9 - Tales by the blind

Chapter 9 (Tales by the blind)

The Home seekers obeyed and honored the norms and customs of his ancestors as king and this impressed the ancestors when he and rule was unlike that of his ancestor. Until the new comers arrived. The new comers were a tribe of our very own people who sailed away across the great sea one thousand years ago to escape the chaos the first Yakunko Reign with king Oladiya.’ She narrates. Punishment 

‘However, it took them generations of advancement and growth as well as a great wash of bravery to dare to sail back homeward. When they left many years back, they were a very weak people who returned advanced and unchallengeable. 

When they returned, they found an empire flourishing with its old way, still under the rule and influence of the Kurota tribe. They had reasons for their return. When they returned they took their time to learn because King D’jabonu was a powerful king and we were as powerful as they left us many years ago. They trekked to the interior in search for a presence with the king.’

‘They needed permission to resettle their land along the coast of the great Sindu Sea. Unfortunately, they couldn’t settle with one of the terms and conditions the king gave for their settlement. The king in turn denied them chance due to their stubbornness and hard headedness. They would become a symbol of hope for the freedom and self-rule of the other disgruntled sister tribes all over again when he and his ancestor have spilt blood for ages to bring about this very unity, peace and understanding!’

‘King D’Jabonu‘s refusal to let them resettle their land gave them a window for the infiltration of the other tribes. During those times, King D’Jabonu was at war with the Tzavoku tribe. Nevertheless, he did not know his son Prince O’mondo was having an affair with a Tzavoku elder’s daughter. 

However, their resistance was weakening for the last three years. The new comers found an alliance with the Tzavoku chiefs and elders and opened war once more driving the Yakunko king and his growing influence out in just two consecutive battles. Its Prince O’mondo who witnessed this alliance while swimming out in the river with our queen today there after reporting to his father the king. He thought this would please his father but he was never pleased to his death day. 

All the same, the kind of weapons the new comers used led to the fall of many Yakunko warriors and so King D’Jabonu was forced to withdraw. He needed to study the enemy better but this only allowed the Tzavoku way to victory.’

The new comers were originally known as the Goche. Thirty years after their departure from the eastern shows, the Jakewa shifted into the vacant seashore lands to escape the Yakunko expansion. Over the past generations, the Jakewa came to forget the land they had shifted to originally belonged to the Goche. And when they returned, the Jakewa couldn’t let them take it with no fight. However when they heard the Tzavoku were one with the new comers, the Jakewa slunk to let the new comers coexist without a fight.’

‘Now they were three tribes in an alliance. However the New comers no longer used their original. The Yakunko referred to them as the Home seekers. To strengthen the alliance, the New comers and the Tzavoku assisted the Jakewa reclaim their land bordering the Moshuno Plains without waiting for king D’Jabonu to regain his strength.’

The alliance captured four Yakunko warrior outpost and when the king got involved, he lost one of his eyes. The king’s wound began to rot to his brain driving him mad and unable to rule. His generals had to control the empire on his behalf. The rotting spread and killed him around the beginning of the dry season having been the oldest Yakunko king ever with three hundred and twelve years of Kurota age. His son Prince O’mondo took on the throne as heir.’

King O’mondo was ignorant and unsure of his stability… The death of his father left him weak and fearful of the future! He saw the might of the new comers and how advanced their weapons were against his father. They were twice advanced compared to any number of warriors his father dared take to war against them! And something in their gunshots composed of a Kurota error causing poison the Yakunko generals couldn’t understand.

He instructed the Yakunko generals to try and study what was in the fire arms the Home seekers used as weapons. He needed knowledge and better ideas to counter their next attack. This gave the new comers chance to grow. When the Jakewa reclaimed their land along the Moshuno plains, other tribes looked towards the new comer’s for assistance. Many peoples trekked from Yakunko ruled villages to settle in Jakewa and Tzavoku villages.

In short, this was the beginning of the rise of the free tribes under the protection of the Home seekers.’

