THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

About five hundred years ago after Nomposuro (dark and evil forest) forced its way from only the gods know where to earth; a hundred men were sent on a peaceful mission into the forest. But the inhabitants of the forest did not want peace. They killed ninety-nine of these peace brokers and the hundredth man died shortly after vacating the forest. He however warned mankind with his last word “kranju”.

Kranju technically means “cannot be killed.” And anything that cannot be killed must be immortal. I wanted to give it a little swag and that is why it is interpreted as “immortal guardians”. It is my story and I can swag it up anyhow and anytime I want to. Deal with it.

Anyway, after this had happened, the huluwaazis (Emperors) of the four great empires had a daunting decision to make. A meeting was held in Ishlalabad (The Northern Empire) to decide exactly how to deal with Nomposuro. On one side was Maharaazi (Emperor of the East) Vayome who argued that it would no longer be safe to send men into Nomposuro and on the other side was Muaazi (Emperor of the North) Jamel who argued there is no such thing as immortality — so long as it breathes, it can be killed.

Muaazi Jamel’s argument was simple. The Saharaifa was a great civilization and many men were touted immortals during this civilization. The first man to be called immortal was Anambre. He could not be burned but he was not immune to the sharp and large blade of the executioner. Then came Dofa the invincible crocodile, King Kofie of Arie, The Wosu of Dagbaala and Zakaru Sidiata of Gondwa. All these men once touted immortals are dead. Immortals too can be killed ergo the inhabitants of Nomposuro can be killed. A thousand of the best warriors, soldiers or army, whatever they shall be called should be sent into Nomposuro and the theory that immortals too can be killed would be proven yet again.

Maharaazi Vayome also argued that Muaazi Jamel may be right. All these men were once believed to be immortals and now they are dead. But the circumstances surrounding their deaths were either mysterious or still not understood by men. It is important they take their time to find out what exactly can cause the death of kranju (immortal guardians) before they sacrifice fathers, brothers and sons in the name of the greater good — another compelling argument.

There were four emperors. Jaazi (Emperor of the South) Sasu Basabasa IV supported Muaazi Jamel but Quaazi (Emperor of the West) Selasi could not decide. It was the first time something like that had happened. He was usually very decisive. He begged his fellow emperors to give him some time to consider all their arguments. Muaazi Jamel could not wait. He insisted that since two out of the four are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the world and one is not sure, then the thousand should be assembled immediately. Quaazi Selasi realized he had to make a decision and so he did. He agreed to the Muaazi’s proposal on one condition. They would send some spiritual adepts on this journey. Muaazi Jamel still insisted that spiritual adepts are not warriors. They may possess magic but when faced with something they cannot overcome. When fear kicks in, they easily forget their powers and are easily killed. They will be more of a liability than an asset. Jaazi Sasu Basabasa IV chipped in. He explained that if the spiritual adepts cannot go on this mission, at least they could spell the weapons that would be used by the warriors in Nomposuro to cater for the whole “immortality” problem.

However, the only nine people during that time capable of spelling the weapons of a thousand men were the same people who had to open a door for the thousand men to enter Nomposuro. A wai-susubaba (immortality neutralizing spell) would drain them of such power that it would be impossible to open the door. Therefore men with less power were consulted and only a hand full of more than two thousand weapons that would be used to combat the evil in Nomposuro were spelled. The first weapon to be spelled was the unseen blade of Baba Ingida the greatest swordsman of the North and a distant relative of Muaazi Jamel. Baba Ingida was so skilled that he never unsheathes his sword. No one had ever seen his sword. No one knows whether it was silvery in color or golden.  

The next weapons were the bow and arrows that would be used by the excellent archer of the East, Susinta Mabi, the great granddaughter of Susinta Mazu and the only person with her grandfather’s style of shooting arrows such that, the arrows can actually move in a curve. It was amazing. Some people said it was because of a special spell Mazu used. And apparently no male in his family could use the spell except his great granddaughter. She was named Mabi but her great archery skills earned her great grandfather’s nickname “Susinta” (the wizard of the bow and arrow).

Next was the walking stick of the blind warrior Kafu of the east. Kafu was born blind in the village of Timbakuti in the east. Timbakutu was one of the eastern most villages in the Eastern Empire of Africa. His mother told him that she had a dream before he was born. She said in her dream, a blind man appeared to her and told her she would conceive and give birth to a blind boy who would become a great warrior. Actually, she had no such dream but when Kafu was young, he only felt sorry for himself. He did not play. He did not laugh. He was consumed with self-pity and was not ready to do anything on his own. He simply wanted to depend on people around him and his mother was ready to help him do everything until one day his father called his mother and advised, “Look woman, death is real and one day you will die. He is just blind. He still has four very good senses. If you keep on treating him like a helpless person, he would grow up to be helpless. So if you want to do something for him, help him become independent even with his condition.” So Kafu’s mother told him about her dream. Kafu loved his mother so much that whatever she said was final. He started to use his senses more and two years after he started to train himself, both his parents were killed by unknown assailants.

