "Let him stay. He seems old enough to tame the wild part of him. And if he doesn't, I might be forced to cast a spell on him."

    The sorcerer added. Jim was getting fed up of the tale of the man. He almost spilled the mud. 

   The boatman was seated beside him. He had no idea why he had made that mistake. Tzu was seating opposite them and the sorcerer was standing at their front before the throne. 

    The boatman pinched him by the side again. Jim thought for a while if the fellow really was an adult, or a boy in the shadow of a man. 

    He ignored him and stood up. He walked to Tzu and sat beside him. He knew the sorcerer with dirty beards would have something to say. What difference would it make?

    Now let's see who the psychotic boatman would kick into distress. 

    "What brings you here? This is not the good time for any stranger. Strangers had caused all the lands in this region a great harm."

    The man said again. He took his seat on a stool. He was sucking from what looked like a narrow skin made from the hide of a wild cat. 

   The fading odds of the skin made it difficult to tell if twas a tiger's, cheetah's or a cougar's. Twas none of their businesses. 

     "We are not such strangers. We came from a rather remote land and we seek your help."

   Tzu didn't want to tell the sorcerer that their real origin was China. That their father had only gotten married to a woman from the land of Haojo. Where they used to live before the trouble of Lailah. 

    The crazy stranger who came into their lives and made a pawn of them. The lady who had put them in such shock and at the same time leased them on a run. 

      "What land did you come from?"

     Tzu wanted to avoid that question but the sorcerer seemed wiser. And of course smarter. 

    "Over the sea."

    Jim shot in. Tzu glared at him. Jim didn't mind. He tossed his head at the old man. 

     "Fuckers. They are wanderers. Who knew if they were cursed."

    The boatman interrupted. Jim didn't say a thing. 

    The sorcerer seemed rather displeased. He stood up and walked to the boatman who occasionally moved back. 

       "Stay still."

     He said to the boatman who as though he had been charmed, sat still without blinking. The man touched his left thumb to the boatman's lips and turned to return to the stool. 

     He reassumed his seat and looked at Jim,

     "And why should I believe you?"

     "It's a choice, old man."

    Jim shot back. Tzu almost punched him in the face. His rude behavior had caused them more than enough. 

      "True to that."

    The sorcerer said. Tzu sighed in relief. 

    "You seem to have much guts down there, lad. I love them of your makes."

    The old man continued. Jim glanced at Tzu and ate him up with the, now-I-deserve-your-fucking-respect kinda glare. 

     "You see, the king of Kula is no more because of such guts."

     The man added. Twas Tzu's turn now to strip him naked of the praise. 

      "What happened to him?"

    Tzu smothered by curiosity, shot. 

     "Are you always like this?"

    The old man shot at him. Tzu was rather taken aback. He had no idea what the man was saying. 

   Before he could fleshen his contention, the old man continued,

     "Twas this kind of energy of impatience of yours, that made a mess of the life of the princess of Hubrim. You might not know her, but there she is, a whore, instead of a princess."

     Jim stood up. He sat down again. He didn't know how to process what the man had said. 

   Tzu looked at him, trying to read the expression on his face. It seemed like Jim was thinking what he was thinking. 

     "Could you please describe her?"

    Tzu pleaded, but you sure know the odds of old men,

   "Description for the reason you came here?"

    "Yes."

    "No please."

    Tzu countered as soon as Jim said the 'yes'. 

     "Are you sick? You don't know what that means?"

    Tzu added. Jim thought for a while. He still didn't get what Tzu was saying. 

    He looked away to the boatman. He had been  silent all along. The sorcerer must had got him really hard. He smiled. 

     "She is moving about, but I know where you can find her. Even I am on a move to end her. But what would you give in return?"

      The sorcerer said. Tzu though for a while what the man was talking about. At the start, he thought he was talking about the princess they had met in Hubrim, the prostitute. 

    But then the succeeding words pushed him off that trail. 

     "Lailah?"

     Tzu asked to bruise the doubt but the sorcerer misconceived what he meant,

    "You can't give me who you want to hunt down. I don't even fancy ladies. They corrupt."

    One thing Jim was impressed with was the fact that the old man needed no account before he knew they were looking for Lailah. 

    But he did have a doubt too. And for some moments, he took the risk of thinking that twas just some logical shit and nothing spiritual about it. 

    He tried to clear his doubt. 

   "Has Lailah caused another havoc here?"

     The old man stood and picked up his magic mat,

      "Which other do you know of?"

    Tzu sighed and took his turn,

     "She severed our family bond and made our brother leave the land."

     Suddenly, they began to hear a lot of noise coming from outside the palace. 

   Twas like a commotion birthed by something close to a protest. 

      Some of the protesters seemed to be hurling things at the palace. There were clangs and bangs. 

    The sorcerer began to walk to his Chamber and called at them,

     "Come hide somewhere. They've come for you."

       "How'd they know? Came for us?"

   Jim asked but the man didn't answer. They stood up and began to hurry to catch up with the man. 

     "I think he said something about strangers."

    Tzu said as they caught up with old man. Then they heard the door of the palace opening and guards protesting against the protesters in vain. 

     Twas a narrow escape for the two of them. 

   Well, to the protesters, the boatman should serve as a solace.