Chapter 23: Power

"Were you annointed? Oil from the horn of a bull is poured on the head of the one true Mutapa. I am sure you were not aware of that," Gora said as a smirk appeared on his face.

Mutapa realized what Makosi had done and anger coursed through his veins. "Where is the horn?" Mutapa asked.

Gora mockingly looked around the cave which had been burnt by Mhare and said, "I don't know. Maybe it was reduced to ashes. Even if you find it there's nothing in the horn. You will get a drop if you are lucky. Makosi poured everything on my head." Gora gestured how Makosi annointed him and laughed.

"The oil was reserved for me. You took it and now I have to take your life for that," Mutapa said.

"It was reserved for the one whose heart is true and loyal to the demands of the ancestors. Apparently yours became a den of anger, resentment, greed and the love of power. So the ancestors simply told Makosi to reject you and choose another man who had the correct attributes in his heart. You are looking at that man right now," Gora said with a smirk on his face.

"You don't deserve to be Mutapa. I am the only Mutapa in this land and at the end of the day I will be standing as the one. I have the power of the horn which gives me infinity power to control animals. Your power to control the animals is temporary because you don't have the horn," Mutapa said.

"I see you are a fool. With the oil poured over my head I now have the power to create such a horn whilst you hold on to that horn like your life depends on it. Being a Mutapa means more than just controlling animals. You can do more than just controlling animals if you have the oil on your head," Gora said.

"You may be annointed by the oil. But I am sure Makosi hasn't taught you anything at all. You are just an annointed fool who doesn't know how to use the power he has," Mutapa said.

"Makosi might have failed to teach me everything I need to know. But she certainly told me some things you didn't know. Even if you kill me today, I will be a Mutapa for many generations," Gora said.

He picked up a club a spear and stood up. "The true Mutapa will win today," Gora added.

Mutapa took his spear and began walking towards Gora. He aimed for Gora's heart but Gora side stepped him and hit Mutapa on the back with the club.

Gora tried to hit Mutapa with the club again but Mutapa quickly got a hold of it and threw it away. They began fighting with spears.

For a while none of them was able to injure the other. Gora sought such an opportunity and found it when Mutapa tried to stab him on the chest. Gora side stepped and held Mutapa's spear under his arm pit.

Using the free hand, Gora stabbed Mutapa somewhere on his ribs. Mutapa groaned in pain as the sharp iron metal penetrated his skin. He used all his power to pull his spear from Gora's arm pit.

Mutapa's spear sliced Gora's left side as it pulled back to its owner. Gora groaned in pain and they looked at each other as they took a brief moment to breathe.

Gora tried to stab Mutapa again but Mutapa quickly used his spear to hit his enemy's spear before it penetrated his skin again. Gora's spear fell to the ground and he quickly tackled Mutapa and they fell to the ground.

Mutapa tried to reach for his spear but Gora pulled him by the leg and hit him on the face with a fist. He quickly sat on top of Mutapa and gave him a good share of fists to the face.

Mutapa rolled under Gora and managed to overpower him. The tide turned and Mutapa sat on top of Gora. He also gave Gora a good measure of his hard fists.

They rolled and exchanged blow for a moment. Gora tried to reach for his spear but Mutapa got hold of his ankle and dislocated it. Gora screamed in pain kicked Mutapa to the face with his free leg.

Mutapa pulled the leg and inflicted more pain to it by twisting the ankle. Gora groaned in pain and grabbed Mutapa's hair tightly. Mutapa tried to loosen from the grip on his hair.

He threw punches at Gora who kept on pulling his hair. His scalp became hot from the pulling and he began groaning in pain. Gora used the knee of his uninjured leg to hit Mutapa's groin area.

Mutapa groaned when the knee made contact with his groin area. Gora rose to his feet with one leg and leaped towards his spear but got a hold of the injured leg and Gora fell with his face.

Gora extended his hand and caught the spear in his hand. When Mutapa saw this, he filled his hand with sand and threw it on Gora's eyes. The sand temporarily blinded Gora and Mutapa used this opportunity to throw a punch which forced Gora to land on the ground with his right cheek.

Mutapa quickly rose to his feet and kicked Gora right in the stomach. Gora tried to stand up but Mutapa gave him another good kick to the stomach and Gora landed on the ground powerless.

Mutapa picked up his own spear and stabbed Gora on the shoulder causing him to scream in pain. Mutapa kept dipping the spear in Gora's flesh and said, "One Mutapa stands after all."

Gora gathered the strength left in him and managed to stab Mutapa on the thigh. But the stab wasn't good because he had lost much of his strength. Mutapa just looked at the wound and dipped his spear further into Gora's flesh.

Gora screamed again and touched the spear with both hands as he tried to remove it from his shoulder. Mutapa kept pressing and said, "You should have refused to be called by Makosi. Clearly she welcomed you to your death."

Even in his pain, Gora managed to laugh and said, "You won't get it. Death is not what makes you the true Mutapa. It makes me the inevitable Mutapa."

Mutapa laughed and said, "I always imagined the look in your eyes before I kill. It's even worse than I imagined. They are begging me to stop. It makes me want me to kill you slowly. And before I do, I want you to acknowledge that I am the only Mutapa."

"I am the only Mutapa. You are just ambitious," Gora said and laughed.

Mutapa removed the spear from Gora's shoulder and dipped it on his arm. He twisted the spear a little and Gora cried in pain. Makosi sat in one of the caves close by as she heard Gora screaming. Tears flowed down her cheeks to the ground.

The more he screamed, the more she cried. Her heart had so much pain but she could tell that there was nothing she could to stop Mutapa. She just sat as she waited for his screams to stop.

Mutapa removed the spear from Gora's arm and dipped it inside thigh. He twisted the spear again whilst Gora groaned. "I could spare you if you acknowledge me as the only Mutapa," Mutapa said.

Gora panted for a moment and said, "In the end I only acknowledge myself. Your share of death is waiting for you. Soon, you will join me. The Bantu...they will kill you."

Mutapa laughed and said, "I am going to kill them all. And I just started with you."

After saying this, Mutapa removed the spear from Gora's thigh and dipped it right through his throat. Gora began coughing as blood filled his throat and began choking him.

Mutapa kept pressing the spear into Gora's throat as he kicked. Mutapa watched as Gora slowly slipped into death. He kept looking into Gora's eyes until the life in them disappered.

When Makosi heard the silence, she sighed deeply and said, "Go well my son. You have lost the battle but you won the war."

Mutapa removed his spear from Gora's throat looked at it as blood dripped to the ground. He looked around the cave and saw a burnt horn. He took it hoping to find some oil in it. He turned it upside down and placed his hand beneath it.

A few drops came out and he grinned when he saw them. He applied the oil onto his forehead. He laughed and said, "One Mutapa stands after all."