THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

Nanazi and Siyata were holding hands looking in the distance; waiting for the dark army to appear. Thunder strikes and lightning flashes were heard and seen respectively. It repeated and was frightening indeed. Nanazi looked at Siyata who held his right hand and asked “are you afraid?” She turned to him and answered “no, I fear nothing when you are with me.”

Suddenly, white light and golden light surrounded Siyata and Nanazi’s entire bodies respectively. It was the consequence of opening the first gate of love, fearlessness. Those who truly love have no fear because love is all they need.

The army of men seeing this fell on their knees behind them. Edu was closest to them and his army knelt behind him. “Command us… great ones,” demanded Edu. Princess Siyata and Nanazi were admiring their new cloaks of light. They watched their bodies and did not notice what was happening behind them.

Nanazi turned first and when he took a while to face the darkness ahead, Siyata too turned. They took a few steps towards Edu. Siyata was first to place her palm on his head. Nanazi told the army to join hands and they did. One man kneeling directly behind Edu stretched and touched Edu’s back with his palm. Nanazi placed his palm over Siyata’s hand.

Edu felt strange. He looked at his sword strapped around his waist and saw it glowing white. Soon all the weapons men carried was glowing either white or golden. “Now, you can fight the darkness. It will not kill them but buy us enough time to deal with their leader,” said Siyata right before they both disappeared. The second door of love had been opened; sharing. Love always shares and the love masters shared their powers to help defeat darkness.

Now, Edu was feeling it – victory is within their grasp. He finally found his voice and this is what he had to say: “Many of us here do not know each other. Many of us have never met. We look different, dress differently and may even think differently but remember this; the man next to you is your friend. He is your brother and your family. When we match out there, we match out as one big family united in love. Let us fight for those we love! Let us fight for one another!” The army of men responded with a chant and charged forward.

Rushing to meet them was the army of darkness. Both sides run; both sides roared and both sides finally met. Swords clashed and shields collided and after a long time of fighting, the dark army lost. Seeing this, the army of men shouted with joy. They have won. How naïve?

Nanazi and Siyata finally met the dark lord which turned out to be a great surprise for Siyata. The current dark lord or king was her godfather and uncle, Prince Zuba. His entire body except his face was pitch dark; like a shadow. He wore a gracious smile and said “hello, goddaughter. I must say that you have surprised me. I never expected you to be one of the Love Masters.”

One man did not join in the jubilation. He was the leader of the army of men, Edu. He kept watch. He was very attentive and remembered Princess Siyata saying the dark army will be slowed down not vanquished. He expected them to rise again and they did after louder thunder strikes and flashy lightning strikes. The numbers in the army of men had waned and the dark army’s second resurrection increased their numbers by at least ten fold. Seeing this, fear crept back into the hearts of Edu’s army.

Nanazi saw the astounded look on Siyata’s face. She uttered not a word, instead she closed her eyes. Nanazi somehow understood her intentions and closed his eyes too. Their eyes remained closed until Nanazi held a golden sword and Siyata held a bow and many arrows made of light. This is the manifestation of opening the third gate, power. Nanazi disappeared and made his appearance only to attack Prince Zuba from the rear. Prince Zuba was unperturbed. A dark sword appeared in his right and a golden sword identical to Nanazi’s sword appeared in his left. He quickly turned and stopped Nanazi’s attack from behind with his dark sword without even turning and when Siyata fired a light arrow at him, he disappeared.

Elsewhere, the dark army charged forward to attack men. Brave Edu seeing fear written on the faces of his men inspired them again with these words: “Listen men! We all knew today might be our last day on earth. Death is real and it threatens to swallow us all here and now. But believe me when I tell you that today life has locked its darker half, death, in a prison. So, hold on to life and fight for the lives of all men! Fight for your wives and children! Fight…Fight…Fight!” Fear fled and the army of men braced themselves for the next attack.

The attack came. The dark army was truly overwhelming but men were prepared to die. Fortunately, that would not be necessary because golden and white light surrounded every man in the army. This light made it difficult for the weapons of darkness to penetrate and when by some rare fortune it does, it healed them quickly. With this fascinating armor, the army of men won the second round.

But darkness is like a tree. Cut off the branches, leaves and even the main stem and there will still be a chance of it surviving. The thunder strikes and lightning flashes returned and with it restored the army of darkness again. The only way to defeat darkness is to find and uproot the root. The root of this darkness was Prince Zuba and he was proving very difficult to be uprooted. Nanazi cut off his limbs and it grew back. His neck was cut off and a new one grew to replace the old one. Many arrows fired by Siyata destroyed his lungs, heart and many internal organs and still he survived. Nanazi and Siyata were wondering what to do when they heard the voices within themselves – a female spoke to Nanazi and a male spoke to Siyata. All they said was “open your eyes.” Prince Zuba asked “are you tired already? Didn’t you two not come here to make the impossible, possible?”

