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Chronicles of TheFili: Chapter 4 - "Double." "Redouble."[]

Now for something different. I have decided to chronicle all possible Kongai Fan Fiction that still remains (given that the official Kongai Forum also had fanfic that was now sadly purged) on this website so that none may further succumb to destruction. The reason I decided to name these blogs "the Apocrypha Games" is that firstly, Kongai is a game (duh!), secondly, "apocrypha" refers to the fact that these stories are at best dubious to Sirlin's official "canon" of Kongai (even tough there isn't that much in the first place) and finally, "apocrypha" also means that these stories are not canon to my attempt at fan fiction (Project Kongai). I have neither used any ideas from these stories (hopefully mere coincidences if any similarities ever show up), since my story has 1. The concepts have been planned out meticulously long ago before I found these. 2. Features original characters from my other concepts Mavericks. And 3. Most of these stories would have some direct conflict with any lore I would have proposed.

Note that the fanfic here has been unaltered, bad grammar and all.

Anyway, here's the 14th book of the Apocrypha Games (and the last chapter for this Chronicle), originally written by Kongregate's TheFili (Nov 28, 2008), sourced here.

Scroll 2[]

Scene 1[]

The figure moved silently in the night. It was not creeping, it just didn’t make any sound on its way through the darkness.

Nevertheless, someone had spotted it. And someone put a blade to its back.

“Don’t make any quick movements. Who are you?”

Two seconds later, the blade dropped to the ground and the arm that had held it made ominous cracking noises.

“_Ngol? Ngol!_”

“_Juju! Ra mwelri nko!_”

Tafari gave up his cover and approached the Shaman. “She’s with us,” he said in the villager’s tongue.

“Well,” Juju said as he reluctantly let go of Vanessa’s arm, “tell her that I don’t take kindly to swords in my back.”

“Yeah, well, who does,” Vanessa growled when she heard the translation.

“Told you not to, but you rushed off,” Tafari reminded her.

“Sorry for friend, he easy angry.” The slightly bent shape of Ubuntu joined them. His sudden appearance startled Vanessa – Tafari doubted whether even an owl could have spotted Ubuntu.

“Elder!” he said, more than just a little surprised to see and hear the old man. “You speak their language!”

Ubuntu smiled. “Little. Since… long time.”

“I take it you know them quite well,” Vanessa said wryly.

“Yes, they are the most powerful men at home.”

“We’ll take them to the camp, then.” Once more, Tafari translated, to receive a nod from Ubuntu and a stony gaze from Juju.

“So, powerful,” Vanessa said out of the corner of her mouth, “then it’s good they’re here, right?”

Tafari’s face was kept neutral with great effort. “I don’t know.”

Scene 2[]

Popo’s feet hardly touched the ground when he flew towards Ubuntu. “Grandpa!” he shouted in the local language. Ubuntu caught him with surprising strength and hugged him.

“When the two had quietened down, Tafari asked the question that had been on his mind the whole time. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought that was obvious,” Juju snarled. “Hunting after a wayward child you didn’t take back.”

“And hwo exactly would they have moved that rockslide that took the Village days to clear?” Ubuntu asked, slightly mollified by the fact that Popo was alive and well.

“Still, we have left the Village while everything is turned upside down. The situation has grown worse over the last weeks. The forest doesn’t yield anything, the crops die. We had to dig three new wells since you left. People use their bundles as pillows so they can move at a moment’s notice. Some of those who cleared the rockslide didn’t even return home, but are waiting for our call right now.”

“We left Ambor in charge,” Ubuntu added, “since Juju was not willing to let me go alone.” There was the slightest hint of amusement in his voice, and Juju had obviously noticed. Tafari could tell by the way the Shaman stiffened slightly. “I suppose,” Ubuntu continues, “Ambor is capable of keeping things together until we get back. But,” and now there was nothing amused in his tone, “we must do something. Every day robs us of a bit of our power.”

“But how did you find us?” Popo asked.

“There are ways, young man, and you’d do well to remember that,” Ubuntu said in that stern voice used by parents and educators everywhere.

Meanwhile Juju looked around the camp. What he saw obviously didn’t please him. Some rags lay on the ground, roofed by more rages and leaves on sticks. The meagre fire looked on the verge of dying.

“And what have you been doing all this time?” he asked Tafari. He sounded a lot like Ubuntu just had.

It took a while to tell them all they needed to know and translate Vanessa’s constant interjections.

“And then we… that is… Vanessa…” Tafari suddenly resembled a child tiptoeing over a frozen lake. “The plan was to… put a spy inside the mansion, to help us come up with a way of attacking them. So Zina let herself be taken prisoner, and she was supposed to gain their trust. But now… she hasn’t reported since.”

“How could she have? Prisoners are usually… restricted. The face was impassive, but Juju’s emotions always found tiny tell-tale signs to make themselves noticed.

“Vanessa had this… gem, you might say, a big blue one. She said she’d notice if Zina tried to reach her through it. We attached it to her pet’s collar, to make it look like a mere ornament.”

