Mighty Brahmuhn
Dark Clouds

It had all happened so fast. Brahmuhn now stood above Mandebvu, his faithful knobkerrie in his hand, hanging by his side.

Shumba was beginning to regain consciousness.

Cheetah slowly walked towards Brahmuhn with leaves pressed tightly on his wounded shoulder trying to limit blood loss from it. ‘You have done it, my chief. The menace is dead.’

Brahmuhn’s face melted in relief. He said, ‘My people can now be at peace.’

‘Never before have I seen such displays of power, my chief. You are indeed the helm of greatness.’

‘And that shall be his title.’ Shumba said standing up.

‘What do you mean?’ Cheetah asked him.

‘That shall be our chief’s title; “Brahmuhn…His Greatness”.’

As they walked back to the village, they wore faces of gloom. They had sown big banana leaves together and laid Hippo and Mamba in them and were now dragging the corpses into the village. Tortoise was carrying the legless girl in his arms. She looked weary but relieved. Weary from having literally escaped the jaws of death and relieved that her attacker was no more. Cheetah and Shumba were dragging Hippo and Mamba’s corpses and Brahmuhn was carrying Mandebvu’s head by his mane. The lion’s mouth was still open, as if even in death he was still shocked that he had been conquered.

The return home felt arduous. Although they had saved the girl and killed Mandebvu, the Vadhindi looked as though they had lost the entire battle. When they entered the village, on seeing Mandebvu’s decapitated head in Brahmuhn’s hand and the little girl in Tortoise’s arms, the villagers went berserk with celebrations. The women were ululating fanatically and the children were dancing madly whilst the men bellowed in song and beat their chests. The celebrations however quickly turned to lamentations as soon as they saw Hippo and Mamba’s bodies.

Brahmuhn called for the villagers’ attention. They gathered around him and as soon as the wailing and crying stopped, he said, ‘Today we fought a bearded demon and thrived. In that struggle, we lost two of our comrades; Hippo and Mamba. Their deaths shall be remembered and their lives shall be imprinted in our minds as the lives of heroes.’

Eight men came and took the bodies from the warriors and dragged them further into the village to prepare them for burial.

The mother of the legless girl, with tears in her eyes and continuously shouting words of thanks, took her child from Tortoise’s arms.

Brahmuhn’s father was now very weak. He had summoned him into his room as he lay on his sleeping mat, coughing violently after every five seconds.

‘Father, you summoned me?’ he asked before he knelt beside his father’s frail figure.

He coughed some more. ‘My boy. I am afraid my reign is at an end.’

‘Do not speak like such, father. You are immortal.’

He coughed violently once more then smiled, ‘I wish that were, son, but this old chief has reached the end of his journey. I have no natural heir of my own. I have lived long enough to see you grow into the man I knew you would become. I have seen you fight through the toughest of challenges all these fourteen years. If your mother were alive, she would definitely agree with me. You have fought the hardest of wars, wars even I would not have won. Each battle you fought in the lead; leading by example, putting your life at risk and proving to this people, to your mother and to me that you have what it takes to bring this people to salvation. Your wisdom is unequalled and your strength is like that of a god. Which is why I want you to lead this people, the people of Chaponda Village, with the heart of a lion and the wisdom of an owl.’

He bowed his head. He had always known that the day would arrive when he would have to take over from his father, but he was deeply wounded that it had to be under these circumstances. ‘I will lead them in wisdom. I will protect them like the heart in my chest. Today we lost Hippo and Mamba to Mandebvu and I vow that from this moment on, I would be pierced through my heart with an arrow from the Ndebele before I lose one more of my people.’

‘Mamba and Hippo…dead?’ Chief Kindi covered his eyes in grief, tears maneuvering down the wrinkles on his face.

Brahmuhn respectfully allowed him to grieve for a moment.

‘You cannot allow such evils to destroy our people, Tawana.’

‘I would rather lose my life than any more of my people,’ He said boldly beating his chest.

‘That much I know and I know entrusting the safety of our people to you is the wisest decision I could have ever made, and I know that with you leading this people, our enemy cannot stand.’

‘From this moment forth, father- I swear to you, I shall not rest until I have conquered all our enemies and subdued all the Ndebele tribes and have killed that disgusting dog, Mbada!’

‘That I am also sure of, my son. But…do not abandon your principles for the sake of vengeance.’

He beat his chest again, ‘I swear to you father. My principles shall guarantee the limits of my vengeance.’

Chief Kindi barely grinned as he weakly patted his son’s cheek. His eyelids flickered, then closed shut, never to open again.

Gloom hovered over Chaponda Village. The death of its chief and its two brave warriors left them in overwhelming sorrow. The funeral for all three of them was on the same day and every single villager attended, from the youngest to the oldest. Men women and children, the sick and the well- all were there to pay their respects to the lives of three legendary men whose memories were yet to depart from their minds.

‘Your Greatness…’ Dombo began in their second gathering.

Brahmuhn sighed in boredom, ‘What is it now, Elders? Can you not see that I am grieving?’ He leaned back in the throne in irritation.

‘Our apologies, Your Greatness,’ Gumbo said, ‘but the Ndebele seem to be ready to advance. Yesterday, at sunset, they abducted two women fetching water by the river.’

He covered his face and sighed again. ‘Like I said before; leave the Ndebele to me. I shall strike…’