ZAKKAI HAD IMAGINED the privilege of accompanying Folabi to Pagaso was one he had earned exclusively, but that had been a mistaken notion. The usual quintet of his peers gather around the elder the following morning for a brief rundown on the expedition ahead. He insists the mission is nothing more than a routine inspection of the outpost's security measures, though it has been spurred on by unusual circumstances.

Folabi elaborates that the two Bladesmen who had been assigned to the outpost for the past year had witnessed suspicious activity from the commander in charge. Their concerns had been dismissed for months as conjecture until they had caught him speaking with a cloaked figure with whom there had been an exchange of money. The pair of Rukisu had taken him into custody and brought him to the capital for questioning, and while he has revealed nothing thus far, the Council suspects collusion with some antagonistic party to compromise Zafanyan security on the edges of the empire.

He states his opinion for a second time that with the rogue commander in chains, the breach has been eliminated, but bringing the rookies along to witness a security audit should prove instructive. After leaving them with instructions on packing provisions, he departs to handle some business elsewhere, adding they ought to depart by noon.

So with his forearm throbbing from the consequences cramming two days' instruction into one, Zakkai hustles alongside his peers. He works with Rafi and Ejike to pack six bags of provisions while Jabari and Nika retrieve more supplies.

Shoving down on a rolled-up bed mat to fit more packets of uncooked rice on top of it, Zakkai huffs. "How far away is Pagaso, exactly? This seems an excessive amount of food for these small bags."

"I heard it takes two weeks to reach the edge of the swamp," Rafi answers. "After that, getting to the capital is a matter of local conditions."

Ejike rolls his eyes at Zakkai. "You did hear Elder Adewale, did you not? This is as far north as the empire goes. The edge of the realm, he said."

"I know that," Zakkai snaps. "But maps make everything appear smaller. No need to belittle me."

"You know... you are right. I apologize."

The two exchange a long look, Zakkai not reading any sincerity in the nobleman's brat whatsoever. What could he possibly mean by—

"I need not waste my time belittling you, given you do that well enough on your own," Ejike finishes. "My energy is better spent elsewhere."

Rafi lets out a dramatic sigh. "What is it with you two? Always such bitterness and strife—we should be brothers!"

"That is just the difficulty," Zakkai jests. "Ejike here can hardly say for sure who his brothers are. It all depends on who his mother spread her—"

Ejike slams an empty canteen down on the table. "Enough out of you! I was cast out of the home I grew up in for wrongs I never played a hand in. You only stand among us, tormenting me, because your own flesh and blood could stomach you no longer. We are not the same!"

"Indeed, we are not the same. You were conceived on accident, no doubt, brought forth to no purpose and destined for futility. But I have been led to this land by the hand of God Almighty to fulfill prophecy and bring peace to the continent. We are not the same."

"Your arrogance blinds you, discarded son of the east. Your lust for a great name to replace the crown you left at home has misled you."

"My desire is not for my own glory," Zakkai says. "I only wish to bring the promises of the Almighty to fruition."

"Perhaps you fool yourself with such lies, but none of us are so gullible. Am I right, Rafi?"

Brow furrowing as he fusses with a stubborn knot holding one of the bags shut, Rafi glances between his disputing peers. A man of peace through and through, his eyes betray fear to anger either one of them by choosing a side. His lips twitch into a grin on instinct, a familiar smile which had diffused so many arguments over the past several months.

"I make no habit of judging the intentions of a man's heart, Ejike," he finally answers. "A lie to one man may be simply a misunderstanding to another."

"Do not pretend you fail to see the arrogance that reeks from every word leaving Kai's mouth. I know you sense it as well as I do."

"You both are rather strong willed, this is—"

"If I am mistaken about the prophecy, which I believe I am not," Zakkai interrupts, sensing Rafi's statement to be meandering aimlessly, "then who else could it apply to?"

Ejike stares Zakkai dead in the eye. "Who is at this very moment storming the gates of Mejanno to crush the Kalguri once and for all? Is it you?"

"Of course not. How is that relevant?"

"The prophecy says that this foreigner will throw down the strongholds of all who oppose God's kingdom on earth, bringing peace to all of Teipora. Anyone with eyes to see can tell you Mejanno must be the spark to ignite the final war between the forces of good and evil."

