PROLOGUE
The warriors all stood in their fighting apparels, a long, red overflowing garment. They formed an aisle in the large hall. On one end of the aisle is the door to the outside of the base and on the other end is the altar of the great dragon of old. They temple was quiet and the warriors stood still like sculptures. Not until the large entrance door open did they turn their faces to face it.
The opening of the entrance door allowed the entrance of the brightness of the day into the semi dark temple. The King walked in accompanied by two warriors who walked side by side with him. On the hands of the king was a child, his newly birthed son. His footsteps with that of the two masked warrior walking side by side with him were the only thing heard as they walked along the aisle and towards the altar.
The two warriors stopped at the base of the altar but the king climbed unto it. He stood before the large table which was at the centre of the altar and stared up at the image of the great dragon which was hung on the wall behind and above the table.
He rose the child above his head and stretched him forth towards the image of the dragon, immediately he did that, the warriors all bowed. “I know that one day, the faith fighters from Newriton will strike and I have come to you O great dragon so that on that day, we shall be victorious. I am sending my son, the heir of Tankute into their midst to be our inside man from there. He will live with them, he will fight for them but on the day that the fight comes against us, he shall hand them over to us” The king said still carrying the child. “When the fighters of Newriton come to fight us, he shall turn back and bite them.” He continued. “Let this thing be as I have said it. He will be the traitor within” He concluded and tapped the chest of the child. There was a gentle rustle on the altar and a smile formed on the lips of the king.
He slowly turned to face the warriors and stretched the child towards them, they all bowed again. “Gabriel” He called one of the warriors that had accompanied him to the temple. Gabriel rose his head to stare at him. He was with a mask and a sword in it scabbard was around his waist. “Take this child to Atata, drop him at the entrance of the kingdom and see to it that someone picks him up before you return back to Tankunte” The king said and handed the child to Gabriel who collected him carefully. “If the child is in Atata, he will grow to fulfil my words” The king added and the warriors bowed.
Gabriel slowly walked out of the temple and climbed on his horse, the white horse. He removed his mask and smiled lovingly at the child as the horse began to move gently towards the ruins of Tankunte.

Seat001 has been occupied, others should not disturb me o

The Faith Fighters

ONE (01)
In the beginning.


