Vision returned to my eyes. The void that once blanketed me after my death was nowhere to be seen. The feeling of floating was now replaced by the feeling of being, small?
I felt the world cold, my eyes were blurry and I could see the vague outlines of shadows. I then heard a flurry of voices. They sounded excited, and I could feel hands holding my head up. As I blinked rapidly the blurred vision cleared up somewhat. What greeted me was an old woman with grey hair and smooth tawny skin. With a toothy grin, she spoke in a flurry of words I couldn't understand and passed me to another pair of hands.
The face that appeared was that of a young woman, she looked at me with tired eyes while a warm smile graced her face. Her eyes were a beautiful lite brown her skin as well was a smooth shade of brown, her nose and cheekbones looked like they were sculpted from fine clay.
She gave me a peck on my face, then gave me back to the old woman who I assumed was the midwife. She spoke again, in the language I couldn't quite pick again. As she looked at my small face, I felt a sharp pain in my thigh and for the first time the whole room was filled with my shrill cries.
My little frame was wrapped in animal furs and I was given back to the young woman whom I assumed was my mother. She cooed me softly and even gave me warm milk, I chuckled inwardly at this. After I had gotten a fill of milk, my eyes closed once again and all was dark.
My daily life after my rebirth was monotonous, I only ate, took a s**t and slept then repeat. The only time my days were filled with some adventure were the times spent with my father. He took me on a tour around our village. I understood immediately that I had been somehow taken back to the past and I was now in the stone age, and by the looks of it I was in Africa.
7 Years passed in the blink of an eye, I had grown strong and was now allowed to wander away from our hut. I was fascinated by the women when they came back from gathering, they always looked disheveled and the younger of the group scared even. They always spoke in hushed voices when they started sorting the day's gathered materials.
Perhaps the worst affected of the people that left the village gates were the men, the regiments. They were the warriors of the village and they were responsible for the hunt and protection of the village. Most of them returned mortally wounded and some didn't return at all. They told the children that they were going on a journey given to them by the ancestors. My Friend Khabo often would speak animatedly of his father's supposed journey from the ancestors with pride and expressed the hope of meeting him one day.
I couldn't stomach the courage to tell him that he was not coming back again.
"Azizi, do you want to be a warrior too?" he asked enthusiastically one day.
"yes, I want to help in sharing the burden too"
"My Grandfather says that warriors of our clan become spirits when they die, and they become the stars in the skies and guide us. I want to be a spirit, I think it would be very awesome watching you and Nothando from the stars" he said animatedly.
Before I could tease him, we were disturbed by a commotion at the village gate. We ran to see what it was about. We found a crowd gathered around a group of warriors coming back from a hunt. Once we got closer I could make out the faces of one of the men, it was my father Azibo.
Unfortunately, he seemed to be injured. A wave of dread swept over me as I ran faster towards him. He was being supported by the chief as he took him towards the witch doctor's hut. I followed and the injury he had didn't give me any hope. He had a gaping hole in his shoulder and the only thing stopping him from bleeding out was a leaf paste dressing. When I tried to go into the hut with the other warriors, I was stopped by my mother, she shook her head solemnly and pulled me away from the door.
The hours felt like centuries, my father screamed for the entire duration of the treatment and only kept quiet a few minutes before the other warriors stepped out of the hut. They looked at me and my mother and bowed slightly, the witch doctor emerged from his hut and beaconed my mother inside. All I heard was a wail from my mother, I barged into the hut almost immediately and found my father lying on a grass mat still and no movement from his chest. I felt my knees buckle as I fell to the ground and warmth traced my face in a line from my eyes. No sound escaped my mouth, my lungs labored as I breathed rapidly while crawling towards his side. I first touched him as if expecting him to turn over and look at me, when he didn't I shook him.
"Father!" my voice reverberated in the hut.
My mother's arms enveloped me as she hugged me. I felt her loud heartbeat. The man who now "slept" in front of me was very dear to us, he filled my heart with warmth I hadn't felt in many years, both him and the woman he had left behind.