Rolling his eyes, Zakkai tugs two lengths of twine together, knotting them around one another to close the bag he had been packing. "Every time a war begins, a hundred scholars begin writing about the signs that the world as we know it is coming to an end. Retaking Mejanno will simply restore the balance of power in this region to its previous state."

"Look at him, Rafi," Ejike laughs, "the discarded son of the east ventures to lecture us now about our own political arena."

Rafi blinks, pleasant grin pasted on his face. "You both make compelling arguments. Though I must say I tend to agree with you, Ejike. Wars are common, but to see the Kalguri ally themselves with Tei-Gata is a move so unlikely it must be a sign of the times."

"Why is it so unlikely?" Zakkai asks. "I understand the Kalguri are nomads who have suddenly acquired a taste for seizing territory, but any small tribe waging war against a massive power like Zafanya will seek alliances, even ones you brand as unlikely."

"True, but what Ejike was saying is we have to consider the spiritual side of things. Tei-Gata clings to the Olharic faith, one false god who orders all things, where the Kalguri believe as many savannah tribes do. All beings become gods, demons, or ghosts after death to them. To have false religions that contradict each other come together now against Zafanya is significant."

"So you two believe Elder Enu is the man of prophecy we should be looking toward?"

"It would appear that way."

"He is," Ejike says definitively, shooting Rafi half a glare, no doubt for his lack of commitment. "No doubt in my mind."

"I could be wrong," Rafi continues, "but I think that is where the signs are pointing. Every time I get discouraged in training, this conviction is what strengthens me to press on."

Zakkai frowns. "What conviction, exactly?"

"The belief that Elder Enu has a monumental task ahead of him and will need helpers in such an expansive mission. Teipora is a vast continent—you know this better than most, Kai—and if he is to bring peace to every corner of it in one lifetime, he will need more hands, more feet, more eyes, and more hearts at his disposal than his own."

"And if he is not the man of prophecy, what then?"

Rafi swallows. "Not much changes, really. When the Lord grabs my shoulder and tells me, 'Rafiki my child, you follow that man and lend him your strength', who am I to tell Him otherwise? Whoever the man of God may be, it is my duty to follow him. I pray you both walk that path with me."

* * *

The five youths ride single file behind Elder Folabi through tall grass which rustles in the slow breeze of a late afternoon. Having spent much of the past several months inside a building designed to deflect the sun's heat, Zakkai's brow drips profusely with sweat, exposed to its full fury again. The sheer intensity of the bright beams sap his energy. Only with drooping eyes does he focus on the rump of Rafi's mare ahead of him.

Even in his drowsy state, Zakkai's overactive mind buzzes from one thought to the next, dancing through a meadow of thoughts regarding Rafi's comments from earlier. If the doubts about the prophecy had been seeds planted only by Ejike, he could easily have brushed them aside as jealousy and foolishness, but for Rafi to reluctantly add his voice to that consensus suddenly lends the argument more weight.

Truthfully, Zakkai spends most of his mental energy straining to poke holes in Rafi's argument. In the theater of his thoughts, he had already auditioned the counterpoint that in any war, people are apt to ascribe morality or depravity to either side and portray the matter as a battle between spiritual good and evil, no matter how carnal the reasons for the conflict. But even when he threads strings of logic together that seem compelling for a moment, his gut insists Rafi is right.

The religious component is Rafi's adhesive which holds his entire claim together. To have tribes which despise each other on religious grounds suddenly band together against God's kingdom on earth... if a climactic war to cast down Satan's strongholds were to begin, Zakkai can imagine no more fitting way than the situation brewing in Mejanno. Granted, the case could be strengthened with evidence of more than simply two religions joining together, but perhaps the full truth of the Kalguri alliance has not been discovered.

Then Zakkai hits on it. Rafi may not be entirely wrong, though he currently has limited understanding. If Elder Enu is the fulfillment of prophecy, it may well be that he himself is not the one who will bring peace to Teipora. Rather, the reality may be that he brings these things to pass by training and mentoring a man who would then be touched by the Almighty to destroy His enemies.

That man's name, he muses, will be Zakkai, exile of Esraya and fulfillment of the final prophecy, destroyer of evil and bringer of peace to all of Teipora.