Swords clanking, swooshing and breaking. Earth, trembling and explosively blowing. Bones shattering and blood slurping. The war raged bloodily. In all that chaos, one could single out two creatures. One with a rugged body, wielding a large double-edged axe. He would swing the axe as though it were a dry stick, slashing his adversaries cleanly into two. As he ran across the battle field, dismembered corpses followed. His manner of fighting, not only showed he enjoyed it but more importantly, he was skilled at it. As he continued his carnage, his attention was suddenly drawn towards a force of the nature. He saw a tornado of human bodies randomly moving across the battle field and picking up more bodies. As if one tornado wasn't enough, two were conjured and added more chaos to the field.
"And here I thought you wouldn't participate" He joyfully screamed. With his scream followed a loud ignition at the eye of those tornadoes. And blood and chunks of flesh began raining on the field. Such a demonstration of cataclysmic strength, was enough to scare their adversaries and send them fleeing in all directions.
In all that bloody bare land, she was praying. Her hammer stood straight up, with the tail pointing towards the sky. She always did that after every battle. She prayed that all the souls who left their bodies should go towards the eternal plane and meet the creator. She didn't care that she was covered in blood. Nor did she care that the head of her hammer was in the stomach of a corpse. When it was time to pray, she prayed.
"You never cease to amaze me" He spoke, tapping her gently on her back.
"You are disturbing." She groaned
"Oh really?" He scuffed. "Why do you always do that?"
"Do what?" She hummed
"Pray after battles."
"Not only after. Before and after battles."
"Oh well, my bad. Why do you do that?"
"Because I wish for everyone to meet the creator. Even those considered as my enemies."
"Huh. Just that?"
"Yes, just that. You heartless skunk." She answered, rising up to her feet and lifting up her hammer.
"Now that was uncalled for. Telling me I am heartless is a compliment, juju disguised as a human."
"Say that again and I might rekindle the war just with you." She answered, pointing her hammer to his face.
"Sorry princess. I might have taken the joke too far."
"Empty apologies." She answered, pulling back her hammer and continuing her march with the troop members
A sudden shout came from the tip of the marching line; "Zara, Yaqoob, march faster. We won the battle, but the war hasn't ended. Quit your couple disputes and hasten your steps"
"Couple What?!" Both of them screamed.
"Kandake, please stop teasing me." Zara answered, increasing the pace.
"Yes, elder sis." Yaqoob began. "Strong baboons like her are not in my dream list." He added while sprinting towards the front line.
"Oh. You both are refusing to accept the truth?" Kandake picked.
"There is no truth in your words, chief." Zara answered, arriving at Kandake's side.
"For once I agree with her, sister." Yaqoob added, reaching also at Kandake's side.
"Well, my bad. You two would form a great couple though." Kandake laughed. Yaqoob stared at Zara, only to receive a thunderous look from Zara.
The march towards their village continued silently, the rumbling of their steps was the only noise that humoured their ears. After a walk (that didn't seem like an eternity) they arrived at their village. Their arrival was announced with a loud trumpet sound, such that the 10 neighbouring villages could hear them. As the gates opened, scores of individuals rushed to embrace those whom were their family. Kids, Men and Women rushing towards their loved ones. Zara was embraced by her grand father and her younger brother. Meanwhile Yaqoob kept on walking with his elder sister towards the palace. When they reached the palace, they respectfully greeted the King and sat on the floor.
"Welcome back, my warriors."
"Thanks, your highness." The siblings answered in unison.
"Tell me what your souls experienced" The King inquired.
"If you permit it my Lord, I could show you instead." Kandake voiced.
"Of course, seeing and feeling it is better than a well-arranged narration." The King answered, readjusting his sitting position.
With that, Kandake stood up and weaved certain signs with her finger and touched her forehead. Her forehead began glowing and she pulled out the glow from her head. The glow took the shape of a bee and began flying freely in the palace hall. She then pointed towards the King. The bee approached the King and gently landed on his neck. It stung the King and infiltrated his body. With the sting, the King's forehead and eyes began glowing. After 30 arcs, the glow disappeared and the chief's demeanour settled down.
"That was… I will never get used to your power my chief army commander."
"You flatter me your highness."
"She would be proud of you." The King whispered.
"I didn't get that well, your highness." Kandake inquired.
"I said, let's begin the council."
