PART 23

Quietly the four emissaries from Igunma village listened to the vote of trust from the rector and did not as much as speak until the head of the Academy seemed not to have anything more to say.

After the uneasy silence that followed the oration by the rector, the man called Enowman stood up to once more address him.

''It is the express desire of the royal kinship of Igunma village that your Academy should seek it's permission before participating in or organizing any crusades on the village's grounds.''

''At least....until the goddess sends word about a new oracle,'' he added.

This injuction about the goddess and a possible new oracle wasn't part of the message from the royal kinship of the village. That addition was an attempt at compromise by the old man from the Igunma village. Revrend Pieterson smiled, or more to the point, grinned. He knew none of the villagers could physically do anything to stop them from organizing any event on the village grounds, provided they had the consent of the state goverment. He could tell that the old man was willing to compromise.

That last response from him was a confirmation of what he had always suspected.

PART 22

Remarkably, as one would have otherwise anticipated, the red old dragon did not as much as cough or sneeze in response to the oracles the bearer had delivered. Instead he offered kola and refreshments as peace offerings. These the emissaries of Igunma village gently declined.

There was an unspoken battleline drawn and it seemed the four representatives of the Igunma village were in no mood for any entertainment or refreshments.

The red old dragon eventually cleared his throat to address them. It was the eldest one among them he chose to address himself to directly. As if he hadn't heard much of the accounts the oracle bearer and the one called Enowman had made, he proceeded to paint a brilliant picture of the relationship the Academy has had with it's neighbouring communities.

PART 21

But it wasn't him who spoke about the last oracle of the goddess of the Amenawon river. That recount was by a shrivelled-skinned short man who looked too fair in complexion to be from this village.


There is a person whom the oracle has pointed her divinity rod at. Who this person is, we do not know. What we know is that this person is from this school and is the full bearer of the catastrophe that is set to befall this village.

There is a season the oracle has pointed her divinity rod at. What season, we do not know. What we do know is that the season is nearer than we think. It may even be now, or it may be much later. We are not certain. What we are certain is that this season is for our own time.

There is a way, the oracle has pointed her divinity rod at. What way, we are not sure. What we can clearly say is that this way is not the way we have always known.

PART 20

The name of this one was Enowman; a highly respected member of one of the senior men's clan-group in the village. He was a titled man; a chief of the first class and a regular emissary of the royal family of Idunma village.

It was he who spoke up, when the secretary eventually ushered them into the rector's office. It was he who narrated some of what had been happening in and out of the village shrine and the village square the last year to date. It was he who recounted the mysterious deaths and omen that have been happening in the village since the Academy had decided to invade the village with it's crusades.

PART 19

What they whispered about, one could not easily tell, but guessing from their apparels which indicated they were from the nearby village, one could say they were talking about their surroundings which I must say is not anything like their own village's surroundings.

The four of them seemed almost reverent in the manner they refered to the things in the room, that they were not used to....as if by some twist of fate they were made witnesses of such holy, or more to the point: such modern surroundings.

The oldest one among them ensured that the others did not show too much ignorance by speaking loud enough to be heard by the discerning secretary at the other end of the room.