DANUSHIKI

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

“All the male youths, middle aged…and every man you can find on this island, in a good state of health, should be gathered for digging and construction work.

Colonel Anderson walked a few steps to begin the execution of his Uncle’s orders before he stopped abruptly. 

“This place…a place like this, there must be a leader, someone in charge”. Colonel Anderson spoke slowly while adjusting his hat. General Whyte grunted and seemed to agree with his nephew. 

“Take some soldiers and find the leader, or whosoever is in charge of this island, and bring him to me”.

When the Colonel left, he gave several orders concerning the supplies, and how they should be transported from the ships. He stroked the stallion’s mane as he watched his nephew riding slowly into the main part of the island. He knew they’d be a lot of work to do since all the soldiers around him were engaged in one thing or the other. He allowed the exhausted horse to nibble on some shrubs as he leaned his back on a large tree. When he was certain none of the soldiers were looking in his direction, he pulled out a small pouch inside his jacket. He soon brought out the small piece of diamond he’d been given by Uncle Lyttleton several years ago and examined it slowly.

Less than two hours later, Colonel Anderson came back with the bleeding High Chief walking closely behind his horse. He said nothing to his Uncle about the two teenagers he’d killed to get a quick response concerning the abode of the island’s leader. General Whyte was eating some roasted groundnuts stolen from the house of a Shaingwan when Colonel Anderson arrived. He yawned as he dusted the husks from his body. He looked exhausted and hungry, while the High Chief was dragged towards him, with defiance written all over his face. 

“You, what is your name and position on this island?”

“Sharkoti, that’s my name…I’m the High Chief of this island…Shaingwa”.

General Whyte was amused (and pleased) that the ‘savage leader’ before him could hear and understand his language. 

“Where are the people on this island…the inhabitants?” Sharkoti ignored the blood flowing from the side of his head as he looked around helplessly.

“They’re in the centre of the island”.

“You’re bleeding from the side of your head, and I’ll take it off if you lie to me”, General Whyte spoke in a calm tone to Sharkoti. The High Chief looked at the High Chief's wrists, which were bound in ropes, as he sighed dejectedly. General Whyte placed his hat on a small rock as he stood up and began to rub his hair downwards.

“I’ve given orders on how the survivors of this island are to be handled, until we’re through with our mission.” 

Sharkoti only wished these fair beasts would not hurt his people, especially the women, until they concluded their ‘mission’ and left. He needed no god or goddess to tell him what had befallen the two thousand warriors of Shaingwa, who had rushed into battle, and to their deaths. They were supposed to go to the sacred grove first for fortification and protection…”

“Where are the diamonds located?” General Whyte inquired, while moving his tongue around his teeth.

The High Chief was stunned while looking around to see several fair soldiers pointing long objects at him.

“These diamonds are sacred and should never be used for personal-” 

The butt of a rifle crashed into his back and he soon fell to his knees. A hefty fair soldier pulled off Sharkoti’s necklace and warned him to answer only the questions that were asked. The High Chief looked around again and told them they wanted to hear.

“The family heads all have personal chambers…inside their personal chambers, is a piece of diamond”.

Sharkoti watched how the man who seemed to be in charge of these fair beasts stopped rubbing his hair, and turned to him. The eyes of these fair beasts shone at the mention of diamonds and their location. 

“Inside the sacred grove, there are countless pieces of diamonds, but you can’t touch them, because they all possess spiritual significance”. 

As he tasted his own perspiration and observed them, they burst out in a wild bout of laughter at his last statement. The man in charge calmed them and beckoned him to continue.

“There might be diamonds under the ground, but nobody has bothered to dig for them because it’s forbidden, and we have no use for them”.

‘I’ll have plenty of uses for them”, General Whyte muttered to himself with a smile. 

Moments later, he pulled out a sharp dagger on his belt, gave it to a soldier who used it to cut the ropes binding the Chief’s hands. Two metres away from the General and the disinterested High Chief, a fire was started. It was used to roast some tubers of yams which had been stolen from a large barn. The General and his men were reluctant to eat the stolen yams, though they had no choice. The food inside the ships were a long way off, and the danger of lurking savages soon arose. There was also no way they could move their tired bodies to the ship for food – their own food, without some ‘refreshments first.

Minutes later, General Whyte munched a small piece of roasted yam while looking at the surrounding trees. He and the others had to agree that it didn’t taste bad after all. An hour later, there were more than three dozen fires around the spot General Whyte sat. The soldiers who’d started these fires began to do the same thing he’d started with stolen foodstuffs from several barns and homes.

