THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

The earth shook. Kiwakaazi touched Deila and vanished with her. They appeared outside the valley and watched what was happening inside the valley. First, water rose from the ground and filled the valley to about half-full. Then, the slender and green stem of a single plant pushed its way out of the water. Sitting on top of this plant was a bud. The bud opened slowly and differentiated into three small leaves; a green leaf, an orange leaf, and a pink leaf. Inside this first bud was a second bud. This second bud also opened after the three leaves have grown in size. Five small white petals surrounded five stamens and a single pistil of the flower. The instant the petals revealed the stamens and pistil, the air was filled with sweet fragrance.

A tiny man appeared suspending on the flower. He grew taller and bigger and soon became a full grown man — a grown man whom looked like Jenak’s identical twin. Then, the water level dropped until the valley was empty.

He shook his head, smiled and said, “Hello, Deila. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Deila’s eyes were filled with tears. She took a step forward and while tears run down her cheeks, she called out his name, “Jenak.” Jenak said, “Come and give me a hug. I have missed you.” Deila stared at him for a while and turned to Kiwakaazi behind her on her right. She turned back to face Jenak. “You are not Jenak! You just look like him!” shouted Deila. Jenak said, “You are right because he is (pointing at Kiwakaazi).” Jenak turned to Kiwakaazi and asked, “You are a long way from home traveller. What brings you here?”

Kiwakaazi answered, “I have come to fulfill my destiny. To end what I started.” Jenak shook his head and said, “Here we go again. Anambre took you on a tour. Anambre showed you a few things. He told you about some Alaami (Eternal Home of Peace) and now you think you are some hero. You think you a man on a mission. Let me tell you boy, Anambre deceived you. He tricked you. He is the trickster — a man who manipulates the kindness and the goodness in men. You should not believe a word he says.”

Kiwakaazi said, “I guess I should believe you instead.” Jenak answered, “No! Believe yourself. Listen to your own mind and your own heart and between the two, decide.” Kiwakaazi answered, “My mind is Ishfa’s playground and my heart… well, it simply cannot be trusted. So I think I will take my chances with Anambre.” Jenak said, “That’s where you are wrong. It is not about choosing sides — Ishfa (Time) or Akaani (Nameless One). It is about choosing yourself because these two do not care about you or anyone else out there. They are both only interested in winning. They are only interested in manipulating the Shosuma (Soul or Spirit). You have awakened Oogu (the cause). You can use it to save yourself and save the world.” Kiwakaazi answered, “No, I am not a hero. I am merely a puppet — a puppet of Akaani.”

Jenak frowned and said, “I guess talking is not going to convince you. Allow me to show you the truth about the world. But first I have to get rid of the nuisance.” Kiwakaazi wondered, “Who is he calling nuisance?” The only people in Nomposomu were Deila and him. He stepped in front of Deila and shielded her with his body. Deila asked, “What are you doing?” He said, “Protecting you — the nuisance.” She said, “Move away and look behind you.” Kiwakaazi turned to see quite a sizeable number of men and women standing behind him. Leading them was the fabled sage, Anambre the wise.

Anambre stepped forward and said, “We are all here now.” Kiwakaazi looked at the faces of the Gyaatis, Prophets, Sages and the soothsayers that have gathered to lend him a hand. Anambre was right. They have always been with him. He never tried to look their way. He never tried to find them. Kiwakaazi was brimming with confidence. With all these great men here, there is no way he will disappoint.

Nompotse (Jenak) lifted his right arm. Darkness swept over the skies of Nomposuro. Those who thought the land where Nomposuro exists was the safest place on the earth started to rue that decision. Many of them turned — back to the four Empires from whence they came. Nomposuro is the worst. There was so much commotion. People were running helter-skelter looking for an escape route but Naa Lamle was getting close to forest. What an insane woman she was. “Move away from the forest!” screamed a concerned bystander (man) at her.

