Chapter 14

After the tournament Ibaeran was taken back to the sky ship that would transport her to Nigerona head nation over all nations, a place very few people are opportune to go, in fact the Uha Tamunarans who lived there were not like the average Uha Tamunarans, they were the elites who were said to be far superior to every other Uha Tamunaran and they didn’t have any need human slaves because they had great machines of different kinds to do all the manual labor they would usually be task upon the people.

The nation of Nigerona was also where the Uha Tamunaran palace where king Datubo, the king of all Uha Tamunarans stayed.

The fact the Ibaeran was going to a place that was filled with elite Uha Tamunaran far superior to the ones she had seen in the nation of the South was enough to send chills down her spine and on top of that the king of the Uha Tamunarans stayed there as well, the Uha Tamunarans themselves greatly fear the king’s might and raw power meaning she, an ordinary girl would naturally be utterly frightened by him.

Tales of Datubo’s great power and strength had been shared among all the nations of the land, although they were all rumor spread by fear driven slaves who had heard tales about the king from their Uha Tamunaran masters.

They say, according to those tales told, Datubo was far stronger than any Uha Tamunaran that came before him, some of them say he had the ability to drain the strength and power out anybody, and if anyone opposed him in any way, he would his power to drain them of every ounce of strength and power they possessed, instantly killing them and only leaving behind an empty husk in their place, draining not just the power but the very life from them.

Other tales spoke about how he killed all of his siblings with some of them even going as far to say that he even killed his father as well to claim the throne for himself as he was the youngest in line for the throne and was determined to get it at any means even if it meant shading blood.

Ibaeran, as she remembered those tales felt an immense wave of fear flow through her entire body, if the tales talked about Datubo were indeed true than he was truly the terrifying out of all the Uha Tamunarans not just because of the power he possessed but for his willingness to kill anyone that goes against him be it his own kind or his blood.

Ibaeran could not stop her fear driven thoughts about Datubo to cloud her mind as he was a person that scared even other Uha Tamunarans but then she remembered Bafuro, Preyina and all the other people who cheered her own, even the warrior she faced in the tournament of Porti Hara believed in her even though he originally saw her as weak.

It seemed like everyone for some strange reason believed that she could be the Su Baera.

Ibaeran placed her hand on the mark on her neck as strength and courage began to flow through her body driven by the support from those who believed in her.

She then thought about Preyina and how she pushed her to the path she now found herself.

She then smiled as she thought about how Preyina’s death could push her to go as far she had, she only made her make a simple promise and that was to try but Ibaeran had done more than try, she had pushed herself to a point every few people would dear to go.

Ibaeran then took a deep breath knowing she still had a lot to do, she had to go and fight in the final tournament, the main tournament and if she won only then would she be given the chance to claim the wings of the Su Baera and save her people.

She understood it was not going to be easy, the warriors of the nation of the South were strong but now she had to face off against the strongest warriors from all the remaining three nations apart from the nation of the South.

The Nation of the North, East and West had notorious and fierce warriors who possessed immense strength, defeating them would not be an easy feat to accomplish but Ibaeran wasn’t scared of the challenge, she had come so far and surpassed the greatest warriors of her land, surprising not only the warriors she faced but also herself, she knew that she could lose but also knew the strength she possessed was great and had faith in herself and her abilities as warriors.

Ibaeran newly found strength in her abilities as well as her strength was good as she would need every single ounce of strength, she could mutter in the battle to come as it would not be easy as her other battles.

At night in the Grand House of the Nation of the South, home of the governor of the South, an Uha Tamunaran administrator who ruled over the South Nations seated at his office table working on some of his administrative duties when a mist of darkness appeared out of nowhere and consumed everything around him.

“Hello governor” said a deep and cold echoing through the darkness.

“Who is out there” asked the governor wondering who was speaking as he could not see anything through the cloud of darkness.

The sound of the snap of a finger echoed through the darkness of the cloud and as it did cloud of darkness disappeared.

As the darkness disappeared the governor’s eyes widen with pure horror as he found himself standing before the creature hidden in the darkness of cloud that could only be described with one word, monster.

The monstrous creature that stood before the governor was tall with a thin almost sickly body that was made of what seemed to be black bones with spikes on its back and a horrifying skull for a face with eyes that were as pitch black as night as the night sky.

The governor looked upon the monster with a look of fear, completely and utterly horrified by it.

The monster then began to approach the governor and as it did the governor’s fear grew and grew.

The governor, driven by the fear that monster would devour him if it managed to reached him decided to attack the monster before it could.

