THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

Kaki was pacing outside the bon-nsu (cave of tears). She kept looking at the entrance of the cave expecting Kiwakaazi to come out. She was disturbed; the other shinkos were stronger than she had expected and she wondered if Kiwakaazi could control the kafunde (demon mummifier).

She could not relax. He had taken too long to come out. Is he alright? She moved from one end of the cave to the next; her blood red eyes fixed on the liquid and sparkly entrance. Suddenly, she heard the earth tremor. She turned abruptly and saw two more shinkos standing behind her. “They are finally here,” she thought. The two shinkos opened their mouths wide and out came their r-o-a-r!

Kiwakaazi was falling. Naturally, he was beyond terrified. He did not want to die. He did not want to fall. He moved his arms in the air and screamed. Suddenly, he felt something crawling and wrapping itself around his left arm. It felt like a serpent was slowly climbing up his body from his left. The motion of this unseen serpent was made his left arm numb and the higher it climbed, the more he felt his entire body becoming numb until he could not feel any part of his body.

He tried to regain possession over his body but he wasn’t strong enough. He lost and after his body had been completely overcome by the powerful unseen serpent, he felt power causing through his body like electricity right before a loud thud and groan was heard. My guess, Kiwakaazi had finally landed on solid ground.

After the roar was the attack; the fourth and twelfth shinkos are the new opponents. The fourth went in first and grabbed weakened Kaki by her neck. He was faster and stronger as expected. She tried but could not free herself. He commenced choking her.

So, the history of the kafunde (demon mummifier) dates back to the time of Zakaru Sidiata (Zakaru the immortal). It was Zakaru who first brought the cursed sword from Gbeleshie (Afterlife). He was the first man to wield the weapon and it is time we met the immortal himself.

Zakaru was the younger and the weaker of two sons of Gondanwura (the ruler who sits on the lion skin). Zimbaru Sibombe (Zimbaru the conquror) and nephew of Zimfatu. Zimbaru was the ruler of Gondwa and he succeeded the “spear king” Zaaki, his own father. Zakaru was a tall and lanky black male. Six foot tall; with a unique hairstyle – half of his head completely shaved and the other half braided and decorated with golden ribbons. A leopard vest was his shirts and a piece of cloth was his pants.

In Gondwa, a Gondanwura is the victor after a bloody battle. Fourteen of the best warriors are pitted against each other in an enclosed ring and they fight each other to the death. The last man standing is named Gondanwura. Since the inception of Gondwa and this tradition of choosing Gondanwura, the Wonkulas won every battle and the lion skin remained in that family for many generations until Zaaki of the Zaa family was born. With a spear as a preferred choice of weapon, he killed not only the Wonkula warrior tipped by many to win the battle but also two of his brothers and his best friend. The lion skin now belonged to the family of Zaas.

Zaaki married three women and had close to twenty children about six of which were sons. Zaaki’s third son, Zimbaru was obsessed with the title “Gondanwura”. He was obsessed with what it stood for – power, fearlessness, a leader and a true warrior. He admired his father more than anything in this world.

When Zimbaru turned nineteen, he went through the rite of passage into adulthood. A Gondwan warrior must endure pain. Hence three marks were made on the right and left sides of his face with a blunt knife. A Gondwan warrior must be fearless. Zimbaru spent three nights alone in the forest without food or water and in the company of wild animals and poisonous insects and reptiles. A Gondwan warrior must do the impossible. Zimbaru climbed a tall mountain and captured an eagle with his bare hands. The eagle was drained of its blood and the blood was used to tattoo an eagle on his back and chest. Finally, a Gondwan warrior must be accepted by the gods and the high priestess of Gondwa offered prayers to the gods of Gondwa whom accepted Zimbaru as a son of their land.

Zimbaru and four of his brothers partook of the brutal tradition used in selecting a Gondanwura and he won. But before Zimbaru could sit on the lion’s skin, his father did something that tarnished the title and symbol Zimbaru loved.

Gondwas were warriors and warriors never back down from a challenge. They never let go of a chance to fight and show the world just how strong and powerful they were. But a dispute between Gondwa and their neighbors Dagooshi that should have resulted in a war did not. The Dagooshis’ had lost their chief to a Gondwan warrior. They could only be appeased if the mighty ruler who sat on the lion’s skin also died. Zaaki agreed to this proposal and about a week after Zimbaru won, he left Gondwa for Dagooshi. Zimbaru felt ashamed of his father. The man he respected would never have done that. His father changed. He grew soft. He was neither worthy of the title “Gondanwura” nor was he was worthy to sit on the lion’s skin. His father has marred the title forever and Zimbaru made it his life’s work to change that. He waited until news about his father’s death reached Gondwa after many weeks of torture before he waged war on his neighbors.

He gathered his very best men and his favorite fifteen year old son, Zeiba. They attacked and defeated Dagooshi. Zimbaru should have stopped there but he did not. He wanted the title Gondanwura to be feared and respected by the entire world. He went on further to defeat the Boles, the Walas and the Mankoosis. Zimbaru earned the title, Sibombe (the conqueror) after defeating the Mankoosi chief Munkala Si-Lukala (Munkala the lion hearted).