We left the hut at night no words were exchanged between us as we made for our own hut. That night, sleep never came aswe sobbed together in the darkness until the morning came.
What came next was another long and annoying process. My father's funeral was short and on a gloomy rainy day, the witchdoctor came and said the rites and "guided" his soul to his ancestors. I sneered at this, the supposed spirits of our ancestors that were supposed to protect us were not there when he was injured. He was buried and quickly forgotten.
A month after his burial as I did my own chores around the village, I overhead from a conversation between two warriors
"Apparently, the chief's brother was killed by poison and not the spear wound" said a muscular one.
"No doubt about it. Azibo's faction was growing stronger with each passing day. I'm sure his brother finished him off when he was seeking treatment." Added a slender one walking in step with the other one.
I placed down the firewood I was carrying and tiptoes behind them, occasionally hiding behind huts they passed.
"The witch doctor is in on it it seems" said the slender warrior.
"It's very scary Khosi, royal struggles are scary. To think the chief along with Azibo's fellow warriors would poison him to death, while he was injured" he added
"I'm wondering if his injury was really caused by one of the skull tribes men" noted Khosi
"Careful now, you are walking into the territory of conspiracies. You don't want to be overhead by the wrong ears" said the slender man. The muscular man just hummed as they continued on their path.
The words of the warriors ignited another flame in my heart, I craved revenged and wished to kill the rival tribe who took the man I looked up to from me, as for my uncle and his cronies, I would deal with them after finding enough evidence.
Time flew by and i turned 13, I immediately signed up for being a warrior with Khabo much to my mother's displeasure.
"I don't want the spear to take away my husband and my son as well" she said quivering
"Mother, I want to be a warrior to avenge father, and I want to protect you from this dangerous wilderness. We are surrounded by both savage humans and wild animals, if I do not step up you might one day get slaughtered by them. I cant afford to lose you like fater. So please allow me to do this" I explained softly while holding her hands.
Her eyes softened somewhat and she squeezed my hand tightly and looked into my eyes intently.
"please run if the danger becomes severe. Forget about being branded a coward" she said
"but mom I-"
"promise me!" she said cutting me off, and with her teeth clenched she shook me. I nodded and moved to hug her tightly, she relaxed slightly.
We parted from our embrace and I walked away waving my hand at her as I walked to the gate where the other warriors stood. I looked towards my mother one last time then walked away and didn't look back.
My training In the mountains of the wilderness took 3 years. It was gruelling and i almost gave up 4 times, but the hatred and anger fueled me. I was given my leopard regalia upon our graduation. It covered my waist up to my knees and still had the leopard's paws. I was also given my father's spear as my primary weapon, it had a red feather tied just before the stone tip. Red feathers were a symbol of nobility.
I held the spear to my heart and breathed a sharp breath in.
"we did it Azizi!" squealed Khabo next to me. I laughed at him with the rest of the newly initiated warriors. I patted his shoulder,
"now, we can finally leave the village to see the outside" I said thoughts swirling in my head. The reason why I signed up for being a warrior was for revenge mainly and the other was to be able to walk around and explore this land.
"but we must be careful, the outside is dangerous, remember... oh sorry" he said interrupting me from my thoughts
"it's fine, I am doing this because of him. I hope he is proud of me in the stars among our ancestors" I said solemnly.
"warriors" interrupted my uncle. "From now on you are no longer boys. You are now men, and our women and children depend on you to keep them safe. And remember, do not be stupid, we are stronger together, together we are unmovable." He added.
After those words I raised my spear and cheered in the war cry, after a brief confusion the other warriors joined in on the cheer. My uncle laughed at this and nodded. He cast a meaningful gaze towards me before ordering everyone to head out.
We made our way back to the village from the mountains, it had been a long time away from home and I looked forward to seeing my mother. I had missed her dearly.
Our column moved in the thick grass towards the village. The sun was almost setting and we were thinking of camping for the night. The wilderness was dangerous at night and the fire from a campfire kept the animals away mostly, however it attracted somethings that weren't afraid of fire, that was other humans.
