The sun was slowly setting and as if by some miracle, the Ndebele began to retreat. A great yell sprung from the Shona warriors as they pursued the Ndebele far into their villages.Realizing that the Ndebele were retreating too far into their treacherous hills, the Shona stopped in their tracks and began raiding their villages. Some of the Ndebele soldiers stopped from a far distance and watched powerlessly as their wives and children were ravaged, forcefully dragged from their huts screaming, kicking and wailing for mercy.Brahmuhn looked on as the civilians were brutalized and captured. But this was normal… this was rational… this was war. He sat himself by the entrance of a hut and wrapped his arms around his knees as he watched his warriors pillage and plunder. The scene of soldiers beating, raping and killing innocent civilians had disgusted him on his first day on the field, so much that he had stopped his soldiers and freed the poor commoners. Wh

Brahmuhn’s three Elders were quarrelling amongst themselves, obviously in his absence.‘What I can’t figure out is why the brute is still alive?!’ Dombo ranted.Gumbo had his thumb and forefinger on his chin, immersed in thought. ‘Those were well over a thousand Ndebele warriors!’ he said looking gravely disappointed.‘How do you know? You weren’t even there,’ Shiri said.‘Dombo and I sent spies to spread threats and insults to their gods and to their ancestors and lied that they were from Brahmuhn to provoke wrath from them,’ Gumbo informed him. ‘In addition to that, the spies also sabotaged their wells, burned a lot of huts and killed a few dozen women and children in the villages. We were positive the Ndebele would attack with a vengeance that could not be quelled, let alone countered!’‘How absurd is that!’ Shiri looked flabbergasted. ‘That would mean the Ndebeles would kill everyone in our village including you!’‘Absolutely not,’ Dombo said. ‘We had made a de

He tossed his mbanje to the side. ‘What is the meaning of this, Dombo? Gumbo?’ He asked them as he stood up.The two Elders began laughing wickedly.‘I fail to find humor in my question,’ Brahmuhn said, looking furious.‘That’s funny because we find humor in your very existence,’ Gumbo spat at him with a look of disgust on his face.The Vadhindi stood up in fury but Brahmuhn restrained them with a gesture of his hand. ‘What do you mean, Gumbo?’Dombo chuckled, ‘Do you consider us ignorant of your repulsive deeds?!’Cheetah tried to reach for Dombo’s throat but Brahmuhn restrained him again.Brahmuhn gritted his teeth, ‘If you do not explain the meaning of this, I will have you speared within seconds!’Gumbo turned around and clapped his hands loudly to get the villagers’ attention. There was a great silence. It was as if this action held some unseen unnat

Brahmuhn was shattered by the Elders’ decision. He realized that he should have had considered Shiri’s words before Dombo and Gumbo had executed their plot against him. Another ironic twist, to Brahmuhn, was that he had actually disrespected Shiri more and he, Shiri, was the only one of the three Elders who had actually cared about him. If only he had listened! Now it was too late. The banishment was official. The village was now a distance from him as he walked slowly towards the forest. He was carrying nothing except his knobkerrie and a small pouch both tied to the side of his loincloth. The pouch was loaded with mbanje. He liked his mbanje very much. It always distracted him from his worries and grief. He was smoking it while he walked, pondering over the people he had left behind: Buhle, his trusted comrades-in-arms and the Vadhindi. He blew a cloud of smoke into the air. His eyes were beginning to turn red from the smoking. He began swaying sideways, mu

‘Your worries should not be placed on her, my chief. Only a man with a death wish shall wish to harm her, and if they do harm her, I shall die as many times as the bruises they inflict upon her.’Brahmuhn nodded and beat his chest with his fist.Tortoise responded with the same action. This was their way of showing gratitude and respect. This was their way of showing how much they meant to each other. This… was a way of saying goodbye.‘Forgive me, Your Greatness but…where are we going?’ Cheetah asked him after they had walked for quite a distance.‘I don’t know.’He stared at him, confused, ‘But, Your Greatness…’‘Where did Shiri go?’ Brahmuhn interrupted him.‘As soon as he resigned, we never heard from him again.’He began to ponder to himself. Cheetah was walking two paces behind him.‘Your Greatness, where exactly did you