They began discussing about the battle, the losses and what could be learned. Yaqoop was just a spectator, as he didn't quiet understand what was being said. Actually, his body was in the palace hall but his thoughts were still at the battlefield. He was reliving Zara's conjuring. He was amazed by her power. If that was all there was to it, he wouldn't have drooled openly as the war council went on.
"Thank you for your services once more. As always, the creator favours you." The King voiced, as he closed the council.
"The creator favours us indeed."
"The council is dismissed. You can leave." The King ordered.
Kandake lifted Yaqoob and quietly vanished from the King's presence.
"Well, that was long." Yaqoob yawned.
"Of course. And who is at fault?" Kandake asked.
"Definitely not me." Yaqoob skipped.
"Yeah…" Kandake smiled. "In any case, let's go see her."
"I thought you wouldn't ask."
It was a secluded area, at the outskirts of the village. A thick forest that no one dared enter anyhow. Parents told scary stories of that area. And boys of a certain age did their coming-of-age ritual there. Kandake had crossed the age of being scared of what her eyes could see. She had already seen around 16 blue moons and survived so many trials to be scared of what was hidden in the dark. She toured the forest as if she was treasure hunting. Till she came to a particular spot. That spot had trees choked up in an artistic manner. That clearly wasn't the work of nature. She weaved a sign and touched the floor. All the trees crumbled, leaving a tombstone almost entirely covered by wild shrubs. She then touched the floor again and pulled out two machetes.
"Shall we begin, little brother?"
"I am your man." Yaqoob answered, picking up a machete and bending down to begin clearing. After clearing tediously, they threw their bodies to the floor; laying very close to the tombstone.
"Ma'h, we are here. I and Yaqoob came by again. We miss you very much. We…" She began sobbing. "Ma'h, we won another battle by using the tactics you taught me." She snorted. "I could cry a river of tears but you won't still come back to life. The creator knows why He let you come to his domain. Ma'h, keep guiding us as you rest by the side of the only one who is the origin of everything."
Yaqoob didn't say anything. He had promised himself that he won't ever cry in front of his mother's grave till he comes back to show her the family man he has become (wife, kids and achievements). He whispered back those promises again when Kandake finished her prayer. And when Kandake had calmed down, she conjured back the trees and marched out with Yaqoob.
"Why does Dad not call back her spirit in to this world? That is what most families do" Yaqoob inquired.
"He doesn't call her back because of whom he is; a very sensitive person. He wouldn't be able to touch, feel her… In his eyes, mom would be nothing more than an image. An image that would constantly hurt his spirit…"
"That's too bad."
"Indeed. That is why he doesn't even know where mom is buried. He told me to keep it hidden from him or he might be tempted to call her spirit back to our mortal plane."
"As always, Dad is very hard on himself."
"That is what it means to be king."
"I thank the creator for He made me come second."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kandake wondered.
"It means, I have a capable elder sister; first of her kind, psychic conjurer, chief army commander toppled with a beauty that leaves her own brother in awe. With a certain charisma that makes her fit for governing." Yaqoob praised.
"What a smooth talker you are." Kandake laughed, hugging her younger brother. "But unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, I am a woman."
"That's not a reason enough for me." Yaqoob gently pushed her away
"That's how the world is. A woman can lead armies but cannot govern a nation. That's the law and we can't break that."
"But --"
"There is no but." Kandake injected. "I see where you want to take this. But you won't."
Yaqoob wasn't pleased with Kandake's escapee response. He couldn't let it end like that. He never aspired succeeding his father as king. He had better plans. If he were to accept the kingship, his dreams will die. He saw Kandake as the perfect person to rule. He jumped on her back and wanted to rekindle the conversation but he was distracted by a pop sound.
"It's the signal. I didn't notice the time. We must hurry." Kandake answered, repositioning Yaqoob well on her back and began sprinting towards the village community hall. When they arrived, the King was ending his speech;
"So, people of NAMBEH village… Tonight we feast for surviving another day." He ended his speech. Some masked figures rapidly left the hall, followed by the whole village. The masked figures began dancing. As they danced, their hands began glowing yellow. When the glow was bright enough, they all raised their hands to the sky and shot the glow straight up. The sky became a yellow tint and then faded slowly. When the yellow colour faded, the cloud became green and then blue and then red and then orange. The neighbouring villages were also feasting.
