Chapter 13

Revina insisted on accompanying Malin to the city against Malin's wish. Malin had argued that he couldn't be able to protect her if she was to be attacked since the Dark Army had too many soldiers but Revina stubbornly stood her ground, saying she wasn't going to be a choir girl who would just sit in the cottage and wait for soldiers to return home with victory to welcome them with ululations. She wanted to take part in making Mamadu regret having abducted and tortured her. She wanted to be there to watch him take his last breath and more specifically, the painful process that would lead to his eventual death.

According to Pell, Revina was a non-resident and as such could not be affected by the dark magic of Dalawa empire. She could even fight against the Great Wizard without the Wizard using any magic on her. For this reason, Pell offered to fight through Revina and rescue the Oracle from the Great Wizard before Malin could kill Prince Mamadu. Pell, being a goddess, could not personally fight against the Great Wizard. She could only fight through someone else. Revina agreed to go with Pell to rescue the Oracle but on the condition that they would head to the palace to help Malin and Jonathan.

Meanwhile, Jonathan, accompanied by Malin, approached a few of his former friends who had rebelled against Prince Mamadu's dictatorial rule and were lucky enough not to get caught, choosing to work as waiters in taverns and hotels as disguise. To fight against the Dark Army, they needed an army. With Malin standing next to him, Jonathan addressed a group of forty ex soldiers who he had managed to assemble in a small abandoned building in the outskirts of the city.

"Gentlemen," Jonathan began. "I have requested your presence because I need your help. The empire needs your help," he continued as the soldiers listened in silence. He explained everything to them and the urgency with which they had to act. But he didn't mention or reveal anything about Malin. "Any questions?" he asked when he finished.

"Yes, one," answered one of the soldiers, a short, brown and handsome man who looked anything but soldierly. "Who is the kid next to you?"

"His name is Malin and he is not a kid. He is going to be the leader of this group," Jonathan replied as the men broke into laughters of disapproval.

"You want us to challenge the Prince's Dark Army under the command of a boy? An outcast?" Sneered one of the soldiers.

"He is not an..." Jonathan began before being stopped by Malin. Time was not on their side. It was only six hours before dawn and Pell had warned that the fight against Mamadu was going to be a tough and difficult one that could stretch into hours. In this situations in the upper dimension, Palawa Kingdom, his father then, Nicholas Ocholla, would read them a speech to cheer them up whenever the challenge seemed insurmountable. He chose to use that speech with these new soldiers.

"I don't intend to command anybody," he began. "You can choose a leader from amongst yourselves. You know each other better than I know you. But please, if you want to save this empire, we have to rush. And when you reach the battle ground, I plead with you, don't fight for Jonathan, do not fight for me neither should you fight for revenge. Let us go out there not for us but for those we are leaving behind, for your families, for your loved ones, for your friends and most importantly, for Dalawa.

"Defend not your pride but the pride of your generation, not your race but the continuation of your race. When you go out there, fight not with evil but against evil, not with ego but with the pride of your responsibility. Let us fight for the Emperor, for the empress, for the empire and for all of us, young and old. Let history judge you not for being the men who cowed at the time the empire needed you the most but for being the heroes who when faced with a storm, rode towards the storm like eagles and calmed it into stillness.

"I tell you now that the terrain ain't going to be all smooth but let your victory not be determined by the ruggedness of the terrain but by the smartness of your navigation. Expect no victory if you can't be flexible to the demands of change. Use not your bran without the component of your brain. You are outnumbered in bran so let our brains and strategic navigations outnumber theirs and victory will be served on the tables of our breakfast tomorrow morning.

"Finally, turn not against your friends, leave not a member of your team behind and kill not if you can only neutralise. We are not fighting against enemies. We are fighting against friends whose only difference with us is not their evilness but their inability to see and run from evil. But don't be mistaken and try to convince them to convert. In war there is no negotiations, in negotiations there is no war. Negotiations are done in boardrooms, with pens and papers, not in the fields with swords and arrows. And when you kill, don't look back in sympathy, look forward in pride.

"But remember, we fight not for us neither do we fight because we hate them nor because we are better than them or stronger than them. We fight for the love of the empire, our friends and our families and we fight to defend justice and to stop evil."

The soldiers quieted for a while before breaking into applause and bowing before Malin, hugging and shaking his hands. "How did you meet this boy and where does he come from?" One of the soldiers asked Jonathan who answered by narrating to them how Malin had attacked the villa, killed some guards and eventually defeated the undefeated Ratego.

"When I saw how fast he killed those soldiers, I said to myself, 'here is a man who can fart directly into the nostrils of the Prince without the Prince making a face.' and that's why I chose to follow him." Jonathan said amid laughter from the men.

The soldiers finally agreed to be led by Malin but Malin appointed Jonathan as their commander since Jonathan was the one who was going to take active part in fighting the Dark Army. For him his fight was with the Prince, not the Dark Army. They named their small army Guardians of the EMPIRE. Jonathan was unanimously approved by the soldiers as their commander. It was only five and a half hours till sunrise.