Chapter 5 - Forbidden Land

The sound of chirping birds consumed the Maviki forest. The sun shone above the trees and brought forth a greenish light below. Martina especially enjoyed the cooling shade as she walked through the forest in the company of a black mamba around her neck. In her hand was a little straw basket that was already filled with strawberries.

Martina decided to take the longer way back home considering that she was in the mood for walk. Her companion would occasionally lick her face, and she would chuckle every time. Martina spotted yellow giant flowers and froze at their beauty. They glittered in the sunlight and stood beautifully in their glory. Their mere presence around the old baobab tree made it attractive.

'Those flowers are so pretty, wouldn't you say so, Benny?' Martina asked the black mamba and it stuck its tongue out in response. 'Good idea, mummy would definitely like them.' she giggled at it.

Martina put her basket down but the snake stayed on her neck. She slowly, but steadily, began to climb up the tree with her eyes fixed on the nearest set of flowers. Martina stretched her arm and pinned it before shifting her feet in the same direction.

The holes in the tree made it easy for her to make her way around it. Just when she was close enough, a bird charged out of one of the holes. It aggressively squeaked at Martina and violently clawed at her.

Martina squeezed her eyes closed and shielded her face from the bird's claws. She gnashed her teeth at the feeling of her flesh tearing up. The bird wanted nothing more than for her to go away even if it meant her falling to her death.

It went for her again but was met with a set of jaws around its neck. Martina looked down—breathing heavily at the sight of Benny wrapping itself around the defeated bird.

Martina remained shaking above. She was so grateful that she didn't decide to leave Benny on the ground otherwise the bird's unfortunate fate would have been hers. Martina faced ahead and her eyes set on a yellow petal sticking from the other side. She sucked in a lot of air and continued with her mission—completely ignoring the stinging pain of the scratches on her arm and shoulder.

Martina plucked out a few of the flowers and started to make her way back. As she moved, she got a proper view of the hole where the bird came from. In it were four eggs. A rush of guilt clouded her heart, and she bit her lip. Martina faced away and continued her way down. Benny was still swallowing the bird when she got there.

Martina put the flowers into the basket and sat down waiting for Benny to finish his meal. She let out a yawn when she heard... a voice? Martina got up and listened to the wind. She gasped upon hearing the voice again. It was none like she had ever heard before. The more she heard it, the more afraid she became.

The voice was husky and deep but yet spoke in a calm tone. Martina was unable to tell what was being said. She listened for a while, wondering who the bearer of such a frightening voice was. What creature spoke in such a way?

Martina discreetly followed the sound of the voice. It led her deeper into the forest and when she came to the river, she halted and hid behind a tree. Martina carefully stuck her neck out and parted her lips surprised. There before her was a creature that possessed her image but yet they were not the same.

Its body appeared to be old and wrinkly but it had a flat chest like her. Eclipse always told Martina that she would one day have a full chest when she grew older like her and Breenis but this creature appeared to be older than Breenis. What puzzled Martina even more was the hair growing out of its face.

'Oh great marine caretaker of Maviki, please accept my gift to you and grace me with your presence.' the creature spoke with his hands up.

Martina almost jumped out of her skin at the two small creatures that appeared suddenly. They were half the size of the first creature and on their bodies were horrific strange marks. They pulled two stubborn goats into the river. The taller creature looked on pleased.

'I have more animals to offer to you, please grace me with your presence.'

It finally dawned on Martina that they wanted Breenis' attention. The last time she saw Breenis, she was in such a terrible mood. Martina could understand the optimism of the creatures, but she couldn't help but shake her head at their futile attempts.

She watched them for a while as they drowned more and more animals into the river until they had none left. Breenis did not show up at any point just as Martina expected.

'You are in no mood to see me, great caretaker. I, Nzelu, assure you that I will come some other time with better offerings to you. Thank you for not killing us.' Nzelu turned to his dwarfs, 'Come on, let's go. The sun is setting. We would be damned if darkness found us here.'

When their voices became faint, Martina came out of her hiding spot and watched them leave. She then started to follow them. Everything in her mind was screaming at her to turn back but her heart was curious.

She just wanted to know who they were and where they came from. Eclipse told her that there was more of them so clearly, those three were not one of them despite sharing certain features with them.

Martina was careful not to make a sound as she stalked them. Occasionally, one of the dwarfs would suspiciously look back but luckily, Martina was able to take cover every time.

The men then came to a place that weakened Martina's knees. She couldn't believe it when she saw women and little girls walking around among more of the strange creatures.

