TAKOBIDAMMA {The Writing Sessions: Nine}

The inside of the hall was just as grand as the outside. A lot of rooms with different tags on the doors describing the nature of the work being done there.

“What happens in Registration?” Seleya asked.

“That’s where information on all the citizens of the town is received and collated. Things like occupations, families and additional details” Keiy said.

“Wow…it all seems so complex here. Things are a lot simpler back at home.” Seleya said.

“You mean your former home.” Keiy corrected.

“Yeah, my former home.” Seleya repeated.

Her countenance changed and she became sad. It hadn’t really dawned on her that she was never going back to Ooranyanwu until now and she was having a hard time accepting it.

Keiy noticed and tapped her on the shoulder,

“Hey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, I can be quite insensitive sometimes”

“It’s okay, let’s keep looking” Seleya answered blinking back the tears.

Keiy led the way as they checked all the rooms. For every room, Keiy had a different lie to explain in explicit details why they were in the hall. Everything that came out her mouth sounded so true that Seleya couldn’t help but marvel. Keiy was obviously more skilled at this than Suluvu.

They keep moving until they approached a black metal door that was guarded by two men.

Stopping a few feet away, Keiy said,

“So I guess it’s time for Plan B. That door leads underground where the council meets.”

“And how do we plan to get in?” Seleya asked.

“Just wait here, hide behind that wall and wait for my signal.” Keiy said, a smile playing on her lips as she pointed Seleya to the wall.

Her smile suddenly changed to tears as she ran towards the door to meet the guards.

“Help, Help” she yelled tears trickling down her face.

She grabbed one of them by the arm and shook him hard.

“Calm down girl, what’s the problem?” he asked slightly flustered.

“My father, my father works at registration. I came to bring him some documents he left at home only to find some men causing trouble in his office. They had a problem with their registration and insisted he fixed it without pay.

 My dad told them to pay their token but they refused and they started to beat him because he stood his ground. I was asked to fetch every available guard to help with the situation”

“How many men?” the second one asked.

“Five men” she yelled, crying even more.

“Please, please hurry…They’ll kill him, I don’t want my father to die.” She wailed shaking both of them.

They both ran in the direction of the registration room not noticing Seleya as they passed by her.

“Seleya, hurry down here” Keiy said.

Keiy tried to open the door twice but it didn’t budge, they tried together and still nothing happened.

“So what do we do now?” Seleya asked, those guards will be back any minute now.

“Let me think” Keiy answered, cooking up another plan.

Seleya held the door knob and tried again to no avail. She soon started to panic and as she did her hands started to heat up again. Keiy was still lost in thought until she caught the smell of something burning and looked at Seleya’s hands.

Her eyes lit up in excitement.

“That’s awesome Seleya” she said gleefully.

Seleya also lost in thought hadn’t noticed anything until she looked at her hands and saw that she had almost melted through the door knob. She removed her hands immediately out of fear and in that same instant the guard were making their way back. They looked towards the door looking directly at Keiy obviously not very pleased.

“Put your hands back on that knob Seleya, I’ll distract them.” Keiy said

Seleya obeyed in silence. She was officially panicking now and as her fear increased so did the heat which was already a flame at this point.

The guards caught a glimpse of the flame and approached even faster, Keiy stepped forward to meet them until they were face to face.

“What are you doing here girl, you are not…”

That was all he had the time to say as she swooped down and knocked him off his feet with a low kick. The second guard was in shock for about two seconds which was more than enough for her to reach for the side his neck, giving him two sharp pokes that rendered him unconscious.

The second guard got back on his feet reaching out with a quick punch. Keiy dodged quickly to the side and grabbed his arm. She took the arm and twisted it on his back using it for support as she slammed her two feet into his back and used her second hand to give him two quick jabs on the neck. He fell down also unconscious.

Seleya watched Keiy moved and she was utterly speechless. Everything happened in front of her in mere seconds and Keiy was almost a blur as she moved. The door knob was melted now and Keiy kicked the door open. The both ran in, down a flight of stairs as fast as they could.

As they ran, Seleya asked,

“How did you? How…?”

“Run now, talk later?” Keiy said increasing her pace.

The stairway was well lit but it was nothing compared to the room they ran into. The room was circular with a large space in the middle. There was a slightly elevated arc that had seven tables and seven chairs arranged in a row. The chair and the table in the middle were slightly bigger and fancier than the rest although the entirety of the room was a sight to behold.

There were also more seats arranged within the circular space but the most shocking thing about the room at the moment was that it was empty.

“There’s no one here” Seleya said, trying to catch her breath.

“Thanks, I didn’t notice” Keiy said sarcastically.

“What do we do now?” Seleya asked.

“I don’t know” Keiy replied.

“Maybe we could…”

She was interrupted by the sound of the door upstairs and several footsteps running down the stairs. They were surrounded by fifteen guards all holding swords and pointing at them. A man obviously taller than every one of them approached slowly from behind and the guards made way for him to pass.

Seleya looked at him and he looked oddly like her father. He was obviously younger but they had the same skin tone, with his hair braided almost like Seleya’s. He was slim and built, wearing an open shirt that had no buttons exposing his chest and abs to the world. With a matching pair of shorts and sandals, he looked at them intently. It was at that moment Seleya looked at the left side of his chest and saw a mark very similar to the one on her chest.

“Well what do we have here?” he said, giving both girls a smug smile.

“I told you we’ll find him strolling about” Keiy said, smiling at her.

Seleya concluded that everyone in this town was completely crazy.

Still looking at her curiously he simply said,

“Welcome Seleya, I’ve been expecting you”

Both girls turned almost pale.

The tall man laughed out loud.

“I grew up looking into eyes very similar to yours, I can’t forget those eyes.

I’m Adunt, one of the elders of Oquara town. I’m also your Uncle, younger brother to the Udata.”

They still had no words for him and simply stared at him as he talked.

“I’ve heard a lot about you Keiy, it’s nice to finally meet you. I hope the guards taking a nap upstairs will be alright?” he asked a little more seriously.

Keiy could only nod. Seleya had thought nothing could shut the girl up but apparently she was wrong.

“Okay girls, we obviously have a lot to talk about but I have things to attend to now.

Can you come back tomorrow, this same time?” He asked, although it sounded more like an order than a request.

“Okay sir” was all Seleya could say as Keiy dragged her out of the room.

“And Keiy…” he started.

They both stopped at the foot of the stairs.

“…try not to knock out any of my guards tomorrow.” He said smiling.

Keiy only nodded and followed Seleya up the stairs. They had a lot to talk about when they got home.