The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter by Jason McCammon Page A

Farra
shouted.
    Arrows came at them again and Bomani held
them at bay, but despite Farra’s efforts, she couldn’t out row the
ogres. The first ogre that tried to board their boat was greeted
unfavorably by Bomani’s spear. The sharp instrument tore into the
ogre’s belly with ease. Bomani pulled it out uncaringly, and
pierced the ogre again.
    The defeated beast fell into the river, and
to Bomani’s dismay, another ogre immediately replaced him, and
charged Bomani, angrily. They fell to the bottom of the boat with a
hard thump and the rickety boat swayed roughly as Bomani used all
his strength to move the strong, stocky ogre off of him. The angry
ogre snarled and swiped at Bomani, but Bomani’s shield lay between
them. As they struggled, two of his runes fell from his pouch. The
runes caught Pupa’s attention, and the cowering pup cautiously
picked up one of them with his teeth and took it to Bomani.
    “Pupa, I’m kind of busy right now,” Bomani
said. He smashed his shield into another ogre’s face and sent him
into the water. Pupa took the rune to Farra, who was still at the
bow of the boat, paddling as fast as she could.
    “What is it Pupa? I told you to hide in my
pouch!” Pupa dropped the rune next to her, and it immediately
caught her attention. Farra looked back at Bomani and saw that the
hideous ogres now out numbered him in the boat. She picked up the
rune immediately. “How do we use them?” she said, looking at the
rune curiously.
    “I don’t know!” Bomani shouted back,
startling Farra. “I don’t even know what they do!”
    “Oh, why don’t you just do something,” she
said to the water rune, under her voice as she shook it
desperately.
    Bomani fought with all of his strength to
overcome another ogre, who was doubtlessly stronger than he. This
was unlike anything he had ever experienced, wrestling with Mongo
or Anan or one of the other boys in his village couldn’t compare
with the strength of an ogre.
    “Bomani, I can’t figure out how to use these
things,” Farra shouted over her shoulder, still trying to row and
examine the rune simultaneously.
    Just then, Bomani noticed the crystal
dangling from the ogre’s neck as it twinkled in the light. “I got
this under control,” Bomani said. He suddenly felt a surge of
confidence.
    Farra grabbed her staff and hit the ogre in
the back of the head as hard as she could. The stunned ogre tried
to get up. The blow had clearly shocked him, but before he could
get his bearings, Bomani kicked him so hard that he fell back onto
his own boat. The ogre’s boats swerved into each other, giving
Bomani and Farra a chance to get away.
    “What, no thanks from you?” Farra
asked.
    “I had it under control,” Bomani
insisted.
    He had put up a good fight , Farra
thought. “Sure you did — okay,” she said.
    “Did you figure out how the runes work?” he
asked.
    “No, I didn’t.”
    “Why would she give us these things? We
don’t even know how to use them. How are they supposed to help us
if we don’t know how to use them?”
    “She just said we would know how when we
needed them and….” Farra paused for a moment and then she took the
water rune and tossed it into the water far ahead of them without
even thinking.
    “What did you do that for?” Bomani
asked.
    “I don’t know,” she replied. “I really
didn’t think about it.”
    A flash of light could be seen under the
water where the rune fell, and then it disappeared. They looked at
each other with disappointment.
    “That was it? That’s all it does?” asked
Bomani. Suddenly an arrow tore through the air passing closely
by.
    “Get down!” he exclaimed.
    They quickly lay down in the boat, Farra
instinctively scooping Pupa close. Bomani held Farra and Pupa close
to him and put his shield over them for protection. Farra looked
up, peeking beneath the shield, and immediately noticed that the
current was getting stronger and that the river ahead of them began
to twist and