'Is this the forbidden land mummy told me about?' Martina wondered in awe.

She observed strange creatures dancing around something. They held up torches while the women snapped their fingers and screamed angrily. Before Martina could comprehend anything, she saw a creature bowing down with his hands covering his head. It was him the creatures were dancing around. A torch was set on his back, and he was engulfed by fire.

Martina covered her mouth terrified as his screams intensified. He got up to run away, but he was knocked back down by a stick. Everyone laughed at his pain. He rolled on the ground but it was of no use. Martina fell down to her bottom as she fearfully watched him weaken. Eventually he stopped moving but the fire was still large.

One of the people spotted her alone in the shadow of the trees. He dropped his jaw at her and rubbed his eyes. When he still saw Martina, he realized that she wasn't an illusion. The boy looked around and took note that he was the only one who saw her.

He backed away from the crowd and entered the forest from the other side. He then snack up on Martina from behind. It puzzled him so much that she didn't react to the twigs and leaves breaking underneath his sandals.

When he was close enough, he covered her mouth and pulled her from behind. Martina struggled to get him off her but, he was too strong. He dragged her away from the village and threw her to the ground. Martina tried to get up but he pinned her down. His dark eyes stared deep into hers. Martina said nothing as she listened to him breathing heavily.

She couldn't take her eyes off him as he examined her body in surprise. He took hold of her chin and turned it to the right. It was at that moment when he saw a hair pin in her hair. A gasp escaped his lips and he brought back Martina's eyes. Martina was both amused and terrified by the longing look in his eyes.

'What are you?' she asked him.

The boy dropped his bushy eyebrows and squinted his eyes at her. He backed his head when he saw the seriousness in Martina's eyes. 'What a strange question.' he pointed out.

'You share similar features with me but you are not like me. What creature are you?' Martina asked again.

The boy backed away slightly. He tilted his head at her puzzled. 'I am a boy and my name is Senza.' he boldly said.

Senza reached for Martina's hair and pulled out the hair pin. He looked at it intently and rubbed on the red precious stone that was carved into a flower.

'Only one of its kind was ever made and it belonged to only one woman.' Senza brought down his teary eyes at Martina who only looked back at him with fear. 'I think I know who you are.' he whispered.

A sudden force swooped in and slammed Senza to a tree. He stayed down coughing out blood and taking in his throbbing head. He squeezed his hold on the hair pin and pulled himself up. Senza brought his head up and dropped his jaw at the horned half woman half snake before him. Something else hit him hard and he lost consciousness.

Martina shakily got back to her feet only to receive a stinging slap that sent her back down on the leafy ground. 'I'm sorry, Breenis.'

'You foolish girl! Do you have any idea of what you could have done?!' Breenis thundered.

'I just wanted to -'

'Shut up! Never will you ever do this again, do you hear me?! Never!'

Martina broke down crying. That was the first time Breenis ever yelled at her and it hurt her to the core. Breenis just stared down at her fuming in rage. Martina's tears did not move her at all. They only made her angrier.

Breenis yanked Martina off the ground and threw her over her shoulder. Martina glanced over to the boy and sadly tucked her lips. Martina closed her eyes whilst Breenis raced through the dark forest. It did not take long for them to be finally back home. Eclipse was already waiting outside. She smiled and waved at Breenis and Martina.

Martina got off Breenis but kept her gaze low and fingers locked together. Breenis' intimidating presence was choking but there was absolutely nothing she could do to escape it. Breenis took hold of Martina's chin, and they locked eyes. There was so much anger in Breenis' eyes.

'If you ever go back there, I will kill your mother. Do you understand?' Breenis threatened and Martina submissively nodded her head.

Breenis straightened her back and let Martina walk back to the cave. She walked past Eclipse, paying no attention to what she was saying. Eclipse frowned at her as she got onto her mattress to sleep.

'Aren't you going to have dinner?' Eclipse asked Martina.

'I am not hungry, mummy.'

'What happened with Breenis?'

There was silence.

'It's okay, you don't have to tell me. All I ask is that you at least tie your hair before you sleep.'

Martina shot her eyes open. Her hair pin remained with that boy. She sat up at the vivid memory of him telling her that he knew who she was right after he looked at her hair pin. The hair pin that her mother gave to her when she was little.

'I am a boy and my name is Senza.'

Martina looked up to Eclipse, 'Mummy, can I ask you a question?'

'You know you can ask me anything, dear.' Eclipse fluffed Martina's pillow.

'Who is Senza?' Martina asked and Eclipse's heart skipped a beat.