Everyone looked at the sky and saw the darkness. They feared the darkness. Controlled by fear they screamed. Controlled by fear they ran. No one saw the light. But she did. She saw a speck of light shining in the eye of the darkness and she kept her focus on that. She believed in the light. The light is strong. The light is bright and even a tinny speck of light is too great — is too powerful for the darkness. After the man screamed at her, she turned to face him, lifted her right and pointed her finger at the speck of light that was slowly dispelling the darkness. The man looked up. He saw it too and pointed at the light. He caught the eye of a woman who stopped running and pointed at the light. Slowly and one after the other the people stopped running; the people pointed at the light and the light consumed the darkness. The sky shone brightly once again. Hope was restored. The people who were ready to run away from the dark forest were moving close to it. There was no fear, no hate. United, they believed the young hero inside the forest will win. He has to. Not only his mother but the whole world was counting on him now.

Back inside Nomposuro, the darkness summoned the dark armies of death. Gbelemantse Kakai and his dark armies are in the house. The freakishly tall death god bowed before his older brother, Nompotse and said, “Command me first son of Ishfa,” in his mean deep voice. Nompotse only pointed at the Gyaatis. Gbelemantse Kakai looked the way of the Gyaatis and with a cheeky smile said, “This is why I was born.” He rose to his feet and turned to his armies. Clearly, Gbelemantse was not big on the use of words like his successor, Shinko. He basically screamed, no roared, “It is time for lunch!” His army gathered around him and they all in one really loud voice shouted, “Ishfa sai kita!” Darkness rose and formed a whirlwind which later transformed into a giant black cobra with seven heads. The many heads hissed. Kiwakaazi and Deila were both terrified. They moved and hid behind their relatively small army of Gyaatis, priests and sages. “I am guessing you will take care of this,” suggested Kiwakaazi.

The Gyaatis all clasped their hands and in unison shouted “Oogu Jaka Tumi….Sore!” Light rose and a beautiful, large and white male lion with only a single head stood in front of the Gyaatis. The great lion shook its head and its beautiful mane. It swung one of its forelimbs and roared.

Nompotse disappeared and when he appeared, whisked Kiwakaazi and Deila away. He intends on showing them the condition of man. He intends on putting the young hero through the three tests of pride — very difficult and almost impossible tasks to break, if you ask me. Anambre turned and whispered, “Don’t forget, Kiwakaazi, that sometimes victory comes with defeat.”

The battle between the white lion and the dark snake was getting serious. Four of the seven snakes detached from the main body and bound the feet of the white lion. The remaining three jumped and wrapped themselves around the main body of the lion. They subdued the beautiful lion. Gbelemantse was looking on content. These so called ruhuti (true gods) of Akaani were nothing but pushovers. The lion roared loudly vibrating and forcing the snakes to unwind. They reassembled into one big body. The seven snakes hissed while they moved their heads in succession. The great lion roared once again. So loud was the roar that the snake was pushed back.

The lion jumped forward. One of the snake heads detached from the main body and quickly moved on the ground. The lion leapt backwards. The snake attacked from the right and met the left paw of the white lion. The lion leapt forward and by combining right and left jabs destroyed all the six remaining heads of the dark cobra.

The dark cobra was killed but the darkness prevailed. More darkness gathered and shaped into another great animal, the elephant; the big, strong mammal of the jungle. The dark, tall elephant trumpeted and ran to attack the white lion.

Jenak and Kiwakaazi left Nomposuro to the real world. It was horrible. The world was in chaos. The Kranjus (immortal guardians) had escaped Nomposuro and were slaughtering men. An old lady had been caught by Kun (first dwarf). Her body had been bound by his strong vines. She was being strangled by the vines. She saw Kiwakaazi and Deila but not Nompotse. She begged them to help her. She cried for them to have pity on her and save her from the wicked dwarf. Deila moved in an attempt to save her. Kiwakaazi caught her arm and shook his head. “We are not supposed to interfere,” instructed Kiwakaazi. Deila looked into Kiwakaazi’s eyes and back to the woman and asked, “But why?” Kiwakaazi answered, “Trust me on this. Do not interfere.” Deila did not like the sound of that. She looked away while the woman screamed and cried in pain. Deila also cried sharing in the pain of the old woman. But if Deila is shedding tears for an old woman then wait till you see what Nompotse had in store for her.