General Whyte proceeded to tell the High Chief of his ‘plans’ for the inhabitants of the island. Colonel Anderson ignored both of them and tried in vain to wipe blood and tissue from his sword’s blade. The High Chief listened with rapt attention, as the General spoke. He had no choice, since all the warriors numbering two thousand had been slaughtered. Their death had dealt a heavy blow on Shaingwa. It would be foolish to try to deceive these fair beasts, whom he believed were only interested in getting the island’s diamonds.

With the warriors dead, he knew his people were going to become slaves sooner or later for these fair beasts. As he sat dejectedly on the ground, he watched another fair beast writing something with a bird’s feather on a large milk-white surface. Nothing that happened around him seemed to capture his interest. He’d failed Shaingwa and only wished the ground would open up and swallow him. While listening to General Whyte and some fair beasts talk about digging, gathering, building and securing, he thought about the warriors in Cobra Land. 

While the soldiers ate, General Whyte told them to hurry up. Later, he gave orders for every living inhabitant on the island to be rounded up and watched closely from the centre. From tomorrow, the savages would be supervised in building a large fortress, transport supplies out of the ships and dig for diamonds. No soldier was to let his guard down under any circumstance. He wished he could send a message to the Queen as he looked around, to inform her of their ‘safe’ arrival. He knew that was impossible, and would have to wait. Feeling the small piece of diamond inside his navy blue jacket, he thought of Uncle Lloyd in the great beyond. 

The bleeding on the side of Sharkoti’s head had since stopped and was soon replaced by an ache. His gaze was soon fixed on the strange four footed animal that was eating something in someone’s garden, while moving its strange tail. Deep down, Sharkoti knew the gods and goddesses were still present despite the killings and destructions that had taken place. He believed that they were going to liberate Shaingwa in a mysterious way which he himself couldn’t imagine.

It was the 31st day of December 1326 in Cobra Land. Flaming torches appeared everywhere, while excitement hovered in the atmosphere. Danushiki knew the time had come as he grabbed his battle-axe and rushed to the clear space where he’d fought with Omataina several days ago. From the day he’d fought with the beast, he and the others had undergone strange fortification processes which they’d never be able to adequately explain. Walking near the edge of the cleared field, he was not surprised as the other warriors ‘respectfully’ shifted and made a path for him to walk through. What surprised him were the flaming torches which were on sticks and appeared to be suspended, five feet from the ground.

In the space were the warriors stood, two things were visible: the flaming torches which gave off light, and the razor-sharp blades which glinted intermittently. It was some few minutes to midnight as Danushiki stood in front of the warriors and addressed them for the first time. He didn’t know what pushed him or made him do it. He simply saw himself walking out to address his fellow warriors.

“My brothers we’ve come a long way…through pain, intricate training and discipline…matumwadi honyo, as you all know, maximum discipline. We all know the gods and goddesses of Shaingwa never lie, and if there’s one thing we’re to expect when we leave here, its pain, war and victory”. He looked at one of the flaming torches near him and turned to back the other warriors.

“The time has come”, Danushiki thundered before kneeling down and placing his battle axe beside him. The other warriors soon proceeded to do likewise. At midnight,, all the torches were mysteriously put out as the warriors began to feel the vibration Danushiki had felt the first week he’d arrived Cobra Land. Bringing both palms together in prayer, the warriors thought less of the vibration beneath them as drops of blood began to rain over them. The warriors began to disappear the moment it landed on their bodies and on the ground.

Picking up his battle-axe and heading home like the other men who talked excitedly along the way, only one name kept recurring in his mind – Sarme. It’d been three years of training and initiation into manhood without his parents, siblings and without Sarme. He thought of how she’d behave when she finally saw him. He smiled because he knew there was bound to be a lot of crying and smiling at the same time.

The moonlight made the journey easier as he held the battle-axe loosely. Maybe all this talk of war by the sacred grove and their instructors were all ‘exaggerations’. The war might take place, but in the near future. He entered into the main footpath and headed for his father’s house. When he finally reached his father’s house, he paused for a moment before knocking on the door. He imagined his mother coming out to embrace him with tears in her eyes. He knew she’d be followed by his younger sisters screaming at the top of their voices (if they hadn’t married), He expected his father to praise himself for a job well done on the necklace he’d made three years ago, which was still good as new. The last person he expected to come out and greet him would be Sarme. He expected her to walk towards him slowly, give him a hug that would last forever while tears flowed freely down her soft cheeks…

Danushiki knocked four consecutive times on the front door without any response. The next moment he pulled out the battle-axe from his belt and used his left arm to push open the door. He later discovered it wasn’t necessary, because it was not even bolted. Inside the house, he was startled by what he saw. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, while rats and spiders seemed to be at every available corner. More alarming was his father’s chamber on closer inspection, which had everything in place, except the large revolving diamond.