TRIBAL

 

TRIBAL

CHAPTER FIVE

Inside the throne-cave sat Kamau hunched over and brooding as the elders gave him new strategies of attack some said they needed to pull back and let the invaders draw near so that they may attack once within range. Kamau raised his hand and the whole room was covered in silence as he spoke with authority.

“For a decade the white man has plagued my people with blood and our ancestors wail in disappointment. We are going to attack first!” said Kamau a boom to his tone.

Kamau had been going over strategies to curb the next wave of attacks from the Bukusu tribe that formed an alliance with the pale skinned man.

“Prepare for war!” said Kamau

In the next few weeks, soldiers were birthed, war plans were made and the King had declared war. The soldiers put on ash and charcoal on their dark-skinned body to make it as black as night. They made bows and poisonous arrows. They made shields that were impenetrable. They practiced close-range kills, and how to attack in the shadows. The guerilla warfare taught by the older generation and was passed down to the younger ones from generation to generation.

They would attack in the dead of night.

They sharpened their daggers and made their spears sharp as steel. The blacksmith was overwhelmed but it was a small price to pay for their freedom and their future generations. The mothers and second wives prepared heavy traditional meals of ugali and a strict diet of meat ordered by the King himself to gain strength for the war ahead.

The days of the soldiers were long. They all practiced their battle formations and warfare tactics with great precision and scrutiny. Kamau sent a raven to the Wangechi tribe of women soldiers and mages to act as reinforcements.

The Wangechi tribe composed of a women’s only tribe in the far East of the Agikuyu Kingdom. Men were not allowed there. They isolated themselves over a millennia ago for reasons known to only them and them alone. They practiced magic that was arcane and rudimentary to the ways of the Agikuyu and now Kamau needed there help more than anyone in the whole Kingdom.

They were a tribe of fierce female warriors that lived for the glory of warfare. Their magic made them all the more powerful. No one dared set foot in their Kingdom. It has been rumored those men who went there to “conquer” them were brutally killed and they would eat their hearts to make themselves stronger.

And now after a millennium they came out of their isolation to help their brothers and sisters. The Wangechi tribe were ruled by the fearful Wangechi Queen whose blood boiled with that of her Reagent ancestors before her. She heeded the call of Kamau and within a fortnight three hundred female soldiers arrived at Mount Mirima.

“My King, the Wangechi tribe has arrived” said one of the cup bearers who came in a hurry to deliver the news. He followed him to the foot of the Mountain where they assembled.

“Does the Queen Reagent mock us? Her Highness only sends three hundred soldiers!” said Hekima one of the members of the council.

“Do not underestimate the powers of the Wangechi tribe, three hundred soldiers is all we need” said Kamau laughing gaudily.

Among the three hundred female soldiers were ten mages. They performed incantations and white magic on its people and the soldiers. They were all scrubbed with vile potions that made their skin as hard as steel making it bulletproof and impenetrable. They also brought magic lesos that acted as forcefields.

It was time for war.

Aside from the Wangechi tribe, the Akamba tribe also joined with great force bringing more than five hundred men. Mount Mirima was the focal point of the Universe and Kamau was their leader. He quickly regained his strength thanks to his pendant magic necklace that gave him the power to heal as quick as day. The power of his ancestors.

He oversaw every role, every tactic and every move.

“We are ready!” said Kamau atop the throne and the war drums were sounded.

They moved in the dead of night. Skin black as night as they infiltrated the Bukusu’s tribal post armed with bows, arrows and poisonous spears. They cut their throats as they were deep in sleep. Kamau heading the attack would carry a torch of fire with a burning liquid provided by the mages and set ablaze their post.

The Bukusu tribe wailed as they were gunned down by their own weapons of mass destruction. They were naked, the few that got their weapons tried to fire at Kamau’s kin but they were surprised beyond recognition as the bullets passed them through with ease, without any damage.

“What kind of sorcery is this!” said one of their soldiers in their native tongue as one of Kamau’s soldiers pierced his back with a long spear. Blood oozing from his mouth like dripping honey from its comb.

The bloodshed was great and merciless. Kamau’s people fought with great courage and velour decimating the Bukusu tribe with one big blow. And now as the sun rose a new beginning was at hand like the sun itself rising from slumber. The soil washed with wet blood had dried and a new dawn was at hand like the sun itself.

We have won the battle but not the war thought Kamau as he roared in triumph.