The D-Day

In Bawsi the next day, Benard and his men were approaching the village and when they got to the entrance, they were welcomed by a tall and slim man who bowed immediately Benard came down from his horse.

"Oh great Benard the conqueror, we welcome you to our land."

"Good. Are you the man who was sent to escort us to Kinla's palace?"

"Yes my lord."

"What is your name?"

"Waiser sire."

"Let's go to the village head then!" He said as he sat on his horse and they started going.

Meanwhile James and Varlom were assigned to the palace to attack Benard alongside Esiarp. James went into a room and started praying to the gods for protection as he was about to fight in a real war. When he finished, he then took his sword and told Varlom to follow him to their hiding spot in the storehouse in the garden. Varlom this time looked much more determined than ever and gave James a hopeful smile which he returned back.

In the throne room, Kinla was seated alongside Esiarp and they were waiting for Benard. Immediately, one of his guards arrived and announced the arrival of Benard. Benard then stepped into the throne room with his entourage.

"Benard the conqueror you are welcome to my small village. I hope your journey was good?" Kinla asked.

"It was. But why are the streets so empty? Is is because I was coming or what?"

"The people fear you my lord."

"They should. That is the way it is meant to be."

"My lord I surrender my land to you for the

safety of my people so that blood will not be shed unnecessarily."

"So you pledge allegiance to me and the snake army?"

"Yes my lord."

Benard then sent one of his guards to remove his crown and bracelets and bring to him. Immediately, the guards just grabbed him and roughly removed the items and Benard took them and wore them while smiling.

"Bow to me." Benard said with a sneer on his face and immediately, two guards grabbed Kinla and pulled him forward towards Benard.

"You don't have to rough handle me." Kinla said to the guards as he adjusted his clothes.

"They can treat you anyway they want Kinla."

Kinla then knelt down and as he lowered his head to bow, a spear came from nowhere and hit Benard on the chest and pinned him to the

wall and immediately, the men started attacking the snake nation entourage and kept fighting. Kinla then went ahead to join the fight and the Snake army was outnumbered by the warriors of Bawsi.

Immediately James and Varlom heard the sound of battle, they came out from hiding and they joined the fight. A dark Snake soldier attacked them and tried to cut Varlom but James pushed Varlom away and took him on squarely. The soldier tried to grab him but James used that opportunity to kick his knee and dislocated it. The soldier screamed out in pain and James cut off his head while Varlom was beating up a Snake soldier behind him.

They then went to the throne room which was much more intense. They saw Benard pinned to the wall with a spear and Cletus shooting arrows at any Snake soldier in sight and the bodies of Snake soldiers were littered all over the room and then James kept fighting to get

outside and as soon as he and Varlom got outside, they went to fight the remaining 2 men outside and they killed then successfully.

"Oof that was bloody " Varlom said as he wiped off blood from his face with an handkerchief.

"You never thought you would see war eh?.

"Yeah. I can't believe I committed murder."

"You didn't commit murder, you just killed for the right thing."

"Whatever so how are we going.." Immediately James saw a spear pass through Varlom's back an as he fell, he saw Benard behind him smiling.

"What! I thought you were dead." James screamed.

"Sorry to break your heart but I am not and I cannot."

"But how?"

"Don't ask boy but soon you will die." Benard said as he approached James who was at this

time shaking with anger and immediately ran towards Benard and tried to stab him but was kicked on the knee and he fell and immediately, Benard pulled him up and punched him multiple times on the face and his face swole up and when he tried to punch him, he grabbed his hand and headbutted him on the nose and his nose broke and he felt a sharp pain there and fell.

"You all thought you could deceive me eh. I will kill all of you." Benard said as he kicked James.

James then used every energy he had left and pounced on Benard and brought out his dagger and stabbed him on the chest and Benard kicked him away.

"You really think that I will be stopped by being stabbed." He said as he pulled the dagger from his chest and held it and immediately, James noticed that the injury had somehow healed.

"You made a big mistake by doing that boy." He said as he approached a very weak James who stood up and pointed his pickaxe at him.

