Angel Of Death

Chapter Three

Sepha became a land many kingdoms envied because of their wealth and the great people that emanated from it. The story of the cave sounded funny to unbelievers as most of them asked how a cave would remain in existence for thousands of years. Some who went near the cave refused to enter, even the unbelievers as they feared that if the tale of the witch was to be true they had no chance of surviving it. The king of Sepha never believed in the cave but he believed that many people were practicing witchcraft in the kingdom of Sepha and in other kingdoms. He once asked the Chief Priest, "If the people say that the tale of the witch is not true then how come the existence of magic and sorcery? I don't believe those who use magic to terrorize the peaceful land of Sepha were born with it. There are those who seek for this power from somewhere ; from others and what they do they themselves don't know the consequences" said the king.

"My lord, those who practice magic do not know where the source is. But the tale of the great witch and his appearance thousands of years ago is true and this can only mean one thing" the Chief Priest had sat down and continued, "I consulted the gods and they spoke. The tale of the witch is true and what happened those years was not just about the m******e but something more evil. The witch, by name Asa was awakened by the ancient soldiers of Sepha; then Sepha was called Gazaa. They awoke Asa from ancient slumber and she decided to attack the human race, destroying everything on her path... the Chief Priest was still talking when the king cut him in.

"I know this story" said the king as he waited to hear something he had never heard before.

"Good, while that was happening some people in some parts of the world including Sepha were being possessed by the some of the powers from the cloths of Asa which fell on the ground as she moved like a mountain. These powers that were dropping were being picked by some people. They picked these powers and used them after Asa had returned to her base" The Chief Priest explained.

"To her base? to the sea or back to the cave?" asked the king.

"Back to the cave. Have you not wondered why the cave still remained fresh ever since you were born? Have you not heard that nobody had ever entered the cave since the existence of this generation. First nobody needs to go in for the person will not return alive and secondly no one needs to go in for such person might awake the ancient evil and if this happens Sepha will be ruined and the world at large will suffer for it" The Chief Priest said further.

The king of Sepha stood and paced and after sometimes he stood before the Chief Priest and spoke, "I want some men to be sent into that cave"

The Chief Priest stood up abruptly. "Why do you want to disrupt the peace Sepha has experienced all these years by disturbing the sleep of the ancient evil. You should stay away from the cave and let the sleeping dog lie"

"Peace? you speak of peace? which peace? the one the sorceresses and dark magic have taken away from this land. We are not safe if the powers the witch left behind are being used by some people. We need to send men into that cave to find out a way to put sorcery to end" The king sat back.

"And if the men you will send goes in there and end up disturbing the sleep of Asa, what will you tell them gods?" asked The Chief Priest.

"If the gods are scared of Asa then Asa is the one to be feared the most and I will do what the gods have chosen not to do" the king said again and just before the chief priest could leave in anger the king stopped him halfway the throne room and spoke again, "I also have another part of the witch's tale that I must believe in; the tale of the ancient treasures in the cave. When the men I will send go in there and find not the witch and the solution to this problem then maybe they will find the treasures with which to enable us have enough strength to fight witchcraft in Sepha" The Chief priest did not respond as he left immediately.

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Ayva was a medicine woman, one of the best medicine women in Sepha and she was known for treating the hunters who sustain injuries while hunting. That afternoon she had returned from the market and had lowered down her basket when two men brought in a dying man to him. Ayva was moved by the terrible injury the man sustained. She did not know where to start and she did not want the man to die. "Please take him to the other medicine women. This looks too deep for me" she said to the men carrying the victim.

"We won't be able to leave this compound and he will die. You are the only medicine woman that can treat him" said one of the men. Ayva looked at the man for sometimes and told them to lower him on the math. She sprayed the math and they lowered him on it. She ran inside and brought out her medicine box and began to administer treatment immediately. She continued trying but the hunter was dying. She did not know what else to do. her hands were soaked with the man's blood and she was short of ideas. She sighed heavily and the men realised that she had done her possible best.

"He might die" she said and one of the men pleaded with her. "He is my only brother great lady, please do not allow him die. If he dies I will have nothing else to live for in this world" his teary eyes moved Ayva and she felt confused.

"Do whatever you can to save him. We don't care. Even if it involves the use of sorcery, just do it" said the other man. Ayva was moved by the love the two men had for the victim and she walked into her room, full of thought and confusion. She paced as she remembered the portion Saya gave to her a day before. She brought out the portion and examined it, shook her head and put it back.

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The night before, her friend Saya had come to visit her and had revealed to her how rich she had become. Ayva could not believe her eyes when Saya brought out plenty of gold from her purse. Ayva wanted to know how she made such amount and Saya asked her to sit while she narrated to her of her she got involved with a woman across the mountain who taught her witchcraft and gave her a portion that cures sick people in a twinkling of an eye. She had gone to the palace to see the King's son who was sick and had told the king that she could heal his son and after much doubts the king granted her access to his son and she administered the treatment immediately using the portion. The King's son recovered the next day and the king invited her to the palace and gave her a purse containing golds. This was how Saya became rich"

Ayva had refused to collect the portion, noting that she would not be involved with anything sorcery and that she would rather stick with her line of job and her purely way of healing than involving herself in witchcraft. This utterance had made Saya to laugh loud. After she had finished laughing she had told Ayva that there was nothing special or incriminating to be done while using the portion.

"You don't need to do anything suspicious while using the portion. Your victim wouldn't notice and those standing by will never suspect. All you have got to do is make the sick person drink it or rub some of it in the affected area if it is an open wound and wait for the testimony the victim will give. Collect this and stop being poor whereas you have all the reason to be rich" Saya had insisted before handing her the portion. Ayva had inspected the portion and had kept it, murmuring that she was never going to make use of it.

But now she was restless because outside her room was someone dying of his wounds when she knew she had what it could take to cure him. She dropped the portion and picked it up again and made up her mind to heal the wounded hunter with the portion. Upon her stepping outside she saw that the man was already on the brink of death. She rushed to him and put some of the portion in his mouth and rubbed some on his feet. The man stopped shaking and began to rest. Ayva was amazed by the sudden way the portion worked. She looked at the portion and saw something that she did not take notice of. That was a poison not a cure. Saya had betrayed her. She had been envious of her and now this was her plan. Before Ayva could bring back her eyes to look at the sick hunter he had already died and his tongue out. The two men were sad as they cried in pain. One of them saw the suspicions way Ayva was looking at the portion and immediately collected it from her and checked it. He screamed that Ayva was practicing sorcery and she had deliberately killed their friend and brother through her witchcraft. Ayva was confused as she stood up and kept looking at the lifeless body of the hunter.

"I never meant it this way" she kept saying to herself. "I didn't mean to kill him. I only meant to save him" tears filled her eyes.

"But you have killed him, through your witchcraft you have murdered him. This can only mean one thing; we have caught a witch red handed and we are taking you to the king to answer for your crimes. Now move it!!!" shouted the brother to the demised and began to push Ayva out of the compound. Those that gathered when they heard the screaming of the men helped with the body of the dead hunter as they all made their way to the King's palace to present to him the body of a dead hunter killed by a witch.

When the king saw the people coming to his palace he knew that something terrible must have happened.