Seraphie grew up into a fine looking, adorable young girl whose beauty cannot be described by any form of human or animal language.

  At around midnight after eating, when Jothamus played his instrument, Ajubel’s spirit appeared and danced in the moonlight.

  Jothamus gave the visitor his instrument in exchange for the magic shawl later on the fourth day. That was until when the visitor’s food supplies finished. And when the visitor had turned his back to leave, Jothamus again ordered his whip to follow the stranger and fetch his instrument. The whip flew over to the stranger and began to whisk and whip him until he surrendered and gave away the device. The whip took the magical thing and left the miserable stranger behind in a rage; the farmhouse being impossible to be visited twice in life.

  After that, one fellow came again asking for a night’s stay. He had an earring on his bag. He exchanged it with Jothamus for the instrument. He met the same fate because Jothamus got his thing back using the whip while on the other hand the visitor could never find a chance to claim his thing back.

  Jothamus tried the ear ring. He wore it on his left ear and found himself becoming old with the hair and the beard grown white. He removed it and immediately turned into himself again. Then when he tried the ring on the right ear, he felt so young, as young as a child.

  Subsequently Jothamus got visited by one after another on every fourth day and by the use of Ajubel’s gift he was able to get hold of different stuffs of different supremacy. He got a croc skin backpack which could contain everything, even the whole mountain or the deadliest component inside it but making everything weighed as light as a feather. He got a pair of sandals that could make the wearer run like the wind and a flute which could bring the birds of air together by its music. He then obtained a cap which when put on the back-side front, the wearer grew like a giant and when worn inside out the wearer became as small as a dwarf. He also obtained a staff which when dipped in water for a miniature time could get the lake frozen and when thrown on the ground turned into a venomous snake which obeyed its master’s command.

  Lastly he gained from Ajubel’s haired instrument, a sword that could cut into anything, a mind-reflector shield that could reflect the mind and an eye-ball which when looked through, could show every direction.

  12

  Blood on the Moon

  The moon would turn blood red on the night of the day following the next day. Jothamus was all prepared to go for the event now and he wished Ajubel knew that he was ready. He thought of the sandals and put them on to run like the wind to the devil’s land. He looked through the eye-ball and at once knew where he was supposed to go. Then he looked at the shield and it spoke to him in unheard language, reflecting his thought to Ajubel as he wished and Ajubel’s thought back to him that she was waiting.

  As he was just about to set out leaving his short time refuge behind, he saw three young men coming to stay at the farm house. Hoping that he would gain some more things from the visitors, he waited and allowed the threesome in and decided to spend his one last night with them. During their conversation, the three men in their youth claimed that they were wisemen from the East who were envisioning a new king who would be born of a virgin in the coming generation, to save the world from destruction. They spoke of a star that would guide their successors to the new born king to offer him sacrifices.

  Having engrossed in such conversation with the wisemen about the future, Jothamus had no need to play his instrument to cheat on them. Moreover, they seemed to have nothing more than their insightful prediction of the future and its king who would save humanity.

  But beyond his expectancy the wisemen asked Jothamus what they could do for him in return for his hospitality. Jothamus thought he had everything he needed except the gift of discerning wisdom. So he asked for a little bit of their senses to be bestowed upon him. The ancient magi were pleased with Jothamus for not asking for wealth or strength but wisdom. They blessed him with the knowledge and wisdom of all the powerful physical, mental and spiritual elements of life.

  After the night’s lodging, they all bade adieu and parted from the place where they could never come back. Jothamus carried all his stuff in the backpack that could contain anything and went as an ordinary visitor in order not to create a center of attention on the way. When he reached the place at daybreak, the tiny kingdom was busy with exhilaration. Come midnight and the moon would be full and red.

  When Jothamus looked around the preparations by wearing the magic shawl that changed his smell and appearance, he was not least suspected. His identity was firstly not recognized even by his beloved Ajubel who was behind many things that happened earlier.

  Jothamus found that a massive platform as big as a children’s playground had been arranged in the premises. The platform was a gigantic stone surface and he wondered how such a huge object was lifted and placed there. Then he saw a big cage-like structure which was roofed with a canvas cloth on the giant stone platform.

  When he lifted the rim of the cloth to see what was inside, he saw a hairy ox, a boa, a centaur, a faun, a hairy elephant, a roc, and a mandrill, all locked up in the big cage. Then he also found six more of each animal imprisoned underneath the gigantic stone tablet which had an antechamber. As he was wondering what they were for, he remembered what the young prophetess had said when he and his brothers came back alive from this underworld.

  She had said that when a human captive or more escaped from the devil’s country, the devils had to pay the price seven times the number of human escapees by sacrificing sacred animals. This indicated that there would be seven rounds of sacrificial slaughtering of seven sacred animals each round. The animals in the cage on the platform were meant for the first round of sacrifice and the rest which were locked up in the antechamber were for another six rounds of sacrifices each midnight.

  Stories had it that during the epoch, yaks and mammoths were believed to be consecrated and had mystical character. They had robust structure but the gentlest heart. They were incomparable and were slaughtered on exceptional occasions both by man and gods as these animals’ blood alone could wash away the guilt of an entire territory.