"Don't you dare touch that boy Benard!" Benard said as he turned around and saw Kinla and his men behind him and soon a lot of the Bawsi soldiers surrounded them all pointing their weapons at Benard.

"Oh so you can't fight me alone eh, instead you bring men to attack me you coward. Benard said as he laughed.

"Surrender now and come quietly.

"Or what, you will kill me? Come on Kinla, you know you can't do that. At Warfleck academy, you could not even beat my younger brother Stanley in a duel despite being way older than him." He said with a sneer.

"But at least I graduated as one of the best and didn't end up like you who ran away and dropped out."

"You will die very soon mark my words."

"I will like to see who will do that." Kinla said in a mocking tone and the Bawsi army advanced at

Benard and immediately he pulled out a small flute, blew it and a big black horse approached them and hit every soldier in its way and stopped in front of Benard and he jumped on the horse and he rode away while the soldiers shot at him with their axes, spears and arrows till he disappeared from the village.

"James are you okay brother?" Cletus asked as he held James.

"Don't worry about me, take Varlom to the medicine man he is dying." James said as he pulled himself up as he pointed at Varlom who was bleeding and lifeless.

Immediately, Cletus and James carried Varlom away and took him to the medicine man and immediately they arrived, the medicine man took him in and started treatment while they

waited. The medicine man kept coming out from the hut where he was treating Varlom and taking some herbs which he used in boiling a potion and he was chanting some incantations while administering them.

Kinla and some of his men soon arrived and Kinla asked about him and they told him that he was still being treated.

"It is okay son, he will be fine. The medicine man is one of the best I know and he will try to revive him with everything he has." Kinla said as he put his arm around James.

"You also need some treatment, Benard really beat you up." Cletus suggested as he pointed at James swollen face.

"I am not receiving any treatment until Varlom recovers and gets revived." James said

stubbornly.

"You are really stubborn but you need to be treated or you might be infected. The boy will be fine." Cletus said in a concerned voice.

He finally allowed the medicine man apprentice to take him in to tend to his injuries and the apprentice seemed very nice and kept telling him stories and asking questions.

"How did fighting Benard one on one feel like." The apprentice asked with eagerness visible in his eyes.

"What do you mean." James asked.

"I mean how was the experience like to fight the conqueror."

"Well you can see it for yourself." James said as he indicated to his face as the apprentice laughed.

"I hope he falls one day."

"Don't worry he will." And immediately he groaned as the apprentice touched his face

with a hot potion which sent a burning sensation around his face.

"It's okay it is meant to accelerate the healing process."

After the treatment, he went back to meet Cletus who told him that Kinla had left for the Palace. After some time by evening, the medicine man came out from the hut.

"What happened? Is Varlom okay?" James asked desperately.

"He is okay and alive. It took some spells and complex potions to keep him alive. I expect him to be awake by tommorow."

"May the gods be praised." Cletus said as James heaved a sigh of relief.

"Can we see him?" James asked.

"Of course you can." And immediately they both ran into the hut and saw Varlom lying on the bed with a cloth covering his chest and they got

to his bedside and they saw that he was alive because he was breathing. James then made some prayers to the gods on his behalf and left with Cletus.

"I am so happy that he is alive and well." James said happily as they walked towards the palace which was already getting filled with men who came to celebrate their victory and for achieving the feat of being the first people to defeat the Snake army. As soon as they got in, some soldiers hugged them and they were handed wine and the whole atmosphere was so gay.

James then went to meet Kinla who was drinking wine with Esiarp while discussing.

"Ah my boy James the boy who fought the almighty Benard on his own and lasted for more than 1 minute." Kinla said with a loud voice and the other soldiers shouted in unison. James was then given another goblet of wine.

"The almighty Benard has been beaten for the first time and this is a symbol of hope for all." The men chanted as they danced happily.

James then went and joined in the celebration after being coerced by Kinla to join them.

Before James knew it, he was lifted by the men who started singing:

"Hail James, hail James the boy who lasted the most against Benard and lived. Benard thought he would win easily but James is the toughest nut to break. Hail James from Chanchan." The men sang as they threw him up.

The party lasted for a long time but before the party ended, he went into his room and slept off. Cletus soon got in after.