ZUNA: THE LION BEHIND BARS

The sun rose gloriously when Kona a beautiful woman and wife was returning from the farm. She was a brave, strong and skillful woman in all ramifications. Thus, her husband was fond of her and against all odds struggled till he won her heart and made her his wife. Her husband was also a strong and skillful man in bows, arrows and sword. He was the best in the whole of Zagada, a small village having abundant natural resources. Spring of water, nice soil for cultivation and adequate atmospheric comfort to its inhabitants were the beautiful natural resources which they enjoyed in this land. Kona’s husband was with other hunters deliberating how to sell their big catch of animals when a woman from the farm came where he was and told him about his wife’s condition. As he was approaching the farm he was later told that the women whose houses were near the farm had helped his wife to deliver his baby. He was blessed with a baby boy and both mother and child were fine. When he arrived, his joy new no bounds as he has finally overcome bareness. Prior to this time, his family members had been on his neck to put Kona his wife away and look for a more fertile womb. But to their dismay, he never agreed to their cheap talk of a brutal divorce. He considered it a brutal decision considering how difficult he was able to win his wife’s heart. It was a challenge which they will both face, he told his disturbing family members. Leaving the animals in the hands of his friends, he hurried home with his wife and baby. Days went by and the baby was turning into a strong young teenager. He was always by his father and had become the pride of the always rejoicing man. The people who came around him never found it difficult to notice his overflowing joy. The child was named Zuna. At the age of sixteen, the young Zuna was already a pro in maneuvering arrows, bows, spear and swords. He was fast and skillful in this and became the talk of the village. He became a friend to many boys of his age and an attraction to young girls. But his moral upbringing stood out amidst his skill and strength. The land of Zagada had been an eyed settlement by neighboring villages and kingdoms. It was a beautiful land and never diminishing in its blessing being endowed on it by nature. It never experienced drought or scarcity and that made people feel it was a special place to be. But due to its size, the inhabitants restricted immigrants. Outsiders were allowed to do businesses with her but not to stay for long. Therefore, their lands were not sold to strangers nor were strangers allowed to lodge for more than a week. This was to maintain her population and resources for her inhabitants. The village head ensured that the village taskforce saw to the keeping of the village laws. Zagada was founded by their great and most reverend ancestor, Gadaski, who was a great warrior in his days. He was a leader in a different land far away from the Eastern part of the earth during his days. He named this new land which he founded after his late father Zagada. He had to migrate from the Eastern part of the earth because of the plot of his subordinates to eliminate him. Being the chief captain of the warriors, he was the right hand man of the king in the land of Zula. But those ruling under him were not happy because he sometimes gave the directive which the whole kingdom carried out which they also envied. In process of time, the king became sick and was nowhere close to recovering. Seeing that all his children were girls and were not yet married, the subordinates smelt that Gadaski would definitely emerge the throne of Zula and were bent on removing him from this glory. To their total dismay and final defeat, the king called Gadaski and his entire chief together and gave his most senior daughter to Gadaski to be his wife. The king commanded that the ceremony be done in two days time before his death. Totally demoralized, they planned Gadaski’s elimination before the next day. A guard, who was loyal to Gadaski, brought the evil news of his subordinates to him. That very night, Gadaski dressed in a woman’s clothing and softly went out of the kingdom while he instructed the guard to relate the story to the king when he was gone. The chiefs who plotted the elimination came at the middle of the night to his room and met a well covered bed. The four of them forced the door carefully open without making a noise and entered the room. With daggers in their hands, three of them stroke the image which was carefully covered on the bed several times while the fourth among them kept a watch by the door to alarm them of anyone coming around. They were surprised when they removed the covering of the image on the bed. They were tricked as the target was far gone into the night away from all their plots. Devastated, they commanded the guards to search the whole kingdom claiming that Gadaski was missing and might be in danger, as though they cared. The search was in vain as the man they were searching for was far away from the land of Zula. The morning breeze met Gadaski on a rock, twenty kilometer away from the land of Zula. The road was familiar because he had been a warrior and had traveled far and wide with his soldiers. He had also given some helping hands to people in difficult situations in time past and it was now his turn to get his share of care. He came to a land named Landaga where he had saved a young woman from the hands of some brutal men wanting to r**e her some years ago. He fought with them and saved the woman from their hands. He also saved her land from being destroyed. The woman recognized him and immediately embraced him. Despite his weak state due to his journey; he still had strength to resist her embraced for he became suspicious of everybody. She spoke calmly to him and reminded him who she was. He was pleased to see her looking good. He asked of her husband and children but was shocked that she was still single for these six years. She told him how she had thought of his kindness and had lived with hope of seeing him again. He stayed with her in her house and the two later became fond of each other. She was quick to profess her love and they fell in love. On a day, he spoke his mind to her on his plans to travel east very far away from Zula. She told him of her total readiness to go with him to the ends of the earth no matter the weather or storm. The two got married and set out for their journey. Finally they came to this land which had no inhabitants. Living in huts made from grasses, Gadaski hunted animals for meat and cultivated the soil in the land for food. He later was blessed with seven children who got married to people from neighboring villages. Little by little as time went by, the village began to grow in population and space. Days turned into months and months into years and years formed decades and it came to Zuna’s generation. Kona, Zuna’s mum was not left out of the gladness which her husband was enjoying as she was now accepted by her husband’s family members and they highly respected her.