Kandake let Yaqoob down and threw herself into another man's arms. The air around them became lighter as they kissed each other in front everyone. Yaqoob looked with a longing curiosity and couldn't help ponder the question; 'How does it feel to love and be loved?' His thoughts rapidly drifted towards something else when the old man's voice said; "Your time will come. Don't envy your sister."
"I don't envy her. I am just wondering…"
"Wondering…" The King repeated. "It is true, you are at that age. I sometimes forget… How many blue moons already?" The king inquired
"9 dad. 9 blue moons."
"9 indeed. Around the same age that I met your mom." (9 blue moons corresponds to roughly 18 years in modern time references)
"Really?" Yaqoob skipped with interest.
"Yes, yes and yes. Your mother had finished her nghir ritual and as usual, after such a ritual the women would go for a cleansing ceremony. It was in that forest which is now forbidden. Deep within there was a lake that appeared under peculiar conditions. It's was said to be pure and had certain properties known to only favour women. If men came into contact with the water, they were cursed."
"Ok… Where is the fun part?"
"You are very eager. As you could guess, most of the men eventually followed to see what the women were doing in that cleansing ceremony. And it was as we thought."
"What?"
"They were openly bathing. They were naked, and washing off spiritual ailments with that water."
"Just that? Lame."
"Don't be fast to judge. At that time, if a man saw a woman naked and wasn't bonded to the said woman, he would be severely punished. But I took the risk. We knew we were going to be spotted but we still decided to push on. When we were spotted, most of the women left the lake, dressed up quickly and began following us. I obviously hid very well and let the women chase the other guys. I noticed one woman who kept on with the cleansing ritual despite the tumult."
"Mom…"
"Yes. She kept on and my eyes didn't blink a second. She was –" and the King abruptly stopped. His eyes began circling the joyful crowd. He felt a wave that affected his aura. He tapped Yaqoob on the shoulder and disappeared. Yaqoob, not knowing what to do, began walking in circles. He watched as people danced, laughed and rejoiced. And as he watched; he spotted Zara on a tree behind the community hall. She was star gazing and seemed disconnected from the festivities. Yaqoob went towards her but didn't climb the tree. He laid at the foot of the tree and gleefully counted the stars.
"Is the feast not to your taste, my prince?" Zara teased, skipping from her position and landing beside Yaqoob.
"A feast is only good when in great company. As you can see, I am alone." Yaqoob responded.
"Pour soul."
"Indeed. I won't deny that." Yaqoob answered and rose to grab Zara. But a gush of wind swept his feet off the ground and laid him on the floor again. Zara then climbed and sat on him.
"What were you trying to do?" Zara smiled.
"To catch a great company."
"Bad judgement."
"I refute that. And please, don't sit on me like that. My abdomen is being crushed." Yaqoob begged.
"Oh really?" Zara pressed harder.
"I am sorry." Yaqoob begged harder.
"For??"
"For my manners on the battle field. I went to far."
"Is that all?"
"Is there something else?" Yaqoob struggled.
"You know how I accept excuses." Zara answered, gently stroking his cheeks.
"No. Please. What if someone sees us. We haven't undergone the bonding ritual."
"So, what? "
"Don't be so defiant."
"I don't care. You have to properly ask for excuses. You should know me already."
"For the creator's sake, please just be reasonable this once."
"My no is no."
Despite all his begging, Yaqoob didn't succeed in persuading Zara.
"I will scream if you keep acting like that." Zara warned.
"Ok. Find. Tilt closer."
When Zara leaned for her trophy, Yaqoob tried a free-myself-cross-counter-move. He knew the muscles pinning his arms down will slightly loosen when she will lean downwards. He drew away his arms, throwing Zara off balance and rose to grab her. But all his genius was shattered by a gush of wind that strongly blew him back to the ground, issuing an earth cracking noise. The impact, spread a little breeze that blew away dust and dry leaves towards the village.
"What was that?" Zara laughed
"I had to give it a try. It would have succeeded but you had to use your ability."
"Of course I had to. It is a part of me."
"That's a fact." Yaqoob answered. Zara leaned back and slowly kissed him. It wasn't the kind of kiss that leads to an after match. But still Yaqoob's body reacted as a normal body would; ready for some motion. But his body came back to normal after Zara's comment
"Well, that's odd."
"What's odd?" Yaqoob wondered
"The smell. Didn't you pick that up?"
