Part 3 (2)

Polo went to notify his Master, Governor Kola II, about the critical situation. He met him in his private apartments. The latter was sitting behind a bamboo desk and was reading his notes.
"Pardon me, Your Excellency, there is a catastrophe I would like to report to you. The scout operation has lamentably gone awry. One of the two emissaries has not come back from the forbidden mountain and it is the youngster. By the endless cry of his companion, the lumberjack, who is unable to talk for now due to post-mission trauma, I have deduced the young lad has died, probably killed by the baby Monster. Anyway, misfortune has struck us." Polo shared the bad news with the Ruler of Okunde.
"How in the world did that happen?" Kola II reacted thunderously.
"Bring that lumberjack over here without any further due!" He ordered his aide de camp.
Polo panicked as he knew how merciless his Master could be against anyone when he was immersed in anger. He commanded the two guards who assisted Babida earlier to go and wake him up, then take him before the Governor.
They rushed to Babida's tent. He was profoundly sleeping. He did not notice the presence of the two imperial sentinels. They looked at him and felt guilty about having to disturb the peace of a former recipient of the medal of the highest honor and merit.
Yet, they had an order from the mightiest authority in the region and they could not afford the price for the infringement of their oath to serve His Majesty and his delegates duly appointed, faithfully and obediently.
"Sir, please rise!" One of them whispered to the very tired woodsman while tapping gently on his left shoulder.
Babida loosened his eyes at a slow pace and glared at them a bit lost. He had barely recovered from his emotional shock.
"His Highness wants to talk with you. Please, come with us to the headquarters!" The guard passed on the message to the lumberjack.
Babida stood on his feet and followed the imperial sentinels. However, he did not carry his axe with him and was in a pitiful condition. He was sleepy, unbathed, and unshaven.
The troop and residents began to mutter as Babida and the guards walked through the garden and directed themselves toward the Governor's headquarters.
They got inside the premises and went to his private space. The latter was standing and glimpsing at the picture of Emperor Batang V which was hanging on the wall. He had his back turned and his arms crossed and placed just a little bit above his rear. Polo, his aide de camp, was standing on his left and had a view of the whole flat.
"Your Highness, the lumberjack is here!" Polo directed the attention of his Master to the visitor. Governor Kola II halted his contemplation of His Majesty's portrait and turned to glance behind him. He had cooled down and his temper tantrum had eclipsed.
"Gentleman, I have received a primary echo of your mission to the forbidden mountain. It seems things did not go our way and I would like to grasp what exactly capsized." He declared to Babida.
The woodsman remained quiet for a few seconds. His head was down and his eyes were slightly opened. He began to speak but his words were inaudible.
"Your Hi…We….tacked...the….terrr." He said.
Governor Kola II was annoyed by the lumberjack's unarticulated locution. So he scolded him.
"Will you express yourself fluently, for our gods' sake?" His Highness shouted at Babida but the latter was enclosed in his bubble. The scream of his Commander in chief produced no effect on him.
Bothered by the unchanged attitude of the logger, Kola II felt compelled to take a draconian measure against him.
"Guards, arrest this man and throw him in jail for some time! Hopefully there he will come back to his senses." He ordered.