DANUSHIKI

CHAPTER NINE

He walked away from the coconuts and imagined them to be his opponents. In the distance, his instructor sat on a rock and looked at the other twenty-four trees, and the recruits ‘battling’ under them. Danushiki wasn’t surprised when after five minutes of walking, he turned round to look in the direction of the tree he’d been under and saw another recruit presently doing what he’d been doing some minutes ago. The thought of having to go through all these exercises on a daily basis bothered him as he turned back to see his instructor walking to the last tree.

Reaching the main path which led to the huts, he started feeling some vibration on the ground. It felt like someone was drumming under the ground. He immediately felt the need to discover the cause of the vibration, and began to walk slowly until he was alone in a thick bush. There was a narrow footpath on his left, which he turned towards and began to walk through. Meanwhile, the tempo of the vibration was increasing with every step, while he tried not to be apprehensive. There were now slimy substances on the vegetation around him, coupled with some insects he’d never seen in his life.

Though he’d made up his mind to get to the root of the vibration, the vegetation and slime notwithstanding, he began to feel scared even as the evening rays of the sun could not penetrate the vegetation that presently surrounded him.

Taking one step to his left, he carefully pushed aside some slimy green substances and thorny branches which obstructed his view, and felt his heart beating rapidly. He took several steps forward and finally discovered he was in an abandoned garden when the sounds of birds flying in the sky startled him. He managed to maneuver his way through the branches of a fallen tree and began to jog in the direction of the vibration. He could feel it all around him as if the drummers were invisible, but drumming close to him. The jogging soon turned to running for some few seconds, coupled with the fear he’d initially possessed, turning to excitement. He was about to slow down when he tripped and fell on a slippery surface, which carried him down to the edge of a mysterious waterfall without any visible source.

Sitting on the ground, he inspected his surroundings, alongside the bruises on his legs, and stood up moments later, astonished at what he saw. Though the sun had set and darkness was gradually covering Cobra Land, the area in which he saw himself was self-radiating, without any visible source. For a moment, he forgot about the vibrations when he looked down at the base of the waterfall and saw no fish in it, but rather sparkling bubbles as if ground diamonds were mixed with it. The entire place was a beautiful sight to behold as the stones which lay at the foot of the waterfall, seemed to be carved to fit into their respective spots. The flowers surrounding the waterfall were well trimmed, while doves adorned the space above.

Strangely, the vibrations began to reduce and he was stunned when he saw the cause of the vibration – a mermaid, almost seven feet tall, with sparkling scales and fins, with jet black hair and carob coloured skin. The vibrations were caused by the effect of the drums and other mysterious musical instruments, the other twenty mermaids played with their dainty palms. Though they were pretty with jet black hair, they didn’t possess sparkling scales and fins like their ‘leader’ did. While they danced, water trickled from some narrow spaces above them and fell upon their brown skins. Theirs were like any normal fish the fishermen in Shaingwa caught daily. The mermaid with sparkling scales simply ignored Danushiki as she swayed her body to the rhythm of the drums, while Danushiki wondered how she managed to stand in the water. When the drumming and dancing abruptly stopped, they all cackled in high-pitched voices before turning their attention to Danushiki. Green ropes suddenly appeared from nowhere and fastened themselves at Danushiki’s ankles and feet as the cackling continued, while he frantically searched for an avenue to escape.

Danushiki had never seen a mermaid before in his life, and now at twenty-one, he was on the ground backing twenty-one, who were probably trying to kill him, or use him for some kind of ritual in an unknown place.

“Come down here”, the mermaid in sparkling scales screamed at him as the green ropes were now around his knees. Stroking her luscious hair, with her right hand, she held and pulled the end of the green ropes tying Danushiki’s legs effortlessly towards her, before ordering the other mermaids to resume drumming. Slowly, the mermaid with sparkling scales fell sideways into the water and swam like a fish towards Danushiki who had given up his struggle and was now trembling all over.

He began to shiver at what saw, as the green ropes pulled him until he was at the edge of the water. Suddenly, she bobbed out of the water, lay on her side and smiled lustfully at him. He had heard about mermaids before, but never believed in their existence until now one lay close to him. He knew his troubles were far from being over the moment the green ropes pulled him until he felt her n*****s on his chest.

She looked straight into his eyes told him not to be afraid, and assured him of his safety while moving her right forefinger slowly down his neck. Danushiki tried to avoid her eyes and tried to stare at the white flying doves, but it was impossible due to the green ropes that firmly wrapped themselves around his neck and shoulders, thereby controlling every movement by his neck.