"A smell?" Yaqoob feared. He hadn't taken a bath for good two days. He had a reason though but still in front of such a remark, one would definitely feel shameful.
"Yes. A smell of blood. Not the remnants of the blood smell we carry on after battle. It smelled like fresh blood."
"I didn't catch anything. Surely the wind you raised up went a little further and you picked up that smell. It could be a dead animal or a wounded animal."
"Please, I wouldn't mistake animal blood for human blood. You know that too well."
"Then let's rush to Kandake or the King."
Before they could brush off the dust from their clothes, they heard the King's orders.
"Sentinels! Raise the barrier! Everyone, the feast is over. Rush to your rooms and take shelter. Put on the purification talismans on your doors and windows."
Kandake's voice followed.
"Warriors, stay alert. Healers, reinforce the barrier with purification spells."
Something was wrong; but what? They both pondered as they rushed to the King.
"What's happening your excellence." Zara asked
"I picked up a foreign aura. It appeared for a very brief moment before vanishing. That made me worried."
"As you know, all the Kings of the villages in our area have shared the spiritual footprints of all their village members. This helps to ease identification, security and also the treatment of some diseases." Kandake continued
"Meaning picking up a foreign aura spells danger" Yaqoob entered.
"Indeed" The King nodded. "And more to that, I tried contacting the other kings, only one responded. As for the others, their auras have completely vanished." The King added.
"That can't be possible." Zara entered.
"For even after death, your aura doesn't completely vanish." Yaqoob joined.
"Yes." Kandake joined. "It diminishes considerably but doesn't vanish. If it vanished totally, how would we call back our loved ones from the creator's plane?"
"Unless… No. No. No." The King trembled, with his looks turning sour.
"Unless what?" Zara inquired, rushing to his aid for he looked weak and almost collapsing.
"Unless they have forcefully opened the underworld and contracted with its reagent." The King worriedly answered.
"But that's forbidden. It is against nature itself." Kandake screamed.
"Their intent is a tad too clear. They won't give up on that tear." The King spoke, getting to his feet.
"Tear?" Yaqoob asked
"The creator's tear." Zara answered
"It is used during the nghir ritual to completely condense and reveal your spiritual power" The King added.
"Through that ritual I became the psychic conjurer, Zara, the storm summoner, and Dad, the one-man army." Kandake completed
"In this last battle you showed signs of haven awakened your power, isn't it?" The King inquired.
"Maybe? I don't know. I didn't and I don't feel anything special going on." Yaqoob answered
"Who do you think ignited those typhoons?" Zara asked.
"…" Yaqoob remained voiceless
"You know it can't be me. I converse with the storms. I affect the weather but flames or explosions are not my domain." Zara answered
"And there wasn't any flame summoner during that battle. I verified everyone's spiritual prowess." Kandake added.
"We can't waste any more time." The King broke the mood. "Kandake and Zara, track down the mysterious conjurer. He or she can't be that far. I will go down with Yaqoob to the cave. I fear we must do his ritual now before the unfortunate happens."
After those orders, the king clasped his hands and stretched them away from his chest. His gesture generated a sudden tremor across the whole village. And with the tremor came earth golems in his spitting image. He then picked up some dust from the ground and pressed it strongly in his palm. The dust turned golden and he blew them up in the air. As the dust particles disappeared, all his golems came to life.
"Kandake, Zara, you may now go. My golems will assist you if you have any issue. Just whisper my name and ten golems will be summoned. May the creator favour you." With that, the ladies dashed out of the palace hall towards the nearest neighbouring village.
"The one-man army. I now see why." Yaqoob voiced
"That's the name of the gift that was bestowed upon me after the ritual. Let's go."
The King held Yaqoob's shoulder and they splintered to the forest at the outskirts of the village. But this time around it was different. Yaqoob who always knew the forest to be thick and having large trees saw something his brain didn't want to believe. The forest transformed into an infinitely stretched green space. The space looked serene with a refreshing atmosphere and a divine lull. Yaqoob instinctively knew he was in a different world.
"Come, let's hurry. The cave is just right in front." His father said. The cave was indeed in front but the distance was imperceptible. It seemed very far but yet very close. And as they walked, the King began narrating the lore surrounding the space and how their ancestors would use this space to converse directly with the creator. The creator's tears did not only condense and reveal the spiritual powers. It also enabled the individual to transcend to the creator's plane for enlightenment, growth and all sorts of blessings. But as time went on, the connection with the creator slowly faded and HIS tears are used solely for the reveal of spiritual powers.
