The village was back to normal. The people went about their business in the morning. The children played and the elders sat in front of their houses, probing everyone like surveillance cameras. Baka saw it all from his longhouse. He had just woken up and still wore a less than formal robe, he had assigned just for sleeping. He wished to see his people like this all the time, free of all their enmities and aggression. A guard arrived in his room and informed him that he had a guest and the guest had been asked to wait in the study according to the orders. The Chief acknowledged the news and the guard left. He put on another robe that added to the formality and headed to meet the guest. As he entered the study, his guest stood up and almost ran to him with open arms. They shared a long hug. The pleasure to meet was mutual. They had been friends since their childhood and had spent a lot of years together. As they grew up, their paths separated.
"I thought the royals weren't supposed to let the peasants in their houses!", his friend taunted. Zota stood five and a half feet tall with half of his hair already white. He was four years older than the chief but they had played together all of their childhoods. He wore a red robe and carried a cane with him. Not that he needed it to walk, he kept it for the appearance enhancement. He had never seen a person getting ridiculed for carrying a staff. "Now that you have called me, you must have a favor to ask", he continued. The Chief was embarrassed as his friend wasn't too far from the truth. He hadn't willingly put his friends behind him. At times, the never-ending issues of the village and its people had made him forget his own name. The friendship was too deep for apologies.
"How is it like? Ruling the village?", Zota asked him as they sat down. Baka didn't want to drag his friend into his problems but he had no other choice. "The problems have become too big to ignore. Something must be done", he responded. The guest was shocked by the honest reply. He didn't expect the chief to share his issues to his friends. Sharing them with the wrong person may cause anarchy and ultimately, a revolution.
"What kind?", the guest asked, this time in a more serious tone. "I don't know how to answer that", the Chief responded. "So, who is causing them?", the guest inquired further.
"The person you loath the most", the Chief said and slowly shook his head, looking down as he said it. Zota rolled his eyes in disgust. He had had a history with the Shaman. He had served him as an apprentice for years. He did all his dirty work but was constantly looking for a way out. When Tai laid his eyes on his daughter, he decided that that was enough. He escaped with his family to his to his paternal Ingcuka tribe and had never looked back ever since. He only started visiting the village when he was informed that the Shaman has replaced him, barely noticing his absence. As soon as he was convinced that there was no threat to him, he decided to return to the village every once in a while, but still kept the family away. He had spent his entire childhood in the village and he hated the Shaman for making him leave it behind. After all those years, his old friend invites him to his house and the chief knew about his hatred for the Shaman. There was only one deductible reason he could have called him for.
"Why must you make me face that monster again?", he pleaded with evident pain in his voice. All his days at the temple, getting his hands dirty for the Shaman, came back to him in flashes.
"I would never let you do that, but he must be stopped", the chief tried to convince his friend.
"No, I can't stand before him again", the guest spoke rapidly, his legs shaking with anxiety.
"You won't have to. I'll face him if the time comes. All I ask of you, is to assume his role until he returns", the chief proposed to his friend. Zota listened with his face buried in his palms. He kept silently shaking with the thought and the chief awaited his response.
"And what happens when he returns?", he spoke stuttering. The fear was too great for either of them to handle. Baka was having a hard time trying to tackle it.
"Let me deal with that, trust me! I will not let anything happen to you or your family", the chief comforted his frightened friend. It wasn't that the guest didn't trust the chief, it was just that he trusted the crookedness of the Shaman more. The guest was gradually gathering himself. The proposal was crazy but the man who came up with it was not.
"But why me?", he asked, all his anxiety looked to have been drained. There were dozens of apprentices that could have done the job.
"I have heard that you know your way around the herbs and have been healing people in your tribe", the chief said. The guest nodded. "That's half the job. As for the other stuff, asking the favor of the gods and sending sacrifices to the other side, if the gods didn't mind that maniac being the medium, I think they'll be fine with you as well", he continued.
All of a sudden, the plan ceased to look like a complete madness. Zota had always wanted to see the Shaman fall and he saw it coming. He knew that the chief wasn't telling him everything but he understood that the less he knew the better.
"But there is one thing. I need you to surrender your powers to me when the time comes", Baka added. His friend didn't mind. He just wanted to get this over with. The sooner he was out of it, the safer he would feel.