“I see…”

“And now that you’re here. The vampires don’t stand a chance!” Popo shouted – a stupid lapse in silence, because now Ubuntu bore down on him. “You should be very quiet, sendang. What were you thinking, sneaking off…”

Juju looked at Tafari and jerked his head towards the surrounding forest. They got up and walked away from the camp.

“A spy? You honestly thought that was a good idea?” There were poisonous snakes that less venom than these questions.

“Just… didn’t know what else to do. They control the village. They’re strong. We had to find some…”

“You had to come back and report,” Juju hissed. “Instead, you let yourselves be dragged into a battle that’s not ours. She has been using you, all of you.” He paused. “When you reach Zina, tell her to escape and go back. We’ll do the same and seal the caves.”

“And leave these people?” “Yes, exactly, to save our own. Be sensible. Do you really think our trappers can defeat these predators?” He spoke more calmly as he continued: “Three men are already waiting for your spirit, Tafari. Don’t add hundreds more. This is about survival.”

For a moment, Taari saw their faces again, disfigured by the attack, killed by the prey and his mistakes.

“What’ll the Village do?” he asked very quietly.

“We will manage somehow,” Juju answered. This time, the signs under the self-assured manner betrayed uncertainty.

“You said they’re waiting. In the mountains even. That bad?”

“We will go back. We will find another way.”

“Didn’t think you’d be one to flee.”

The shaman tensed and his next words were barely more than the whispers in the wind. “I know when an enemy is too powerful. A lesson you never learned.”

They stood silently among the nighttime noises of the forest. “You are right,” Tafari finally said. “They’re deadly, clever and merciless And they…” His voice trailed off and terror widened his eyes. “… they know where we came from.”

Scene 3[]

They had run as fast as stealth and forest would permit. Now they hid among the last outskirts of the trees, from there they had good view over the village of Krifting and the mountain. And the figures climbing over it.

Even Tafari’s sharp eyes weren’t enough to identify from the distance. But he could see that they were erecting wooden structures, entering the mouth of the cave, guarding it. All the way down the rudimentary path, torches had been placed that tore the hiding darkness to shreds.

After some time, new villagers came up the path and others left their work. They picked up where the others left off, holding spears or entering the cave with boxes, wood and cans.

Juju nodded and they crept back towards the camp.

“They’re putting on beams to support the cave,” the Shaman said when they were far away from Krifting again. “And I suppose these boxes were full of chalk or some other colouring stuff. They are marking the way.”

“They’ll go after the others, and the guards are supposed to keep us here. What can we do?”

Juju gave him a look of contempt. “We’ll fight them. Happy now?”

Just then, a clang sounded through the forest, steel meeting steel with merciless force. Juju and Tafari sprinted forward, staff and spear at the ready.

The campfire gave them a shadowy impression before they could really see anything. A titanic figure swung a curved blade at a smaller one who dodged and parried with its own sword. When the giant trod, the ground shook. When his opponent moved, the eye was hard pressed to keep up with the silhouette.

They arrive, and their gaze first found Ubuntu lying on the ground. Popo was sitting in a tree, ineffectually shooting his slingshot at the…

It really was a giant, who looked almost like he was made of metal. A fearsome mask, grinning like a demonic jester, covered his features above the steel clad shoulders. The sword, a deadly silver crescent, moved with a swiftness that belied his stature.

Vanessa was parrying his blows, looking for a crack in his defense while the blows hailed down on her. She was losing.

Tafari and Juju had given up an advantage by out from among the trees. The ghastly metallic face flicked nto their direction, registered them and turned back to Vanessa. A fearsome blow shattered her defence, knocked the sword clean out of her hand and cut into her chest. She stumbled and fell down.

That was enough for her attacker to take a step towards Tafari, who was coming at him with the spear. The giant lunged with a cry, forced Tafari into a parry and when he recognised the feign, it was too late. The sword bit into his arm and left a trail of blood in its path through his flesh.

The trapper staggered back; at that moment, his opponent turned and knocked a flying sword out of the air. It took Tafari a moment to understand that Vanessa had thrown her recovered weapon, and was now lying on the ground unarmed while the giant advanced on her, blade raised.

It was then that Juju darted forward, and touched the colossus’ neck. The man turned, the appropriate expression of hate and disdain already engraved on his metal face. “The Master falls before the Servant,” he said to the retreating Juju.

Tafari took a step forward, trying to keep a grip on his spear, but it hardly took his opponent any strength at all to knock it out of his hand before turning on Vanessa again.

All of a sudden, he became motionless, stood there like a frozen tree. He fell to his knees, then dropped onto all fours, before he keeled over, onto his side.

Juju advanced, staff raised, but the man didn’t move.

“You kill him?” Tafari asked.

Juju answered: “That depends on how strong he is.” Under his prying fingers, the mask came loose to reveal a broad, scarred face. The eyes were closed, but even now he wore an expression of belligerence, as if ready to attack even his own dreams.

“No,” said Juju. “He’s alive. So is he,” he added after a brief examination of Ubuntu.

“You know him?” Tafari asked Vanessa, who was laboriously getting on her feet again. She shook her head. “He just came crashing out of the forest and attacked me. Probably a mercenary in the others’ pay.”

“You’ll kill him?” Juju, at whom the question had been directed, shook his head.

“Not before I know who he is. Maybe then.”