Many years ago
The evening had stretched out and the night was cold. The gentle breeze made the tall trees and grasses rustle. The crickets and the toads made rhyming noises, well planned sequence of noises. The inhabitants of the kingdom of Avalon were probably asleep as the village was peaceful. The peace of the village was suddenly disrupted by the footsteps of an approaching horse. On the horse was a young lady all dressed in a purple garment. The Avalon warrior’s garment. She was heading towards the ruins of the kingdom, outside the kingdom. She held a lantern which gave her light in the dark and around her waist was a sword in it scabbard. She had an oval face and long hairs which extended to form short teddies on the side of her head. She had a well pointed nose and a small eye, a beautiful face.
She knew she had gotten outside the kingdom when she saw the thick bushes on her both side. Not only were that, the gawky noise made by the crickets and toads now gawkier. She suddenly stopped her horse and pulled out her sword from her waist side, she heard the footsteps of an approaching horse.
She wasn’t wrong as the approaching horse soon became visible. It was a white horse and on it was an almost dying man who was tilted to one side of the horse. She tilted her head to the right to have a clear view of the scene, it was obvious the man had been badly injured. She stretched out her lantern and the approaching white horse immediately stopped on seeing the light. She stared at the man’s garment, it was the blue garment of the warriors of Seth. She jumped down from her horse and dropped the lantern, she stretched out her sword and stopped for some minutes contemplating weather or not to approach the almost dying man. It might be a trap. She finally decided to approach him when the almost dying man fell down from his horse. She took a deep breath and walked calculatedly towards him with her swords stretched out in front of her.
The white horse moved backwards as it sighted her approaching with a sword stretched out. With the other hand, she beckoned on the horse not to be scared but didn’t take back the outstretched sword. She finally got to the scene, stared around and when she saw that there was nothing strange happening, she slide her sword into its scabbard. She slowly squatted beside the almost dying man and turned him around to face her.
“Help me” Were the words that came out from his mouth before he finally passed out.
*
The base stood tall amongst other building in the kingdom of Atata, it was the base of the Faith fighters, Newriton. The building must have been built with high level of artificial intelligence as it is being surrounded by technology. The people of Atata never went close to the base, it was located at the outskirt of the village, and it stood and covered the entrance of the jungle. The faith fighters occupied the jungle. The only thing they know about the fighters in the base, the Faith fighter was that they always protected the kingdom from danger and always guided the kingdom. No one knew them, they always came out with masks, and their faces were never revealed to the outside world.
The last time the villagers had seen them come out in their masses was during the war against the Kingdom of Seth, they had come out in the black garments and mask and had stormed the village with their bikes and cars and had also defeated the kingdom of Seth and made their land inhabitable.
The villagers trusted in them, they believed with them, the village was safe and well protected.
The people never knew the base they always saw was just a shadow, it was only the entrance to the real base. The real base of Newriton was deep in the jungle.
In the middle of the jungle where the trees formed canopies to cover the light from the sun, where the streams flowed and met at various point stood a great building though it wasn’t the only building there. On the top of the building was sculptured Newriton and at the centre of the area was a sculpture, the sculpture of a mark, the mark of Newriton. There was a field some distance from the main building and some fighters all in black could be seen practicing with swords. Monkeys could be seen jumping from trees to trees and amongst the monkeys were also trained fighters of Newriton all dressed in black and also jumping from tree to tree alongside the monkeys.
Inside the main base, a young girl putting on a white vest and black trouser which matched her black high heeled shoes could be seen approaching a door. She knocked twice on the door and even though she got no reply, she pushed the door opened and walked in. A man not very elderly but elderly sat in front of a table, his hands were on the laptop in front of him. He was on a black suit with white inner. He rose his head when the girl walked into the room.
She bowed her head a bit and the man nodded.
“It is unusual to see Morgana come into my office” The man teased and closed his laptop.
She scoffed and arranged her hair which were falling to one side of her face. “I came to give you reports from the fight against Seth”
“Yes, I heard you guys cleared the kingdom, what other report?” He asked.
“Sir Ajan” She stammered as she called his name.
The man exhaled. “Anytime you stammer while calling my name, I can only expect bad news”
“We lost 7 souls during the fight” She said slowly like she was counting her words.
The man nodded and fell into his chair. “This is indeed bad news. Morgana, I expected you guys to protect yourselves. I am sure those seven were the junior fighters”
She exhaled and nodded.
He got up and stared gravely at her. “What did I teach you guys about sacrifice? I am sure you the senior ones pushed the junior fighters to the war front. Was that what Jesus Christ did? He was the master but he came to give up himself for us the students”
“We didn’t push them to the war front sir Ajan, it is rather unfortunate that they were the ones to die” She tried defending herself.
“Leave my office Morgana” He told her calmly.
“Sir?”
“I said leave my office” He shouted this time and she slowly walked away.
*
“This will be the tenth time I will be asking you who you are “Shallom said to the almost dead guy she had rescued from the outside of Avalon as she pressed his head with a small cloth that had been soaked in water.
He stared around the small room and then looked outside the door, all he could see where bushes. “Where is my horse?”
“It is tied outside with my horse” She told him. “That’s another strategy of avoiding my question” She smiled.
“I can’t trust you, I don’t know who you are or where I am” He told her.
She scoffed and untied her sword from her waist. “If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done that two nights ago when I rescued you from the outside of the kingdom”
“So it has been two days?” He asked rhetorically. “Where am I?” He asked again.
“Avalon” She answered and squatted beside him.
He stared at her like he was suspicious of something. “Why am I seeing just bushes around?”
She stared outside and then back at him. “You are at the outskirt of the kingdom, my secret training ground” she told him. “Now who are you?” She shouted.
He looked up at her and exhaled. “I am a warrior of Seth, my kingdom was attacked and defeated by the Faith fighters. I was the only one who escaped”
“Even though I hate the faith fighters, I know they won’t attack without a reason” She told him.
He nodded and tried to sit up but couldn’t as a result of the pain from his injuries. “That should be a story for another day”
She also nodded. “What’s your name?”
He looked up at her again and finally sat up. “Gabriel”
“Hmm, I see hates in your eyes Gabriel”
He nodded again and stared outside the door. “I will take revenge on the faith fighters” He told her

