56 Ordainers

At the break of the next day, Ochieng' and his companions went to the Lagoon of Holy Water. The water there was indeed as clear as Jade Eagle had said. What was even more peculiar was the scintillating rock that the water was in.

The water was moving slowly in a circular motion on the rock. The rock sank in the sand having its top flattened to the ground level except for the place that held the water that appeared like a small depression. The water appeared little but no matter how much they used it, its level never reduced even a little bit.

When the beasts and the two humans drank a mouthful, other than Apeleka , Ochieng and Mudho who had a regenerative abilities, all the other beasts recovered fully from the injuries they suffered the previous day. Even the scars they had in the past dissipated. Their eyes were beaming with dynamism.

"Let's go!" Shouted Jade Eagle and in a flash, they disappeared from the place as if they were never there.

In Kuru Kureri's place, when the sun was just above the eastern horizon, three men were seated in beautiful seats woven with sisal outside the old beautiful hut in a circular manner. In their hands were pipes connected to a pot that was in their midst. White smokes emanated from the pot. It was clear from their faces, they were drinking a tonic liquor.

"Now tell me Lokoit. Why exactly was Lanok killed?"

Kuru was an old man who had lived for more than two centuries. He was also a wizard and a 'Mogwedhi' at that. He was bound to have vast knowledge in several things and great wisdom beyond imagination. He knew the bird could not just kill Lanok with no reason. Furthermore, for the bird to be capable of killing Lanok, it went without saying that its power was not ordinary. It could not waste its time in a place as small as the Nadi sub tribe without reason.

"I am not sure either about the reasons. As far as I know, it was with two women from my tribe and a young man from the Lu tribe." Lokoit answered respectfully.

The ambiance remained silent afterward. Kuru did not know what decision to make. First of all, Okeyo Kware who asked him to take care of Lanok was from Lu tribe just like the man that was seen with the bird. Secondly, the fact that the bird was with three humans showed that one of them was an Ordainer or 'Mogwedhi'. This meant that one of these people was his confrere. After chewing over the issue for a long time, Kuru decided to toss it aside.

"I am sure two tribe heads did not just come to visit me." After swallowing some amount of liquor, the old man smiled.

The two tribe heads hesitated a little. They looked at each other and could see a sliver of hopelessness in each other's eyes. Luvembe, a blabbermouth but a timid fellow decided to point at Lokoit as if this matter did not concern him at all. Kuru saw this but decided to ignore. He nodded to Lokoit and the latter narrated in a few seconds,

"We were at war with the Lu people because our Nadi guardian elder had been killed by one of their own. The same person carried off our warriors who were at war against the Lu people using huge beasts. Only Luvembe and I survived so we came to ask you to help us destroy that fellow."

Immediately he finished talking, the frown on Kuru's face even deepened. Luvembe and Lokoit could not comprehend what the old man was thinking about. They did not know what he could do next. His frown however disappeared after two or three seconds. He put the pipe he was holding on a stone beside him, sighed deeply and explained seriously,

"Tribe heads, I am really honored when two tribe heads come to seek help from me, but there are things that you people do not understand. I think it is better for me to clarify them before it is too late. Everything aside, is it not shameful enough when you two join forces against a single tribe only to be discomfited. Do you want to tell me you people are warriors who do not even know how to concede when you are defeated?"

The two middle aged men wore complicated looks but the old man continued seemingly not seeing them, "I cannot help you destroy a hero who single handedly brought victory to his people. Secondly, the guardian elder of the Lu tribe is my senior."

"I might be an Ordainer but the training that freak went through made him too powerful for me to go against him. He is very far from this place but is capable of knowing everything that happens here. This is because he has magical birds that only him can see and talk to. Thesebirds are capable of moving at a speed faster than light. He uses them as his messengers. Okeyo Kware is not famous within and out of Lu tribe but we the disciples ofLubaku Mukenge know him perfectly well. "

"Lanok was his best friend but the place he had in Okeyo's heart could not compare to Lu tribe. Everything Okeyo did was always for his tribe. There is a time flying savage beastsdecided to attack his tribe a few seasons after Lubaku's death. Before even they got to the boundaries of Lu tribe, he charged at them with every ability he had without reservations. I can tell you not even me, an Ordainer could be a match for them despite my powers as a wizard and an old Ordainer..."

At this point, the old man took the pipe, gulped down some liquor before continuing, ignoring the surprised look of the two men, "...he was only a wizard but he got involved in an intense battle with eighty seven beasts. He injured himself in the fight but managed to kill them all. It is then that he left us and disappeared. When he appeared again after around three hundred seasons, he was so powerful that not even our teacher if he could be alive could dare dream of reaching the level he had reached. He decided to leave for a long journey but left his tribe and Lanok in my care. "

"I wanted to avenge Lanok's death but when you mentioned a Lu tribe man being involved, I decided to forget about the revenge thing. Okeyo will decide on what to do. I know he already knows Lanok is dead and sooner or later he will take action. The most important reason why I cannot help you at this moment is the fact that the person who annihilated your warriors is an Ordainer. Only an Ordainer can command beasts to fight in his stead. You said he was there during Lanok's death, he is probably the one who ordered the beast to kill the wizard."

"Ordainers are not capable of killing one another. If one Ordainer happens to possess another different power or more, like being a wizard at the same time for example, when he uses such power against a fellow Ordainer, no matter how weak the attacked Ordainer is, his power is returned to him by threefold. I can kill myself if I go against my fellow Ordainer."

"Another thing is that I cannot kill or harm another Ordainer even if I wanted to. If I come close to one and even try thinking of harming him, my blood will boil and heat up and may burn the vessels they move in. I do not need to tell you what can happen thereafter."

"Ordainers stand at the top of the world. If they take their time to learn as they grow, with their powers as Ordainers alone, they can destroy the whole world. They have different brains and ways of thinking and that is why they can learn several things at the same time and can do things that no man can do. I am not as powerful as my predecessors were just because I met an unfortunate encounter several seasons ago, that is why I could never surpass Okeyo and that is why that young man appeared as an Ordainer."

The two men were left astonished beyond words. They did not know things were this complicated.

"Kuru, you said the other Ordainer appeared just because you met with an unfortunate encounter, what does that one mean?" Lokoit could not help but ask.

"It is not normal for two Ordainers to exist at the same time but if they do, the older one may not live for more than one hundred and twenty seasons. The younger one will only be born if the older one lose any of three main powers of an Ordainer which is a rare occurrence. However, in normal occasions, one will be born only after another's death. One's death means the death of all powers an Ordainer can have hence the rebirth."

" Kuluwa Madevi died at a young age over six thousand seasons ago. Kuluwa was a lady from Tata tribe, it is several miles from here. Rende Kabando from Lu tribe was born after her and he died four thousand seasons ago. Mbaani Maleye from Waari tribe died one thousand five hundred seasons ago, he lived long. After his death, Mambubi Mbome was born, he lived for only three hundred seasons but was the most powerful Ordainer among the four. Of course there were powerful Ordainers before Madevi."

"I was born one thousand two hundred seasons ago but one thousand and thirty seasons ago I met an encounter that killed two of the most important powers I had as an Ordainer. I hoped they would return but the birth of another Ordainer clearly showed that I could never restore them. He had been born to take our course. It also means I am left with only a few seasons. He has already awakened one of the three powers. I never thought the Ordainer would be born in the Lu tribe again" The old man laughed when he reached this end.

"Where do these Ordainers come from? And how did you know much about them if they could not exist at the same time? What are these three powers?" Lokoit could still not understand.