"During the ritual, your powers will be revealed and the name of that power will also be revealed. That name will be the spell that binds you to your power for your lifetime. You can't transfer it to anyone and you lose it only when you die." The king spoked, ending the debrief. With the debrief ended, they arrived and entered the cave. The cave's atmosphere was heavier and the divinity, thicker than the environment outside the cave. But the cave wasn't deep and hence our tourists didn't walk too much to get to the creator's tear.
"A large boulder?" Yaqoob stuttered
"Yes. That's the creator's tear. What did you imagine?"
"What did I imagine, you ask? Isn't it obvious? We are speaking of a tear. I logically thought of a spring or any water source with a divine aura."
"Well, sorry to disappoint you. Touch the tear and may the ritual begin."
Yaqoob touched the boulder. Upon his touch, a little part of the boulder crumbled off and ground off into fine droplets of water.
"Does that suit you?" The King mocked.
"Yes, this is more tear-like" Yaqoob nodded
"Breath it in" The King said and Yaqoob obeyed. And as the tears entered Yaqoob's body, his spirit left his body.
"And your journey begins" The King sighed, sitting next to the lifeless body of his son.
Meanwhile the king waited on Yaqoob's spirit to regain his body, Kandake and Zara continued exploring the neighbouring villages. Each village they visited showed same signs. The houses were intact but all the villagers were transformed into dark red-charring trees.
"We have our confirmation." Kandake spoke
"The process of forcefully extracting their spiritual essence literally charred them. But for the transformation…" Zara answered
"That we can't say. Nature behaves in strange ways to correct what was lost." Kandake observed. "Now that we are certain, let's fish the individual who did this." Kandake voiced, rising mid-air. Her eyes began glowing and pulsing. The pulsing rate gradually increased till a large flash pulse was emitted. She emitted a psychic blast to scan the surroundings to detect any strange thought.
"Got you." She smiled, landing on the floor.
"Which village?"
"SUMBUH. The village at the eastern edge of the central territory." Kandake answered
"Then let the winds carry us there." Zara spoke, lifting Kandake and herself on a wind cloud and dashed towards the source of such carnage.
The person was not difficult to spot. He was at the entrance of the SUMBUH village and seemed to be waiting for them. Behind him was a pitch-black warp gate. From that gate, a cold win gushed out continuously in endless human-shaped forms.
"From the looks of things, if those human winds touch you…" Kandake voiced
"You get charred." Zara completed.
"Something is off about that individual." Kandake noticed
"How so?"
"The return I get from my psychic scans tell me there are two separate minds in that body. I wonder how such an entity can exist."
"Isn't that possible?" Zara asked, "For two minds to occupy one body"
"It is possible, but the two minds have to act as one. That means they are in harmony, so much so that the two fuse to form a third singular mind. The third mind exist solely but keeps the semblance of the two other minds."
"Does it mean the previous minds have vanished to let place to one mind?"
"No. They are there. But their versatility is such that, they seem to coexist in perfect symbiosis."
"Means that's not what we have in front of us."
"No, it isn't. And that makes the situation complicated for I can't read his mind and predict his actions."
"But still, we have to put him off. He seems to be the energy source of that gate."
"So, it seems." And countless energy balls appeared, floating mid-air. Their target, the unknown individual. Each of the balls dashed towards the individual but were shattered by the underworld wind. Kandake repeated the attack several times but still the result wasn't different. She slammed the earth with her palms creating a shock wave that momentarily dispelled the wind barrier protecting the man and she followed by launching the energy balls once more. But unfortunately, the individual was far nimbler than she thought. He dodged each and every ball aimed at him and with a loud screech he ordered the human winds to attack. With his screech, an uncountable number dived on Kandake. They were wind; hence their speed wasn't traceable with the human eye and their direction couldn't be guessed. They just had human forms but weren't; hence, no attack seemed to work on them. Kandake emitted several psychic shock waves but it didn't work. Her attacks phased through them. She would have been charred if Zara didn't shield her with a wind storm. And within the wind storm, both individuals devised a plan.
"I think you have gotten the bigger picture." Kandake said
"Yes. But we got one problem." Zara said sadly
"What is it?"
"I can't control them. They strongly reject my subjugation."