His skin turned back and hardened like stone as he summoned his power, then pieces of small black crystal flew out of his hands and straight for the approaching monster.

The black crystals shattered and broke as the made contact with the hard bony skin of the monster.

The governor’s eyes widen with even more horror upon seeing that his attack had no effect on the monster.

“Guar…” the governor was about to call out to guards to come to his aid and save him from the monster but he was stopped by the monster summoning a cloud of darkness out of its body that held on to his entire body like a hand and covered his mouth, preventing him from speaking or calling out to his guards for help.

“Hush” said the monster with its deep cold voice as it walked to the governor.

Once the monster reached the governor who could only stare at it with a look of pure fear and horror the monster began to change.

Its bony body slowly turned in that of a pale skinned man like body with the spikes on his back retreating and disappearing in to its body, the monster’s skull face turned in to that of a man, his eyes were the only thing that remained the same as they were still pitch black.

Black clothing then appeared out of nowhere, covering the monster’s nakedness man body with a black hat that appeared on his head.

“Sorry about that, I know how horrifying my true form is especially for the feeble mind” said the monster with a gentle voice that seem like that of a man and not a monster.

The governor tried to speak but that darkness that covered his mouth did not allow him.

“What’s wrong governor, can’t talk” said the monster with a sinister smile on his face almost as though he was mocking the governor as he watched him struggle to speak.

“I’ll free your mouth on one condition and that is, when I do you won’t scream to alert any of your guards. Do you understand,” said the monster.

The governor nodded his head, agreeing with the monster’s conditions.

“Good” said the monster before he snapped his finger, the darkness that held the governor in place than disappeared.

The governor then stood before the monster looking at him with fear in his eyes.

“What kind of Uha Tamunaran are you and who sent here?” asked the governor assuming that the monster was some kind of Uha Tamunaran.

“I’m not an Uha Tamunaran and as for your other question, I was sent by a being far more superior to the Uha Tamunarans, possessing power far greater than any Uha Tamunaran,” said the monster.

“Impossible, the Uha Tamunarans are the greatest race to ever live, there is no one who is above us,” said the governor.

“Oh, is that so” said the monster as he raised his hand, aiming it at the governor and striking him with a strange dark power, inflict unimaginable pain upon him.

The governor screamed out in pain; he had never before felt something so powerful that filled every fiber of his body with such an unbearable level of pain.

The monster stopped once he heard the sounds of guards matching to the room upon hearing the screams of the governor.

The monster sighed before he snapped his finger and then the room doors shut and locked on their own.

The governor then fell down to ground in immense pain, he then looked at the monster from the ground that he was now lying on filled with nothing but fear before asking, “Who are you?”

The monster then smiled sinisterly before saying, “my name is unimportant but you can think of me as a servant carrying out his master’s orders”.

“What kind of orders?” asked governor, wondering why that monster had come to him and the kind of orders he was assigned, hoping it wasn’t something that would lead to his untimely death.

“Any order as long as my master command’s it,” said the monster.

“So why did your master command you to come here” asked the governor wondering what kind of orders the monsters master might have assigned to him and how it concern him.

“To warn about the Su Baera,” said the monster.

“What!!!!! That’s impossible, the Su Baera is dead” said the governor in disbelief.

The monster then smiled sinisterly upon hearing what the governor said.

“This is not the same Su Baera that your kind killed all those years ago,” said the monster.

“That’s impossible, nobody has won the tournament,” said the governor.

“Correction nobody has won the tournament yet,” said the monster.

“What?? But that would mean…” The governor remained silent as he realized what monster was trying to telling him.

The governor then began to feel a fear not for the monster that stood before him but for the Su Baera and what it would mean for him and the rest of the Uha Tamunaran if the next person to win the tournament would be the next Su Baera.

The monster smiled as he saw the fear on the governor’s face, it was far greater than the one the governor felt for the monster.

“Good, you are scared as you have every right to be because you and the rest of the Uha Tamunaran can lose everything. The slaves and the resources of all the nations and without the power the Uha Tamunaran has over all the nations not just you but every single governor and those below the governors that are put in charge of nations would lose all their power and status,” said the monster.

The monster then looked down at governor who was still on the ground.

“You would become nothing and would have no power or even status in the presence of your fellow Uha Tamunarans,” said the monster.

“No, I’ve worked to long and hard to reach this level of power only to lose it all” said the governor fearing that he may lose everything because of the next Su Baera.

“There is a way to secure all the power and status you have acquired” said the monster.

“How?” asked the governor.

“Eliminate the Su Baera before she gets the steel wings” said the monster.

