Part 2 (4)
By noon the whole empire was in effervescence. The messengers of His Majesty Batang V were wandering across the crowded streets of Ekule, Okala, and Okunde while reading aloud the imperial command.
Like all other inhabitants of the land, Babida the lumberjack grasped the imperial message, which was in line with his day plan, except there was a gratification on top of it: public acknowledgment and money. He was not too much into fame but would not refute an incentive that increased his wealth.
He wore his traditional armor: a steel bracelet on the wrist of each of his hands, silk trousers, a tusk necklace, and a five-kilogram axe that was a hundred centimeters long. Barefoot he left his cabin and integrated the group of courageous fighters which was germinating outside.
Set, they started to walk toward the east gate of Ekule. Their target was the newborn Monster which dwelt above the hill adjacent to the next village, Okunde. They were boosted. They pledged to climb to the summit of the mountain and abbreviate the Beast's days.
On their way, they met up with warriors that had departed from Okala in the north, and together they formed a bigger troop. They entered Okunde through its west gate and found organized bands of combatants. They made up a massive battalion of one thousand men of honor under the command of the local Governor, His Highness Kola II, a cousin of Emperor Batang V.
Kola II was forty-two. Two years older than his next of kin, Emperor Batang V. Previously he served as Superior Commander of the imperial forces before he was promoted to the rank of Governor, the second highest position of power in the empire.
He had well earned his reputation of "Heart of a Tiger" after he choked with his bare hands a hungry tiger that was about to attack him and his pregnant wife.
The incident occurred while the spouse was grilling gorilla meat in the yard of the couple's mansion in Okunde village. Kola II was sitting on a wooden chair in the corner of the court. He admired furtively the culinary talent of his wife while consuming the local Chai.
And unexpectedly a two-meter-long and three hundred kilograms tiger jumped over the house fence and landed in the compound.
Kola II got off his chair abruptly. The fabric wrapped around his left shoulder untied and he remained topless and with shorts.
He was physically blessed by the ancestors of the Batang people. He measured one hundred and seventy-five centimeters high for ninety-five kilograms. He was endowed with impressive biceps, enormous thighs, and well drawn six packs on his stomach.
Paralyzed by fear, the pregnant wife leaked water. She looked in the direction of her husband and whined: "Kola, save your unborn child!"
Enraged, Kola II ran toward the animal, and with the momentum generated by his race, he grabbed the tiger by its throat, pushed it against the fence, then pressed its neck with savage strength. The tiger suffocated and died without even rendering a single claw.
