"Aaah!"
Tunde screamed in excruciating pain after Boot managed to lodge his pocket knife into his chest cavity. Tunde fell hard to the floor with his knees and then flat on his back as he gagged for air, but it was impossible because blood had already filled up his lungs.
"I think you did it" Tunde managed to say.
Boot on the other hand was dying as well from the multiple cuts he got from Tunde's cutlass. The venom from the cutlass was getting to his vital organs and he needed the antidote or he would die with Tunde.
"Where is the antidote?" Boot blurted out as he crawled closer to Tunde's body.
Tunde smiled slightly which gave room for blood to drip down to the sides of his mouth. He then turned his face to Boot slowly and said, "Listen carefully, Boot. When you eventually leave Umbra, don't forget to pick up a golden card addressed in your name from The Celestial Council Historian. It is your ticket to freedom. Collect this golden card and no Celestial Council Member or their descendants will dare hunt you afterward."
"How come my brothers don't know of this card?"
Tunde coughed as more blood spilled out from his mouth. He said, "The golden card is like a free card and your birthright. A card The Celestial Council takes away from the Umbra members without their knowledge. They do this so that they can discard the members when it's time without breaking any of their precepts. Collect your Golden Card and you will be free."
Tunde coughed more blood as he gasped for more air.
"Why do you tell me this?"
Tunde's smile brightened, "Because, you let me die the way I wanted and I see you want to make things right, Boot."
Tunde made a wheezing sound and said, "The antidote is-"
More blood spilled from Tunde's mouth and Boot tried to minimize his bleeding but it was too late. With Tunde's last strength, he pressed Boot's hand to his traditional cowrie necklace and then took his last breath.
"No! No! No! Don't die yet, where is the antidote damn it!" Boot blurted out as he shook Tunde's lifeless body.
Boot was dying from the venom in his bloodstream. Struggling to breathe as his airways clogged up, he gasped for air but his lungs failed him. Boot began to turn blue as his body lacked oxygen, then the memory of Tunde's last body movement before he died came to his mind.
Quickly, Boot struggled to remove Tunde's traditional Cowrie necklace. Then he discovered that the cowries were not actually cowries because when he pulled the necklace with force from Tunde's neck, some cowries lost their shapes. Boot immediately swallowed one of the cowries and he prayed that it was the antidote he took. As he struggled to breathe, but couldn't get air, he went unconscious.
Thirty minutes later…
Boot woke up and realized he was alive. Abruptly, he got up and saw Tunde's lifeless body on the floor. Curious, he took one of the cowries he swallowed, looked at it intensely, and used his fingers to try and mash it. The cowrie lost its shape and then he realized that Tunde's traditional necklace was the antidote.
Suddenly, Boot became aware Tunde's men were approaching. It was evident that they had discovered their boss was unresponsive. Without hesitation, Boot took more pieces of Tunde's traditional Cowrie necklace and he found his way out of Tunde's study room from the windows which led him to the backyard of the deceased's estate.
Boot successfully got out of Tunde's estate swiftly and quietly without being noticed by any of his men. He went straight to his hotel to treat his wounds and prepare for his departure to New York.
The following day, Boot arrived in New York. He didn't report to the Celestial Council about his mission since he did not want them to execute him yet. Despite the fact that he would have been executed three weeks ago, they had given him an extra five weeks to accomplish his mission and report back to them.
The Boot strategised how to execute The Celestial Council members. Then Carlos, the accountant, popped into his head. He had to contact him to see if had successfully moved his money from the Umbra banking system without any kind of exposure. That was his next immediate task.
To be continued...
Images created using Starryai, Dreamlikeart ai and pics art app
Thank you for visiting and supporting my blog 🤗