The Faith fighters 1
Two (02)
Meet the fight fighters

The kingdom of Tankunte, a kingdom over the hills and mountains, over the lands and seas, a small settlement whose houses were built with clays and others just tent housed some sets of fine warriors, the guardians of Tankunte. Jungles surrounded the kingdom and wild beast of the earth filled the jungle.
In the centre of the kingdom stood the sacred Temple of the great dragon of old, though the kingdom seem to be primitive, the temple was built with high level of expertise except that its roof were of palm fronds. In front of the temple was a large space which served as a training ground for the dragon warriors, those popularly known as the guardians of Tankunte. They were always dressed in red garments and their swords were always hung at their back. They wore a partial face mask which made them look just like ninjas.
That morning, as some stood outside the temple chatting happily, others were at the training ground practicing. Some were busy inside the temple offering prayers to the great dragon. Suddenly, the warriors seem to gather around a young man who had surfaced from nowhere. He was on a black horse and his own face wasn’t covered at all.
When he had gotten close enough to the warriors, he jumped down from the horse and stood facing them. “The king sent me”
“Of course, we know the king sent you, you are the personal messenger to the king” One of the warriors shouted and the rest murmured. The one who had shouted was the leader of the guardians of Tankunte. “What have you brought from the king?” He asked.
The messenger paused and stared at them all for some seconds before finally speaking. “The king has asked me to remind you all that tomorrow’s night will be the night when the king drinks blood under the moonlight, he wants you all, the guardians of Tankunte to be prepared”
“There is no need the king reminding us, we are not ignorant of it” The leader said again.
“You have spoken well Wenakite, I will take your message back to the king” The messenger said and turned to face his horse.
When he had gone out of sight, the leader turned to his warriors. “Make sure the border of the village is well secured tonight and tomorrow’s night, no virgin girl must leave this kingdom”
*
“I expect it to be the duty of the six of you to protect the young ones but what did you do? You went to the war and pushed the younger ones into the fight” Sir Ajan shouted as he stood in front of the big hall by the large screen. “Was that what I thought you from the bible? Look at the six of you, all fine. It wasn’t as if you even fought a war four days ago, all looking good” He continued. “You love your own life than your brothers, is that what I taught you about love?” He asked angrily and pointed at the six of them.
“Sir Ajan” One of them called.
“Shut up Israel” Sir Ajan shouted. “Who was the captain of that mission?” He asked.
Five of them pointed to a tall, well-built guy who had a thick black singlet on and a black short.
“When was I chosen as the captain?” The guy asked in confusion. “I remember telling you guys I wasn’t going to be the captain because I don’t want to face Sir Ajan if anything goes wrong. Where is this coming from?” He asked.
“We had a secret election behind you and we voted you as the captain because none of us will also want to face sir Ajan if anything goes wrong” Israel said.
“What?” The guy who was being pointed at shouted. “Can you imagine this blackmail sir Ajan?” He asked stretching out his arms.
“Shut up Alvana. I now see how irresponsible you all are. None of you want to be the uneasy head that wears the crown? When you were all young, I remember some sets guided and protected you all” Sir Ajan shouted.
“I tell you Sir Ajan, we didn’t push them to the war front. They were inexperienced. I remember telling you not to allow them go with us, a war isn’t a minor mission” A young and average height beautiful girl told him. She had a black jacket on and also a black trouser with a black canvas to match.
Sir Ajan scoffed. “So you now blame me?”
The girl shook her head. “I don’t blame you sir Ajan, no one is to be blamed for this”
“I am disappointed in you all” Sir Ajan was calm this time. “It is not only victory that matters, lives is the most important” He said and stood still. “Talking about lives” He continued. “Lives are about to be lost tomorrow’s night in Tankunte” He added.
“Is there a night people don’t die in Tankunte?” Morgana asked Christiana in a whisper.
“Yes” Christiana answered.
“Which night is that?”
“The nights people don’t die” She answered and gave a short laugh. Morgana stared at her for some minutes and shook her head before turning back to face Sir Ajan.
“The king of Tankunte will be drinking blood under moonlight tomorrow, blood of virgins” Sir Ajan told them and pointed to the big screen. An image of an ancient kingdom of Tankunte where girls in white stood to be beheaded was displayed on it.
Israel exhaled. “Is this the first ever?”
“Of course not, it happens once in every month in Tankunte” Sir Ajan answered.
“Then why are you just telling us now?” Christiana asked. “Why didn’t you tell us to rescue those of last month or last two months or even last three months?” She added.
Sir Ajan nodded. “God will have mercy on those he will have mercy, I guess he is asking us to do this for a reason” he said. “Rescue the girls and bring them here” He concluded and made to walk away.
Alvana coughed. “How many junior students are going with us Sir Ajan?”
Sir Ajan slowly turned back. “So you can kill them again?”
“No” Alvana said and stretched out his hands and also the word. “So we can push them to the front again” He blurted out.
“Shut up Alvana” The rest murmured and tapped his head.
Sir Ajan shook his head regrettably and walked out.
“To set things straight, Alvana is the captain of this mission” Israel said.
“And to be cleared, I am not captaining any mission” Alvana said and made to walk away.
Israel smiled and turned to the rest. “Let’s go and have another election behind him”

