THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

The big bad wolf angrily asked, “How dare you all invade my home. Who are you and what brings you here?” Most of the wanderers were still trembling. Many of them passed out. If this was going to be the end at least they will not witness it. Arangosango and his small army readied their weapons again. Kiwakaazi II turned and with just one look, they all lowered their weapons. Kiwakaazi II turned to the wolf and answered saying, “My name is Kiwakaazi; son of Anambre and Zakaru.”

The wolf lowered its head; sniffed the young man and smiled. “Come on, really! You saw the wolf smile.” I was there. Have you forgotten? Stop interrupting me. Can’t you see how easy it has been so far without your constant interruptions?

Now, where was I? Yes, the wolf smiled and shrunk into a man dressed as a king or emperor. This man walked towards Kiwakaazi (second) and said, “I am happy you finally came, great one.” Kiwakaazi also walked towards him. Both walked with arms open wide. They embraced and shed a few tears. Before the man disappeared, he whispered something into Kiwakaazi’s ears. A great wind blew dispersing the fog around Awufodom (land of ghosts), and, revealing what was once a beautiful empire; beautiful green land; tall trees, rivers and mountains. These were all revealed. No more Awufodom (land of ghosts). Nananompofie is back.

The resuscitation of Nananompofie begun. Well, it begun after other matters were addressed. Believe me they were not easy to address but they were eventually addressed. I think the most important matter was curing Dedeli.

Welcome back to Nomposuro. Kiwakaazi III and his beast buddy, Kaki were yet to defeat Zakaru. Both Kiwakaazi and Zakaru could use and were in fact using the Sahuuhu! Uhurusa which means the third dance of five hundred golden swords. Kiwakaazi watched the dwarf with the corner of his eye and noticed something interesting. So far, it was he and Kaki who slaved away fighting the zombies the white dwarf summoned. So, why did he (the dwarf) appear exhausted and sweaty? It wasn’t so apparent but Kiwakaazi saw the signs. The dwarf must somehow be connected to his zombies. The stronger the technique they use, the more energy he expends and the exhausting it becomes for him. Kiwakaazi wanted to test his theory as usual – a very scientific man he was.

His sword got very close. Perhaps the dwarf sensed it and upped his energy level again. That forced Zakaru’s energy to drop. Kaki shouted, “Kay, do it now!” Kiwakaazi rained golden swords on Zakaru who had lost the mark of Uhurusa completely. Zakaru Sidiata was finally defeated.

The couple now turned their attention to the dwarf. Deila sensed a little bit of fear in Kiwakaazi and asked if he was alright. He answered yes to her question. Being always curious, she asked how he did he did it once again.

He explained that he saw a few drops of sweat on the dwarf’s face when Zakaru used Sahuuhu Uhurusa and realized Papa dwarf might have been using a large amount of his own energy to control the three legends. After all, they all used the kafunde as weapons and became rahasis (guardians of hell). Imagine fetching water from the ocean. It does not matter how much water you fetch, the quantity of water in the ocean remains unchanged. Having an abnormally high energy level, it was difficult to notice the negligible fluctuations in Kuntunkunukun’s energy. When Zakaru however released the Sahuuhu Uhurusa, the drop in Papa Dwarf’s energy was significant for the first time; so significant that he begun to sweat. Attacking him directly forced the white dwarf to withdraw a large portion of the energy he had lend to Zakaru. Zakaru lost the mark of Uhurusa and became slow. Kaki was able to injure him and Kiwakaazi rained many golden swords on him and finished him off. “Now that all that menacing energy has returned to its source, I must admit I feel slightly frightened,” concluded Kiwakaazi.

Kiwakaazi explained this out loud to Kaki. The white dwarf heard it too. He said, “You are very perceptive and she is very intuitive. Combine these strengths together with your speed and physical abilities and no kranju (immortal guardian) can stop you. But I am a on a different level. Allow me to give you a taste of real power.”

Deila stepped forward and said, “Don’t allow feelings of fear into your heart, Kay. Even if there were ten of him, we will win because we have each other; because we work together and we are the best team in Nomposuro.” Kiwakaazi hearing this smiled and said, “Stop acting all bossy. But I understand. White dwarf, give us a taste of your real power and let us give you a taste of our determination.”

