Chapter 23

• Polo went to notify his Master, Governor Kola II, about the critical situation. He met him in his private apartments. The latter was sitting behind a bamboo desk and was reading his notes.
• "Pardon me, Your Excellency, there is a catastrophe I would like to report to you. The scout operation has lamentably gone awry. One of the two emissaries has not come back from the forbidden mountain and it is the youngster. By the endless cry of his companion, the lumberjack, who is unable to talk for now due to post-mission trauma, I have deduced the young lad has died, probably killed by the baby Monster. Anyway, misfortune has struck us." Polo shared the bad news with the Ruler of Okunde.
• "How in the world did that happen?" Kola II reacted thunderously.