Several kilometers away from Amalgamation, at the location where the great forest that marked the boundary of the Elemental territory previously stood, an old woman with a Lion head cane stood calmly. Her aged eyes swept across the land, taking in the distinct differences; differences that had been born from two gods reckless rampage. She sighed painfully when she saw how much damage the land had accrued. And though this wasn't the land of her people, it didn't mean that she couldn't sympathize with the Elementals. For though the land of the Ancients had faced its own share of devastation, it couldn't compare with what she was seeing here.
"Being close to the source of the destruction surely didn't help," the old lady sighed and lightly tapped her cane on to the ground. Her simple action elicited a loud groan of discomfort from the earth beneath her, and it shook and trembled as it struggled to patch itself together. Yet no matter how much it tried, it just couldn't mend its wounds.
"Oh?" the old lady was surprised by what she was seeing. When had her strength ever failed to live up to her ridiculously high expectations. Yet today, her power refused to uphold its name.
"Again," the old lady frowned and struck her cane into the ground once more. This time, it wasn't a light tap but a mighty stomp. And the earth shook for it. A mighty tempest arose with the old woman at its core and pushed against the ground. If the earth would not listen, then she would use the winds to push its broken halves back into place.
Boom
Crack
Bang
Several minutes went by, and soon those minutes stretched on to become dozens of minutes, yet no matter how much power she pushed into her cane or into the ground, nothing changed. When the earth did move, it crumbled. And when the winds did succeed in pushing the broken fragments of earth, they didn't push them back together but farther apart. It was almost as if there was a power much stronger than anything the old woman could summon, keeping the earth in a fragmented state.
"It is not going to work Matriarch. The power that dealt the damage is of a much higher grade than yours. Unless this power is taken back by the one who birthed it, no healing of any sort an occur."
A calm voice pushed its way past the loud winds and tumultuous quakes and found its place in the old woman's ears. The old woman was indeed the Matriarch of the Ancients. And the one who spoke out to her regardless of her frustrations was a man who knew her fairly well.
A handsome middle-aged man walked calmly towards the Matriarch with another behind him. This man walked calmly, and even the power of the Matriarch did nothing to ruffle his feathers. His composure was akin to that of a general who had everything under control and feared nothing. And though the winds battered and the earth shook, he remained still.
"How long have you been her?" the Matriarch asked whilst withdrawing her power.
"I was here before you got here. You just weren't looking." The man smiled slightly and snapped his fingers. The winds trembled slightly and the light engulfing the place shimmered. Like fragile glass space cracked apart to reveal a small house right next to where the man stood. It had been here all this while, only that it had been hidden by an illusion so strong that even the Matriarch couldn't see through it!
The Matriarch's eyes remained cold and expressionless, and she didn't seem especially thrilled to see the newcomer here. However, when she saw the person behind the man, her eyes brightened and a small smile found its way to her face.
"Keira greets the Ancient Matriarch," Mane's grandmother – Keira – flexed her knees deeply and bowed down to show her respect to the woman she had burdened with so much. Well, it was her brother who actually did the burdening, but his sins were her sins.
"It's good to see you Keira," the Matriarch smiled bitterly when she heard the way Keira addressed her. But she wasn't going to argue with her. Keira was more stubborn than she looked, and the Matriarch couldn't remember how many times she had confronted Keira concerning the way the latter referred to her. Yet Keira had never wavered, and her will had remained. It had been several centuries yet she referred to her by her title, not her name. And that was even before she actually became a Matriarch.
"I have told you a hundred times that you can just call her Ruth. No need to call her by he title." Komfo Anokye sighed pretentiously whilst speaking. His words elicited a response from the Matriarch. For her brows lifted in annoyance and with a wave of her hand a strong wind smashed into Komfo Anokye.
"Still so feisty," Komfo Anokye easily dealt with the threat without even moving. A pale shield appeared before him and kept out the power of the Matriarch.
"Why are you here? Last time I checked, what you sought wasn't here." Ruth frowned and asked. Komfo Anokye had left all those years ago to find that which he sought even more than his life. He rarely visited Babylon and had been more than happy to pass on his responsibilities as the Patriarch to her. He didn't care about his own city, much less the cities of the other races. Surely, he wasn't here to see how far the damage ha spread. For Komfo Anokye's heart wasn't big enough to accommodate anything that wasn't related to him.
"I came here to confirm a few things. But by the time I got here, what I sought was lost." Komfo Anokye smiled wryly and said. The Matriarch was a bit surprised that Komfo Anokye actually said something. She was expecting him to avoid her question or say nothing at all. Yet he did reply, and though his reply was vague, it was better than receiving nothing.
"What do you seek?" the Matriarch wondered. And for the second time today, Komfo Anokye surprised her again. For he replied and said unto her,
"I want the same thing you want."
"I want the boy; and I know that you have a way to get to him"
The Matriarch looked at Komfo Anokye for a long time without saying anything. Her eyes scrutinized the man standing before her deeply, yet like it always was with Komfo Anokye, Ruth could find nothing. He just kept smiling, his eyes hiding every bit of hurt and concealing secrets he wasn't willing to give away. Finally, after what seemed like five minutes, the Matriarch broke the silence.
"Why?" She had every right to know why Komfo Anokye sought the boy. For being on Basileus's radar was not a good thing. For he could be your doom or your boon.
Komfo Anokye said nothing, opting to be silent this time.
"I cannot help you without knowing what exactly you want with the boy. I cannot allow you to harm him." Ruth explained.
"I cannot harm him even if I want to. He has grown exceedingly more powerful than I though he was." Komfo Anokye smiled faintly and said. He was right. Although he too could defeat a god, he wasn't going to arrogantly assume that he could easily hurt Mane. For while both could defeat gods, only one of them was capable enough to kill one.
"That is true," the Matriarch agreed. The effects of the boy's battle alone had fractured their world and even with her power, she couldn't provide any sort of healing to the earth.
"But I still cannot allow you to see the boy without knowing what you have in mind. You may not be able to kill or harm him physically, but your wits are just as deadly as your arms." Ruth shook her head and said. Basileus's greatest strength was not his vast power, but his sugarcoated tongue and brilliant mind. Those two working in tandem could deceive even a deaf man into selling himself to the Great Basileus.
"I will never do that," Komfo Anokye promised. But that wasn't enough for the Ancient Matriarch.
"Your words are not enough Anokye. Why would I only take your word that you won't hurt him."
"Then you can take mine as well," Keira had been silent all this while. It was only now that Ruth realized that she was still around.
"Well…" the Matriarch hesitated slightly. Keira was a gentle soul and Ruth would normally never doubt her. But when it came to Komfo Anokye, Keira was willing to do anything for her brother. And that was what birthed Ruth's hesitation.
"I will never let anything harm him," Keira promised.
"Why?" Ruth had realized by now that there was something that she was missing. There was something about the way the two siblings were declaring their determination for protecting the Supreme that made Ruth understand that the two before her know something about the boy that she did not.
"Because he is my grandson."