The power of Zuulu (strength and determination) was overflowing in Kiwakaazi and Kaki. The final physical battle inside Nomposuro was about to commence.

Kiwakaazi’s learning under Anambre continued. They arrived at the palace of Empress Ashanti where his predecessor Kiwakaazi II and Arangosango were going to deliver the best news to the Southern Empress and also make a request. They waited for the empress in a large room. They sat on stools and looked really happy. Both men smiled intermittently. Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Someone was descending the stairs at quite some pace. They both got up not knowing exactly what to expect.

Empress Ashanti burst through the door. She looked at Aran and turned to Kiwakaazi. She walked briskly towards him and with teary eyes, inquired, “Is she with you? Please tell me!” Kiwakaazi was confused. “Who is this ‘she’ the Empress is asking about?” he questioned. Then the Empress broke down completely into tears and in a much louder voice asked, “My daughter; is she with you?!” Now the Empress was making no sense at all.

One of her ladies in waiting caught the Empress who almost collapsed to the ground. She sat her down gently and begged the regal empress to be strong. Then, she told Kiwakaazi and Aran about the miracle of Princess Dedeli.

Almost a year after Kiwakaazi and Aran left to find a cure for the ill princess, the Empress one day entered her daughter’s room one early morning and found Tinle (Princess) Dedeli struggling to get out of bed. The princess had never attempted such a thing before and this frightened her mother. She quickly went to her daughter’s side and helped her back into bed. But the Empress said she saw something in her daughter’s eyes she had never seen before. A couple of days later, her daughter started sitting up on her bed and walking. She complained but did not give up. She tried twice harder. After about six months, the princess was recovering at a tremendous rate.

The Empress quickly invited the best specialists from the west, the best herbalist from the south and the best spiritualist from the East to help her understand this strange phenomenon. They all concurred that the princess was recovering. She will be healthy very soon. The Empress wanted to know the cause of her miraculous recovery but none of them had the answers. Empress Ashanti understood it as another rare gift from the gods; a blessing she was neither worthy of nor deserved. Princess Dedeli fully recovered after about two years after Kiwakaazi II and Aran departed from the Southern Empire.

A few days after Princess Dedeli made a full recovery, a young girl visited the royal palace. She begged to be employed as a servant. She specifically wanted to wait on the recovering princess. So passionate were her cries that, that the Empress immediately employed her. The lady-in-waiting paused and asked, “What was her name?” She thought for a while. The Empress whispered, “Safiri.” She heard her and shouted, “Safiri! That was her name.” Kiwakaazi and Aran exchanged glances. “Who is this Safiri?” They have never heard the name before. This girl served the princess and the two became best friends. The Empress even tasked Safiri to keep a close eye on her daughter and report any changes in the princess’s health and behavior.

Safiri reported to the Empress that her daughter pines for the company of a very dear friend of hers. She said she had never seen such an extreme case of ‘love disease’. The princess can hardly string a sentence without mentioning his name. She prays for him before she prays for herself when she wakes every morning and before she sleeps at night. There were more symptoms of this rare ‘love disease’. But perhaps the most frightening of all these symptoms was her desire to leave home. Princess Dedeli was considering going out into the world in search of her beloved, Kiwakaazi (the second).

The Empress was very pleased with Safiri and doubled the security around her daughter. Princess Dedeli had just recovered from a long spell of illness. She knew nothing about the outside world. She knew nothing about the world outside the palace. Since her birth she had spent all her life inside the royal palace. She knew nothing about the cunning and deceitful man who only wants to progress at the expense of others.

 The Empress was simply not going to give her permission to go and search for her beloved Kiwakaazi. Even if she would be given permission, she would be heavily guarded and if after a few weeks she was unsuccessful, she would be returned home.

How little the Empress knew. Everything was part of a grand plan to escape. “The princess and her maid Safiri left some few months ago in search of you, Kiwkaazi,” said the Empress’ lady-in-waiting. “The Empress has dispatched her best men but no news has been received about her possible whereabouts yet. The poor Empress is anguished. She does not eat and she does not sleep. Just look at her (gesturing at the Empress), she looks pale, lean and had deep circles around her eyes”, added the lady-in-waiting.

“Where is the princess?” wondered both Kiwakaazi and Aran.

Yes! At last I can go for a commercial break. Boo-hoo! It is my story and we are going for a commercial. Enjoy!