The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter

by Jason McCammon

The image of the Ifa Scepter moved with the current of the broth inside Hagga’s cauldron. They all stood around it, watching the quivering image and listening to the story of the Griot, until Hagga noticed a change in the image. The scepter faded completely and then an image of Hatari appeared.

  “Did you think that I wouldn’t find out that you are beckoning the Ifa scepter,” said Hatari. His face was twisted in a reprimanding smirk.

  “What is it you want, Hatari? You’re spoiling my soup.” Hagga said, indifferently.

  “Lest you forget, with the scepter under my power it warns me of those that seek it.”

  “Oh, then you do have it.”

  “You know I have it, witch! And you know that I cannot allow you to... Wait, just wait a minute. Don’t tell me that you have chosen those two children to retrieve the scepter and restore it to its rightful place.”

  “I choose nothing, Hatari. I follow prophecy.”

  “I really don’t know much about prophecy; that’s your department. Nevertheless, they must be killed. But, of course, you knew this? And to think that I was really worried for a moment.” Hatari’s image faded from the cauldron.

  Hagga clenched her fist and turned toward the children. “Don’t worry. He was just trying to frighten you.”

  “He’s done an awfully good job. Did he say kill us?” asked Farra.

  “I don’t care who he is, if he has the Ifa Scepter, I’m going to take it from him,” said Bomani, clenching his spear and moving away from Farra bravely.

  “He is Hatari,” said Hagga, “He is one of the children of Montok whose purpose is to control all of Madunia. He commands and army of ogres numbering in the thousands. For years, your Kingdom has sat just beyond the Forbidden Expanse, keeping Hatari from moving his army of ogres north. Hatari has been quiet for some time now. Perhaps he has been waiting for the right time to strike. I fear that time may be soon, especially now as the fertility of Ufalme continues to dwindle. And with the Ifa Scepter under his control, he will have great power. The task to stop him has fallen upon you.” Hagga looked at the children intently, and the children sensed the seriousness of the peril they were in.

  “Gosh,” said Farra. “I didn’t realize we would be fighting some powerful wizard, and ogres. Ogres are hideous.”

  “This is the path that you have chosen,” said Hagga.

  “I will retrieve it,” said Bomani.

  “You, boy. The trouble with you, though, is that you have no fear. At least you pretend not to. That notion will soon be tested. There is so much fire in you. You must learn the difference between courage and stupidity. You would likely jump into a pit of snakes without thinking, wouldn’t you?

  “I...” Bomani started.

  “Some questions are to be answered out loud, and some are to be answered within.” Hagga interrupted so that she could continue. “Just remember, that a warrior must be strong in heart and mind first, then in body. Know when to be cautious, or you won’t live to bask in your own greatness.”

  “Hmmm,” he acknowledged her warning.

  Hagga returned to the large ladle that sat in the pot and focused on stirring the soup. She drew a small serving from the steaming pot and poured it into a bowl. The children turned their noses up in disgust as they saw small unidentifiable chunks splash into the green slime. Hagga’s husband, the Griot, stepped forward and reached his hand out to grab for the bowl, but she quickly slapped it away.

  “Manners hubby, we have guests!”

  He grunted and stepped back to allow the children to be served first.

  Hagga glared at him and then turned her attention back to the children. “Now, you have a long journey ahead of you. You should eat to keep up your strength.”

  As she moved the bowl toward them, some of the soup spilled over and splashed onto the floor. Pupa walked over to it, and sniffed. With one whiff, he turned up his nose, barked at the spillage, then winced away, whining, as if he had been stricken by something painful. That was all the warning Farra needed.

  “Um, no thanks. We ate just before we got here. A big meal.” Then she elbowed Bomani just enough to invite him in.

  “Yeah, big meal. Huge meal!” he chimed in.

  “See, huge meal,” replied Farra.

  “Still stuffed.”

  “Yes, quite stuffed.”

  “Eh, suit yourself,” Hagga said and handed the first bowl to her husband, who welcomed the putrid roux.

  “Well, perhaps just some bread for later,” said Farra in a compromise.

  Hagga gave them bread to carry on their journey, and they stored it in their pouches.