To uproot the root you first need to find it. The fourth gate, understanding, was opened. Once this gate was opened, an eye appeared on the foreheads of Nanazi and Siyata and with these eyes, they saw how from a happy prince, Prince Zuba became the dark lord.

Prince Zuba was the older brother of Queen Sinti. Before his sister became queen, he was loved, admired and treated with respect. Then, their mother died and a new queen was installed; Queen Sinti. After her ascension to the throne, she became the only thing people loved. The only thing they respected. Queen Sinti stole everything that was his. Even his inputs during meetings had to be run past his sister. This infuriated him. He had an enormous ego. He yearned for respect and power and instead it all went to his sister, the woman – the frail woman. A world or a system where women rule is wrong. He decided to change that once and for all.

To effect the change he needed power. He searched the world. He consulted many oracles; threatened many men and even killed some just to find one thing; the key to freeing and controlling the dark king, Kofie. He found it. It was a staff the witch whom occupied the caves possessed. He used it to liberate the dark king and his army. He allowed the dark King’s soul to operate through his body.

Prince Zuba’s desires were not pure but they understood him. Opening this gate changed their weapons. Nanazi shot golden balls of light at Prince Zuba and Siyata shot white light balls from their palms and fist. They shot the balls and he avoided the majority but the few that struck him caused injuries that healed quickly. At least this time it was clear he was being weakened. Yet, he laughed and shouted “you two cannot kill me and you do not have the power to seal me. I am invincible. I am indestructible.” He laughed like a true villain indeed.

Looking at him, Princess Siyata and Nanazi saw a sad, lonely man. He was a prince used to having everything. He lost nothing but when his ego was starved he suffered. He became lonely and unhappy and that drove him towards the darkness. The more about him they learned, the more they understood and slowly they begun to forgive him. It was not his fault. It was desire – he just could not control his desire.

The fifth gate of love is forgiveness. Opening the fifth gate grants the power to seal the dark Prince Zuba. All they had to do was to touch his body simultaneously. They were really fast and tried everything but they could not catch him. Nanazi looked at Siyata and said “you know what we must do, don’t you?” She nodded. She came close to her lover and they kissed and whilst they kissed, their bodies turned into a billion or more particles of light; golden and white light.

This is what happens when the six door of love, sacrifice, is opened. Just one particle must catch the dark lord and it did. Dark Prince Zuba could not move. A whirlwind of golden and white light surrounded him and commenced separating the darkness from the prince. He screamed; he begged; he cried and he tried so hard to hold on to the darkness but the light was stronger and it always is and always will be. Eventually the darkness was separated from Prince Zuba. His dark army was running once again to take on the few very brave men standing when they suddenly they all turned to dust. Without the root, the stem, branches and leaves died. The army of men led by Edu roared. Victory was theirs!

It was finally over. Nanazi and Siyata both appeared without the light around them. Siyata asked “did we do it? Did we get him?” Nanazi was ready to answer “yes!” when she fainted. He quickly caught her before she fell flat on the ground. Prince Zuba was staring at his palms. Surprised at something; maybe at what he had done or perhaps his defeat. He fell flat on the ground face down and died.

Princess Siyata suddenly woke up from bed. She shouted “Nani!” She touched her face and her arms and realized she was very much alive. She thought it might have been a dream – a really vivid dream. She jumped out of bed and exited her room. No one even noticed she was awake. The palace was bustling with activity. Preparations were being made for some kind of celebration she did not know anything about.

She caught a young maid by the arm and asked “what is going on? Are you throwing some kind of a party?” The young maid whom was so busy that she did not notice the princess initially was very happy to see her young master alive and well. She answered “yes…! It is a party to honor you.” “Me…?” asked Siyata. “Yes! You!” replied the maid. “Why…?” questioned Siyata. The maid remained silent for a while. “I don’t really know why. He commanded everyone to do this and we obeyed,” answered the maid. Siyata was getting impatient. She asked angrily, “Who gave this command?!” The maid became frightened and withdrew before whimpering the words, “Prince Nanazi.”

Princess Siyata immediately apologized to the maid and asked if she knew where “Prince Nanazi” was. “He said he was going to get your present,” answered the maid. Princess Siyata then thanked the maid and dismissed her. The maid was not satisfied with how the conversation had ended. She asked Princess Siyata “do you know where he is or what exactly he is going to get you?” “Yes, I do!” answered the princess excitedly. “What is it?” asked the maid curiously. Princess Siyata answered “it ceases to be a surprise if I tell you.” The seventh gate of love is knowledge. Love knows. The end!