The Wrath of the Unchained
Chapter 162 - No Retreat

Chapter 162: Chapter 162 - No Retreat

The fire hissed softly as fresh wood was added, its warmth pushing back the creeping cold of dawn.

They sat around it in a loose circle—silent, tired, changed.

Each of them had faced danger before. Had walked into shadows and returned carrying truths others would never see. But this was different. This wasn’t just intelligence. It was a storm on the edge of exploding. A foreign kingdom teetering on the brink, and six spies sitting in the middle of it.

Zara was the first to break the silence.

"We can’t win this."

The words fell like stones. No hesitation. Just brutal honesty.

Faizah looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean this isn’t sabotage. It’s not some noble smuggling gold or a spy selling secrets. This is a coup. Backed by a foreign empire. With money, weapons, clergy, the nobility... maybe even the people."

Taban nodded grimly. "She’s right. The Restorers alone are better trained than most regular soldiers. The Portuguese don’t train soft."

Mwinyi leaned back, running a hand over his face. "And they’re spread everywhere. I just came from Luanda—they’re preparing to bleed this region dry. Even if we stop the coup here, what about Buganda? What about Nuri? We’re outnumbered. Outgunned."

"And unsupported," Sarai added. "We can’t even call for help.We only have Onyango and his team as support, it is not nearly enough. Nuri’s strong, yes—but they’re still building. They’re not ready for a war."

Silence again.

Zara stared into the fire, jaw clenched. "In Abyssinia, this would’ve been different."

Kiprop looked up. "Because we had Khisa."

She nodded. "He would’ve told us what to do. He always had a plan. Even when the odds looked terrible, he never wavered."

Kiprop let out a dry breath. "I used to think it was just because he was brave. But now I think... maybe he just knew how to carry the weight."

"It was so much worse in Abyssinia, " Zara told the group. "We were trying to save a kingdom under attack from two powerful nations, with only twenty of us.

Prince Khisa build an entire army from scratch. He managed to convince the Emperor to side with Nuri. They managed to push both nations out of the Indian Ocean.

Our leaders are amazing, King Lusweti is just as impressive, without him, we might have found Nuri broken under the might of Kilwa, but held on strong and look at where we are now."

"So what are you saying?" Taban asked.

Zara stood, looking at each of them in turn. "I’m saying our kingdom was built by people who refused to run. We won’t disgrace it by turning our backs now. Innocent people are relying on us right now, they do not know of our existence and they never will but that should not be reason enough to quit. Our victory here, means victory for Nuri."

The quiet returned.

For a moment, they all saw the fire—not as warmth, but as a slow-burning fuse.

Zara closed her eyes, gripping her knees.

"We were never trained to lead nations. Just protect them."

Taban’s voice was low. "Maybe... maybe we should retreat. Send the intel back. Let Nuri decide when and how to act."

"No," Sarai said quietly. "Zara is right, if we leave now, the king dies. The people will be told it was illness or treason or some other lie. And Kongo becomes Lumingu’s empire before anyone can say otherwise."

Kiprop rubbed his temples. "So we stay. And do what, exactly? Start a rebellion with six people and some scrolls?"

Faizah raised a hand.

"Stop."

Her voice was soft, but it held weight.

"Just... breathe. We’ve been running for weeks. Watching. Listening. Risking our lives. And now we’re here, at the edge of something we might not be able to stop."

The others fell quiet again.

Faizah took a deep breath.

"I’m scared too. I don’t know what the right call is. But let’s lay out what we do know. All of it. Then maybe—just maybe—we’ll find something. A pressure point. A delay. A way to slow the coup, even if we can’t stop it."

Zara opened her eyes. "You’re saying... stall it. Not fight it."

Faizah nodded. "If we can buy time, even just a few weeks... maybe Nuri can position itself. Maybe Buganda can make a choice. Maybe the people of Kongo can see the truth."

Mwinyi sighed. "And if we can’t?"

Faizah didn’t answer right away.

Then: "Then we let Kongo fall. And come back for it later. When we can win."

The fire popped and hissed again.

Everyone stared at the flames. Because now, the truth was clear:

There was no winning.

Only surviving—and choosing the moment when they would strike back.

The silence had stretched long enough.

Kiprop leaned forward and drew a line in the dirt with a stick. "Alright. Faizah’s right. We lay it all out."

Faizah nodded. "Let’s start with what we can do."

Zara was already focused, her voice steadier now. "We have two outposts. Onyango’s team on the Kongo–Buganda border, and another near Buganda’s eastern edge, close to home. We get word to Onyango."

"They’ll pass the message up the chain," Kiprop added. "From there, to the Kabaka... and eventually to Nuri."

Taban raised an eyebrow. "And how long will that take?"

"Days," Mwinyi said. "Maybe a week or more if weather slows them. But we can’t afford to wait for help. Not anymore."

"So we buy time," Zara said. "Every day we delay the coup, we give the truth a chance to breathe."

"Alright," Sarai said. "That covers communication. Now the harder part—how do we stop the king from being killed?"

Everyone quieted again.

This wasn’t sabotage. It was salvation.

"We need a safe haven," Zara said. "A base of some kind. Somewhere to move targets before they’re taken."

Taban frowned. "The cities are crawling with Restorers. Lumingu’s informants are everywhere. We can’t use the palace. Not even the outer quarters."

"Then we go to the church," Faizah said suddenly.

Heads turned.

"Kongo reveres its priests," she continued. "They speak with more power than most nobles. And many still aren’t loyal to Lumingu—at least not yet. We find one who still believes in the king."

Mwinyi considered it. "They could hide people. Smuggle food. Shelter the royal family. Priests can move through city gates without question."

"And they can lie better than any of us," Sarai muttered.

Kiprop grunted. "So we find a priest."

Zara stood, pacing now. "Then we rescue whoever we can—anyone on the target lists. Ministers. Princes. Even loyal guards if we can reach them."

"And the king?" Taban asked.

Everyone fell silent.

Zara didn’t flinch. "If we have to kidnap him to keep him alive, then we kidnap him."

"It’ll make us criminals," Mwinyi said.

"No," she answered. "It’ll make us protectors."

Faizah stepped in. "If we can move the royal family to safety, and get proof of Lumingu’s betrayal into the hands of the people... the coup collapses. The throne still holds meaning in Kongo."

Kiprop nodded. "The people are scared. But they’re watching. If they see the king fall, they’ll bow to the new order. If they see him rise... maybe they’ll rise too."

Sarai touched the scrolls beside her. "Then we use the papers. The sealed orders. The threats against the clergy. We’ll leak them—quietly. Whisper by whisper, we build a counter-narrative."

Taban was quiet for a moment. Then said, "We need disguises. We need maps. We need allies. This won’t be fast."

"No," Zara agreed. "But it starts now."

She looked around at all of them.

"The first step is finding a priest."