13. Training

As he prepared to sleep, he still felt unnerved about what his new father had told him. He felt troubled all the more, concerned about his birth parents’ safety. He was glad that he now had a chance to live his dream. To be trained by an elite group of warriors just like he had dreamed of being a member of the Gorivas back in Matanda village, but what his father, the chief had just told him seemed to drown the feelings of happiness he had had earlier when the Vadhindi had been ordered by his father to train him.

He still had his father’s knobkerrie with him. It glistened even in the darkness. This was the only possession he had from his father; a simple tool which had been used to pound nuts and hard-shelled fruits and to chase away birds of prey. From his mother, to remember her by was the sun tattoo at the back of his hand. He lay back onto the thickly padded goatskin mat and pulled the knobkerrie deep into his chest in an embrace and fell asleep.

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