Chapter 29: The Horn

Mutapa chuckled as he saw the women charging towards him. His chuckle stopped when they began throwing spears and stones at him. When ducked as all these weapons missed him.

He took one of the spears and a shield as he began charging towards the group of women. His hope was to push on them hard and escape into the mountains. His animals went before him and he hopped that the women would flee away but they didn't.

He was actually stunned when he saw them screaming on top of their voices to scare the animals off. They began pressing hard on him and his animals and he began retreating back into the villages where warriors from all directions were coming after him.

He blew the horn for a while and waited as all the animals in the field began coming and circling him for protection. He stood in the middle with a shield as all the animals made a barrier to protect him.

Mhare met Negomo of the Manyika warriors and they greeted each other. "What do we do now?" Negomo asked as they watched Mutapa protecting himself with the animals.

"Our numbers are good. He is feeling the pressure that's why he is protecting himself. We need to go hard on him and scare off his animals," Muchenjeri said as he approached them with Changamire Zama.

"The archers can take him down," Mambo Wasu of the Manyika people said.

"We need that man alive. He has many questions to answer and justice can not be served if he dies in the battle. We will have to kill him later," Changamire Zama said.

"Then we are going to need that horn. It's the only thing with power that he has. If we could take that horn and blow it he will be left alone. He communicates with the animals using that horn," Mhare said.

Negomo looked at Mutapa for a moment and said, "We take his horn, and the battle is over."

"Yes. But we are going to need a plan. Something has to be done to get these animals away from him," Changamire Zama said.

"The problem is we need him alive. He's going to try and escape but we have to stop him. If he becomes to powerful, you are allowed to injure him. In the mean time, leave one side vulnerable with only a few warriors. He will try to escape through that point whilst we attack from all sides," Mambo Wasu said.

"Leave the western side southern side vulnerable. Let the majority of those in the south help our women because he might try to attack their side especially now that all the animals surround him," Changamire Zama said.

"All the brave warriors from all kingdoms must cover the southern side. We may be few but we will be powerful enough to stop him," Mhare said.

Changamire Zama nodded and the word concerning their plan began circulating among all the warriors. Firstly, men covering the southern side began joing the women on the western side leaving only a few.

When Mutapa saw this, he whistled and the majority of his animals began attacking warriors in the east, west and north. The quarter left began advancing towards the south which he saw as vulnerable.

The people began fighting the animals again. The animals kept the warriors occupied as Mutapa tried to escape from the southern side. A number of warriors stood in his way to the southern side but he fought them with his own hands whilst his animals dealt with the others to clear a path for him.

Those who saw him in the battle were surprised because they had never seen him fighting before. To them, he was just a powerless man who found power in collaborating with animals.

Soon all the brave warriors from the other kingdoms joined Mhare and they barricaded the southern side. As they blocked him, warriors from the other sides were pushing hard against the animals to close in on Mutapa.

Mhare shouted, "Remember we need him alive!"

All the warriors shouted in agreement and began fighting Mhare's animals to stop him from escaping through the southern side. Some of them fell into the jaws of these animals but since they were experienced enough, they managed to stop him for a moment.

Mutapa looked around and saw that all the other warriors were closing in on him. They wanted to encircle him and defeat him once and for all. He charged towards Mhare and his men because he had hopes of escaping through that side.

He fought against them hard that they felt like he was going to escape for sure. Mhare, Negomo and Muchenjeri approached him whilst the others dealt with animals and protected them from being attacked from behind.

"This is the day that you will regret. You should have never attacked us in first place. Look around you, there's nowhere to go. After we capture you, we are going to burn you the same way I burnt your witchcraft items," Mhare said.

The last part of Mhare's speech gave Mutapa more anger. He wanted to kill Mhare for burning down his items in the caves. He just whistled and two lions charged towards Mhare and his two companions. He watched as the three men struggled to keep away the lions.

One of the lions caught Muchenjeri by the shoulder but Negomo quickly thrust a spear into the lion's stomach and it fell to the ground. The last lion charged towards Negomo and took him to the ground as its jaw sunk into his hands which had blocked his face.

Mhare quickly took a spear and sunk it into the lion's neck without removing his eyes from Mutapa. Mhare quickly looked at Mutapa who hung the horn around his body since it had a string.

Mutapa charged towards Mhare with a spear to stab him but Mhare quickly bent down and tackled Mutapa to the ground. The spear fell to the ground and Mhare gave Mutapa several punches to the face.

Mutapa managed to kick Mhare who fell to his side. Mutapa quickly rose to his feet to attack Mhare but Mhare also stood up and they began fighting with their spears. None of them was able to stab the other.

Negomo struggled to stand up after having been injured on his hands. When he rose up, he saw the two men fighting like nothing he had never seen in a battle before. Muchenjeri also stood up and they looked at each other.

They began charging after Mutapa and Muchenjeri jumped on Mutapa's back. He unstrapped the horn but Mutapa quickly shook him off his back and took the horn. He looked at all three of them and realized that they were after the horn.

He held the horn by one hand and began fighting with one hand. He attacked Negomo and Muchenjeri who had been injured before quickly turning to Mhare.

He managed to stab Mhare on the ribs but Mhare quickly moved to reduced the impact of the spear on his flesh and it worked. Negomo tackled Mutapa to the ground and as Mutapa fell, Muchenjeri snatched the horn from Mutapa's hand.

Mutapa whistled and several animals began chasing Muchenjeri who quickly threw the horn towards one of the warriors but it fell to the ground. One of the leopards took the horn by its mouth and began running away.

A group of warriors blocked its way and it changed its direction towards the western side. Mutapa began fighting his way towards the west as he followed that animal.

"Everyone, get that horn! We need Mutapa alive!" Mhare shouted.

One of the warriors threw a spear which took the leopard to the ground and the horn fell to the ground. A woman took the horn and began running but a group of hyenas stood in her way.

They attacked her and killed her instantly as one of the hyenas took the horn away. All the warriors pressed hard on the hyena which was defeated and the horn passed to Muchenjeri who began running away as some animals followed him.

"Blow it!" Mhare shouted.

As Muchenjeri tried to blow the horn, a hyena fell upon and placed its jaws around his neck. The horn fell between Mhare and Mutapa. They looked at each other before they both charged towards it.

Mutapa got the horn first and blew it. Several animals began coming towards him but Mhare kicked him to the groin and snatched the horn from his hands.

The animals were approaching them so he threw the horn to one of the warriors who passed it on to an archer who was in a tree. All the people looked at the archer who looked nervous. He looked at the horn for a moment and took it to his mouth without blowing it. The eyes of people around him gave him the permission to blow it.