A Heart In Flames

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The demons were strong and powerful, but Oma fought like a lion in the midst of hyenas. A fierce battle it was. The deadly demons spewed smoke and fire from their mouths, and their hands rained hailstones.

At the beginning, it appeared Oma was near defeat. The flames from the sword could barely be seen. He was engulfed by the smoke and fire the demons spewed; the hailstones hit every part of his body. He bled.

Mansa could not help; she stood helpless. Her heart ached seeing the man she so much loved bleed. She cried. Lord Green was happy. The foray of demons he led were battling to his satisfaction. He laughed. The blue demons were relentless. But Oma did not lose focus, he fought on.

Bleeding, sweating, and breathing hard, Oma turned to look at Mansa when he heard her cry. “Do not weep,” he said, and dodged a hailstone that nearly hit his head. “We shall prevail. We shall conquer. We shall win.”

“We live or die. There’s no turning back,” Mansa replied. “Remember the words of the fish,” she added, and took her flute to play.

The melody was soothing and the song was sweet. She played the flute as Oma fought on.

A heart so pure,

And a song so sweet,

Creates a mighty arm.

The arm of love

The arm of a warrior

A thousand evils defeats it not.

A love so great,

Is a weapon evil fear to battle.

Fight, oh mighty arm,

A heart of love you have,

You were victorious before the

battle.

The sweet melody that flowed from Mansa’s flute strengthened Oma. And calling the words of the fish to mind, he fought mightily towards the huge tree.

As told by the fish, there was a short statue of a blue dart frog behind the huge tree. It was from that statue that the demons and everything on the island, except lord Green, derived their power. The giants, the strange creatures in the forest on the island, and the demons; all derived their strength and power from the short statue of the blue dart frog. So, for anyone to win any struggle or battle on the island, the head of the statue had to be broken.

The words of the fish seemed true. Mansa believed it, and Oma believed it the more now. The flaming sword should have aided Oma to vanquish the demons quickly if they had no external source from which they obtained their powers. Oma had to waste no time; he had to get to the other side of the huge tree and destroy the head of the statue of the blue dart frog. It was only when he had gotten that accomplished that he would defeat the demons swiftly.

Hurriedly, Oma headed towards the other side of the tree, but soon, the demons closed in on him. They probably knew what Oma was up to. They spewed fire and smoke, and the hailstones multiplied. Oma resisted fiercely, and moved forward with each step he took. His flaming sword paved way where there was no way.

Lord Green stood watching. He trusted his fighters completely. He believed that sooner, he would have his wishes accomplished. Defeating Oma would pave the way to have their reproductive organs as he demanded.

With aching heart and a hope for victory, Mansa continued to play the flute to strengthen the man of her life. If they failed in their mission, humans would continue to suffer forever. That she wished, should not happen.

After a long tussle, Oma finally thrust his way through the line of demons. And when he got to the back of the huge tree, he saw the statue of the blue dart frog. He wasted no time – he didn’t give a chance to the demons to thwart him again. He thrust his flaming sword mightily into the head of the statue, braking it into pieces. Then, blue smoke gushed out of the statue. The blue demons suddenly collapsed and turned into blue smoke, and ascended to the top of the tall tree. The strange, evil creatures had no powers anymore. One after the other, they ceased to exist. A strange, big bird fell from the tree. The giants resting in the forest cried loudly as they collapsed and capitulated to death.

Oma had won the battle, and with a joyful heart, he raised his head to look at his wife, but what he saw turned his joyful heart to one of rage. Lord Green had seized her, and he was on his way with her to where Oma could not tell. Before he could reach out for his axe, lord Green disappeared with Mansa. It was not over; Oma had to continue the battle to rescue his wife.

With his heart full of rage to rescue his wife, he took his first step to chase the demon, but he stopped when a voice spoke. It was the beautiful, shiny fish.

“Listen to me, warrior king,” the fish said.

Oma stopped. “Tell me how and where to rescue my wife,” he said.

The fish waddled forward. It neither looked cheerful nor sad. “Hew down the tree first,” it said. “It is not the tree that is evil but hew it down first otherwise, it will be hard for you to chop it down when the lord of the island return into it.”

Oma stood quiet for a moment. He fully trusted the fish now, but he didn’t want to obey it this time round. The desire to rescue his wife burned in him. “My wife, my wife,” he said, unable to smoothly put his words together. “I must rescue my wife first.”

“Obey my words, warrior king. When the tree goes down, the lord of the island will have no power again. Hew down the tree first. Your wife will be freed when the tree goes down. I know where he is taking your wife; she will be safe. This is the right time to hew down the tree,” the fish said again, this time very serious.

Oma knew the fish was telling him the truth because everything it said in the past came to pass. But, Oma had his own plans. He wanted to safe his wife first. He didn’t want his wife to keep long in the hands of the demon.

“I know you want to help me, and I’m grateful. But, I must save my lovely wife first. Please, show me where he is taking my wife.”

“Very well,” the fish said. "Don’t go west where he passed, it is a trap. You will forever get lost in the forest if you walk his direction. Go east till you get to the east coast. There, under a huge rock, you will see him with your wife. But be careful while on your way because little and wicked are the spirits that will seek your mercy."

Oma agreed, and thanked the fish. And without delay, he got on his way to rescue his beautiful and lovely wife.