THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 238: 238. AN OATH

”So, Kiuga, will you help me?” Sagiri asked, looking at Kiuga, who seemed to be out of it more than ever.

”If I help you, it will mean you never return,” he said.

”Are you pouting?” Nayira asked. ”That is not manly at all,” she shook her head. It was true, however, that Kiuga was pouting, and he did not stop even when Nayira mocked him. Kaka should have joined too, but he seemed to be unusually silent.

Sagiri sighed. He did not know how to comfort Kiuga or make a promise he might never fulfil.

”Kiuga I...” Sagiri was at a loss for words, too

”Stop. I’d prefer not to hear it. But you have to promise that you will not stop being a member of squad 25, and if we need you in the future, you will come.” Kiuga was now more serious. Even though he promised, Sagiri did not know whether he would be able to keep his word. The squads made in high school could always be kept even after college, unless the rules suddenly changed, which could mean he could still count himself as a member even in absentia. If Kiuga helped him this time, it could only be fair to give back a hand if Sagiri made the same promise back.

”I swear on my life that no matter where I go or how far I will be, even with seas between us and vast lands. If you need me or the squad needs me, I will be there to lend a hand. I will always be a member of Squad 25. I swear on my honour.” Sagiri stuck a hand to his chest and made the promise. If kiuga helped him this time, he would owe him his life.

”You are making me tear up,” Gavina said, looking away. No matter which way anyone looked at the situation, this was a farewell. Farewells were not easy. If men were not allowed to show emotion in almost all tribes, the Tsanka women despised crying. It was a show of weakness to them.

”Then it is an oath. If any of us break it...” Kiuga started to say.

”If I break it, then I must be dead,” Sagiri said, and everyone gasped. He owed Kiuga. Perhaps not all those of the united tribes of the north were bad, but it was starting to become clear that they were not on the same side now, and the gap could perhaps grow in the future, and even worse, they could possibly stand on different sides one day.

A moment of thick silence stretched by, and in that moment, no one dared to speak. The weight of the situation and possibilities was now clear.

”Well,” Kiuga turned around and gave his back to the group. ”What do you need my help with?”

Sagiri turned around to look at the ladies. It was a clear sign to ask them to leave.

”We are not leaving. You beat me once. This time I’m settling the score,” Gavina said. The girls already knew what he had done. There was no point in hiding anything anymore. She looked like she did not care about the politics and just wanted to get even or whatever was running in her mind.

”I have to do something about Tatani,” Sagiri said, and Kiuga wheeled around dramatically.

”What do you mean, Tatani?” His brows were pulled in a perfect arc now. ”I am flattered that you think I am capable of such a fit, but that is a suicide mission, and I desire to see my grandchildren. If the Supreme Mandra wants you dead, why not just execute you?” Kiuga’s voice rose an octave. Indeed, the mission was a suicide mission.

”Brain boy is right. No one has entered Tatani and come back in one piece. They have held the upper hand on the neighbouring tribes, be it from Safaya or Tagayia. Even the Anki, who are the deadliest, have been forced to abandon some of their lands.” Gavina snickered. ”You might have wiped out an entire seventh wing squad, but the Tatani now has its own small city, and it’s not as easy to subdue them as you think.” She caresses the head of Oka. The snake had grown a few inches taller and fatter, and it looked rather heavy sitting around her neck and shoulders. It melted into her touch lovingly, a contrast to its fierce eyes whenever it turned to look in Sagiri’s direction.

”I dare not underestimate their strength. Tatani is a tribe formed from the orphans of war between Tagayia and Safaya for the past few decades. It is only natural that they are deadly after many years of having to fight to stay alive,” Sagiri said.

”Exactly, if we even try to go there, we are not coming back alive. The tribe now has at least three thousand good fighters. That is a whole army.” Kiuga said. Everyone in Tagayia, especially those in war schools and warring tribes of the north and west, knew of the existence of Tatani. After they took a chunk of the Anki tribe’s lands and Tagayia in general, it is impossible not to know of them.

”Tagayia and Safaya created them. Why should they send you to clean their mess?” N’varu seethed. He was now pacing up and down. Kiuga looked like he was regretting more and more.

”I think I must just agree with N’varu. Tagayia and Safaya elite squads and special units are the ones capable of suppressing the Tatani. What are we supposed to do? Throw a drop of water at a burning house?” Kiuga said.

”But Tagayia can’t fight this war, same as Safaya. Tatani had its three legs on Tagayia, Safaya, and the south,” Nayira chimed in.

”So what is Sagiri supposed to do? Scratch an itch to quench the tensions between the two nations?” Kaka asked. He was indeed smart when it mattered and when it involved war. If it did not involve war, then he just couldn’t make a deduction even if the facts were staring right at him.

”Tagayia doesn’t care what Tatani does as long as they leave its lands,” Sagiri said, and Kiuga nodded. Sagiri was sure the smart brain of his was beginning to come up with a solution.

”The supreme mandra expects you to succeed where the Anki had failed?” the anku tribe girl, Pavire, snickered. Tonight she was carrying her bird, and it seemed to follow her scorn and rolled its eyes before it shut them.

The Anki were the most powerful tribe in the southwest, especially, and they were known to be some type of nomads with the largest lands. If they had even left some of their lands, then the opponent was not someone to be taken lightly.

”I hate to agree with the Kafika triplets, but did I wrong you somewhere that you want me dead? There is no way we can touch the Tatani. Especially if we are from Tagayia. There will be no full corpse left for our clans to bury.” Kiuga said before sinking to a squat.

His hands started moving on the rough ground of the arena as if he were drawing a map only he could see.

”Moving them out of Tagayia, even if you succeed, will just be sending them to their death. Safaya will have no fear of offending Tagayia, and they will fight tooth and nail to eliminate the Tatani. Tatani, after all, is an enemy of both states.” N’varu said. ”Won’t that just be sending them to their death. They didn’t choose to be war orphans. Won’t that just create more war orphans?” They were all repeating what he already knew. He did not plan to kill them unless it was necessary, and he did not plan to push them to their death.

”Then the only option is to push them south,” Sagiri said, and Kiuga’s hand froze on the ground.