So to prevent sudden situations, 10 warriors were to stand guard of the campsite and the rest of us would try to sleep. We would relieve them after 4 hours and the cycle would go on until morning comes.
Khabo and I unfurled our animal skins furs. The warriors guarding had their eyes unwavering and gazing away into the distance watching for anything unusual in the darkness.
The night was quiet except for the sound of the insects around us.
"Azizi, do you think the ancestors are watching us right now?" asked Khabo while gazing up at the stars.
"probably. The great spirit is watching us though, even if they are not, "He" is watching." I said watching a bright star near the moon
"true. I know that the ancestors are watching us. I can feel it inside my heart." Khabo added.
"yes. Someday when we do die we will protect our descendants as immortal spirt warriors." I said.
"ha-ha, Khabo I would enjoy talking about the spirits with you but, we need to be sleeping. We are next in the shift. Goodnight"
"goodnight Azizi" he said
I turned My back to face the crackling fire and I closed my eyes drifting off into the realm of dreams.
I opened my eyes to my hut and I saw my father sitting behind my mother, braiding her hair. He looked at me and beaconed me next to him. He looked at me intently.
"You have grown. Take care of your mother, she still needs you. Grow and be a brave warrior my son. Which is why I want you to wake up Azizi. Wake up now!" he shouted seriously
My eyes snapped open to the sound of shouting and noise around the camp. I rose up to my feet immediately reaching for my spear next to a rock. I looked around at what was happening and saw something that shook my very being. I saw a group of men engaged in a deadly fight with our warriors.
They had skull headwear. The skulls were human and they were painted red. Two of our warriors were already down and one of the newcomers was running towards me. I quickly thrusted my spear towards his chest, grazing him as he sidestepped and tumbled to the ground next to me.
I immediately raised and stabbed my spear onto his side. It stabbed with a squelching sound and the stone tip was dyed red in blood as I pulled it out. He stood up holding his left side pointed his spear at me.
"you will pay for that boy!" he rasped.
I took a fighting stance as the adrenalin pulsed through my veins. He lunged at me with a downward swipe towards my head. I raised my and parried the strike with the butt of my spear. He staggered backwards a little, his spear now at his sides away from its proper position. With a single forward step my spear was lodged into his mouth and his eyes lost focus before he fell down.
Seeing his dead body made me almost drop my spear. A panic came over me as the people around me were almost like a blur. I felt a hand yank my arm, I staggered back as a spear missed my face by an inch.
"wake up Azizi, do you want to die!" shouted Khabo next to me kicking away the man who tried to stab my head. I raised my spear deflecting a stab that was going towards Khabo. He then stabbed the enemy in his chest and he staggered back then fell dead quietly on the ground. We backed away from the fighting and saw one by one as our warriors died at the hands of the rival warriors. Khabo pulled me away as I saw a spear drive through my uncle's neck. We ran in the direction of the village; the air was slapping coldly on my sweat stained face.
"Run! They are coming!" shouted Khabo while occasionally looking behind him.
"I'm trying!" I shouted back in annoyance.
A spear zipped past me and embedded itself on the ground just past me. We immediately started running in zigzags. As we were doing our little dance, a sharp pain shot through me. I felt warmth trickling down my back. As time passed I started feeling sluggish, my feet gave out.
" No, no, no, Azizi. This is no place die!" Shouted Khabo running towards me. He held my arms and tried to help me stand but it was useless.
"Is it bad?" I asked
"No. There's something I can still do. The. There must be something I can do to help.. Just-"
"No Khabo. This is it for me, run and warn the village, I'll try to distract them, somehow" I said interrupting his crazed musings.
"I can't leave you here!" He shouted
"I can't move Khabo, they are coming now go" I said. He stood up and took off, he disappeared in the darkness ahead. My head fell to the ground, my breathing was becoming weaker the more time went by. Strangely enough though, I could still perceive my entire surrounding.
The sound of footsteps grew as a man zipped past me then another and another until maybe 30 can past me. I tried raising my head to look at them but my body didn't listen. My eyes closed slowly as the void claimed me once again.