This is Me

Chapter Eight: Alberom's Glory versus The Hudem Crisis

Magarius says faintly; "The end has come." His breath halts as fresh blood rushes out of his lifeless body. King Roman beheads the helpless Magarius, raises up the head and shouts. "To Alberom. Long live Alberom, our land, our hope, our pride and our future "

Every of his men respond to the call with the same sentence. "To Alberom. Long live Alberom, our land, our hope, our pride and our future.."

King Roman and his men matches unchallenged to the Mezcal's seat of power to attain full control of Mezcal.

At the Mezcal's seat of power, Sagius has been waiting patiently for the arrival of King Roman. He approaches King Roman with a smile. He bows before him and says; "Everything here belongs to you now. We are your subjects. We will do as you command us. You are now our new leader. Our new King. Most especially, Mezcal is now a territory under Alberom's control. Mezcal and Alberom are one. All hail our King; King Roman of Alberom and Mezcal."

The sentence "Long live King Roman, our supreme ruler and King" echo all over Mezcal and beyond.

King Roman is well aware of the Mezcals' culture. He understands the fact that Sagius is next in line to lead the Mezcals. He senses danger and recognizes Sagius as an instant threat. It will be an easy task for a Mezcal comeback with a living Sagius but their rise will be extremely difficult if he eliminates him. Sagius turns his back to King Roman in order to hand over the staff of authority which signifies Mezcal leadership.

Sagius goes straight down to his kneels. He has just suffered a killer hit from King Roman's almighty axe. Sagius goes down lifeless without saying a word. He dies instantly.

King Roman orders the arrest of Bous and other top members of the Mezcal ruling class in order to avoid future rebellion. He says a close eye should be kept on them and subsequently adds that they should be locked in different cells pending when he decides what to do with them. Bous expects to be killed. Having killed Sagius, Bous is surprised King Roman deems it fit only to lock him up. He knows he is a very lucky human being.

"There is a need to put someone in charge here. The person will rule and report directly to me." says King Roman.

General Roy says; "He must be who we trust my Lord. Here is one of our intended pathways to launch our offenses on Hudem. I recommend General Benson. He is trust worthy. He is good for the job."

"I concur. He has stood the test of time and proven to be capable of this kind of important task. He will do a perfect job. General Benson." King Roman calls.

"Yes my King." General Benson replies. King Roman continues;

"You will be in charge of these lands. These men are yours. We will leave the remaining forty thousand soldiers with you in order to run the affairs of the Mezcals and as well monitor our intended route to Hudem. This is me putting my trust in you once more. I am sure you will not fail me. I know you will be a success like you have always been. This is why we will return to Alberom without you and these men. Please be careful and make sure you send a quick message to us Incase of any emergencies. Reinforcements will come in batches. How many men do you think you will need for now?"

General Benson responds; "Another forty thousand will do for now my Lord."

The King replies saying; "Exactly! That is the exact number on the way. We have to go now to put things in place. Our next step must be a fast one."

The news of Alberom's conquest of Mezcal became the talk of the century. It travelled far and near from Mezcal to Alberom, from Alberom to Kalif, from Kalif to Hudem and beyond.

The victory marks a new height attained in the history of Alberom.

Alberom is filled with joy. There was a mixed feeling in Kalif but it was too hard a news for the people of the Hudem Empire to take with the fact that it only took Alberom hours to claim Mezcal.

It's been weeks and King Lucas is still deem to be in the recovering process. The Council seeks to quickly profer a solution and make sure they have an active leader. A meeting is called but to their surprise King Lucas was already waiting for them in the meeting room. This took everyone by shock except Commander Rua who has been working under cover to make sure the King is once again hale and hearty.

"You are all amazed? Come in. Do not be afraid. It is I Lucas your King. I am back from the journey of the dead. I encountered a lot in the other world when I was in comma. I whined and dined with the dead. I ate and drank with death himself. Do you know what that means? Do you? It means I am invincible. I can no longer be died. Not now. not ever. I will be the first man in the history of mankind to live forever. How do I look my Chiefs? Forever young?"

One of the Chiefs says; "Yes my Lord. You look so healthy. The other world has rejuvenated you our King. We were not told it was as severe as you have now confirmed. General Rua kept us in the dark."

King Lucas says; "He has to because you doubted his capabilities as a General who can stand in for his King. He held the fort well and now I am back. Back for good. Next time you will have faith in him because he, my Commander Rua can move things bigger that a mountain."

Another Chief says; "Welcome back our King. There is a new development......."

King Lucas interrupts saying; "In Mezcal!! I have been briefed. I am aware of the Alberom Empire's take over of Mezcal. I wish we could attack them but our forces are not strong enough. We are currently depleted. We will need a year or two to recover from what we have lost. Our offenses are fragile at the moment. The right moment will come. Infact, it is almost here. Let us keep calm and act like we have a large offence."

"Your words are well said. Our military is currently weak but not like that of Alberom. They will not expect any attack at this moment. We can strike them now my Lord" says one of the Chiefs.

"My decision is final. We wait. We delay the attack until we regain full military strength. I do not want to waste lives like we did in previous wars. The wait for a reasonable and right number of men to execute our proper plan is almost coming to an end.."

"What about the puzzle? I learnt that King Roman of Alberom found a puzzle himself. I do not get if. I am confused. If he has a puzzle then it means one of the puzzles is invalid. We demand to see it so that it can be properly looked into. We are entitled to that as chiefs of this profound Empire. Moreso, there are certain features the unification puzzle should possess." says the head of the Council Chiefs.

"You want to see it? There is no problem. But it is definitely not now. The puzzle is hidden in a secret place. I solely have the knowledge of where this secret place is. I know it is your right to see it. I will show it to you after this meeting. Chief. Do you get it?"

The Chief replies; "That will be very gracious of you your majesty. You are too kind."

The meeting with the Council Chiefs comes to an end.

Deep down in the Hudem tunnel, King Lucas and Commander Rua are with the head of the council chiefs. The trio are having a casual conversation.

"Here we are. I hid it here." King Lucas says as he points to a very dark path in the tunnel. He lits his touch and says; "Fear not. Wait here. I will go for if."

King Lucas comes out after just five minutes with a dusty sac. "This is what you request to see. Here it is."

The Chief collects it, brings out the puzzle from the sac, and drops it on the floor. He also brings out an image of the unification puzzle from his pocket to confirm its authenticity. This amazes King Lucas and Commander Rua. The extent of their shock could be seen in their faces. They seem very upset. "This is the puzzle but it is incomplete. A large part of it is missing my King." The Chief says.

"You betrayer. You are in possession of this kind of information and you choose to keep it to your self all this while?" King Lucas says as he removes his sword from its sheath and points it towards the chief.