The Faith fighters
Three (03)
I thought you killed me.



Gabriel sat up on the mat, he was shirtless but had a trouser on. The young girl who had rescued him some days back had gone somewhere she didn’t say. He managed to stand up completely from the mat even though the pains he was feeling tried to restrict him. His bones made cracking sound as he stretched out while standing. He is a natural tall guy with small eyes. He had an oval face and a fine hairstyle. His teddy ran down to his chin and connected with his beards. He wasn’t heavily built but he wasn’t of small stature. He slowly walked to a corner of the small room and picked up his sword. He turned back and then went out. The place was surrounded by thick bushes, a stream was flowing by a side of the small house and the toads were singing happily in the bushes. He stood arm akimbo and wondered while such a beautiful young girl would have her training ground in such a desolated place.
He sharply turned back when he heard the neighing of his horse. A smile immediately formed on his lips as he saw his horse which was tied to a tree trying to move towards him. It could be said that the white horse was all happy seeing it master and the master wasn’t feeling otherwise.
Gabriel walked towards it and patted its head. “I see you are doing just fine”
The horse neighed and tried leaping happily but it couldn’t leave the one spot it was tied to.
“The beautiful girl had been good to you just as she has been good to me” He said again and the horse neighed in agreement.
Gabriel nodded and stared at the horse sorrowfully. “I know how much you miss home. Don’t worry, I will make sure you are always fine” He said but the horse gave no reaction. “Some water to drink?” He asked as he stared at the flowing stream and the horse neighed happily again.
He untied the horse and walked it to the flowing stream to drink to its satisfaction which it did. He didn’t tie it back to the tree after the drink, he allowed it play around.
He slowly pulled out his sword from its scabbard, and stared for some seconds at the keen edges. “This sword will slay thousands”
He took a stance with his right leg in front of his left leg and stretched out the sword. He quickly moved forward and began to practice with the sword. He would pretend to attack an imaginary enemy and try dodging some imaginary attacks whilst doing different kinds of jumps. He only stopped when someone coughed from behind. He turned and the beautiful girl was already back. She was sitting on her horse.
“I must confess, you are so good with the sword” She said with a smile.
*
“Guess what I can’t believe right now?” Alvana asked Israel as they walked towards the open field.
“I hate guessing anything about you” Israel sharply told him.
Alvana nodded. “I can’t believe Sir Ajan is sending just the six of us to Tankunte, no junior student, just us.”
“You know sir Ajan, he thinks we were careless with them and so he won’t want more of them to die” Israel told him.
“Isn’t the fighting slogan of Newriton ‘Let’s die’?” Alvana asked.
Israel scoffed. “We just say that, no one actually wants to die”
Alvana also scoffed. “I thought I was the only one just saying it. Whenever I say ‘let’s die’ before a fight, I quickly neutralize it with ‘you are the one that will die in Jesus name’”