"That can't be. Your gift gives you total domination over wind."
"But unfortunately, not the wind of the underworld."
"This is complicated." Kandake sighed.
"More than complicated. The situation is dire." Zara panicked
"There is more?" Kandake worried
"My storm will soon die down."
"How so? You are the one to decide that right?"
"They have blended with my storm. I could say, they corrupted my wind storm. And some seconds from now, the storm will dissipate."
Zara wasn't totally correct. She thought since she conjured the storm, if her connection to it was broken, the storm would dissipate. That was a correct assumption with provable facts. But she omitted one fact. The underworld wind was animated with a given conscience. Instead of dissipating the storm, they corrupted it and maintained it. Kandake and Zara were now imprisoned. A flood of the human winds was floating above them. They were doomed, or so it seemed.
"King NDANGAH!!" Kandake screamed, and a lightning bolt struck. With the struck from lightning, the wind storm was shattered and the myriads of human winds were brushed off.
Kandake didn't leave the mood to settle. She immediately called for attack. The golems she had summoned dashed towards the human winds and slashed through them. Strangely, their attacks were working and they had the attention of the human winds. Zara immediately trapped the individual with wind strings and pulled him towards them. Kandake grabbed his head and blasted his psyche. She completely destroyed one of his minds. The second mind resurfaced and blew both ladies away. But Zara didn't let go. She covered him in a wind bubble and gradually increased the pressure.
"Enough!" The individual screamed. "My soldiers, destroy them." And immediately the human winds dodged the golems and flew towards Zara and Kandake. The golems dived underground and resurfaced around Zara and Kandake. With their appearance, they brushed off the human winds. Kandake seized that opportunity to punch the individual several time. Each of the punches were psychic blasts directly affecting the psychic state of her adversary. But the adversaries were uncountable. Some slipped past the golems and hit Kandake and Zara. Kandake immediately began charring and transforming into a tree. Zara on the other hand, had a very slow charring progression. But still, she felt her essence leaving her body. The golems were overwhelmed and ended up being shattered. Zara picked up Kandake and tried running but Kandake's skin was too hot and the heat dissipated any wind current Zara conjured around her.
The human winds suddenly stopped attacking her and gave way to their commander.
"Are you scared?" The individual asked with a cracking voice strangely feminine.
"Who wouldn't be." Zara answered
"You can conjure winds but you are afraid of the blistering cold of the underworld. That's odd."
"Who are you?" Zara questioned.
"I am the prophetess. The one who sees everything."
"And what do you see?"
"Why not guess? You will amuse me while I wait his descend." The prophetess answered.
"You see my death." Zara answered, with her breath becoming colder and colder. Her skin seemed not to char but it instead became colder.
"Your death? Yeah, I see that. But you won't die here. Your death is to come subsequently."
"Oh really? If not here, then you don't see anything." Zara laughed.
"Very bold. Very bold. I like that. No wonder he likes you. I also find that adorable." The prophetess giggled.
"He? Who?"
"The person we are awaiting. Our saviour. He who is nature's antithesis. The origin of every craving of the flesh!" The prophetess chanted with an elated voice.
The sky suddenly darkened.
"He is coming" The prophetess screamed joyfully. The sky turned red and a beam of red light descended at a very distant position. Zara witnessing that recognized the direction where the beam of light hit.
"Who? Who are you talking about?" Zara insisted.
"THE GREED." The prophetess answered.
When the beam of light struck the floor, the shock wave of its impact spread from its point of origin till where Zara was located. When the wave hit Zara's location, it drove away the human winds and shattered the gate to the underworld. It cleansed away Kandake's charr and warmed back Zara to life.
"Just his aura can affect the world that much, truly he is the one that is meant to be by myside. Woman, tell him. Remind THE GREED that THE LUST awaits him in the North." The prophetess spoke, with her presence completely leaving the body.
It didn't take long for Kandake to wake up. When she looked around, there was no gate nor underworld wind.
"So, we made it?"
"Yes chief. Somehow, we live to see another moon shine." Zara answered.
"How is that even possible? I mean… I was dying a moment ago and now here am I, alive and kicking." Kandake pondered.
"Chief, there is much to be said. But before I empty my voice there are things to be confirmed. Let's head back home." Zara answered, brushing off dust that had settled on her skin and conjuring a swift and gentle current. They both glided the current as they headed towards the village.