77

I don't want Kaseke to see this any longer. One second he's paging for more memories and the next he's flying across the room before his back lands against the window. The glass shutters and we all--Mama, D'ziko and I-- spring to our feet and race to him.
“What happened?” I ask.
Mama is already upon him. Working her magic. Kaseke's cuts heal immediately Mama touches her sword to them.
“Where else does it hurt?” she asks him. “Baby, talk to me.”
Kaseke is smiling. “Wow. Steel. That was awesome. Come, lets do it again.”
My brother, always the adrenaline junkie.
I'm about to answer when a strange noise fills the room. A static, coming from the television. Then it shows Sithole sitting at my throne, surrounded by hundreds of Shadows. He must've woke up everyone of the teenagers that died at the arena this year.
“My children,” Sithole begins, he's addressing the Shadows. “If ya’re seeing this then I’m dead. But we have a message for the death God D'ziko and his life mate Goddess Imani, we will reign supreme. Noddon is ours.”
There's an uproar outside. People calling their children back home. Others shouting for neighbours to open their televisions “Sithole released a propaganda video. He's dead” they shout.
“My goal was never to rule Noddon. I hate Noddon. I didn't take those magic Essences so that I'd be the most powerful person on earth. I took them because I wanted to be powerful enough to destroy Noddon.”
D'ziko quickly runs to the window and stretches out his arm. His hand waiting. The grounds shakes, a mini earthquake. The Bakantwa is awake. He's murmuring under his breath. Summoning his sword to him, unearthing it from my rose garden.
“Noddon killed my parents. This generation is rotten.” Sithole stands up. “My children, wake up, avenge my death. The Gods never loved us. They gave yer souls to the Black Shuck. Kill it. Kill them all. Make Leza pay.”
There's silence. It lasts minutes as we wait for him to continue. He's smiling into the screen. Why would he do this? What does he stand to gain. Oh wait, he said the Shadows should kill us all, including the Black Shuck and Jungles, his siblings. He wants to free his mother from the curse. This was never about D'ziko or me or the Bakantwa. It has always been about his mother. He doesn't care that if the Shadows kill us all, that they'll branch out into the Saboni world. That they'll feed on humans life essence which in turn will make the human race extinct. What selfishness.
In the video Sithole mutters foreign words. It sounds like those spells witches might say. He begins, “Ghuyin, ili fghy lesdy, ki Sithole yinup deat ghamb cnfab ezweni dbhung zvumk opengi. Oi. Oi. Oi.” Shadows, this is our time, I, Sithole the great, summon ya. Go out into the world. Finish what I started. Let's take over the land. Oi. Oi. Oi.
Mama sends me a desperate look. “He's awakening them. Switch off yer TV's,” she shouts.
And then everyone is shouting for neighbours to switch off their televisions.
“Where would Sithole keep all these Shadows.”
When D'ziko's sword arrives, it brings a chilly breeze. We shiver. I ran to D'ziko and retrieve my silencer. It glows red.
“They're in the arena.” I say. “That's the only place he'd hide them. Get ready to fight.”
Kaseke pulls on his shoes and follows us to the door. Mondo, Luleka are waiting outside.
Mama is on a speech about how proud of us she is. Then she hesitates, and asks, “But Imy, how on earth do ya expect to win. The are hundreds of those Shadows.”
I stop at the doorway and say, “They'll kill us whether we fight or not. They have heard Sithole. They're coming for us. We can't not do anything.”
Kaseke, D’ziko, Mondo, Luleka and I run down the hall, into the elevator and past the foyer. Outside the whole of Noddon is waiting in panic. They talk over King Father. There’s silence the second they see us. Some take a few steps back when they realise the guy next to me is D’ziko. I take his hand.
“This is Leza’s son. He is one of the reasons why she came to Noddon, to live among us. I don’t have time to explain, but the Bakantwa is his. He’s our God and I’m merely his life mate.”
Murmurs and gasps echo throughout.
“Now I’m going to battle. Those who will join us please step to the side. Bring yer swords,” D’ziko says. “And the children must all go to the servants dungeons where they’ll be safe.”
As the group that will fight starts separating from the rest, I say, “Please remember, ya mustn’t allow the shadows to touch ya, otherwise ya’re dead. Also, don’t even bother using yer magic, they’re dead. It doesn’t affect them.”
Kaseke supplies my steels to the group that’s going to fight. They cover all the body except the hands and head. Damn, he must’ve emptied my whole shop.
“Plus,” I say. “The Shadows stink. Hold yer breath. Or breathe through yer mouth--”
A wendigo comes running through the gate. He rests his hands on his knees. I’m surprised he hasn’t collapsed from exhaustion. “The shadows are coming through the mountains. They’re heading for the city.”
I nod. “Lets go.” A pause and then I address the rest that will stay behind. “Get into the palace. Kwenza electrocute all entrances.”
They stampede the door. Once everyone is inside I realise there are only about twenty of us left. There’s just no way we will win.
Kwenza is quick. He takes his sword and we all move away from him. No one wants to be accidentally electrocuted. He moves his hands this way and that and then...the whole house is surrounded by electric wires. They’re like a snake breeding ball. D’ziko touches his sword to the wires and then there are blue wires as well.
“What did ya do,” I ask him.
“Added some magic of my own. Whoever touches this, they’ll be frozen in time.”
Electrocuted and then frozen in time. Brilliant idea. It’s a gamble since the shadows don't get affected by our magic.
D'ziko and I sprint, still holding hands. The rest jog behind us. Up the hill we go. We know the shadows are close, their dreaded scents fill the air.
As we weave through Noddon heading to...to wherever we are going, we spot three shadows. We all stop, swords drawn. Only three? I thought they'd be more.
The Shadows approach, with their hands up.
“Please,” the girl says. “We don't want to fight. We have life mates.”
Shadows are loyal to a fault to their master but nothing can come between life mates. But this could be a trick.
Mama crouches. Ready to behead the shadows. They keep walking, getting closer. If we don't slaughter the shadows immediately, we might die. A single touch is capable of turning us into ashes and the more people they touch, the more life essences they drain, the stronger they become.
D'ziko is the only person who won't worry about the shadows getting too close. He's immune to their touch. Maybe he should fight them alone?
D'ziko pushes me behind him. “Don't come any farther.”
They stop.
“We want to help ya to rid our community of our kind.” The girl says.
D’ziko is not listening. He's going to attack. The Bakantwa’s light is like the sun on a cloudless day.
Kaseke jumps between D’ziko and the girl. My brothers hand hovers over the hilt of the sword.
“ya kill her, I’ll kill ya,” he says. And means it.
I take a step forward. He is not killing my D'ziko. “Kaseke?”
“She’s ...she’s my life mate. She tells the truth.”
Oh fuck me. How exactly will this relationship work? Kaseke won't even be able to touch the girl without being turned to ashes. And the smell? Gods!
“A small benign community of shadows are heading towards the city,” she says. “Let us help ya. They're from the north.”
D'ziko looks at me. I look at Kaseke. He's not backing down. I reluctantly nod.
Mondo glares at me. “If I dying, ya are in the fault.”
“Okay,” the shadow breathes and a cloud of rotten air swirls around us. I gag. Kaseke doesn’t even seem to notice. “Follow me.”