The seven beasts were like myths in the land of Greenwich, and their tales were shared only when men had more than enough liquor in their stomachs and were braver to produce such revered names with their mortal mouths. In truth, the seven beasts had what it takes to instil fear in the mind of those who heard of them. Invincible and believe to possess power that makes all the elements bend to their will, their tales had metamorphosis, promoting them from men to demigods. And the fact that no one ever sees them and life had added more spice to their fantasy.Their notoriety came when El Guje was facing some internal conflicts with his uncle who yearned for the crown. El Baddo who was the favourite of the royal mafias gathered an overwhelming army and invade the mafia palace to dethrone the seating king, and El Guje and his wife escaped by sneaking through the route in the dungeon and were labelled fugitives afterwards. El Baddo climbed the throne of the mafia king and ruled only for
Andrea had slept for a very long time and it was of no surprise when she was seen playing her piano and singing along when the rest of the inhabitants of the island were in the bed. A long time ago, a poor farmer was working on his farm with his wife and two daughters when they brought the corpse of his son who had been knocked down by a hit-and-run truck driver. Since they usually leave for the farm in the morning, the oldest of the children always stays behind to cook the meal for the rest of the family, and he was bringing this when he was mistakenly hit by a truck whose brake suddenly became faulty. "Oh, my poor son. The gods are wicked and I will henceforth cease paying obeisance to them," the sad farmer's wife cried out at the sight of her mutilated son." "Ahh! Say no evil about the gods. If this does not happen, who knows what will happen?" The man consoles his wife as sympathizers gathered to bury the dead. "Do not stop me from speaking my mind. The gods have erred me by t
Lights from lamps illuminate the foreigner's headquarters, casting on the guards on duty, as they stroll to and fro.As usual with every night that is devoid of stars, the teeming darkness scared the night birds off, and only the croaks of the frogs disrupt the perfect silence.Suddenly, a loud bang can be heard on the big black gate and one of the guards stationed at that spot peeked through the hole made in the gate and asked, "who are you?" "We are the mercenaries, open this gate." "Where is Aries? I was informed he will be leading you into this island." "We were attacked when we reach Greenwich island and lost Aries during the battle. Open this gate now, we are weary, thirsty, hungry and sleepy." "Please wait for a moment and let me call our boss." All the faces he was seeing were strangers and this was contrary to the instructions given to them. They were to allow the mobs that will be led by Aries and not any kind of mobs in tattered clothing. "Who is at the door?" "Some f
The foreigners were in their usual meeting spot, even before the chicken woke. And their clatter boomed louder in the closed large hall. "Now that the first batch of mercenaries was here, what are the next steps?" One among the men asked. "The first step is to confirm if the men were from Onishi and not mafias disguised as mercenaries. Apart from their words, we have no proof if they are the expected ones or not," the oldest among the merchants announced with a stern look. "I have been calling Onishi's number but it's been accepted by a voicemail machine, and so far, he had not called back," Priest answered back. "We are just getting cautious over nothing. Where will they come from, if not from Onishi? Who else knows of this mission except him," Augur mumbled, lolled his back on the chair and close his eyes to erase the taunting image of Aries as he leave for his last journey. "I will confirm with Onishi when I call. I never bother to ask for any password since Aries will be going
The mercenary who volunteered to exercise his muscle against four guards was a short and thin man with curly hair and a clean chin. And he was seen stepping out of the men in line, walking towards the foreigners who stood staring at him, bowing at them then walking back into the space within the circle that was just made by the country P guards and their newly employed mercenaries. "If the weakest among my men can beat four of your guards, then you will agree with me that we are up to Onishi's story of our courage and strength," the leader of the mercenaries who had introduced himself as Presido asked with an impish grin. "Yes. You had proved your prowess if he win." "His name is Kikuchi and he is the smallest and weakest among my men. Singlehandedly, he killed ten men who attacked his village, and that was what drew us to him," Presido explained as the four men circled the small man in their midst and pounced on him. Kikuchi slipped off the grasp of the closet guard, stepped left
The priest followed the twenty-one mercenaries and Augur to the front of the big black gate that separated the foreigner's land from the mafias' territory. "I missed Aries and wish he is here to go along with you," Priest announced, held Augur's shirt, peered at the mercenaries as they walked towards the truck parked outside the gate, then let out, "you must be careful. I can't afford to lose you as well." "Nothing will happen to me," Augur smiled and answered back. "I missed him too, but I can take care of myself. Be at ease." "I know you can, am just scared. This mission is not as easy as I had speculated." "Nothing good comes easy," Augur let out, pat Priest's shoulder, stepped out of the gate and reached the car side in a few seconds. He hopped inside and the car engine became alive and drive out of sight. The priest offered a silent prayer to the gods he believed in, turned and walked back, and the weight of his mood made his shoulder to be hunched as he disappeared among the
El Ramon had been busy for a while as he need to supervise the blocking of some of the secret routes that had been found out by outsiders. Today, he decided to stroll around the palace, and it was the cry of a baby that caught his attention as he walked toward Andrea's section. "Did you hear that?" He asked the mafias at his back. The men looked puzzled, bend their heads to a side, stood mobile for a while, and then grin from ear to ear at the undisputable cry of a newborn baby. "Yes, your highness. I guess lady Agatha had given birth." El Ramon looked lost for a while as he stare into space, nodded his head, dismissed the mafias at his back and strolled into the passage that leads to Andrea's room. "My lord. I just want to pacify this baby before coming to inform you of the blessing in disguise." "And what makes him a blessing in disguise?" "Lady Agatha is dead, and I can train him up as my first son. Isn't that marvellous to have a male, after I was been informed that am carr
The open space of the mafia palace was filled to the brims with the feet of maids, mafias, and sympathetic inhabitants who came to pay their last respect to the departing soul. It Cries and wails boomed as she was lowered into the six feet of the ground, and songs of adieu were rendered as sands were poured on the remain of lady Agatha.A moment later, the teary eyes of all the people became bright at the sight of a delicious meal, and their cries soon gave way to laughter when several locally made liquors were served in big jugs. When the sun was about to go for recess for the twilight to take over, everyone gathered in front of the podium, and they were seen swaying their head and dancing to the fable narrated by Andrea. Thousands of years ago when the earth is populated by animals and other powerful spirits, a great famine descended upon the animal kingdom and they soon start dying from hunger. When the handshake goes beyond the elbow, the tortoise decided to visit the great tro