“I hope your curiousities are satisfied?” she asked him, bringing her mouth closer to his. The next moment she moved her mouth to his right ear and whispered something Danushiki could hardly hear, while the others continued to beat their drums. Danushiki did not dare reply the mermaid while her green eyes seemed to hypnotise him. He hated to admit it, but it was clear that the mermaid was more beautiful than Sarme, and wondered how she would be with real human legs.

“Your visit here today will teach you that things are not always what they seem to be…” Danushiki paid no attention to anything she said but rather wondered how a ‘woman’ such as the one near him could have such lips. They were naturally red without any artificial thing being applied... The next moment his mind began to spin while dizziness gradually took over him.

“The dagger you were given in the morning my dear is a symbol of leadership, authority and extra power. By the time you start using it, your powers of transformation would have been complete.”

Immediately, Danushiki felt his eyes open to see an extraordinarily large golden eagle, which let out a long cry before transforming into a gigantic king cobra with spread hoods, and finally an extraordinarily large fish in the ocean. The next moment, he beheld the mermaid’s seductive smile in front of him.

Moving with ease, she was soon behind Danushiki, with her chin resting on his shoulder, while most of the green ropes had mysteriously disappeared, except those around his hands, firmly tied behind his back. She inhaled deeply and hummed to the sound of the drums. Danushiki wished he had never followed the vibrating sound as he felt his head swirling again. The mermaid began to whisper some inaudible words into his ear again, while Danushi recollected the shape of Sarme’s breasts. While he imagined Sarme’s reaction if she saw him right now, he managed to hear the words: “be strong,” from the mermaid, the moment her n*****s rubbed his back.

“The day is far spent my dear Danushiki… it’s time for mere mortals to rest shins and minds for the morrow.”

 Immediately she said this, the dizzying feeling Danushiki earlier felt seemed to resume, with the mermaid withdrawing and crawling with ease to the edge of the water. She gave him one last look and swam towards the others who were now standing in a circle, with their drums behind them. The moment she swam to where they stood, she stood in the middle of the circle they had formed and kept smiling in Danushiki’s direction until they began to sway again. The drummer mermaids began to hum a strange tune while their leader spread her arms towards the sky.

Danushiki felt sick seeing these creatures baring their breasts shamelessly, with the lower part of their bodies from their waists below were hidden from view. He remembered how the men with whom he’d hunted that unfortunate gazelle had turned their gaze away from the girls who’d been bathing that fateful day inside Baiwar stream. They’d been heading back to their master, while the girls hid their mammary glands in the water while the men passed. He was now wondering what the mermaids did to get such flat stomachs until they began to shrink. Soon their hands disappeared, followed by their jet black hair and their belly buttons. Thereafter, their eyes became like that of king cobras, their entire bodies became scaly and their necks flattened and expanded at the same time to become hoods which were soon spread out.

Soon, Danushiki was crouching on all fours, trying to behold twenty-one king cobras swaying with the breeze, while the doves disappeared mysteriously.

“Ssseee you on the battlefield”, the king cobra in the centre hissed while the others disappeared one after the other. The next moment the beautiful waterfalls and the captivating scenery soon transformed into mud and greenish slime, after which he slumped and became unconscious.

When Danushiki woke up the next morning, he was alarmed to see himself inside his mud hut with a full stomach like man who’d just eaten, while the bruises on his body had been healed mysteriously. The sun’s rays pierced through the thatch roof of his small mud hut as he examined his knuckles. All the cuts and bruises from yesterday had disappeared, and they looked as if nothing had happened to them. He was still inspecting his body when a long spear with a glinting head landed on the space between his feet, and got stuck instantly. Pulling out the spear and stepping outside the hut cautiously, two more spears soon landed beside him – this time he knew who had thrown them and why.

“You know you are the chosen one…to lead Shaingwa’s warriors to battle when the time comes.”

The instructor walked away as if he’d said nothing to Danushiki, and waited for the warriors to arrange themselves, leaving Danushiki to ponder on what he’d just told him. When he was satisfied with the rows and columns they’d made, he stood in front of them and began to address them.

“Everything you are made to go through here is for one purpose only – the attainment of honour. You might think you’d die in the process, but the gods and goddesses of Shaingwa will never let that happen. There is one thing you must learn to possess – ruthlessness, which must be meted out on all Shaingwa’s enemies whenever the time comes.”

He bowed his head like one in deep thought, and pointed to a heap of weapons. Danushiki and the other recruits in his unit wasted no time and rushed to the heap and picked up their battle-axes. Their instructor watched them pick up these weapons and could not hide his amusement at the joy most of them expressed with these the instruments of death in their possession.

“After today, you’ll all commence what I call intensive training. You will repeat everything you did yesterday until you attain in each of them. This would be your routine until the three years required of each person here is over. Weapons such as these are not toys; hence you all would have to use your mind and skill in handling them.”