  “Okay, okay, now for the important matters.” Hagga walked over to a shabby trunk that sat against a wall, and shuffled inside of the box until she came up with an even smaller box, and then she walked over to them with it. “Now, to help you on your journey, I will provide you with these six runes. You must use them wisely for they can only be used once each. Farra, I give you earth, water and air. Bomani, for you, that leaves, fire, thought, and space.”

  She handed them the runes. They were all about the same size and fit comfortably in the palms of their hands. Each one had a different marking on it and was a different color: reddish orange for fire, blue for water, green for earth, grey for wind, white for thought, and black for space.

  “Now, the space rune is the most important,” she said, pointing to Bomani holding the smooth rock. “No matter where you are, it will bring you back here, do you understand?”

  “I think so,” Bomani responded.

  “When you are all done, when you have retrieved the Ifa Scepter, only then should you use it, otherwise it means you have given up.”

  “Yes, okay, I understand.”

  Farra interrupted timidly. “Uh, excuse me, may I ask a question?”

  “Yes, child. Speak.”

  “How do we use them?”

  “Well, if I told you that, it would spoil all the fun, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry. Stay true to yourself, and it will come to you. It’s all in the mind.” Farra and Bomani looked at her with disturbed faces.

  Hagga looked over toward the corner of the room and began to whisper as if she had begun a dialogue with an invisible presence.

  “What? The boy?” Hagga questioned her otherwise undetectable listener.

  Bomani and Farra looked at her cautiously.

  “Hmm, if that is what you want. You know best.” Hagga finished.

  She grabbed a bundle of black bandages that hung from a bone protruding from the wall, and handed them to Bomani.

  “Here. Take these, boy. They are very old. Warriors have worn them for centuries. Some, you may have heard of — heroes and legends of old. You’ll need these for those nasty wounds you have on your arm and leg.”

  Bomani looked down at his limbs curiously. “What wounds?”

  “Bomani, it’s a gift, just take them,” Farra said, reaching for the bandages and putting them into her pouch. “I thank you for them, even if he doesn’t.”

  “Now, you two had better get going. No doubt Hatari has already begun sending ogres this way.” Hagga walked them out as she continued. “Directly east, there is a river, and by this river, you will find my boat.” She turned and pointed specifically at Farra. “And you must get to the boat first. Take it and head down stream. All I can tell you is that you must make it to the other side of the Angry Mountain.”

  At the doorway, she stopped them. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” answered Bomani.

  “Of course you are. What about you, my young Anifem?”

  “Yes, I guess I am.”

  . . . .

  Not far from Hagga’s hut, to the South, up high in one of the trees, a stocky, hairy, ogre had been lying tranquilly in the branches. He was one of hundreds of ogres that Hatari kept posted throughout the Forbidden Expanse, and like most of the ogres who lived in these camps, he had
very little to do with his time, but feed off of the small animals that roamed, and nap leisurely.

  “Ogre.” A voice called out abruptly. It startled the beast so much that he fell from the tree. There were some ogres that Hatari called by name, but this particular one bore no special reference, except that he was located nearest to Hagga’s Hut.

  After recognizing his master’s voice, the ogre reached for a large diamond that hung from a rope around his neck, and raised it so that he could look into it as he spoke. An image of Hatari projected from the diamond, making the beast a bit nervous. It was rare that he had to speak to Hatari face to face.

  “Yes, Master?”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Um, lying around, master, talking to you.”

  “Are you near the northern border?”

  “Yes, Master. I am at my post, as always.”

  “Good. I want you to head east toward the river. There are two humans that I want you to capture, children. Bring them to me.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “They will most likely take the river. That would be the fastest way south, deeper into the Forbidden Expanse. In fact, there is no need to bring them to me. Just destroy them!”

  “Yes, Master, dem destroyed.”

  “And ogre…”

  “Yes master?”

  “The little girl’s staff, I want it.”

  The ogre saluted Hatari. “Yes, master. Make dem destroyed. Bring the staff. Got it, master.”

  Hatari’s image faded from the crystal. The ogre hurried to his nearby camp and informed the rest of his clan. They all wore a diamond around their necks so that Hatari could keep track of them. He had mastered the art of communicating through his diamonds a long time ago. For him, it was a simple matter of concentration, but the ogres could not contact him whenever they wished. They waited for his call —sometimes for hours, sometimes for days, months, and even years.

  Chapter 8

  BANDAGES