THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

“When I agreed to your proposal, I did not think that I would become your prisoner. I wanted us to be partners and fight together. But here I am — a king and a prisoner. It is quite ironic. Don’t you think?” complained Arangosango. Shinko stood there silent for about a minute or two. He turned his head left and then to his right. He closed his eyes and opened them. Then, he smiled and said, “Okay.” He waved his left hand and Aran was free from his shackles. He touched the back of his neck and pulled out something that shaped into the unique weapon known as the sikan dompesan (the three-edged bone sword). He tossed the weapon in the air towards Aran. Aran rose from his throne and caught it with his right only to almost drop to his knees. The bone sword weighed a ton. Aran wanted Shinko to respect him — to see him as an equal. He could not lose face. So he did everything humanly possible to remain on his two feet. Suddenly, he felt it — the great power of the sword causing through his body like electric current. It was amazing and frightening at the same time. Aran felt his head ache. He felt dizzy but he would not give up. He started to feel his black hair rising and become pointed. Still he held on.

M’Poku and his team suddenly heard a loud roar that shook the very foundations of the earth they stood upon. This sound disturbed the molecules of air so much that the bullets M’Poku fired could not reach the intended target. This was the power of the third Shinko. He was the shinko believed to have the second loudest and longest roar second only to Arangosango Shinko himself. “Where did he come from?” wondered most of the gunmen. His roar was so loud that the gunmen felt the air attempting to lift them or push them or both. Even M’Poku had to stand firmly to avoid this push or lift. The twelfth Shinko used this opportunity to clear more gunmen out of his way. By the time the third shinko had stopped roaring, M’Poku had a little over half the number of men he travelled with still alive. The remaining half was either dead or so badly injured that they could just not move their bodies. One man suddenly screamed and ran and the rest followed him like dogs with their tails between their legs. I ask just one question, “Where did they think they were running to?” No one can save them. Death is the only thing that awaits them. M’Poku however stayed back.

Shinkos were crazy kranjus (immortal guardians). I think it is because they are death gods or perhaps something I still do not understand, but they have this unfathomable desire to fight. Instead of chasing the fleeing men and finishing them, they both waited behind to fight the strongest of all gunmen — M’Poku of the West. His left hand was still very straight and his gun still pointed at the two shinkos whom were standing side by side. He faced the direction opposite the shinkos. He started to move his head very slowly to face the shinkos. The third said, “Be careful twelve. This man must have a secret weapon.” The twelfth shinko nodded. M’Poku’s head was finally turned. The first time he had looked at his target. His eyes met the eyes of the shinkos and he suddenly drew his second gun around his right waist and pointed both pistols at the shinkos.

Kafu swung his long walking stick from right to left and slapped Kaki across her left cheek. Kaki fell on the ground and touched her left cheek. She was bleeding and it felt like she had been burned on her face. She shook her head twice to shake off the dizziness she was beginning to feel. She rose slowly to her feet and warned the thirteenth shinko to be mindful of Kafu’s walking stick — it was no ordinary walking stick.

 Kafu and his men had not being spared by Kaki and her partner; the thirteenth shinko. Their battle was fought inside Nompoti (circle of truth). Kafu like M’Poku had lost many of his men. The brave warriors who went with Kafu had cut; they had speared; they had battered the bodies of Kaki and the thirteenth shinko. It was as if the two beasts do not feel pain at all. The more they get cut the stronger and intense they became. Kafu at least had brave men who were ready to fight with him to the end. He was one lucky blind man.

Kafu’s men were tired and frightened. They were sweating and panting. Kaki leapt forward and Kafu met him. He swung his walking stick and it flew over her lowered head. He pointed his walking stick at Kaki and she caught it when it approached her chest. With the help of Kafu’s walking stick, she raised him above the ground and swung him. He would have crushed into a tree so he let go of the stick and rolled his body on the ground. Kafu quickly got up ready to fight for his walking stick. He made a fist. Kaki just stood there staring at him. She threw Kafu’s walking stick in the air. Kafu caught it over his head. He did not understand why. She could have thrown it away or broken it. So why return it. Well, I guess her brief moment of compassion had ended because she roared, frowned and crouched on four limbs. She is ready to fight. Kafu also took his stands pointing one end of his stick to Kaki. Let the games begin.

 The thirteenth shinko was also taking care of Kafu’s small army. One soldier used a rope-like weapon. He swung and wrapped it around the thirteenth shinko’s neck like how the cowboys do it. He was standing behind the shinko when he did this. Six soldiers quickly stabbed the shinko over and over and over and over again on his chest, abdomen, thighs and legs. And when they stopped to verify the death of the shinko, he swung his right hand and with just that killed all six soldiers. The shinko held the rope around his neck and started trying to free his neck. More soldiers were coming to attack. Mankind has always and will always probably be foolish. These soldiers saw six men stab the beast and still it breathes and they too were attacking him. At least this time there were more; about twenty of them in total. They completely surrounded the thirteenth shinko and did the same thing the six did to him before — stab…stab…stab the shinko.

