The Legend Of Dayo…

AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

THE LEGEND OF DAYO

SEASON 3: THE RIVALRY

CHAPTER 15

The Ineptitude Of Temi

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The training began.

The next few weeks rolled into months, and they were gruelling and horrible for Temi!

He found out, rather quickly, that he was not cut out to be a fighter, much to the delight of Daniel Godwin and the special warriors being trained by Prosper Freeman.

For one, he had no stamina.

He couldn’t keep up with the rigorous physical demands of the training. He got tired rather quickly and had to take very long rests. His sword just wouldn’t stay in his hand, either falling down by its own accord or being knocked out of his hand by a sparring opponent.

Temi watched as Daniel Godwin dominated the training. It was as if Daniel was made of stone. He was strong, he was skilled, and he could run and jump and do all sorts of physically awesome stunts and still manage to breathe normally!

And, as expected, Daniel Godwin bullied Temi on the training field.

He always engaged Temi in training fights, and always made sure that he humiliated the prince.

Temi tried as hard as he could, but he was simply no match for Daniel or any of the other warriors for that matter. They always laughed at him and made cruel fun of him, and as the days wore on, he found it very hard each time going back to the training field.

“What’s the matter with you?” Prosper Freeman yelled angrily at him one late afternoon, his face filled with fury. “Your father was the best warrior I had ever met, and he never even spent more than a week in training! He was a natural fighter, and no one could do battle with him! But you…it seems your hands are made of jelly! You’re too soft, too weak! You have to put in more effort, my Prince! You have to try!”

And Temi looked helplessly at his trainer, and tears stung his eyes. The other warriors laughed at him as they left the field, their actions breaking Temi’s heart.

Rose sauntered over to him and shook her head slowly.

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“I hear you’re doing great at Madam Persis’ place, Prince Temidayo,” she said frostily. “With all due respect, my Lord, and not trying to be impertinent and rude, let me give you a piece of advice. Perhaps, you should just step aside and let Daniel do this. Afterward, when he is king, and he makes me the Queen, you can also be in the palace, and have as many women as you want.”

Temi raised his head slowly and looked at her without speaking, and as a single tear coursed down his right cheek, he saw the disdainful disgust slowly leaving her eyes, and for one wild moment, her face was ridden with guilt.

“There is only one true prince here, Rose,” he said softly. “And his name is not Daniel Godwin. His name is David Temidayo Dayo.”

She turned away from him without another word. She walked away from him for a while, and then she stopped and turned to look at him. A moment later, Daniel approached her and draped an arm around her shoulder, then they walked away.

But that was when Walexman Olawale approached him.

He was an experienced warrior, and he had been with Prosper Freeman most of his life, and he had served King Demi.

He was thin and tall with a handlebar moustache. His speech was slow and low, and he had very hard eyes.

But, surprisingly, he liked Temidayo very much.

This was because he had served with King Demi, and had loved the king very much. Temi’s uncanny resemblance to his father had made Walexman love him very much.

He had never been harsh to Temi and had even volunteered to give Temi extra lessons.

He put a hand on Temi’s shoulder and spoke calmly.

“Don’t ever let anybody put you down, Junior,” he said softly.

Temi looked at the veteran warrior and shook his head sadly.

“We’ve been doing this for almost four months, Walex,” he said in a despaired voice. “I have less than a month to go! And I can’t even hold a sword! I’m doing my best, trying not to give up, but it is very difficult, Walex, especially with Daniel and Rose and all the other warriors treating me with such disdain.”

“Yes, I have noticed, sonny. But one thing your father always told me, sonny, is that we never give up on anything as long as we draw breath,” Walexman said kindly. “It doesn’t matter if it had been four months or five. What matters is that you’re still in this field, and hasn’t given up. Miracles happen, son, miracles happen. So keep your head up.”

Temi nodded, but he felt so alone and lost, and so heavy-burdened.

“Yes, Walex, thank you very much,” he said softly. “Indeed, I will come through, one way or the other.”

Morosely, he followed them off the field.

The night was coming, and with it would come the horrible White Kombas.

It was time for him to get indoors and shut the door.

***

The times with Sage Agu Samuel were peaceful, and that was what he liked about it.

The Sage always made him lie down on a comfortable bed, or they sat cross-legged on a mat, speaking softly and slowly until Temi slipped into deep meditation where he always found himself in a deep, peaceful valley.

There would be a serene lake in the valley, with beautiful flowers and glorious grass. Temi would find himself sitting on a jutting rock on the banks of the lake, watching as swans and ducks floated majestically on the lake.

The sky would be clear and bright, and the wind would be blowing gently. It was a place Temi loved to be, and he could stay there for a long time just listening to the birds, watching the swans, and listening to the whispers of the wind through the grass.

He felt strong and powerful at that place, a place he called ‘The Valley’. He always felt sad to leave there, and any time he was brought out of that place by Sage Agu to the present, he had been much disoriented and a little bit angry.

Sometimes, after he had had a particularly bad day, he would welcome going to Sage Agu and quickly getting into meditation so that he would visit the valley.

Recently, however, something quite startling was beginning to happen. He had started feeling the presence of someone behind him in the valley as he sat on the boulder watching the swans and ducks.

He would become aware of gentle footsteps behind him, approaching him purposely. Temi had always wanted to get up and turn, to see who was coming behind him, but it had always been impossible to turn his head to see who was approaching!

Sometimes he felt the presence very strongly as if the person behind him was reaching out to touch him, and sometimes he felt the presence to be very far away.

Temi was beginning to feel very frustrated because he really wanted to see who it was, but always Sage Agu Samuel brought him up too quickly, preventing him from seeing who it was.

At first, Temi had not wanted to tell the Sage about the presence of the strange person behind him in the valley. This was because the Sage had warned him that there should be no one with him in his meditation. He said the presence of a second person in his meditation signified bad omens.

He was trying to develop Temi’s psychic abilities so that he would be able to use his mind to heal himself when he was on the battlefield, and the Sage said there should be no human presence during his meditations.

One evening, shortly after his humiliation on the training field, Temi was with Sage Agu, and he was deep in meditation and found himself in the valley.

As he sat on the boulder enjoying the sights, he noticed that the skies had been gradually getting darker, and the gentle wind had started to turn into a cold breeze, and then a terrible wind!

The gentle lake suddenly became a rumbling, tumultuous, raging river that threatened to draw him into its angry depths…and then he heard a loud, laughing sound behind him!

This time Temi was afraid of that sound behind him!

He was afraid of the presence behind him!

He wanted to get up and flee, but he was rooted to the spot because the raging river had curled around his legs like claws, and was dragging him forcibly into its dangerous depths!

Temi came awake with a start and a groan of fear and found himself on the meditation bed with Sage Agu Samuel sitting on a high-backed chair beside him with a very worried expression on his face.

Temi was lying on the bed, panting with fear, his heart beating with trepidation, his eyes looking around frantically as that booming laugh still seemed to echo in his ears.

Sage Agu stood up and walked to the windows, and then he drew the curtains aside and allowed the golden rays of the evening sun to splash into the room, making Temi shut his eyes.

The Sage looked angry as he stared at Temi.

“You lied to me!” he said in a fierce whisper. “You have been lying to me! You were not alone in the valley, were you? There was a presence with you, isn’t that right? I’ve been suspecting it for over a month now!”

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