------------- Bakko ----------------

Walking slowly towards Woyin, the king had a sinister look to him, almost as if he had forgotten his relationship with his son and replaced it with complete exasperation.

“Shuyin!!” A loud voice rang in the courtyard.

Hearing someone call his father by his name, Woyin had an unrestrained smile. He knew there was only one person in the entire kingdom who could do that, and with the presence of this particular person, this fight would not go on for long. Woyin was originally afraid his father could take it too far and hospitalize him. This wouldn't be the first his father had done so.

“We need to discuss something of great importance” The voice continued.

“Uncle” Woyin bowed in respect. Although Woyin addressed this person as his uncle, they were not related by blood. This man was the second in command of the entire kingdom of Songhai. He was a highly respected warrior and a clever politician. Rumor has it, that he is the real ruler of the kingdom, while the king was the power figurehead that held everything together.

“Bakko, can this wait for a couple more minutes? I need to give this youthful son of mine a good beating.” The king responded.

“No, it cannot wait. And besides, Woyin is no longer a child. You should let him adventure the world like we did his age.” Bakko responded.

Bakko had a very good relationship with the king. Back when they were youths, Bakko was the sworn prince of the tribal state of Songhai. He had gone out hunting at a nearby forest. He was accompanied by two guards. Today, the goal was to hunt for wild titanic boar. These beasts are usually found at deeper sections of any forest with thick vegetation. The titanic boar got its name from the fact that it closely resembles a boar in looks, but great outstrips the boar in size. They usually grow as tall as 7 feet in height and 15 feet in length, and can weigh up to a 8000 pounds in size.

As the party of three made their way deeper into the forest, they picked up on a boar's trail. They slowly followed the trail to the banks of a river. To their surprise, they encountered one  that seemed a little carefree. The boar was lazily drinking water from the river. Bakko and his group got in position to attack the boar. Both guards aimed their bows at the titanic boar and waited for bakko to give the order to shoot.

“This is a little odd” Bakko thought to himself. “I have never encountered a titanic boar that is this carefree”

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Usually, most animals in the forest are always wary of their surroundings and would always stare around to check for incoming dangers. This particular titanic boar seemed a little over confident, but Bakko thought nothing much of it. Raising his right and pointing at the boar, Bakko gave the order to shoot the boar. The guards shot their straight at the titanic boar. The arrow, aimed perfectly at the boar, followed a clear path to the boar.

“clank” the arrows were stopped dead on their tracks. It was though the skin of this particular titanic boar was made out metal. To everyone's surprise, the titanic boar did not immediately run, but instead turned out to figure out where that arrow came from. It was almost as if this particular boar had clarity in its emotions, and right now it was angry.

One of the guards rush out, from the nearby bush, this time around, his entire bow and arrow was on fire.  This was a particular hallmark of the Songhai tribe. They had the ability to control some of the elements of nature. The guard was confident in his next shot, the force from the arrow added with fire would normally take down any foe. To everyone's surprise, the same “clank” sound was heard again and the boar was completely fine. Without a moment's notice, the boar charged at the guard.

Bakko staring at this could clearly tell that this wasn't a regular titanic boar.  He had never seen or heard of a titanic boar possessing such a strong skin, and even more importantly, having a single long horn.

“Get out of there” Bakko yelled, but it was too late, the boar had arrived in front of the guard. The boar stabbed the guard in the chest with its horn. Blood could be seen spilling from the guards body, like a fountain. Moments later, the guards body fell to the floor lifeless, he was dead.

In a fit of rage, the second guard rush out. Like the guard before him, his bow and arrow was on fire. He shot successive arrows aiming for the eyes of the bow. He was like a mad dog full of anger. The boar had just killed his warrior brother. They had joined the Songhai’s army when they were seven. They did everything together, even when they trained or fought, it was done together.  Steadily progressing year by year. Just last year, they were both recognized by the army and given a special rank as the guards of the sworn prince.

The boar quickly guarded the arrows by moving its body to the arrow's path. after the barrage of arrows, the boar charged at the second guard. And without the opportunity to react, the boar killed the second guard in the exact same manner as it killed the first.