A Heart In Flames

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Mansa roared like a lioness when Oma's sword flamed. Her eyes reddened, and her hairs stood on end. She was threatened. She no longer looked beautiful and glorious, and she didn’t recognise the man she so much loved.

Oma felt sad. His beautiful and loving wife looked like a demon, and behaved wild. He again regretted their coming to the island. If he knew that was going to happen, he wouldn’t have embarked on that mission with his wife.

He immediately put the flames off. He acted out of anger. He wanted to fight the demon but not his wife. He remembered the words of the fish – he had to be patient in order to get his wife back.

“Its me, Oma; your husband,” he said as he drew closer to her. “Can’t you recognise me?”

“I do not know you, you demon. You dare not come near me. I will tear you apart,” Mansa bawled. The spell was strong. It seemed it had made her to forget everything she knew about herself and Oma.

The Demon looked at Oma, and mockingly, he laughed. He had succeeded in turning his wife against him. He knew Oma would not abandon his wife, and that would let him bow to his demands.

“You will leave this island without your wife if you do not agree to sacrifice what I earlier demanded,” said the demon to Oma. He was looking much greener than ever.

“And never will I leave this island without getting you defeated. You will be brought to your knees for humans to have peace. As for my wife, she will be freed; your spell shall be broken,” Oma replied.

“You seem not to understand me. Let me make it much simpler for you. For ages, you humans have suffered, and it’s all because you are weak. When in your life did you hear that a human has ever defeated a demon? You are just like a little rat in the paws of a lion. Just heed my offer and live.”

“I have defeated your legion of demons. And so, what makes you believe that I can’t defeat you? A lion roars to scare its prey, not because it is powerful or brave. You are just roaring like a lion, but I am no prey to be scared. I will get you defeated before I leave this island.”

Mansa stood listening to the conversation between the demon and Oma. Anytime the demon spoke, she seemed to smile but she obviously understood nothing. The spell controlled her completely.

“Prove you can defeat me. Come on, let your sword flame and get me defeated. I dare you,” the demon mocked.

Oma got infuriated. He held his sword and wanted to chant the three mysterious words, but he stopped. He remembered the words of the fish. The demon's challenge was a trick – he wanted him to get violent so that the spell on his wife would be tightened.

Oma stood and thought for awhile, and without saying anything to the demon, he took the flute that Mansa gave him and started playing. He played Mansa’s favourite song. It was so sweet and loving.

The demon became restless; he walked around as Oma played the flute. Every passing minute, as he walked around, his green colour faded. His colour continued to fade until finally, when he had become pale, it turned into smoke and disappeared into the forest.

Oma gave no attention to the demon when it turned into smoke and disappeared. What was more important to him was to see his lovely wife return to her normal self. He wanted the spell to be broken, so, he continued to play the flute. He knew his wife so much loved melodies, so he thought that could get the spell broken.

Mansa stood calm when the melodies from the flute flowed. Perhaps, the spell was getting broken, but it didn’t happen immediately. The spell was strong, and so, it could not easily be broken.

Oma continued to play the flute, and at dusk, when the long day was nearing its end, Mansa began to show signs of recovery. Her beauty returned. And for a long time, she stared at Oma.

“I am hungry,” she said at last, but she made no attempt to get closer to Oma. Perhaps, the spell had not left her completely.

Oma's heart leaped with joy. He rose up, and with opened arms, he took quick steps to get to his wife to embrace her.

“No. Not now.”

Oma stopped and looked back to see the one that spoke. His guess was right; it was the fish. It stood behind him, looking cheerful.

“The spell is not completely broken. She will see embrace as an assult. Wait till she is completely healed,” the fish said, blinking its tiny eyes.

“What then must I do? She is hungry,” Oma said, still holding the flute. He was desperate to get his wife into his bosom again.

“Wait for her to recover completely. She will be the one to come to you when the spell is completely broken. As for her being hungry, I doubt you will get food for her. Nothing on this island can be eaten by humans.”

“Very well,” Oma said, and had a deep breathe, “I will wait to have her back. But, I need to get her food. I must quickly go back to our boat to see whether I can get some food for her.”

The fish laughed when Oma talked about getting food in their boat. “There is no food in your boat,” it said. "As I hid in the waters, I saw the old and wicked wizard destroy everything that was in your boat. I could not stop him because, I was afraid he would destroy me. Only your boat is left at the shore.”

Oma could not believe what the fish told him. If that was true, then, they would stay without food till they would return to Sabasu. He never thought the wizard would follow them to destroy what they left in their boat otherwise, they would have brought everything with them into the forest.

“I must quickly go and confirm what you are saying,” Oma said to the fish. He was worried. He knew they would spend a few more days on the island before they could get their mission accomplished. And, it would be hard for them to spend the long days on the island without food.

“There is no need for you to go. Why do you disbelieve me? Never a time have I told you a lie.” The fish sounded unhappy.

Oma apologized. The fish had been of great help to them, and he knew it was wrong to pay it back with mistrust. But he didn’t mean to do so. The thought of him and his wife going to be hungry for the rest of their stay on the evil island was what made him to speak that way.

“What then must I do to get food for my wife?” he asked the fish.

“Don’t worry, warrior king. Keep playing the flute till the spell gets completely broken.

“I will swim very fast to the end of the sea, and summon birds to bring you fruits, as many as will get you two satisfied,” the fish promised Oma, and without delay, it entered the sea and swam away.

Oma thanked the fish, and continued to play the flute. He played and played until, close to night hours, Mansa sneezed.

“Are you done fighting the demons?” she asked, and rose on her feet and ran to embrace Oma after she had sneezed.

“I have defeated the demons except lord Green,” Oma said with joy. He kidn*pped you, and bound you with a spell. I am happy you are freed at last.”

“And no longer shall you be hungry,” said the fish. Its head was already out of the water, flapping its fins, paddling its legs, and blinking its little eyes. “The birds are here,” it added, and before it could get out of the water, the birds were already dropping many fruits at the shore.