‘While King O’mondo buried himself in fear, thoughts and mediation, the new comers set up a mighty fortress called Saloma eleven miles into the interior, south of Nyathiku villages. Saloma would become their first center of refuge, center of alliances for all the tribes out there tired of Yakunko influence. The rise of Saloma shocked prince O’mondo! When everyone thought heard about it, they thought the fall of the Yakunko was at hand, the king came met the elders and commanders for the first time if fourteen days. And the first and only was the most elusive and disappointing idea any wise king could have ever come up with after a fortnight of mediation!’

‘From three days of mediation, he came to think he needed allies unlike his fore fathers. And the best alliance he could ever have would be with the Kobewa. He knew King Oladiya killed almost all and they hated the Yakunko so much to be able to recover without a deal. He also knew there were many half blood Kobewa tribesmen scattered across the dry lands than there would ever be in one place. He needed a pure Kobewa and only the half-blood Kobewa could be the only link to what he needed.’

‘For that case, he initiated a wide scale hunt for the as many half Kobewa as his men could. With Kobewa magic, he could easily determine the fate of his future wars against the Newcomers, if the Kobewa could not join him to war. Their magic could protect his men against the bullet of the Newcomers.’

He knew of the agreement King Oladiya wanted to do with the Kobewa before they deserted their role. And would try to propose the same if they could work with him in defeating the Home seekers. The kings of men were powerful and great due to the support of the Kobewa his fore fathers have not obtained. He too thought there was no hope for his success without the influence of the Kobewa people. He was right about everything. He had no other option and this was true for better or worse!’

‘He therefore set a challenge for Yakunko patrol and boarder commanders to hunt down and locate all pure Kobewa tribe’s men wherever they could. Whoever brought him a pure Kobewa first would be ranked Chief in command of the Kurota warriors. This became a position worth dying for!” 

The Kobewa in possession of Kuoka Olko beads served as seers, priests, and royal advisors to the ancient kings of the Tonyam Empire and their Untu magic was such a great asset to the greatness of the past mortal kings as well as the empire in general.

However, after King Oladiya’s disappearance, no Yakunko king dared trust the closeness or advice of a Kobewa Priestess. Two seasons later, Thalko, king O’mondo‘s best friend met the Shorango women, the fairest of all land dwellers. She said she heard about the Kings wish. And requested Thalko to help her meet King O’mondo.

‘The terms of the alliance agreement weren’t anywhere close to what any other Yakunko king would have made with a Shorango because two thirds of the Yakunko elders in Sambura did not approval of the prince’s idea because it was common knowledge the Shorango were Kobewa changed for years of use of Kuoka Magic.’

 “What were the terms of the agreement?” Tsote asked the storyteller.

“These terms I cannot mention but they were what destroyed him years later.”

‘Nevertheless, in the wake of this agreement involved a blood pact. In short, King O’mondo‘s confidence and mighty would be restored little by little. He would combine his ancestral Kurota with the assistance of Shorango Olko Magic to war against the new comers to mark the beginning of his reign as Yakunko King! For making the Shorango and Yakunko alliance possible, Thalko earned the title of chief in command of the Yakunko forces.’ 

‘This is when he did what everyone expected him to do two seasons back. He planned an ambush on Saloma, the new comer’s eastern fortress with the support of Naruba, the great Priestess. The new comers did not see him coming due to the influence of Olko magic and even their arms were not of any assistance this time. The Yakunko swept across Saloma looting half the total number of arms the new comers had!’

‘The fall of Saloma shook the new comers causing them withdraw and also shuttered the hopes of freedom they had instilled in many native tribesmen. Similarly, he did not let them time to recover from their defeat at Saloma. With the Shorango witches, he went further to attack the Tzavoku tribesmen main town and defeated it before even the new comers could make it over to assist them. Automatically the Jakewa who had found an alliance with the new comers dared not put up a stand against the great Priestess the moment they heard he was in alliance with King O’mondo. They did not wait for his arrival but surrendered!

