Ikenga paused to study the faces of the leaders before him, then smiled and shook his head, saying, "I have always believed it is a great injustice to be a hindrance to the human ability to choose. When you stop a person from making their choice, it is as if you are preventing them from living their life. You all must do what you want. I did not come here to ask for your allegiance any more than to give you a choice."

One of the leaders took a deep breath and said, "There are many interpretations to that word. What choice are you talking about?"

Ikenga turned to the man and replied, "To choose the tribe to uphold as a leader. Ages ago, people agreed to follow the Kings of Wilberforce. But the Wilberforce lost the war and power shifted to Ururu. And because of all the things that happened in-between, there are still many who don't follow the Kings of Jinzidal and Ururu, you for example.

"I am here to offer you a choice. Choose the House of Wilberforce or the House of Bayajidda or Ururu. No one will be harassed whatever they choose. Though I would be happy if you chose my house, I won't mind if you choose the other Houses. War is coming and I'll advise you to choose wisely and quickly. Who do you think will do what Eyrion and Aldaima couldn't?"

Ikenga paused, studying their faces. "Then," he said when nobody spoke. "I'll answer any questions you may have."

The bearded fellow who spoke earlier looked at Ikenga and said, "Hmm... choice, huh? If you are serious about it then you have come up with a new style. No one has ever come from a big tribe asking for our choice. But still, pledging allegiance is a different matter. Go, we will decide on it within the year."

Ikenga smiled and followed each of them to shake hands before he headed for the door. He walked to the exit and then turned around quickly as if he remembered something urgent. "There is something I want everyone who decides to follow me to know. My goal is to take revenge. I'll treat their parents the same way they treated mine. The way Ururu killed my father and mother in front of my eyes, I will destroy them all."

He turned and left.

If there was one thing that Ikenga impressed everyone in that meeting was the truth he told them. He didn't hide it no matter how many of them wouldn't follow him because of it.

***

For the next seven days, Ikenga and Kána traveled toward the fourth world. Their conversations were always about how to increase their power and how to form the strongest army in the world.

After they had rested, Ikenga looked at the big trees around them and said, "We will find the tunnels once we pass these trees. I'm tempted to complain that we still don't have that silly rock permit."

Kana burst out laughing, shaking his head. "Ikenga my lord, even if we have the rock permit, it will not be of any use to us. Such rocks take people to the town of Seerish in Deniz, we are not going there, remember?"

Ikenga rolled his eyes and said, "Ah... that's right. Anyway, I might as well show you my new Bend which I call the jinni Dance."

With that, they covered their faces with turbans and headed to the underground tunnels.

Once outside the tree cover, they saw guards around the tunnels and travelers following a long line in front of a tunnel. Every traveler was either a Denizen or they were formally invited by the Denizens and they all carried an enchanted rock in their hands.

Ikenga and Kana circled behind them, walking lazily and talking to themselves as if they didn't see anyone there. The guards decided to just ignore them. No one could enter the tunnels without a proper invitation, it was common knowledge. So why bother stopping the two idiots?

Eventually, Ikenga and Kána walked to a tunnel free of any travelers. The guard stationed there looked too old to do anything.

The guard glanced at them and then looked away. He thought they would move to the next tunnel like they'd been doing so he planned to ignore them like his colleagues did. But instead, they stopped right in front of him. "Hey, ignorant fools," he called out when he couldn't ignore them any longer. "You think this is a game?"

Ikenga and Kána kept on chatting and getting closer to the tunnel as if they didn't see or hear him.

The guard became angry and pulled his nocked arrow. "Stop I say!"

They didn't stop.

The guard glanced at his leader from the side who nodded at him.

"With pleasure, sir." He laughed and released the arrow.

Neither Ikenga nor Kana tried to avoid the arrow. It pierced through Ikenga's left shoulder and then went through him, unimpeded. Ikenga and Kána didn't even blink from the pain and no wound or blood was seen. It was as if their bodies had repaired themselves immediately after the arrow. Then as if that wasn't enough, Ikenga and Kana just blurred and disappeared.

The entire staff had seen what happened. They rushed to the scene, wondering if they were just seeing things.

After searching for an hour without finding them, the chief guard ordered every staff on duty that day to keep quiet about what they saw until they confirmed what happened. He didn't want to become the next laughingstock in the underground world.

***

Meanwhile, Ikenga and Kana rested comfortably in tunnel number 1,577. They were so calm that nobody would suspect them of anything, or even think they were the culprits being sought outside by hundreds of guards. They spread their feet and placed them on the wall of the tunnel to create a balanced effect that suspended their bodies temporarily in the tunnel.

Kána untied his turban and threw it in the dark abyss below. He looked at Ikenga in amazement and said, "So, with this new Bend you called jinni dance you can move by controlling time and space. You move so fast that for the first five seconds after you left, you'll leave an afterimage behind. Enemies will attack you thinking you are still there but in reality, you're gone for a long time."