THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

A lion pounced on Kaki and she caught it mid-air. With her claws, she caught the upper and lower jaws of the lion when it tried to bite her head off. She threw the beast and it collided with a tiger that was running to attack her. A tiger jumped at Kiwakaazi. Kiwakaazi shielded his body with the kafunde. The tiger locked the kafunde within its jaws and would not let go. The tiger moved its fore limbs trying hard to scratch Kiwakaazi. Kiwakaazi swung the weapon out of the tiger’s mouth after he swung the kafunde with all his might. The apex predator fell on its side and slid on the ground. When it stopped, it got up and started limping.

The two dwarfs were resting their backs on a couple of the stairs that led to the zenith of the pyramid. One of them sat up abruptly and watched his injured pets with real concern in his eyes. Deila managed to catch a tiger pouncing on her and broke its hind limbs. The dwarf simply smiled. He shook his head and returned to his resting position; a false alarm. The fourth dwarf was toying with them. He deliberately woke up to make them think they had made a discovery. What a cruel dwarf he must be.

It was a long and difficult battle. Kiwakaazi could neither concentrate properly on the battle nor could he come up with any good ideas to defeat the dwarfs. But he was one of those people who never stop thinking. They never stop trying to solve the problem. Their minds can be completely occupied with a problem; so occupied that the world around them ceases to exist. One of the tigers attacked Kiwakaazi from behind and he did not notice it. Kaki seeing this just shouted, “Kay look out!” He swung his kafunde and killed the tiger — it was an involuntary action. The big cat laid there dead for a while and when it got up, it had doubled.

Now, Anambre showed Kiwakaazi-of-Deila how the young prince, Zeeta, rose to become an Emperor. Zeeta was not particularly interested in the teachings and practices of his father. He was a playful, fun-loving boy. He had many friends and had not a single care in the world. However, the loss of his best friend troubled him very much.  

When he lost his childhood friend to death, he changed. From once a playful troublesome boy, he became gloomy and withdrawn from his surroundings. His parents decided to help him. Both his parents visited him in his room one night. The boy was just sitting on his bed gazing out at the beautiful starry and blue sky. When his parents entered, he abandoned the view of a starry sky for a short while and welcomed his parents. Kaazi Kiwakaazi (the first) jumped on his son’s bed and carried him. He tickled Zeeta. For the first time in a long time Zeeta laughed and tried to stop his father from tickling him. He became sad once the tickling stopped. His father sat him down on the edge of his bed. His parents sat next to him; his father on his left and his mother on his right. They asked him just one question, “Do you want to see your friend again?”

Inside Adopedan close to the huge pyramid Kiwakaazi and Kaki were facing and fighting their worst opponent. From two lions and two tigers the number of the predators increased. Now, they faced twelve lions and eight tigers. The task was becoming herculean and Kiwakaazi’s mind was blank; no ideas popped up; no strategies came to mind.

Two lions pounced on Kiwakaazi simultaneously. Kiwakaazi was at it again — still thinking; still trying to solve the problem. Once again he reacted too slowly to the impending attack from the two lions. Kaki had kept a close eye on him. She quickly run and pushed Kiwakaazi to the ground. The two lions that were attacking from his left and right side collided. They bit and scratched each other. 

Zeeta was excited and surprised. He was about twelve years old and did not really understand death. But he had never heard of the dead coming back to life. So how were his parents going to do this? This must be a trick. This must be their way of trying to sooth his pain. He got all excited for nothing. His parents asked him the question again and he answered them saying, “I appreciate your help, mama and papa, but I know such a thing is impossible.” “Nothing is impossible my son,” remarked Empress Ouzie.

Two lions collided; two lions bit each other and two lions turned to dust. Both dwarfs got up and looked worried. ‘They have found the antidote,’ they might have thought. Kiwakaazi and Kaki were already up and standing side by side. Kiwakaazi looked at her on his right. She nodded. She understood too. The dwarfs and their pets have similar powers. Kill a lion and its numbers increase. Kill a tiger and the same thing happens, and, kill a dwarf and you are simply helping it to reproduce. If only a lion can kill a lion, then, the theory can be extrapolated to imply only his creations can kill each other and probably the creator as well. This is the key they had been searching for. This is the answer to their prayers. This is how they are going to kill the dwarf — by forcing his pets to kill him.

The two dwarfs after getting up stood in silence for a while. The looked at each other and turned to their opponents. Then, one spoke: “It seems you have finally found a way. I was hoping it may last a little bit longer but I think it’s time we finished this.” Kiwakaazi and Deila watched them change into beasts. They were still short but their faces changed and their teeth grew long and sharp. Their grey hair grew and covered their bodies completely. Their finger nails also grew and the color of their eyes changed. It was blood red like the eye color of shinkos. In fact, they were like tiny shinkos (furry beasts). They leapt once and covered about half the distance between Kiwakaazi and them. This was unexpected. The second leap got them close enough to attack. They both swung their claws at Kiwakaazi and Kaki.

