THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

Shinko turned right and raised his left hand above his head. Aran struck Shinko’s left hand with the sikan dompesan (three edged bone sword). Shinko’s right knee just dropped to the ground and his left was not far from the ground either. With a frown, Shinko thought, ‘What great power?’ Aran was also surprised. With the quantity and quality of power causing through his body Shinko should have lost an arm — his left arm.  Shinko was not wearing a protective armor or anything. So what happened? Anyway, this was exactly the kind of power Aran wanted. This was the cure to his nightmares.

When Aran was about nineteen years old, he fought his best friend — Kiwakaazi II. He lost and said goodbye to sound sleep. At least once every night Aran will have a dream. In his dream, he will see himself lying on the ground — defeated and too weak to rise to his feet. His opponent was always faceless and surrounding this faceless opponent were other faceless men and women. They would laugh at him and repeat the words, “You are failure. You couldn’t beat him and you can’t beat anyone. You are weak Arangosango. You are simply weak!”Aran would wake up from this dream sweating and it will take hours before he could sleep again. On worse and worst nights, he has these dreams over and over again. This affected his performance in battle. He was always afraid he would lose and he wondered how people would react to his defeat. Would they rally around his opponent and laugh at him? Would they call him a weak man and a failure? He was always wondering and tormenting himself.

The men who deserted M’Poku and left him to die at the hands of the third and twelfth shinko were all dead; torn to shreds by the seventh and eighth shinkos. Did I not tell you? They simply had no place to run to. They died the instant they set foot into Nomposuro. Anyway, after getting rid of these people, the seventh and eight shinkos decided to fight another group of men — the group that was waiting beside the white wall.

A few swordsmen stayed back with Baba Ingida. They remained close to the wall from where they entered. The area close to the wall was dominated by really tall and green grass. They cleared an area shaped into a circle and set up a perimeter. Eight men were on guard. After three hours, they will rest and another team of eight will take their posts. Baba Ingida sat with his legs crossed and his eyes closed at the center while his men surrounded him. Suddenly, he rose to his feet and shouted, “Ready yourselves men. They are coming!” Those on guard heard him. Yet, they heard nothing approaching. It was very quiet beyond the grass. They drew their swords not really sure what was coming and how it would attack.

A minute passed and there was no attack. Two minutes passed and still nothing attacked. By the third minute, the soldiers started losing faith. They questioned Baba Ingida’s state of mind when two of the men on guard were punched by something so hard that they collided into a few of the soldiers in their way. The remaining six were quickly attacked by something that pulled them into the grass. They screamed and after just about fifteen seconds, the screaming stopped. As for the two soldiers who were punched, they died instantly but it was not from a punch at all. Whatever punched them left claw marks on their chests. The soldiers of Baba Ingida formed a circle around their leader and pointed their swords away from the center — away from their leader. They now heard movement inside the grass. It was slow. It was tormenting and when it came out, it was terrifying. The two beasts roared.

Susinta Mabi and her team were victorious. They had successfully killed all four of their opponents. They turned their attention to the bridge. Susinta led her few brave archers towards the bridge. When they started climbing, she turned her head and warned, “Be alert and be careful.” They crossed the stairs and were now walking on the bridge that was shaped like a serpent. Some of his followers were completely fascinated by the color of the river. It looked blue like the ocean and still. They took careful and gentle steps. Their hearts raced in their chests. Their bodies perspired. They were completely frightened but they put on a brave face for the sake of mankind. They were man’s last hope.

Nompoti had become bloody. Everything in this beautiful circle bordered by six big tall trees had been painted red — the blood of humans. Kafu and Kaki were facing each other. Kaki was standing on two feet. Kafu swung his walking stick. Initially, it looked like he was going to attack the ribs of Kaki but he quickly changed direction when he lowered his body and swept Kaki’s feet off the ground. Kaki fell on the ground but Kafu had to quickly turn and hold his walking stick across his chest. The thirteenth shinko who had singlehandedly killed almost everyone in Kafu’s army was attacking. The beast grabbed and bit the walking stick and forced Kafu to the ground. Kafu used his legs to carry the heavy beast over his body to the other side where his partner, Kaki was still lying.