He however faced his greatest challenge when he attacked Dagbaala. The people of Dagbaala were strong but much of their strength can be attributed to the spiritual powers possessed by their leader. No one knew his name and no one had ever seen him before. So people called him “wosunzi” (the shadow).

It had been seven years of warring and both his sons were men now. But only one remained by his side while the other sat back home and was treated like the weakling he was – with contempt. Zimbaru received news that his weak son Zakaru had been bitten by a snake and was hanging onto his life. The instant he received the news, he commanded his guards never to share any news about his weak son with him. Three days later, his son Zeiba was mortally wounded during a battle. Zimbaru wanted to save his son but more importantly, he wanted his son to die back home. So, he abandoned his campaign and rode back home to Gondwa.

Zakaru was in a comatose state for seven days; the longest number of days any man has been in coma at the time. His body was being preserved by his wise uncle Zimfatu whom insisted his nephew was not yet dead – he was fighting a great battle in Gbeleshie (Afterlife) after which he will return a new person.

In Gbeleshie, Zakaru was standing on barren land; hard and rocky land that stretches over several miles. There was not even the slightest hint of life on this land. It was hot and sunny. He felt thirsty and kept turning wondering which direction to take to find water. He took one step to his right and felt the earth shake underneath his feet. He thought he caused the earthquake. He took the next step and the earth shook again. How could his steps be causing an earthquake? He stopped walking but the earthquake did not. He was in a strange land and became a little frightened. The earth continued to shake but it had rhythm to it. It was the kind of quake that will be caused by a group of marching men or women.

Zakaru first saw him; a freakishly tall, scary and muscular man who led an incredibly large army. His features became more apparent with every step he took towards Zakaru. His head was big and covered with intense red hair. His face was covered with unkempt red hair. He had large, wide and really red eyes and wore a very tight dress like a swimsuit that covered his entire body. One half of this dress was painted golden and the other half was black. Following this man was a very large army numbering millions or even billions or perhaps more. Thirteen of his men followed him closely and the remaining several millions kept a fair enough distance. In close attendance was also a young boy whom carried a rather small golden stool on his head. Finally, the giant and his army were close to Zakaru. The small boy placed the golden stool behind his gigantic leader.

The giant sat on his rather small golden stool, crossed his leg and introduced himself as “Gbelemantse Kakai” (king of death gods). His voice was like the roar of six or more lions combined – completely unpleasant to the ears and extremely terrifying. His breath was foul and makes one dizzy. He told Zakaru that his time to separate his Shosuma (Soul) completely from his physical body and the material world has come. Once he (Gbelemantse Kakai) severs the invisible golden cord that ties his soul to his body and the world using “Bukantanga katui” (the invisible gold reaper), Zakaru will experience what humans call death. He dug his left fingers into his right palm and pulled out what looked like a bone. He continued to pull and the more he pulled, the more the bone shaped into a sword; a sword identical to the kafunde.

Usually, even before he speaks people would have wet or shit in their pants. Occasionally, they pass out or turn and run away from him. Imagine passing out after dying. But not this one – not Zakaru. So he asked Zakaru why he did not fear him. Zakaru replied, “Why am I supposed to be afraid of someone I can easily beat?” The god of death laughed out heartily at this naïve and absurd statement. But he realized Zakaru was serious. So, he accepted Zakaru’s challenge. After all, he and his army of infinity were created to go to war; a very special war. But ever since his creation, all he had done was separate souls from their earthly raiment (the body) after death. Zakaru was the first man to ever challenge him and that to him sounded intriguing.

Zakaru cleverly cautioned, “You are very large and look really strong, yet you have an uncountable number of men in your army. If they are to interfere in our battle, I will surely lose.” Gbelemanste immediately commanded his army not to interfere no matter what happens. He then asked Zakaru if he had any more demands before their battle. Zakaru said, “Yes! You have a special weapon and I have nothing, not even a grain of sand followed me to Gbeleshie (Afterlife). If you want this battle to be fair, then give me a weapon or discard yours.”

Gbelemantse Kakai looked at Zakaru intently for a while. He wondered, “Why is this feeble human soul so bent on fighting me? Does he possess any latent powers I am unaware of?” He then looked up, sighed and laughed some more before pulling from his left hand a weapon identical to the one he pulled from his right. While pulling it out, he explained, “I am left handed and therefore I have given you my most powerful katui (weapon) which can be used to kill the gods themselves, the Uhurusa katui (ultimate reaper of the gods).” Gbelemantse dropped the weapon. It fell and shook the earth again. It was even taller than Zakaru. Zakaru tried lifting it and could not. It was too heavy.

Zakaru took in a deep breath and exhaled. He touched the Uhurusa katui and it shrunk to a reasonable height and size. Zakaru picked up the Uhurusa katui. He said, “Now it fits perfectly in my left,” and pointed the sword at Gbelemantse Kakai. Kakai laughed out loudly and pointed his Bukantanga katui at Zakaru.