THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

The gods and goddesses while staring into the angry eyes of the shinkos, nhutus and motiadas heard their message loud and clear – “we hate your guts you pompous, self-conceited sons of…” Abra (god of anger) immediately smiled – a rare occurrence. But who could blame him? He knew the kranjus (immortal guardians) were almost there. He knew they all had a problem with anger management. Since he grows stronger when others get angry, he wears anger on his sleeves just to stir up the same emotion in others and believe me it works ten out of ten times. “They are so predictable” he thought.

“This is predictably your doing little brother, please stop before things get out of hand” cautioned Shutu (god of fear), while looking at his brother with an angry expression himself.

“This is no time to be jealous big brother. Just because you cannot stir up fear among these wretched creatures does not mean I should not,” replied Abra in a sarcastic tone.

Shutu and Abra had a relationship similar to the one Suome and Mayale had. The two brothers hated each other. The reason was obvious. Anger was a state of madness that strips one of every fear. Intoxicated with anger, people are capable of doing the worst possible things. It is only after the action has been carried out that fear may set in. This means that when Abra spreads his poison of anger, Shutu is weakened temporarily and when fear is strongest, Abra also feels weakened. But fear does not exist in the vocabulary of the kranjus. After all they are immortal beings. And the ultimate fear, death, of all of creation cannot touch them.

Anyway, Abra’s mojo was working splendidly. What started as a possible battle between the gods and the other kranjus had taken on a new dimension. The slightest provocation and a great battle is sure to ensue. Each group gathered around its leader. They all stood in a perfect circle around the centrally placed white stone. To the left of the dwarfs gathered the shinkos (furry beasts) and to their (dwarfs) right gathered the nhutus. On the right side of the nhutus were the ruhas and ruhushis.

Claws were out and sharp; arms were ready to release magic and eyeballs were moving from left to right with such speed and glare that it was frightening. The atmosphere was really tense. Let the Kranju that is most angry cast the first stone.

The inscriptions on the white stone lit up for some time. All the Kranjus saw it. Then the following events took place: first, the air got chilly and the wind started to blow gently. Then its speed picked up until it blew so violently that it made a loud whistling sound and detached many leaves from the trees.  Soon the whole atmosphere was covered in dust and leaves moving around in a circle. A whirlwind developed and was moving around the white stone forcing the kranjus to step back. Lightning struck a couple of times within the whirlwind. Suddenly, it all stopped like nothing ever happened. Then, she appeared.

An old lady dressed in complete white. Her hair was wrapped with a white headscarf. Her eyebrows and eyelids were all white. She wore white clothes and looked really wrinkly; her face was all wrinkled and her arms too. She had her eyes closed and sat majestically on the white stone crossing her legs like some Indian guru. Some of the kranjus looked at her all surprised whilst others passed judgment on her.

Suome (the seductress) turned her back to the old hag while she thought, “Ah she has no feminine charms at all. Why does she not appreciate beauty?” Her sister Mayale (the goddess of material wealth) looking at her smiled and also thought “Looking at this old lady, I feel a million times beautiful.” “Even I may die if I come across such a face in my dreams. Man, she is scary!” thought the dream god, Daale.

Yes, she was their host. Is it not obvious? She was the one sitting on the mysterious white stone at the center of a mysterious circle. A white old hag sitting on a white stone that clearly possesses powers, what is going on?

She opened her eyes and looked around for a while. Then fixing her attention on the nhutus, she nodded. The Supreme Nhutu, Safihutu stepped forward, and touched the earth beneath their feet. Slowly the ground became frozen solid. Underneath this solid ice swam the water serpents, the budus.

Nomposuro was taking on a new appearance for some of the kranjus. Each group of the kranjus lived in complete isolation. There were no weekly, monthly or yearly feasts or gatherings. There was no occasion for socialization or mingling. So each group knew other beings lived in the forest, but were completely oblivious about their appearance and the kind of powers they possessed. This was the first great meeting and judging by the way it has started, it sure promises to be intriguing.

The white old hag in white raiment finally spoke. She moved her jaws up and down for a while as if chewing on something first. “Praise Ishfa (time or change), that I got here in time to avoid a catastrophe. But this is not the time for petty squabbles. Change is upon us and we all have to work hard and together to avoid it. Please sit and listen to the message Nompotse (the hidden one) has for us,” said the white old witch.