Adanna, Christiana and Morgana walked into the laboratory unit. The three of them were on black short knickers and black vest. They stared around the lab which was bubbling with activities like they were looking for someone. They finally headed a particular direction when they had probably sighted the one they might have been searching for.
“Hey doctor Speedster” Morgana called and the middle aged doctor who was reading a book transiently looked up at them.
He shook his head regrettably and covered the book. “First of all, my name isn’t speedster, it is Spinster” He corrected and glanced at the three of them. “I always have a bad day whenever I see the three of you”
Adanna scoffed. “Which means you always have bad days because you always see the three of us”
Doctor spinster exhaled. “What do the three of you want from me?”
“We came to humbly inform you that we will be going on another mission tomorrow and as the doctor assigned to us for the next six months, you are to follow us also on this mission” Christiana told him.
“I am not following the six of you to any other mission in my life again” The doctor shouted angrily.
“Why? You are the one assigned to us, not that we want you to come with us” Adanna told him.
The doctor nodded. “Are you guys not meant to protect me in the course of a mission?”
“Of course we are and that’s what we do” Morgana answered.
The doctor laughed hysterically and stood up from his chair. “I remember during the last mission, I did the arrow dodging, sword dodging and bomb dodging all by myself. The six of you didn’t even remember I was there”
Adanna stared up like she was thinking hard and then back to him. “But no one threw bomb during the war at Seth”
“Shut up Adanna, I alone and only I alone knew what I dodged.” The doctor said.
“Actually, we didn’t come here to argue Dr. Spinster, our message has been passed” Christiana said and tapped her friends. “See you at the other side Dr. Spinster” she added as they began to walk away.
“Verily, verily I say unto myself, I hate this job” Dr. Spinster murmured to himself as they walked away.
*
“Maybe I should train with you” Shallom said and drew out her sword.
Gabriel nodded and stretched out his sword towards her. “Where did you go?”
“To find out what you fate will be from the king” She answered and rolled her sword as they both walked in circles.
“So what then is my fate?” He asked.
She scoffed. “I will tell you after this” She answered and swung her sword towards his face.
He quickly moved two steps backwards and the attack missed him by just some inches.
She attacked again with the sword, and this time he dodged by stopping her sword with his. She quickly turned 360 degrees and launched another attack but he was fast enough to roll out of the way.
“I see you are really swift and really good at dodging even with your injuries” She commended and moved calculatedly towards him.
There was the clinging sound of swords from both of them for some minutes and then she broke it and launched a quick attack to his head. He quickly bent past her sword and with his sword, he stabbed her in the stomach.
She stopped in shock and stared down, it was just a training session, he wasn’t meant to attack her. She opened her mouth as she knew she was going to die, she will soon start feeling the pain.
Gabriel scoffed. “You are still alive” He said and got up. “I used the bottom of the sword” he told her.
She smiled and breathed in relief. “For one minute, I thought you had killed me”.

The faith fighters
(The traitor within)

