Chapter 11

• Okunde had almost capitulated. The Monster was near its west gate. Shortly it would penetrate Ekule through its east gate and subject the village to unbearable pain and ugliness. The Great Batang IV was in danger too. The imperial palace located on the west side, on Baba street was no longer a sanctuary.
• Alerted, the Emperor commanded that all men -soldiers and civilians-, of the village, progress in the direction of the east gate and pledged to distinguish and elevate to the highest either military or non-military position whoever would slay the monster's head and bring it to him on a silver platter.
• The emperor was an ailing sixty-year-old man. He had been ruling over the empire for twenty years since his father's abdication. He had won battles but they were not as challenging as the war against the Monster of the forbidden mountain. His army was already down by two hundred brave fighters. Only three hundred were remaining to protect the fifty thousand inhabitants of the overall land. Half of the population was concentrated in Ekule.