Chapter 2: Shadows

There was something unsettling about that night. Of all the nights that had graced the Karanga kingdom, the silence of the night was more pronounced. You could hear crickets chirping, frogs croaking and the gurgling of the nearby river could be heard. A few drops of water were still falling from the thatched pole and daggar houses, making their way to the ground. That was a reminder of the violent rumblings and crackling sounds of thunder and lightining that had occurred and calmed down.

The skies had ceased their tears but their anger remained. Torches of fire appeared, carrying the sole aim of lighting up the roofs of the thatched houses of the inborns of the Karanga kingdom. Within a few seconds the torches had touched down on the dry insides of the thatched roofs.

The King's compound was located to the west of the kingdom where it sat far from the rest of the tribes that made up the Karanga kingdom. Muteyo, leader of the kingdom's warriors, was patrolling the king's compound with two juniors when, a man, suddenly fell in front of them.

Blood was oozing from his mouth and nose. Muteyo and the two junior warriors rushed to the man's side. A torch of fire made them see the man's face. Using his last power, the man pointed towards the villages before he hardly said, "War..."

When Muteyo looked towards the where the man pointed, all villages were on fire. Distant screams of women and cries of children were heard. He could see some of the villagers running and falling from a distance. The fire had lit the village area and he could clearly see some people.

"Blow the horn alarm," Muteyo ordered one of the young warriors.

The sound of the horn alarmed all the warriors in the king's compound to come out of their huts. Muteyo ordered a large group of the warriors to go to the villages and defend the masses. The remaining warriors started barricading the compound to protect the king.

The king woke up and wondered who was waging war against them. They had been living in peace for a long time and they had no enemies. 'Maybe it's a group of bandits,' he thought as he got out of the hut and approached Muteyo.

"Who is attacking us?" Mambo Tenda, the king, asked as he approached Muteyo with a spear in his right hand and a small shield in his left hand.

"We don't know yet, your Majesty," Muteyo responded as he watched warriors assembling for a battle to defend the compound.

Mambo Tenda gazed at the flaming villages and grazed his teeth. Suddenly, one of the warriors screamed causing all the warriors to look in that direction. When they found him, he was already breathing his last. When they turned around, several huts in the king's compound had already caught fire. Everything happened so fast that they failed to understand what was really taking place.

A woman screamed from one of the huts and then there was silence. The warriors could not see who was attacking them. Some of them began disappearing without a trace. All they saw were hazzy movements and shadows but nothing else more visible than that came across them.

"Everyone protect the king!" Muteyo ordered.

The warriors then girded the king whilst facing the dark. Shields were placed on the ground and spears pointed out. Some women and children joined the king in that circle for protection. Muteyo watched as one of the remaining women struggled to walk towards the circle.

She had just reached the boundary of the torch lights when she screamed and disappered into thick darkness.

All Muteyo saw was a shadow, dragging the woman into thick darkness. He held his spear tightly and stood still with his ears more open than his eyes because he couldn't see his enemy. The warriors prepared themselves to face the enemy. They stood for a moment waiting for enemy to attack visibly but there was silence.

"What happened?" A young warrior asked.

"Maybe it's the silence before the crazy," one of his colleagues responded.

Instantly, several torches of fire suspended in the air, descented on the king's compound. Half of the warriors in the king's compound assembled themselves towards where the torches were coming from. The other half protected the king and all the people who had survived the attack.

When the group of people with torches finally arrived, Muteyo and the other warriors lowered their weapons. It was some of their warriors who had gone to protect the villages. They were led by a man called Musiiwa.

When dawn cracked, there was a mist of smoke clouding the kindgom. It served as a reminder of the night's tragedy. The king took his officials to the court and sat on wood stools. They encircled the fire for a moment without talking. "Who would do such a thing to our people?" The king questioned.

"I believe this is the work of the Bantu people. They are the ones who use this method of burning down homes," Musiiwa responded.

"The Bantu are our ally, there's no way they would attack our land. Remember we made a pact with the Bantu, Manyika and the Zezuru kingdoms four years ago. We are all friends now. I believe this is a new enemy," an elder named Gari responded.

"What if we were attacked by animals? Have you seen those of us who died? They appear to have been killed by animals. They have teeth marks on their necks. We might be looking for an enemy when all we are dealing with are animals," Muteyo argued.

"But how can animals burn down our homes? This work was done by a man. The problem is we don't know who attacked us," Mambo Tenda said.

"With all due respect, my lord, I believe noone saw a person attacking. No spear was thrown on any of us. All we saw were shadows dragging our people into the dark. The fire can't be explained but you all have to agree with me that people died in the hands of animals. Hunters can agree with me on this," Muteyo argued.

"We all know how the Bantu attacked before. They burnt down houses of their enemies at night. I believe this is the work of the Bantu. We have lost an ally, the Bantu people have gone rogue and we have to do something about it," Gari the elder said.

"We will send our spies to the Bantu kingdom. They will be disguised as traders. We can't take any course of action against the Bantu this might cause trouble to our people. Muteyo and another group of warriors will go to the Zezuru kingdom to see if anything happened to its people," Mambo Tenda said.

The king later, visited the villages to assess the damage. Many people had perished that night and those who survived had serious injuries that were going to turn into permanent scars-reminders of how they narrowly escaped death. A groups of ashes marked and showed original places of houses that had been destroyed by the fire.

The villages were filled with cries of those who had lost their beloved. The king and his warriors began to help the subjects. The dead were buried that day and some women went to the forests to find herbs to cure the injured.

The king finally came to one of those who were injured and said, "What did you see?"

The man closed his eyes first as if blocking the horror of the previous night. When he opened them he said, "Something bit me. I am sure it was an animal."

The king nodded as he began thinking who the enemy was. For a moment he was relieved that it wasn't a warrior or the Bantu for that matter. When night fell, the people were in fear of another attack. But a group of warriors patrolling the villages eased their fears.

No one was attacked that night. The next morning the king consulted Muteyo and said, "You need to go to the Zezuru kingdom. We need answers."

Muteyo chose some of the finest man under his regiment. They carried their weapons and dried meat for consumption along the journey to the Zezuru kingdom which was located in the east.

As soon as they left, the king saw man in red cloth approaching his compound. "Bantu warriors!" A warrior shouted.

"We come in peace!" Mhare of the Bantu shouted.

All nearby warriors assembled to attack this group of Bantu visitors. "Disarm them and bring them to the court," the king ordered.

***

Mambo-king/emperor.