The spear approached the young medium's chest, tumm. Before it was pierced, forming a pair of scissors with the sticks, he caught the spear. He extended it upwards. Nyatui's weapon stood upright, crushing his hooked nose. The sticks squeezed his neck. He had been immobilized. If Akachi wanted to, he could choke him.

The ex-sage smiled. He hadn't had this much fun for a long time. He stepped back, undid his spear and straightened his nose. His Guardian Ori went to his ear and whispered:

You always underestimate your enemy, Nyatui. One day, that could cost you dearly.

I don't mind dying, Mrs. Dalji, as long as it's to an honorable enemy.

Sometimes you seem to want to become an ancestor at an early age.

Leave me alone! No more lectures.

Akachi picked up the sticks. The fight was over. Adrenaline was still coursing through his body. He had no interest in continuing the conflict, but he wouldn't run away from the fight if Nyatui wanted him to. He had noticed that unlike Yasini's tin javelin, Nyatui had dematerialized his weapon.

"Your spear is made of Axé, isn't it?"

"I'm surprised you only noticed that now, you little prick."

"Now I know where Yasini got his difficult personality from."

"Enough talk, kid. You've convinced me. No one who has seen this technique would know how to survive it. Follow me."

Spin Bomb ran towards her clothes, began to dress, stumbling in the process. She looked at Fadala, who was already stuffed into his suit and adjusting his tie.

"How did you get dressed so quickly?"

Akachi also put on his shorts and shirt. The trio picked up their belongings and waited for Nyatui to show them the way. As if it were the simplest thing in the world, he leapt towards the stone wall and started climbing.

The girl let her shoulders slump. She pouted and grumbled:

"Isn't there a staircase? Preferably a flight of stairs?"

"There's a less steep part, but you have to go around it, and it takes a while. If you're too lazy to climb, climb on my back."

Grudgingly, Spin Bomb grabbed onto the man's neck. Jumping from crevice to crevice, he climbed up. Fadala and Azekel's grandson looked at each other. Not wanting to be left behind, they started climbing too.

They climbed the hundreds of meters. Only the sword maker complained the whole way. When they reached the top, she collapsed on Nyatui's back. Her body shook with fear. Nyatui tapped her on the shoulder. She looked ahead and saw the huts. The smell of beans cooking in a clay pot awoke her taste buds.

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She ran towards the pot. He uncovered it. Before she could put the spoon in, Feruzi slapped her hand. Spin Bomb recoiled in fright.

"Ah! Who are you?"

"I'm the cook…"

The others arrived and took their places. They sat around the wood fire. Nyatui, Mashal and Feruzi faced the newcomers. They greeted each other and introduced themselves. Akachi explained what he had come to do. The trio of old mediums looked at each other and Feruzi retorted:

"We can't help. In fact, we don't want to help anymore. When the sage of knowledge disappeared, we suspected Minister Ojwang. We only had convictions, until we discovered his secret plans. We denounced him, but he used all his influence in the kingdom to reverse the accusation. We left our land as traitors to the homeland, spies, subversive agents."

Mashal clapped a hand on his knee and amended:

"The Circle of Sages was slow to act. They clung to power and paid to see. They preferred to remain in their comfortable positions, we preferred to abdicate. Of course, it was reported otherwise."

Nyatui spat sideways. All that talk was making him irritable.

"It was better to abdicate than to look those idiots in the face. One of us disappears and the king asks us to calm down. He got the end he deserved."

Fadala sensed a certain resentment in the men's voices. Through them, he received new information. What the Ilu Nla press said didn't correspond to what the former wise men preached. The power struggle between the mediums and Ojwang with his cybersoldiers ran much deeper than Ilê Apanyan had imagined.

I had a lot of questions to ask, but I couldn't let on that I was too interested in the subject. That could turn off the tap of inside information. He had to let Akachi unravel the events.

Adisa's son bit his lips. He was afraid to ask. He knew he was just another piece in the series of events, he just didn't realize how important it was.

"A sage has passed away, and his Spiritual Key is not with you. The Spiritual Key of Faith is with me. So there are at least five sages left with their respective keys. If I were to look for them, would they be my allies or my enemies?"

Feruzi put his pale fingers under his chin and meditated for a few moments.

"The wise see your father as an enemy, Akachi. Just like Azekel. There is no doubt that Adisa was a collaborator with Ojwang, even if he was coerced or blackmailed. You are living proof of what I'm talking about. He has his share of the blame for the events, but he's not the only one. We all failed."

Mashal crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.

"If we had carried out a pre-emptive coup and seized power, Ojwang wouldn't have been on the throne. We'd be revolutionaries today, not self-exiles…"

"Pure nonsense! You and your utopian dreams of social conscience. Every dog only licks its own wounds. The people aren't as politicized as you think they are. They don't even care who's in power, they just want a false sense of stability. This mushy collectivism is useless."

"Your individualism has always caused us problems, Nyatui. Have you ever thought that we wouldn't even be mediums if we didn't use the power of our Ori Guardians? Think about it. I know that your selfishness doesn't allow you to see the end of your nose, but make an effort. The only way to regain power is by stirring up the population and making them aware of your intentions. The people of Ilu Nla must stop being spectators and become the protagonists of their own history."

Feruzi puffed out his cheeks and blew out all the air. He picked up clay plates and distributed them to those present. That kind of discussion between the two never stopped. As he placed the portions on the plates, he declared:

"It would be good if we were that rational, dear friends. I believe that our actions are less conscious than we believe. We have one conviction and several contradictions."

Everyone listened in silence. They were curious to know where it would end.

"For Ojwang, mediums are a problem. They generate disunity, conflict, violence and poverty in our country. To remedy the impurity he projected onto us, he practiced the same violence, conflicts, etc."

"Feruzi explains!"

Nyatui mocked his companion. Feruzi tried to reply, but gave up. They began to have lunch.

Yasini's master turned to Akachi and asked:

"You said you learned the mediumistic arts from Yasini. What did he actually teach you?"

At that question, Akachi choked. His face turned purple. The former wise men stared at him. The boy, pressured by those inquisitive stares, fell backwards coughing.