  The rocs were lowly kings of birds who could hover and remain still in the air for as long as a couple of days or more with the wings wide open. During bad weather, its roof-size wings provided shelter to the homeless animals. The Boas could stand straight like pillars acting as supports to the birds’ roof when the bird could hold on no more when bad weather persisted for many more days. The centaurs and the fauns fought and hunted down the enemies intruding from other landforms. (Animals were said to have their own territory subject to a king). And the mandrills were considered the wisest among all animals. They were the counselors of the animal community who would suggest means and methods to their king when things failed.

  These loyal and valued animals’ blood had to be spilled seven times in place of the seven human captives who escaped from this little-known world of the immortals ruled by Uglyface to wash clean, the remorse of failing to offer human sacrifices to the god of Hades on the most sporadic blood moon phenomenon lest they would be ducked in holy water and their empire could be at risk, or so they thought.

  By midnight the population had gathered for the most spectacular sign in heaven. This sign was the covenant between them and their originator who ruled in the Hades and was in constant war with the world of cloud nine. The population of this kingdom believed that the apocalypse was due to the spilling of angels’ blood killed in the battle between the armies of Heaven and those of the king of Hades. That was for them a sign of conquest over the gods of heaven; a sign that they would inherit the place again which was theirs during one time.

  Finally, the moon appeared blood red. Much blood had been spilled, they thought. The moon was so full and so red that they thought they would see streaks of blood dropping on the earth. Chanting of elation, mantra of exultation together with abominable acts of open sexual activities among them marked the beginning of the ritual. The populace wore dissimilar looks which were so different from before. Jothamus remembered what the prophetess had said earlier. All of them had changed their forms from being human-like to satanic facets. He saw for the first time, the real form of the one who killed many of his family members in the past; the monster who was called Uglyface by the folks back there in his kingdom.

  Uglyface had the ugliest face of all the faces he had seen. He looked so terrifying that for a moment Jothamus thought he could not be the one he had seen before while he and his brothers stayed there. It was hard to believe that the ugly being was the one who was called the lord of the land and father of his Ajubel. Then in the next moment he found himself wanting so much to slay him instantly for killing his kin in the past.

  The desire to revenge Uglyface right then and there grew so strong that he almost forgot to use his power and wisdom which he inherited from his mother Seraphie, acquired from his beloved Ajubel and gifted by the three wisemen. All that he could imagine that moment was that, even Ajubel was no different from others there who were indulged in the unclothed ceremonial.

  When he was lost in the thought of madness, a heart-throbbing drum sounded and there he saw Ajubel, not in the midst of the mad crowd, but seated in a place on the stone platform protected by his father to be given away only to the praiseworthy son-in-law. The chanting activities came to a halt. It was time for blood to spill on the earth as on the moon.

  Uglyface moved towards the covered cage. His claws were like the long black tusks on the limbs of a bear. His eyes were big and round and red like the blood moon itself. His ears flopped like winnowing plates but he carried the look of a lion. He was not armed with any sort of a weapon but his might alone was much too strong to butcher the sacrifices preserved in the giant pen which encaged seven holy creatures. This was time for him not only to invoke his originator’s blessing through the sacrifice but also to exhibit his power and the indomitable strength that he had been given to rule his kinds on the earth.

  Ajubel walked behind her father with a big bowl that looked like a tortoise shell. Being her father’s most precious asset, she was given the first peck of the bloody wine which she spilled without drinking. There was an uproarious celebration as Uglyface butchered the seven animals one after another. The gigantic stone platform was overflowing with blood as the moon slowly turned back into a soft gentle radiance having washed the blood off her face.

  “Intrusion! Human intrusion!” shouted one of the chief priests pointing his long-nailed fingers to Jothamus who was watching everything from some distance.

  13

  Uglyface is Beaten

  Jothamus’s behavior, though he wore the magic shawl, was suspected when the old priest noticed him stationed far from view. The old priest of Uglyface’s kingdom, by his wits, knew that Jothamus was an imitator but when Jothamus was brought to the king’s presence he claimed to be Jezreel the son of Gomer who was the goddess of prostitute of the eastern woods. His mother had heard about the competition and had sent him to go and try his luck to see if he could bring her a daughter-in-law who would help her meet up with the lust of her husbands.

  Jothamus further claimed fascinatingly that even if he won the competition his intention was not to go back to his mother but to his father Josea, the god of invention in the northern woods who was estranged from his wife Gomer.

  Those clever lies in some way pacified the king’s wrath and though he was still doubtful about Jothamus, he kept the issue aside knowing that the so-called son of Gomer would not even come close to winning his daughter’s hand.

  On the next midnight post blood moon after the butchering of the sacred animals as a second day ritual, Uglyface called together all the aspirants of his daughter’s hand and dismissed all the little imps and sprites saying that they were too hideous and contemptible. Then he sent away all the giants saying they would crush his daughter to death. He demanded for more to show up but all that he could have in the list were those of the elves, the goblins and the ugly trolls. The others who were more fervent and compassionate had all been cheated off on the way by Jothamus. The last and only worthy competitor that remained was Jothamus who introduced himself as Jezreel the son of Josea the northern god of invention and Gomer the eastern goddess of prostitutes.

