But Akib thought she referred to him so he made his way forward. The ones already filled came forward to block him from reaching her. He dodged the pan that was closest to get to the next. The second plate spew the content forward but Akib held himself to the same spot until all of its content was gone. With this, he proceeded to the third plate.
Grandma Betty's call wasn't for him but he had gone out to answer. The way and manner of his maneuver was impressive but she could not afford to lose more concoction. Both Akib and the brown plate reached her presence together but he was on the ground.
She got hold of it and said, "Come and take this, it's for your wound."
Akib had sharp pain on his back when Bren came for him but how this woman discovered this was what he couldn't tell. He had pretended to be alright.
"What's it for?" He asked.
"I told you, you need to renew your body. You can't go on with this," Grandma Betty gave him the assurance of what the drink would do.
Akib led the plate to his mouth.
Disorganized noise caught their attention. Raph was running towards the house and there was some boys after him. He had been traced as a link to Akib. When he realized this, it was just too late to turn back.
"This is Bren," Akib told grandma as he watched them.
"You know them?" She asked.
"My enemies. What would you do?" Akib asked in reply.
She had no fear at all. This kind of challenge wasn't new to her. For this young boys, they must have acted in ignorance. Grandma was a combatant herself and coming to her house to fight was suicidal.
"This is not your fight, Maron," Grandma rubbed her hand on the hyena.
They stood out there but Raph had rushed inside.
"I knew that you magic against me but I am back. Akib, show yourself," Bren called out.
With the words coming out from him, he produced a long stick which he stretched forward. He rotated the stick skillfully. As the stick was moving, he was mesmerizing some words. Before every eye, there came forth smokes.
"Rasttdd-mustffi, rabuitta-diflukken, Elfstlu." Bren's recited.
Akib came forward.
"Why are you looking for me?" He asked.
"You bite the finger that fed you. You have to be punished for hurting Lewis," Bren explained why he had come.
"But I didn't do that, he set the trap for me. Ask him, he would tell you. As for his house, I'm no longer interested. He should keep it," Akib related what happened in brief and made him know his final decision.
"No, you have to follow me," Bren insisted.
Bren cast out his staff. Akib's eyes followed the flow as it began to rotate. Then, the staff headed for Akib. If the trick succeeded, Akib would found himself to blame. But he lifted his body off the ground to make the flying staff miss him. The staff hit the ground with a thud.
Bren was shocked.
"Oh!" Bren expressed.
Though Akib had acted bravely, he didn't give up. He continued with his voodoo. The voodoo caused the staff to rise from the fallen state. It engaged Akib in a duel. It was following the instruction of its owner.
The staff attempted to knock his head but he had learned to cover his head in any fight. He raise his two hand to give coverage repeatedly. He did well with the head.
The show shifted to his lower abdomen. Akib combined his legs and bending down to fight. He did frog jump to avoid some strikes. But an idea dropped in his mind.
"Oh-oh!" Akib reacted.
He decided to repeat the kick that split the wall into cracks.
"But this is a mage at work," He argued within his thought.
He didn't know if this would give result or compound his problem. Since that's the available option, he was ready to try it. Raising his foot, he let down with fury.
The staff obeyed.
Bren was too involved in his recitation that he was not aware that there could be dire consequence. The staff hit on his forhead and he collapsed. I think he would be shocker at what happened despite his sorcery.
"I will keep you here for a while until your adventure begin," Grandma said.
Grandma watched the fight from start to finish without lifting a finger nor say a word.
But when Akib defeated Bren, then she congratulated and said, 'I'll keep you.'
Akib's skill in the fight was crude and unimpressive. He needed to learn a lot even about water, air and land possibilities.
The plan of the founding founders was to raise at least a warrior in a century who would in turn be a source of power to train the rest of the younger ones. If the land just get one great champion, who could travel far and wide, peace would return and the future would be reliable.
This was the reason for the construction of a house which could be a link into the lands of warriors. With this plan, yet it was difficult to achieve its purpose. The few boys who tried to travel through the sacred house could not go far at all. According to one of them whose name was Eskamay, he gave the reason why no one could really make full use of the house. He said a chosen one had to come.
Grandma Betty was not sure if Akib was the chosen one but she would give chance to anyone who asked for directions. She urgently needed someone who could rightly fit in before she died.
"Your story was heroic but it turned out pathetic. When the glow pushed you back, you were disqualified," Grandma Betty said.
The words of Betty was weighty as Akib became silent with the phrase 'push back.' But he hadn't called himself the chosen one either. His could be the story of a truant, an adventurous truant and he was asking for guide.
"Grandma, i'm not afraid of death. Tell me what I have to do," Akib pleaded.
"You want to die and you think I should be useful in that? You aren't the chosen one, Akib," Her look was firm.
The eyes of Raph and Grandma Betty interlocked.
"My grandchild, I think you've introduced a wrong friend. He wants to die."
"Grandma, Akib is not talking of death, he only need your help. Let him stay here for some time," Raph made his point clear.
Raph changed the topic when he saw tension gathering momentum.
"What's your story?" Grandma asked.
"Somebody covered himself with the sun, he killed my parents," Akib said.
Emotion of fear struck through him.
"Definitely! Most definitely!" Grandma Betty replied.
Alone, grandma ruminated on what Akib told her. The more she had thought of it, the more she felt he had not said the whole story. The death of his parents can't be from light, it had to be from fire. The man that wrapped himself with the sun was a deception. He just wanted to receive him. The man's true colour was fire.
Akib had not told her about the palm of the strange man but she already knew what happened. The assassin could only use palm to kill. The killer terminated Akib's parents with palm of fire.
Akib had been misled and he had mixed things up.