Zeeta did not believe his parents. He looked into his mother’s eyes and then into his father’s. These two were not known to tell lies — not of any kind. Maybe there really is a way. Excitedly, the young prince said, “Let’s do this!”

Kiwakaazi quickly changed into a rahasi (guardian of hell) and vanished. Deila was scratched across her chest and fell. Two tigers pounced on her. She turned and swung her right arm towards her left hitting the tiger attacking from her left. Kiwakaazi appeared on her right after he had also sliced through the tiger attacking her from her right. Kaki’s chest was bleeding and healing slowly. Kiwakaazi’s chest was also healing but he looked unharmed. He asked, “Are you alright?” Her face changed from beast to human, and looked angry even as a human. She said, “Don’t ask me unnecessary questions. I can take care of myself.” “Calm down!” shouted Kiwakaazi. “We can do this,” he added. She was not ready to listen. She changed her face back into a beast and charged forward towards the dwarfs.

Yes, they have figured out Kuntunkunu’s weakness but he was not going to sit still for these two to come up with a strategy to kill him. He attacked them and his pets also attacked. It was now down to the team that possessed superior team work. Currently, the dwarf and his pets were leading that contest.

Maybe the dwarf should have consulted the shinkos. They know way too well about the superb teamwork that existed between the man bearing the most hated name and the shinko that betrayed Nomposuro. The battle now became very intense.

Kaki took on one dwarf. She went on all fours and ran very quickly. She avoided some lions and tigers that attacked her. She pounced on the dwarf and landed in dirt. The dwarf attacked and dug his long sharp teeth into her back. Kaki jumped around a lot and tried to grab the dwarf-turned-shinko that was chewing on her back. When she realized she was not reaching the dwarf, she jumped and tried to smash the dwarf into the ground. The dwarf let go and she only hit her own bleeding back into the ground. Kiwakaazi quickly vanished and when he appeared, two tigers and one lion where lying around her. Their legs carefully cut to weaken but not to kill them by Kiwakaazi. He wanted to ask Kaki if she was fine but she was in a really foul mood.

Her face changed to human. She got up with great difficulty. The dwarf’s bite had done quite a number on her. She was dizzy. Kiwakaazi helped her to stand on two feet. Even the dwarf was surprised. His bite paralyzes. She got up and apologized. She explained that she was sick and tired of Kiwakaazi treating her like she was some feeble girl who needed saving. Kiwakaazi always forgets she is immortal and is always sacrificing himself for her. Kiwakaazi now understood why she lashed out. She was right. He forgets she is immortal. He was sorry but he could not help himself. Anyway, there was no way he could fight off these many tigers and lions together with their masters all by himself. He needed her.

Kaki grabbed the foot of a lion with her right and used the lion as a weapon while she stood on two feet. One tiger attacked her left foot. She hit the back of the tiger very hard with her new weapon, the lion, and hit it again away from her. She quickly turned and smacked another tiger attacking her from behind. She turned again and offered the lion to another lion that was attacking. The attacking lion bit Kaki’s weapon and they both turned to dust.

Kiwakaazi was busy with the dwarfs. He wanted to weaken them but they were very quick and read his movements very well. He appeared next to Kaki and said, “We need those lions and tigers. Stop killing them!” “I know that Kay! Stop treating me like a dummy!” shouted Kaki. It seems for the first time the best team in Nomposuro did not agree on strategy.

Kaki was using a tiger this time as weapon. She hit a few tigers and lions and threw this tiger at one of the dwarfs. The dwarf jumped above the tiger and groaned the second he landed on the ground. Kiwakaazi had cut the dwarf across his back. He appeared behind the dwarf with his kafunde piercing through the right shoulder of the dwarf. The dwarf was weak and his pets were agitated. One lion attacked Kiwakaazi from behind. Kiwakaazi disappeared. The dwarf turned only to be scratched and bitten by the lion. They both turned to dust.

The remaining lions and tigers quickly surrounded the remaining dwarf. Kiwakaazi disappeared and appeared on Kaki’s right. He was panting. They both watched while the remaining lions and tigers formed a circle around their master. He was almost invisible in that circle. One tiger and one lion stepped forward. As usual, they started by walking; picked up pace and started running and when they close enough pounced on Kiwakaazi and Kaki.

Kaki shouted, “Here they come, Kay!” Kiwakaazi replied, “Let’s finish this!”