Susinta Mabi reached for an arrow at her back. She planted the arrow and aimed. She aimed directly at a tree and took in regular breaths. When she exhaled, she let go of the arrow and whispered, “Sui sui san san pai,” meaning “Fly and find your target.” This arrow went straight as if heading for the tree. When it got close enough to the tree, it bent and travelled around the tree. A shinko fell on the ground and started to change into a kafushii (stone mummy). Two down and two more to go!

Yes, Susinta Mabi and her team had probably the worst of luck. They moved pretty fast through the forest and were already close to the buduga (serpent’s bridge). If only they could cross it, they might become the first people to reach Nhutudan. Anyway, the four shinkos they had for company were the fourth, the fifth, the eleventh and the tenth shinkos. The eleventh and tenth had been taken care of with the eleventh being the second to fall. Now, she simply must get rid of the fourth and fifth. “Did I say simply? When has it ever been simply?”

After the tenth shinko was killed and changed into a kafushii (stone mummy), the Shinkos changed their attack and defense strategies. They withdrew into the forest and hid behind the trees and on top of it. The stalked their prey and waited for an opportune time to attack. Susinta Mabi, a marksman archer whose arrows had unique magic to bend around obstacles, had senses as keen as Kafu’s. Susinta Mabi was able to pinpoint the location of the eleventh shinko. The fifth and fourth saw exactly how her arrows travelled and were now more careful than ever. Wait a minute. I think she has spotted another one. She slowly reached for her back. The fifth and fourth were hiding behind separate trees which were close. “She is about to release an arrow,” cautioned the fourth and the fifth nodded. Susinta’s arrow was ready. She had aimed perfectly at a tree and she asked the surviving members of her team to aim in the same direction she was aiming at and release arrows on her command. Each soldier under her command obeyed. She shouted, “Ready! Aim! Fly!” And they all released their arrows. She whispered, “Sui sui san san pai,” and watched her arrow fly to find its target.

M’Poku looked up directly above him and fired. He quickly moved from where he stood. Something was falling. It fell from quite a height and made a loud thud sound when it struck the ground. One of the shinkos had been killed and while it was falling it was changing into a kafushii (stone mummy). M’Poku turned quickly and jumped. While he was air-borne he was shooting. Another shinko was apparently attacking from behind and he quickly had to move. He fell on the ground and the shinko fell too. This second shinko too turned into a stone mummy.

However, these shinkos were not his original opponents. The twelfth and the third shinkos were carefully avoiding M’Poku’s bullets trying to come up with a great way to end him, when the sixth and ninth shinkos joined and lunched into attack without a plan. What beasts they were! After they had been killed and changed, the third and twelfth knew they had to be very careful about the intruder. He would be a difficult one to kill. But they did not have time to think for long. M’Poku rose to his feet and started looking around. He turned and fired quick successive shots in the direction of the twelfth shinko. The shinko was stunned when he saw a bullet travel right over his head giving him a nice shave.

M’Poku’s abilities were amazing. What happened was that first bullet stopped inside the stem of the tree. The second bullet hit the back of the first bullet and the subsequent ones repeated this until the very first bullet emerged on the side where the shinko was hiding. The twelfth using his very sharp sense of hearing heard the bullets drilling the stem of the tree and ducked at the very last minute to avoid death and stone mummification.

M’Poku was now all out of bullets and he had to reload. He used that type of gun that had to be loaded with single bullets. Sorry that my knowledge about firearms is not as good as my American family. Love you all by the way my dudes and babes. I think you all rock. But please tell your embassies to give us visas to visit your country. We love it there but they never want to issue the visas.

Let us continue. Even while reloading he kept his eyes moving; his ears active; his nose smelling and his body on high alert to pick up on movement. The shinkos knew that was their queue — time to attack. They came out of hiding. M’Poku continued reloading. He was still reloading the first pistol. The shinkos looked mean and determined while they leapt on four limbs towards him. The third shinko was attacking from his right and the twelfth shinko was attacking from his left. The twelfth was particularly angrier than the third. M’Poku almost killed him and he was mad about that. He led the race to who will reach M’Poku first. M’Poku was now in a hurry loading as quickly as he possibly can.

When finally, the twelfth shinko was within twelve feet, he dropped his pistol and reached for the rifle strapped to his back. He pulled it out and turned just his head not his entire body to face the third shinko while he pointed his gun at the twelfth shinko. The shinko’s pupils dilated. There was no stopping it. But it got rid of its fear quickly. It was a shinko. It was not supposed to be afraid of death. Death is just the beginning. M’Poku still did not fire. He simply watched the third shinko change direction. The twelfth had pounced when M’Poku finally shot it. It fell right at the feet of M’Poku and started changing.

Arangosango continued to change. White fur grew at his back along his spine. His eyes changed color and became intense red. His canines became long and pointy. All he wanted to do was shout, “What is happening to me?!” Instead, he roared like a beast. After the roaring, the flowing current in his body stopped. The headache and the dizzy spell were all waning. He was beginning to feel like himself again. Only this time he felt a thousand times stronger and powerful. Shinko smiled and whispered, “You truly are amazing, Arangosango. A mere human — a mere mortal controlling the most powerful weapon in the three planes of time is beyond comprehension. But that was simply the first test. The real test begins now.”

Arangosango shook his head a couple of times to shake off the headache and the dizziness. He focused on shinko, roared again and disappeared.