After a long period of time, everything calmed down. Ochieng' was however left weak. He fell down with a great thud. Whatever happened was maybe for his own good but it took much of his energy. Just to receive whatever that moment brought, he went through a lot of pain and if it wasn't for his inner strength, he would have been a goner. It would take at least an entire day to recuperate. The sisters of the dark had thought that they were doomed this time. Seeing Ochieng' being even more vulnerable than before, they were exhilarated.
They appeared before him in a flash. Fearing that he might again surprise them, they disappeared with him. They were injured after the previous explosion but the success of their mission brought greater rewards. A little pain was nothing much. As the saying went, 'a sting from a bee is worthless compared to gourds of honey in the beehive'.
"Ochieng'!"
Ratong' cried out before falling down once again in despair. It was the most irrational fellow amongst the other four but had the strongest bond with Ochieng'. Even though the bond could not be as strong as the one between Mudho and the young man, there was no much difference. Seeing his best friend taken under its nose, it felt like the end of the world had come.
When Kuru saw Ochieng's previous exceptional behaviour, he knew things were going to go their way. He never expected to see the young man being even more helpless. He was on the verge of being a victim of cardiac arrest.
"One from above, I know you created Keniya to see a happy people. I know I failed you, please don't let brother Ochieng' lose like I did."
Knowing that he could do nothing to salvage the situation, Kuru prayed tearfully.
...
Ochieng' woke up to find himself bound in heavy chains. He was inside a dark room of about five by five metres. The walls were about six metres high and on one wall, there was a small window that barely gave light to the room.
"Where am I?"
He asked himself trying to free his hands from the bondage. The chains were too strong for him to destroy. After struggling for a little longer, he learnt that his efforts were bootless. He then sat down to calm himself and find a way out of his plight. After two minutes, he discovered that there were a lot of changes in his body.
First, he felt that the powers he had obtained from the Inscrutable Horse a few months ago had intensified.
'If I did not use my sword at that last moment, I would have died thanks to the horse. As it turns out, the horse was a reincarnation of some spiritual being living in a world mythical to us and not even the One from above is aware of its existence. I was lucky for it was yet to fully awaken its spiritual abilities'.
Ochieng' felt his heart racing upon tapping onto the memories of the horse that were now fresh in his mind. He was lucky to have met the weak horse. Otherwise, he would have died and his mission would have been nothing but unaccomplished.
'All his abilities became mine and what happened yesterday was further awakening of these abilities. If fully awakened, I can have powers that can rival even the One from...'. At that point, his lower jaws fell in wonderment. He could not believe what he just learned.
'It is a huge blessing I met Inscrutable Horse while it was still weak. With such powers, it could be an easy thing for it to kill me. Furthermore, the laws of space that hinder the One from above from coming to Keniya do not work on it. Even when in Keniya, so long as it willed, not even my master could know of its existence... What a creature!'
'Anyway, no one could have imagined that I could gain such powers in my quest to free mankind from the hands of Lord of darkness. In my time here, I will wait for the third and last awakening of these powers before I start wrecking this dark world. After that, I will present the Lord of darkness to the One from above in person so that man is freed once and for all. After it is over, I will take Apeleka with me back home and we will live in our Odindi clan in Karachuo in peace'. Ochieng' declared in determination.
'My only fear is that I can be killed by Lord of darkness before then.' Upon thinking of this, Ochieng' was depressed. He realized that even though he was sure of victory once he was powerful enough, he had to be alive to see that time come. Sighing heavily, he lowered his head and fell asleep.
He was awaken by heavy footsteps coming towards the door. After knowing the scope of his current strength, he was in the least worried for he was aware that in the dark world, currently very few people were a threat to him.
The heavy door sealing the little cell was opened, revealing the ugliest creature Ochieng' had ever seen. Walking towards him was a behemoth with head resembling those of the Black Fiends and a body as big as the gorillas he always saw in Karachuo. The creature was covered in dark hairs. What was peculiar with it was its eyes. They were red and wild. To Ochieng', even though they were no different from crocodile's, they were redolent of the men who slaughtered animals for his clan back at home. Just looking at them could make anything breathing shudder in fright.
"Stupid human, rise! You are needed at the torture room." The creature said impassively as soon as it got close to Ochieng'. Its voice was rough and deep.
"Why should I be taken to a torture room? Did I commit a crime..." Ochieng' frowned in bewilderment.
"Men of your kind will always be criminals of our world...Okay, you are not to ask questions, unless you want me to eat you."
"I'd rather be eaten than to be made a puppet of the Lord of darkness." Ochieng' smiled nonchalantly.
"Rise and be obedient."
Suppressing the shock in its eyes, the creature kicked Ochieng' at his ham throwing the latter on a wall nearby. It did not know how this boy knew that he would be made a servant of the Lord of darkness.
"Cough! Cough! I asked you to eat me up. Why on earth should you kick me like that? It hurts, you know." Ochieng' reprimanded indignantly but when he saw the creature coming at him again, he smiled meekly, "Okay, okay, I will follow you obediently."
"That's more like it." The creature nodded with a smile giving it an uglier appearance.
It then took Ochieng' by his shoulder and they walked out of the cell. What the creature was unaware of was the fact that that wight already knew of everything the people of the dark world wanted to do with him. Cooperation was only a front.