Aran was on his back. Shinko attacked from the air. His left palm shaped into a fist to kill Aran. Aran disappeared at the eleventh hour and Shinko only punched and destroyed the floor. Aran appeared behind Shinko while Shinko was kneeling. Aran had wrapped both palms around the sikan dompesan (three edge bone sword) and was lowering it towards Shinko’s back but he suddenly felt Shinko’s left arm wrapped around his neck and strangling him. However, Aran could still see Shinko kneeling before him so who was strangling him. Anyway, Aran had to quickly do something. So he changed the direction of his attack. He freed his left hand and attacked whoever was strangling him from behind with the sikan dompesan in his right hand. The strangling stopped and Shinko was gone. Aran quickly went on his knees and coughed. He was almost killed. Shinko appeared in front of him and asked, “Are you tired already?” Aran did not answer. He simply got up and disappeared again.

Arangosango thought that perhaps his nightmares will stop if he defeats Kiwakaazi II. He therefore trained hard hoping that someday, he will fight Kiwakaazi II and beat him into a pulp.

Now, before Kiwakaazi II and Arangosango were both born, the four great empires attacked the Central Empire in the war that was named Akodindin (The Great War). Amazingly, the four empires struggled to defeat the Central Empire, and some historians believe the Central Empire never lost that war. Anyway, the war ended with a change in the Central Empire. The entire empire was surrounded by a thick fog and believed to be haunted. They called it Awufudom (The Land of Phantoms).

I am sure you remember Subrukutu (the four armed guardian of hell). Subrukutu had mysteriously been summoned from hell and had been imprisoned inside Awufudom. Of course a creature like Subrukutu can only be sent back to hell by a mystical weapon; the sikan nifanum (five edged sword) also known as the kafunde (demon mummifier). When Aran saw how the sikan nifanum changed Kiwakaazi II into a complete monster that day when Kiwakaazi II fought Subrukutu, he knew there was no way he could defeat Kiwakaazi II. And if he can’t defeat Kiwakaazi II, then his nightmares will never go away. His fear will persist. To return to his old confident self, Aran needed more power.

Baba Ingida shouted, “Stay back and do not interfere!” His few swordsmen who surrounded him made a way for him to pass through. They stood back indeed while the commander of the thousand men who entered Nomposuro alone faced two ferocious beasts. Baba Ingida said, “If you two came looking for a fight, I suggest you fight me.” Both shinkos were already crouching on four limbs. The seventh Shinko suddenly jumped from where he stood. His target was clearly Baba Ingida. Baba Ingida just freed his sword around his left wrist. His sword was still in its sheath and when he pointed it at the attacking shinko. The seventh shinko offered his chest to Baba Ingida’s sword and by the time he landed on his two feet right in front of Baba Ingida, he had turned into a stone mummy. Baba Ingida pulled out his sheathed sword from the mummified body of the shinko and pushed the mummy out of his way. The eighth shinko had frowned. It looked really angry. His red eyes had become redder and he was showing Baba Ingida his large and sharp teeth. He growled, rose to stand on two feet and roared at Baba Ingida.

The Archers fired many arrows into the sky. Well, not into the sky but at a blue scaled tail that suddenly pushed its way above the surface of the Gajun (Blue River). Susinta Mabi, like her followers arrowed the tail but it was not even harmed by her spelled arrows. The blue and scaled tail moved in the air for a while and attacked the archers on the bridge. Susinta Mabi and a few of her intelligent archers jumped off the bridge and dived into the blue river. The blue tail smashed the bridge and crushed majority of the archers. The tail also moved along the bridge killing archers in its path.

One archer suddenly pulled his head out of the river and screamed for help only to be pulled back in. Another man tried swimming to the bank and was also pulled back in by something. Susinta Mabi swam out of the river luckily back to the side of the shinkos already exhausted. She was carrying her bow in her right and about ten arrows at her back. She crawled on her chest for a while. She stopped only to cough out some of the blue liquid she had swallowed. She continued to crawl and did not even stop to look back. After putting enough distance between herself and the blue river, she turned her body and sat up. She first waited for any survivors but there was none. All her remaining archers have been killed by whatever attacked them. She held on firmly to her bow and rose to her feet. She took a step and then a second towards the bridge again. What a brave woman she was.

Arangosango was very determined to kill Shinko. He had jumped and was holding the sikan dompesan above his head with both arms. He attacked Shinko’s head and instead of killing Shinko, the sikan dompesan disappeared. Arangosango fell on his knees while he changed back to human. He wondered, ‘What just happened?’ and Shinko explained that he had seen enough of Arangosango’s abilities. Aran is worthy. Shinko offered Aran his left hand and Aran took it with his left. They shook hands and Shinko disappeared. Aran closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were red. He smiled and disappeared too.