  Uglyface decided to put Jothamus to the test. He first accused Jothamus of being an intruder from the human world to which Jothamus denied. Then he asked Jothamus to appear before him with a proof. Jothamus went round and wore the ear-ring which made him become old when worn on the left side. He appeared before the king asking if a man could transform his look like that. Then he wore the ear-ring on the right side which turned him into a young boy. “Tricky humans can do that,” Uglyface complained. The devils believed that people who could perform magic tricks and wizardry were tricky humans who pretended to be gods.

  “But my lord, tricky people don’t smell like I do,” said Jothamus in a dignified voice because the shawl he wore gave him the perfume of gods and killed the stench of man. “Yes, they do when they shit!” yell back Uglyface in anger, “Show me something laudable!” Jothamus went away and came back wearing the cap that made him grow tall, big and strong. He then wore the cap inside-out and became as small as a dwarf. But the king was as stubborn as he was ugly in his true form. Those were simply works of an imitator for him.

  On the third midnight of the blood moon festivity, Uglyface asked Jothamus to fetch him the water of the bitter lake far away in the middle of nowhere, presuming that Jothamus was a man who could never live long enough to go that far and come back alive to claim his daughter. Jothamus thought he had failed because he didn’t know where the lake of bitter water was. But he remembered the eyeball that he acquired from the dark woods. He looked into it and saw where the bitter lake was. He put on the sandals he gained from one of the strangers at the farmhouse in the woods and ran off like the wind taking along with him the croc skin backpack which would contain anything. There was disaster on the earth as he crossed seven seas and climbed a hundred mountains; riding a thousand seals across the oceans and a herd of mountain goats atop the mountains.

  He found the bitter lake, the water of which melted anything that touched it. But he had the bag that could contain anything and endure the components of even the deadliest substance. He fetched its water and soon came back.

  Uglyface felt quite beaten when Jothamus brought him a bladder bag filled with the bitter fluid but he was not ready to part with his daughter for this non-god impersonator. He asked Jothamus to wait till the next midnight to prove his worth

  On the fourth midnight after the sacrificial rituals, Uglyface ordered his servants to spill the grains which filled seven sacks. When it was done, he asked Jothamus to refill all the sacks picking up only one grain at a time.

  Though he seemed to possess much knowledge, Uglyface was a king, a monster who lacked good judgment. After giving every test, he would leave the man, taking for granted that the task could never be accomplished by such an ordinary. But Jothamus wisely took this as a big opportunity to get every assignment done because the king did not bother how the task was done but only waited to see that the test was carried out in vain.

  Jothamus thought for a while and then he knew what to do. The birds! He blew his flute and the music brought to him the birds of the air, big and small. He sent away all the other birds but asked a flight of sparrows and a set of pigeons to remain. The birds were then instructed to pick up the grains one by one and fill the sacks for which it was promised that they would be treated as the associates of men to dwell among them.

  So in complete enthusiasm of mingling with the consecrated society of men and blending to their culture, the birds began to pick the grains and fill the sacks. Soon the bags were full again.

  Uglyface checked each bag. He knew by his immortal sense that the grains were picked up one at a time but then said that a seed of grain was missing. So Jothamus gathered all the birds again and searched them. At length, he found that one of the sparrows was behaving awkwardly. When he searched the bird closely, he found that it had a grain hidden in its crop.

  Thenceforth, these two wild birds were allowed to live amongst the people. But the sparrows were given a certain limit because of the missing seed of grain that was later discovered. The sparrows in shame changed their colour from bright green and purple to dull gray and buffy-brown. Therefore to this day, they restrain themselves from getting too close with men while the pigeons enjoy being fed and sheltered.

  When the missing grain was found and put in the sack, Uglyface, to a certain extent, had to be again convinced with the knack of this man-wannabe-god.

  Then on the fifth midnight, he asked Jothamus to pluck and bring without a scratch, the tender leaf of a thorny poisonous plant that bore apple-like fruit and had only one big and long tender leaf which resembled a banana leaf sprouting out in the center of the poisonous plant.

  As Jothamus wondered what he could do about that, he remembered his staff. He threw it to the ground and it turned into a snake. The snake slithered up the tree and swallowed the leaf whole and spitted it out slowly before its master.

  Jothamus produced the leaf without a scratch before his ugly soon-to-be father-in-law. Uglyface was more than intimidated by this. He knew that this fellow was nearing his success to winning his prize. But he knew that Jothamus was a mortal and he did not want to give his precious daughter away to an enemy. Yet a king always had to keep his word. He had announced Ajubel’s hand to anyone who could pass the entire test he gave.

  Uglyface was quite exasperated with Jothamus’s ability to summon help from any corner and get each task done. He could not quite understand how this man was outfitted with such knowledge that made him able to communicate with any living beings to help him complete all the impossible coursework that was assigned to him.