FOUR

Anger opens you up to attacks.
Matt sat with legs crossed, he had a book in front of him, a book which all his attention seem to be on. He turned his head towards the entrance door of the library unit when he heard it open.
He scoffed as he saw that the new comers were Adanna, Christiana and Morgana. They must have probably come to either gossip about something but they certainly didn’t come to the library to read. He covered the book he was reading and stared at them as they stared around to locate a perfect spot for their gossip. They were still staring when Christiana’s eyes caught him. She tapped the other two and pointed at him. He exhaled as he knew another wave of disturbance was next.
“Matt” Morgana called as they got to him. “How are you preparing for tomorrow’s mission?” She asked and they made themselves comfortable by sitting down.
“I don’t know, I am confused on what to do about tomorrow’s mission” he answered sincerely.
“The land history, Tankunte” Adanna read out the title of the book he was reading. “Someone is getting serious here” She said.
Matt nodded. “I was getting serious before you guys walked in. I think I will go meet the guys now” He said and got up.
“Hope we didn’t chase you away” Christiana said but he only smiled and shook his head before walking towards the librarian’s corner with the book.
“Old man John” Matt called the librarian who was unusually not in his corner. His name was John but the students of Newriton had added old man to it even if he wasn’t really old. He just happened to have white hairs and wear funny glasses.
“Old man John” Matt called again and peeped into the inner room but saw nothing.
“What do you want?” he heard a faint voice from beneath the librarian’s long desk which separated where he was from the other part of the library. Matt peeped and saw the librarian curled up beneath the desk. “What do you want?” He asked again.
“I came to return this book” He answered slowly.
“Just drop it on the table, I will keep it when I get out of here” John answered.
Matt dropped the book but didn’t go. “What are you doing under there?”
The librarian looked up at him. “Didn’t you see those three witches come in?”
Matt smiled and covered his mouth so as not to laugh as he stared towards Adanna, Christiana and Morgana. They will always tease Old man John on his white hair and his gawky glasses. They were the ones who started the movement of the name “Old man John”.
“Enjoy your stay man” Matt told him and walked out.
*
Gabriel sat with his legs folded in as he ate whatsoever it was he was eating. He didn’t know what it was he was eating but Shallom had told him that was the favorite Avalon dish. It wasn’t bad though but it wasn’t also qualified to be a favorite dish. He drank from the big calabash when he had eaten the last from his plate.
“You haven’t still told me about my fate” He made to start a discussion.
Shallom nodded. “Fear not, you are not in danger.”
“Let me know where I stand” He told her and stretched out his legs.
She got up and packed the plate to a corner of the room. “Whenever a warrior that isn’t of the kingdom Avalon wants to stay here with us, he is first taken to the coven of the spirit fighters. The coven serves as the palace of Avalon and also the abode of the spirit fighters, the warriors of Avalon” She started.
“Then why are you here, why aren’t you in the coven?” He asked.
She smiled. “By abode, I didn’t mean the residing place of the warriors. It is where we train and map out all our plans in times of war. It is our training ground” She explained. “If you wish to stay here, you will be taken to the coven and for you to become part of the spirit fighters, you must be able to take down three spirit fighters in a fight” She told him. “But if you don’t wish to stay, you need to run away from Avalon before night falls” She added. “Your fate actually lies in your hands” She concluded and stared directly at him.
He stared at the ground for some minutes and exhaled continuously with an interval of about 20 seconds. “I will stay” he said without looking up. “Maybe one day, with the spirit fighters, I will take my revenge on the faith fighters for my dead kingdom” He added.
“Get prepared then, we go to the coven by night” Shallom told him.
*
Commander Charles Dike stared from his wrist watch to the children in black garments playing around the field. Across the field stood a temple that housed the children. The average age of the children should be probably six if not less than. He was the trainer of the younger generation Faith fighters, the fighters of Newriton. The small temple was another part of the buildings present in Newriton, in the jungle but it was a little bit far from the main base building. It was the last building from the main base.
The big bell at the top of the temple jingled and Charles Dike stared at his wrist watch again, it was exactly three o’clock. He got up from the bench under the tree and walked towards the field where the about 20 kids had assembled with their fighting sticks.
They all wore black garments and stood side by side on a straight line.
“Good” Charles Dike said as he walked behind them. “Today’s training will be on offenses” He said.
“Offenses” The children shouted.
“The greatest weapons you can use in defeating your enemies are words. Words are sharper than sword, they pierce you, and they open you up to attack. When I mean words, I mean offensive words that are capable of demoralizing the emotional stability of your opponents. This means that to be a good offender, you must have studied the emotional behavior of your opponent and that’s why it is right to always know everything about your opponent even before a fight” Charles Dike explained and stopped when he saw that one of the kids wanted to ask a question. “Ask Piper” he permitted.
“Won’t the words make our opponent angry and make them charge at us fiercely?” Piper asked.
Charles Dike nodded and patted Piper from behind. “An angry man is a man opened up to any form of attack. Anything can get you at the point of anger” He explained.