72 Hall of Righteousness

The three did not take too long before they arrived before a monolithic tower. Just above the entrance were two large words;

Hall of Righteousness!

The words were written in such a way that they gave a feeling of comfort to their onlookers. They were also shrouded with an ancient air, indicating the numerous years the tower had stood there.

Out of nowhere, a token appeared on Mueni's delicate hands. She lifted it above her forehead and only then did the entrance open. She motioned for them to enter.

Inside this first and the ground floor alone, the two men were astounded to see numerous people, mostly old men and women clothed in white. Their noisy incantationsfilled the air.

Mboya who was not a wizard found himself on the verge of crying since he was not used to such noise. One particular old man attracted his attention though. The old man who was white haired was throwing his limbs anyhow with his eyes widely opened. His lips were moving in a flaky manner and his white robe was sodden with perspiration. The sounds that came out of his mouth were accompanied by flakes of saliva. It was clear he was using a lot of energy to perform whatever he was performing.

"This is the ground floor of our Hall of Righteousness. This is where most wizards and witches cast spells of protection to their families. These spells are one of the most difficult ones and the greater the protection one needs for one's family, the greater the energy one uses." Just when Mboya was trying to understand what was going on, Mueni's soft voice rung in his ears in a timely manner.

"So this is it!" He nodded his head in realization.

"That old man over there has been here for the last two decades. Since he left his home, he has never gone back. He has a mission to accomplish before the end of the moon(month). Recently, he dreamt that his beloved daughter met with an unfortunate encounter. He thought she could be honored to be saved by an Ordainer but that encounter ended up consuming his entire clan. He does not have time to get there. Normally, to cast a spell of protection successfully on an entire clan, one has to take at least three weeks. Considering that he has to complete his mission and protect the family as well, he is expending more energy than he should." Mueni explained.

"No wonder." Mboya nodded.

"Mueni, you mean he is trying to cast the grand spell of protection?" Kuru asked his mouth wide open in shock

"Yes."

"But that is definitely the hardest protection spell!"

Kuru was left wondering as they walked past the busy wizards and witches. It was clear from the old man's behavior that whatever he was doing was indeed hard. Even the veins on his temples and his forehead were now bulging like they wanted to come out. The three hurriedly proceeded to the first floor.

The tower consisted of a total of six floors. Each floor was different from each other. Different things were done in different floors. The first two, that is the ground floor and the first were large halls where these witches and wizards performed rituals en masse. The other four floors were left for other functions.

This floor was different from the first one altogether. This hall was filled with recherche benches made of silver. They were glowing beautifully giving the entire hall some light.Combined with the pearls on the roof, inside here shone like the light of the day.

Before those benches were beautiful large tables covered with large sheets of cotton clothes of different colors. On top of those covered tables were flower vessels with very beautiful flowers inside them. One could think one had walked into a flower garden rather than a hall.

"Wow!" Mboya and Kuru sighed in awe simultaneously.This was emphatically the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

Those sitting on those benches were people dressed in white as well but compared to those in the ground floor, the they were calm. They sat quietly with their eyes tightlyclosed.

At the very forefront, there was an altar made of wood covered with a shiny material making it look very beautiful. Kuru was a wizard and so he was not as surprised as Mboya whose breathing hastened at the moment.

Just when they wanted to proceed to the next floor, A gray-hairedman appeared suddenly before the altar. The man wore purple robe. On his head was a golden band of cloth. He carried nothing in his hands but the aura he exuded was imposing making his onlookers submit.

Upon his appearance, everyone within the hall stood and bowed. Even Mueni and Kuru bowed with respect. Mboya also found himself following suit.

"Sit."

The rough voice of the man reverberated. Everyone sat quietly except for Mueni and the other two. Mboya and Kuru saw the man nodding to Mueni before the latter waved to them to follow her. It did not take long before they arrived at the second floor.

Here, things were far much different from the other two. It was divided into three large compartments. Mueni walked past the first two compartments and entered the third one with the two men following her. They wore curious expressions but upon seeing how unconcerned Mueni was, they only followed her silently.

The three compartments were not at all small. They were about fifty meters squared each in area. The third compartment where the trio entered had only five women dressed exactly like Mueni. What was different with them was the fact that they appeared older than her.

The five women circled a large altar at the center of the compartment clasping their hands with knitted brows. On the altar, green flames were dancing menacingly. Mboya shuddered a little upon seeing the flames.

"Mueni, you are finally here with them."

One of the women smiled at Mueni. She looked older than the other four and appeared to be their leader. Behind her was a grand curtain. She motioned for Mboya and Kuru to follow her behind the curtain after she received Mueni's nod.

"Great Kuru, I am honored to meet you, how have you been been?" As soon as they entered the other room, the woman greeted.

"You flatter me chosen witch. My life is well protected by 'Were'" He smiled. The woman smiled back and turned to the other man.

"Mboya Ogwang' how are you?"

Mboya was still looking at the room confusedly when he heard the woman's soft voice. This room had nothing but the mat they sat on cross-leggedbut somehow, he felt his heart beating fast the moment he stepped into it.

"I am fine mama." He answered politely.

"Now, you all have seen in one way or the other what is ahead of our current Ordainer..." Without wasting a lot of time, the lady went straight to the point as the two nodded, "...great, we need to hurry because if he fails, the Lord of darkness is likely to win."

"What should we do?" Kuru asked.

"The One with the book is to save us."

"How?" Mboya asked.

"By participating in the cleansing ritual." The woman said seriously.

"Cleansing ritual?" Mboya and Kuru asked at the same time.

"It is something we perform using the people that have fallen to the tricks of the Lord of darkness. Through doing so, a puff of smoke spread to the entire Keniya land destroying every connections between the dark world and our world. This gives our people a chance to protect the Ordainer so that he grows strong to go against the people from the dark world." The lady explained in a single breath.

"And how is this done?" Kuru anxiously asked

"Follow me."

The lady said and immediately walked out of the room. Mboya and Kuru followed silently.