“She?” said the governor with disbelief, taken aback to hear the next Su Baera would be a girl.

“I assure you the next Su Baera’s gender is part of the reason she should be feared more as she is threat that doesn’t appear as a threat” said the monster.

“I have to tell the king at once,” said the governor.

“That won’t be a wise choice to make,” said the monster.

“Why not?” asked the governor.

“The king for whatever reason wants to find the next Su Baera and if you tell him that the next champion of the tournament will be the next Su Baera, he would allow her claim the steel wings and become the Su Baera,” said the monster.

The governor remained silent and took a moment to think about what the monster said and realized the monster was right, the king had truly invested a lot to finding the next Su Baera, nobody truly knew what his reasons were and no one dared to question him about them knowing it would greatly displease him which would end in only death for the poor soul that dared to ask.

But the governor also knew about the risk the Su Baera possessed on him, his status and power along with the control Uha Tamunarans in general possessed over all the nations of the world.

If what the monster said had any form of truth behind it then he and the rest of the Uha Tamunarans that had control over the nations would lose everything, their power and status would all be gone.

The governor feared the king and his terrifying power but his fear of losing everything he worked so hard to achieve was greater, he was not ready to lose any of his power and control over the nation he reigned over even if it meant going against the word of the most powerful and feared Uha Tamunaran.

“I know what I must do,” said the governor.

The monster smiled sinisterly at the governor upon seeing the look of fear and desperation on his face, knowing he would do anything to hold on to all the power he had.

“Good, my master will be pleased” said the monster before he turned away from the governor.

“Oh, and dare governor try not to get caught by the king because if he finds out you might not survive his wrath,” said the monster.

With those very words said a mist of darkness began to form around the monster, slowly consuming him until he disappears in the.

The doors then unlocked and the guards rushed not too long after.

“Governor, are you okay” asked one of the guards.

The governor remained still and refused to say a word.

He was a bit shaken up by what just happened and needed sometime to recollect his thoughts.

A few moments pass and then the governor turned to his guards.

“I’m fine,” said the governor.

“But sir we heard you screaming and…” the guard that spoke was stopped midsentence by the governor saying, “I said I am fine, now leave”.

The guards then obeyed the governor and left the room, leaving the governor alone to think about the monster and everything it told.

The Su Baera was a big threat to him and all the power he had acquired as the governor of the Nation of the South and the governor would rather die than lose any of his power.

He needed to think of a way to prevent champion of tournament from claiming the wings.

The governor then had an idea, to ensure that the next Su Baera would fall before she even has a chance to claim the wings but the idea, he had was risky because if the king found out about it, he would have to face his wrath and no Uha Tamunaran has ever face the king and live to tell the tale.

Even though his every life was at risk he valued the power he would lose if the next Su Baera wins the tournament and claim the wings more than his own life and this push him to go ahead with his plan even though his life was on the line.

The next day the governor got on his own private sky ship that flew faster than the ordinary sky ships, he also sent a message to the other governors of the Nations to meet him at Nigerona a day before the Tournament to discuss and important matter but not to inform the king about it.

He hoped that the other governors would listen and do what he told them to for all their sakes.

The governor also gathered some information about the only female warrior to fight in the Tournament, Ibaeran.

From the information he could get about her she was just a slave working in the fields in a city called Ijawana, he could not get anything about her other than that which was shocking to him as he was meant to believe the next Su Baera was nothing more than a slave girl.

The governor then began to wonder how she could win both the two tournaments in Ijawana and Porti Hara, there was nothing that seemed remarkable or special about her but yet she was able to best the greatest warriors in the Nation of the South in the two tournaments.

The governor upon receiving the information about Ibaeran couldn’t even believe that she could be the next Su Baera as she didn’t seem like a warrior of any kind but yet she had to be a truly incredible warrior to have made it so far in the Tournament and all she had to do was win one final tournament to be given a chance to claim the wings.

The thought of Ibaeran winning and possibly claiming the wins of the Su Baera filled the governor with nothing and horror, so much so that he was determine to stop her from claiming the wings at any cost.

The trip was long and lasted a few days but finally the governor made it to Nigerona before any of the warriors that would be fighting in the tournament including Ibaeran had arrived.

He then made his war to High Hall, where officials like the king, his adviser and others holding administrative power came to discuss matters that involved all the Nations.

There in the High Hall all the governors of the other nations were busy waiting for him to arrive under the pretext of wanting to discuss about the progression of the Tournament so not to attract the unwanted attention of the other officials and king.

The governor of the south now stood before the other governors.

