Kingdom Of Akina

Kingdom Of Akina 1

In the ancient days and in a powerful kingdom named Akina, Marbeth, a pregnant woman was seen escaping from a forest. There was blood on her face and her cloth looked dirty with unkept hair. It appeared she had stayed in the forest for days.

The founder of Akina came out from his Chamber, drew a large sword and cut off the head of one of his generals. The remaining generals bowed before him in fear.

"You all are morons. A pregnant woman escaped from your hands. If that woman successfully returns to Mumba she will tell her husband; the King of Mumba that it was I who abducted her. This will lead to war. That baby inside her is my child which is why you must get back to that forest and keep searching for the Queen of Mumba" ordered the founder of Akina. The generals and their soldiers rode back to the forest in search of the escaped Queen.

****

In the palace of Mumba, the king was terribly weeping on his throne. His elders stood aside and kept quite.

"Someone should say something!" The King screamed.

"My lord, the search party is back but they found no trace of your wife" said one of the elders.

The King stood up and staggered to his room.

****

In a cliff, in the forest of Akina, Marbeth, the Beautiful Queen of Mumba was seen lying down and adjusting herself to a corner. It appeared she was in labour and the rain had started falling. The water from the cliff washed down to the down cliff with great speed. She avoided the edge of the cliff as she screamed in pain. From a thatched hurt in the forest of Akina, three male hunters of Akina were roasting a yam when they heard the strange scream. They all got up and knocked their arrows, ready for any threat. Jamza, the most handsome and bravest of the three hunters heard the cry once more and without a word started running towards the cliff. The two other hunters called him back but he kept running.

Marbeth saw the generals and their soldiers sent after her searching for her in the forest. She hid herself behind a rock, trying so hard not to scream out loud for the child inside her was on it's way out.

One of the soldiers started walking towards the rock where Marbeth was hiding. He was hearing a noise behind the rock and so he drew his sword and continued walking towards the rock carefully. The other soldiers stood at a long distance and watched him. As the soldier neared the rock Marbeth screamed out and the baby came out. The soldiers all ran to the rock as they all stood under the heavy rain, beside the cliff and watched Marbeth and her new baby.

"The baby is so cute" the soldier who first approached the rock said before stooping to carry the baby. The baby's cries made Zamza, who was running in the forest to stop running as he sighted the soldiers and Marbeth. He hid behind a tree. His Co-hunters had caught up with him and were now hiding with him.

"Those are soldiers from our tribe" said Zamza.

"And that woman is the Queen of Mumba. So the rumour is true. Our ruler abducted the Queen of Mumba" said, Akami, one of the three hunters.

"It is said that the child belongs to our ruler. This act can start a war" said Mbeme, the third hunter.

"They can't take that baby" said Zamza.

"What are you going to do to stop them?" Asked Akami.

"We are the best archers in this tribe. Surely we can do better than watch those beasts take that innocent woman and her newly born daughter to our wicked ruler" said Zamza.

"How do you know it's a girl and don't you know the baby belongs to our ruler?" Asked Mbeme.

Zamza drew his arrow and knocked it on his bow. The rest tried to stop him but he aimed at the soldiers.

Behind the rock, Marbeth was now crying, for she knew the ruler of Akina won't leave her unpunished.

"Take the baby and it's mother. We ride back to Akina" said one of the Generals. The soldiers forced Marbeth on her feet but the soldier carrying the baby refused move.

"I said let's return to Akina" said the General.

The soldier dropped the baby near the running water and drew his sword. Zamza paused as he and his friends watched. The generals and the soldiers, who had equally let go of Marbeth pounced on the soldier, killing him but not after he killed five of them. Zamza was motivated by this action as he started firing his shots on the soldiers. His friends joined him as they continued to fire shots at the soldiers. Most of the soldiers fell over the cliff while some laid on the ground and groaned painfully. The generals who didn't know where the arrows were coming from hid behind the rock where Marbeth was and decided to use her as their shield to get to their attackers. They held her by the shoulders and pulled her up once more. Zamza saw this and decided to come out from his hiding place.

The generals were surprised to see that it was Akina people that were attacking them. In anger they let go of Marbeth and pounced on the three hunters and the real fight began. Zamza knew they were going to loose the fight. Marbeth, who was still bleeding, picked her baby and started running.

Zamza, who already knew they stood no chance of defeating the remaining Generals and their soldiers decided to retreat. Akami and Mbeme started running but Mbeme slipped and fell down the cliff. Zamza and Akami saw this but continued to run.

Marbeth who had run down the cliff saw Mbeme's corpse, looked up the cliff and saw that her rescuers were now on the run decided to escape as fast she could. Zamza ran down the cliff and ran after Marbeth. Akami took another path while most of the soldiers kept pursing him.

When Zamza caught up with Marbeth, they stopped, panting and closing their eyes from the rain.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter now. Give me your baby. You can't protect her. Give her to me" Zamza said but Marbeth hesitated.

The soldiers from Akami had seen them from afar and were now throwing spears at them. Marbeth gave her baby to Zamza and said, "protect her with your life. From today you are her father"

Zamza nodded and started running with the baby. Marbeth took another path too and continued to run as fast as she could.

****

Zamza entered his community and looked around before entering his compound. His elder sister, Aya saw him entering the compound and came out to meet him. "What happened to you. The gods of our land! Whose baby is this?!" The sister was scared.

"She is my daughter. Pack your things. We are leaving this tribe" said Zamza. Aya was as confused as she was scared. She tried to know what had happened and where Zamza's friends were but Zamza still maintained she kept quite and pack her things as fast as she could.

From the road that lead to Zamza's community, the soldiers from the palace of Akani were entering. They started killing anyone that questioned them or anyone that refused to disclose who Zamza was, whether they knew Zamza or not.

The soldiers entered home by home, dragging children, men and women out and beheading most of them. Zamza stood on the mountains and watched this m******e, looked at the baby girl his sister was now carrying, shook his head and said, "did it all worth it? What is so special about this baby that I had to cause the death of my friends and my people" he shook his head again and they left Akani.