By the time he turned sixteen, he had become an excellent warrior as foreseen by his mother. He was however too afraid to kill. Instead of using a sword, he made a walking stick from the branch of a very strong tree. This stick became his weapon. It was about 6 feet long — taller than Kafu himself. Maharaazi Vayome once saw Kafu training two blind men in Timbakutu and was so impressed. He immediately invited Kafu to join his army as instructor. On Kafu’s first day, he defeated all the seven commanders in Maharaazi Vayome’s army in a one-on-one combat. The commanders agreed that he was a man with extraordinary skills and on that same day endorsed that he should be made a commander too. Kafu was the commander in charge of training recruits for the eastern army.

And the last few weapons to be spelled where the shot guns and pistols that were used by the trigger happy marksman of the west, M’Poku. They say he never misses and doesn’t look at his target. He was simply that good. The fate of the world and of Nomposuro rested in the hands of these four men leading nine hundred and ninety-six people. You know the rest of this story. They entered Nomposuro and they were all killed in the forest. But do you know exactly how. Your guess is as good as mine. I will show you just how these men died inside Nomposuro.

Nine very powerful men used a very powerful ritual to open a door from the outside world into the forest. Even before they had entered, the shinkos were aware of their coming.

Inside a cave, Aran Shinko was crouching on all fours and pacing impatiently. He stopped somewhere in the middle and turned to face Kaki. She explained the current condition. “Human invaders are preparing to enter the forest and this time they are bringing an army.” Aran Shinko turned and said, “You would have to go without me. Hunt in pairs and combine your strengths as we discussed earlier after the invasion of the hundred men. I am right behind you.”

The thousand led by Baba Ingida as the supreme commander were inside the forest. M’Poku, Susinta Mabi and Kafu lined up behind him while the rest of the army stayed behind these three. M’Poku stepped forward and said, “Sir, communications have been destroyed.” Each soldier in the army carried one of those earplugs used for communication. This was to help them communicate inside the forest and also with those outside. Unfortunately, it all went dead after they entered the forest.

 Baba Ingida did not even turn. It was the forest. They came in from the outside at night but it was darker inside the forest. The air was chillier and dry. “So we can’t communicate with the outside world or with one another inside this forest,” remarked Baba Ingida while he moved his head to his right in an attempt to face M’Poku. “Yes sir,” answered M’Poku. “We are waiting for your orders,” demanded Susinta Mabi. 

“This is how we attack. M’Poku, you will lead your team of gunmen three O’clock from here. Mabi, you will lead your team of archers nine O’clock from here, and, Kafu you go twelve O’clock from this point with the men using different kinds of weapons. I will stay back here with the remaining few until the three teams return. Be careful,” instructed Baba Ingida.

“Thirteen, you hunt with me. Twelve you hunt with three and so on,” instructed Kaki to the other elven shinkos. The third asked “where is Shinko?” (Remember, Shinko was the name of the leader of Shinkos.) “He is attending to some personal business. He will catch up with us later. He wants us all to work together and to be careful so that what happened with the twins will not happen this time. Shinkos are the strongest and proudest and that is why we are the first line of defense. Now… scatter!” All twelve shinkos roared loudly and leapt in different directions.

Shinko was lying down in dirt with his eyes closed. He relaxed his mind and body and after sometime, he was in dark castle. Sitting on a throne, dressed like an Emperor and yet in chains was Arangosango. Shinko, the beast with black fur and white fur down his spine snarled and gnarled at Arangosango. Then, he rose and stood on two feet just gaping into Aran’s fearless eyes. His feet started to change to human. It climbed until a unique human being stood where the beast should have been standing. He was tall with pale skin, very thin pink lips and an exceptionally long nose. He was a full grown man with a beautiful childish face. Half of his hair was black and the other half was white. He wore a very colorful cloth that was wrapped around his body so that it made a cross on his chest and tied into a knot at back of his neck. “You have been making a lot of noise Arangosango,” voiced Shinko as human and with a smile.

M’Poku led his army of gunmen. They totaled close to four hundred. They were now very deep inside the forest. The part dominated by very tall trees and almost no shrub or herb; only tall trees and their huge roots dominated this part of the forest. M’Poku stopped and raised his right hand. His entire army stopped too. He made just a fist and every one of them surrounded him in a circle. They quickly drew their rifles and aimed. They moved their eyes and shifted their bodies slightly to cover every angle possible. M’Poku whispered, “Heads up. They are here.” All the gun men raised their heads, aimed and started shooting.

Dropping from a tall tree was the twelfth shinko. They shot at it but the beast was still falling as if it was immune to bullets. And when it finally landed, the ground shook slightly. The shinko roared and swung his right arm clearing almost all those men shielding M’Poku on his left. While the shinko was clearing M’Poku’s men, M’Poku turned to face his right and pulled out the gun strapped to his left waist. By the time all the soldiers had been moved by a single swing of an arm, M’Poku’s index finger was already giving his trigger a good squeeze. He fired two shots in such quick succession that it sounded almost like just a single shot. That was how good M’Poku was. That was why he was the best in the world.