“Tell us why you call us here Bumai” asked Fika, the governor of the Nation of the North, red skinned Uha Tamunaran to Bumai, the governor of south with smoke escaping from his mouth as he spoke.

“This better be important because we are taking a big risk having this meeting without informing the king” said Nami, the governor of the west, an Uha Tamunaran who greatly resembled a normal man.

“Speak Bumai, this better good for your sake” said Enama, the governor of the east, an Uha Tamunaran who was a mix of both man and beast with razor sharp teeth, claws on his fingers and feet, a tale and his entire body was covered from head to toe with brown fur.

Bumai, the governor of the south just took a deep breath before he started the meeting, taking a seat next to the governors and began to tell them about what happened to him the other night and how the monster came to him to warn him about the Su Baera.

“Anything else” asked Enama.

“Yes, the next Su Baera is girl from one of the cities in the south named Ibaeran” said Bumai.

The very moment Bumai said those words both Enama and Fika burst in to laugh thinking that everything Bumai said was utter nonsense, Nami was the only person who remained silence but his silence did not necessarily mean he believed Bumai’s story.

“I think you’ve finally lost you mind Bumai” said Fika as he continued to laugh harder and harder with red hot flames spew out of his mouth each time he laughed.

Enama laughed so hard that he could not bring himself speak and mock Bumai.

Bumai ignored both Enama and Fika as expected he didn’t expect much from them turned to the only person who was not laughing at him, Nami, one of the wisest Uha Tamunaran, maybe he would believe him.

“Nami, why don’t you speak” asked Bumai.

“I’m still thinking” said Nami.

“About?” asked Bumai.

“If what you are saying is true” said Nami.

Fika and Enama upon hearing how Nami spoke to Bumai, he looked like Nami was actually taking Bumai seriously.

“You can’t seriously be considering Bumai cock and bull story to be true” said Fika.

“I don’t but at the same time I don’t consider it to be a lie” said Nami.

“What are you trying to say Nami?” said Enama a bit confused by Nami’s words.

“It is true that Bumai’s story is hard to believe but that doesn’t mean it is a lie, right now it’s just a claim” said Nami.

“You can’t be serious, he just told us a monster came in to his office at night and took the form of a man with black eyes and then warned him about the next Su Baera which is a girl apparently” said Fika refusing to believe to take anything Bumai told them seriously much less as truth.

“I know the story seems bizarre but that doesn’t mean it is not true. I have studied about forces, creatures and even entire world that exist outside our own, it is quite possible that monster, whatever it is came from one of the other worlds I’ve read about” said Nami.

“I’m starting to believe you’ve contacted the same form of insanity that is troubling Bumai here” said Fika jokingly, mocking Nami.

Nami feeling both enraged and annoyed by Fika’s comment about him, used his powers of telepathy to torment Fika’s mind and make feel like a million hammers are bashing him in the head.

“NAMI STOP THIS NOW!!!!” said Fika as he screamed out in pain with red hot flames spew out of his mouth as he screamed.

Nami just smiled being amused by Fika’s pain and misery before he used his powers to bring him even more pain.

Bumai and Enama watched with fear and horror as Nami tormented Fika with his powers, too frightened to say a word against him as they didn’t want to suffer the same fate as Fika.

Nami then stopped and free Fika from his torment as he felt tired of hearing him scream.

“Next time you speak to me in that manner I will twist your fragile little mind to such a degree that very little intelligence stored within it would be gone leaving you in a state lower than that of the human slaves you look down upon” said Nami.

Fika did not give Nami a reply; he just glared at him as his fear for Nami would not let him utter a word.

“Now where were we?” asked Nami.

“We were discussing about the validity of Bumai’s story” said Enama.

“Yes, like I said before, I believe that the creature that Bumai witness was not of this world” said Nami.

“Nami, I know you have a reputation for being one of the most intelligent of all Uha Tamunarans but that story seems too bizarre to be true” said Enama still refusing to believe in Bumai story.

“I agree but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a lie” said Nami.

“So how can we be sure it’s the truth” asked Enama.

“I might have a way of finding out the truth” said Nami.

“How?” asked Enama.

Nami just smiled before he snapped his fingers, then Enama, Fika and Bumai all began to feel a tremendous about a pain from their heads.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO US NAMI” asked Fika feeling even more pain than went Nami tormented his mind before?

Nami just smile sinister before whispering softly, “oh you’ll find out, now sleep”.

Then all of them then began to collapse on their seats one by one until only Nami remain.

Nami then smiled with a wicked grin on his face before his eyes began to glow and then everything went dark.