Immediately, he sent Thalko with Yakunko regiments to set up defense headquarter in each of these can towns. Yakunko supremacy and pride had been restored. There was a big celebration in Sambura. The king and the Shorango knew what their next move was even before the first victory.

A week later, there was rumors about the sudden failure of the Yakunko and Shorango alliance. Not long after, Thalko announced that the King was sick! The failure of the alliance was expected to happen. Therefore, the royal elders were not surprised. What they did not understand was the cause of the king’s sickness Thalko was not being open about. This rumor took everyone else by surprise but the Elders claimed it was due to another of the king’s mistakes…”

“What was the mistake…?” One of the children asked.

“Many think he and the Shorango Priestess had an affair which resulted into his plague. Nevertheless, no one knows for sure because shortly before Thalko’s declaration of the king’s sickness, the Shorango Priestess disappeared. And even after that, no one has seen a Halfling child.’

“But you can find truth and astounding secrets in places you least expect.” Mama Erusa told them. In addition there has risen many other assumptions about the King’s sickness but most are lies whispered with bias by storytellers from other our sister tribes.” Mama Erusa told them. 

“So it’s true…” Makita stated thoughtfully. 

“What’s true child…?”

“Yakunko men must not love Kobewa women…!”

“It’s become a tradition over time child. Why? The plague is real.” Mama Erusa answered adding. 

“But it’s a complicated one…”

“But…”

“Yes…” Came Mama Erusa her face twitching with a little smile that faded away as fast as it had come, betraying her emotions. She was uncomfortable about something but no one could tell. Her eyes moved with the glow of fire to settle on Tsote who sat a little further away from the rest of the children.

She slowly reached into her leather bag and cast black dust into the fire. The fire died out as if it was snatched by a fierce storm. Then it started to rise again in form of sparking flickers. It was not fireflies. Dark smoke spread out ground level like a dark rainy cloud! The children wanted to jump up and run but then she started to play a little flute. 

The out of the smoke a Shorango elephant and a beautiful Shorango woman with sparkling glows rode on it. She jumped down to meet him a strange dark Yakunko figure with her attires spreading out in colorful sparkles when she landed. The Yakunko warrior’s face not one of the children could recognize it.

The warrior’s figure led the Shorango woman in through the great stone doors of the Yakunko Kings halls. The King and the Priestess were left together as the heavy doors of the Yakunko temple of Klode made out of rock shut like a flame. This was followed by a blood pact as two drops of blood, one black and the other red fell into a calabash, which contained a white substance the likes of milk. When the drops fell there sounded the beating of the Yakunko drums to war followed by a ripple.

The Calabash contained rune no the children could not reads. The ripple became a wave of thousands of Yakunko warriors charging to battle through spaces left by ten Shorango elephants.

There after the sound of Yakunko war drums hit with the fall of the blood drops. There was a ripple in the grey substance contained in the calabash. back between the two but no one heard what they spoke about. Next thing the front line of Kurota armies appeared and the warriors were charging forwards through gaps left by ten Shorango elephants.

The woman with glowing hair led the other Shorango elephant riders forwards against powerful cannon blasts and shots made by fire arms. The Children knew the sounds. When the two armies clashed like two raging sea waves, they splashed into a rising path. Everything else changed to show the woods and a dark path. The path formed crossing through the children and the lead Shorango woman raced through with Yakunko Kurotas on her heels. She looked terrified and scared! 

What many of the children did not make out was her pregnant form. Dark spears made of smoke and grey heads crossed through the air missing the Shorango woman by inches. As she started up the slopes of a strange hill, a spear caught her in the thigh and an arrow in her back close to her right shoulder! She bled but Kurota warriors swung through the trees like ghosts and then she got lost.

Mama Erusa stopped playing the flute and the fire collected itself back to normal. The Usual crackling sounded could be heard but the children looked fascinated by what they just saw and surely had questions.