A Heart In Flames

CHAPTER NINE

With the flaming sword in her hand, Mansa stood ready in the boat to battle the deadly monster. She had no choice. It was better for her to fight and die than to fret in fear for the monster to devour her and the man she so much loved. At least, the flaming sword gave her some hope.

The huge monster raised its python head to hit the boat again. And Mansa, with all her strength, raised the sword to strike it but she stopped; something pathetic caught her attention—a male child was floating and crying beside the boat on the sea.

Feeling pity for the little child, she quickly placed the flaming sword in the boat and stretched her hands to pick the baby but, surprisingly, she got caught in two strange hands. She was trapped. It was the wizard.

Mansa cried as she tried to free herself from the strange hands of the wizard but she couldn’t.

Piwu struck the boat again with its python head, and this time, the boat nearly capsized. The sea waters splashed and entered the swaying boat. As a result, Oma got wet by the cold water and woke up.

As if he knew he had had a long sleep, he was in haste to see his wife. He looked around in the boat and realised that his wife was missing, and the flaming sword made him feel that a battle of some sort had been fought while he slept.

Oma did not hesitate in his resolve to find his wife. He stood on the boat and looked around on the sea. Left, right, and forward he looked but he could not see Mansa. For a moment, he thought he had lost his wife and that made him start regretting bitterly for allowing her to come with him. Then, in his desperate attempt to find her, he looked behind him, and there, he saw the wizard flying to Manke island with his wife in his grips.

“Damn!” he yelled, “you wicked, ugly goon. Your wand cannot save you from the axe that flies. Soon shall I rescue my wife from your grips.”

The wizard heard him and stopped. He turned to have a look at Oma.

“Oh, what a mistake I have made. I should have known that women don’t sail alone. I must add you to the meal,” he said mockingly.

And so saying, the wizard started flying back to Oma. He was so happy that he was going to have the couple for breakfast. Oma quickly held the little axe in his left hand but before he could chant the three mysterious words for the axe to fly, the monster struck the boat again and got his attention divided. As the wizard closed in on him from the left, the monster aggressively leaped on his right. Oma seemed trapped between the two evils, and he remained undecided for awhile as to who to fight first. He would first rescue his wife, he reasoned. He loved her more than his own life.

With great determination to save his wife, he had a quick glance at her in the grips of the wizard. His eyes met hers.

“Strike the monster!” Mansa cried, “strike it first.”

The cry of Mansa gingered Oma. He always listened to her, she was right many a time. Consequently, he picked the flaming sword from the boat and in one stroke, he cut off the python head of the deadly monster that was about to strike again. The monster writhed and moved back.

“What a brave young man you are,” said the wizad, “but you can’t defeat a wizard with the same tool in your hand. A flaming sword cannot fly like a wizard.”

Oma laughed. “A coward you are,” he said. “Perhaps, you didn’t hear me say, with your deaf ears, that, your wand cannot save you from the axe that flies? Free my wife otherwise, you will perish here and now.”

“Never in my life have I been threatened by an ordinary man. Even the deep, blue seas, the monsters, and the island of mighty demons scare me not, so why must I be afraid of you, one who will soon be a morsel in my mouth?” the wizard replied.

“Very well, then, defend yourself now,” Oma said, and without waiting for the wizard to say anything more, he chanted the three mysterious words. The little axe then flew from his hand towards the wizard.

The wizard hurled his wand to stop the axe but the axe did not stop. It flew like thunderbolt and heavily struck the strange hand of the wizard that held Mansa. Mansa got freed instantly and dropped into the sea.

Like a hungry fish chasing its prey in water, Oma swam and rescued his wife and brought her back into the boat. The axe returned to Oma as the wizard flew back to his island in pain.

“You slept so deeply,” Mansa said to him, and kissed him. She was breathing hard. “My breath nearly left me when you didn’t respond to my effort to wake you up. The monster nearly got us drowned and the wizard nearly had me for breakfast. He came disguised as a baby. He may come again in a different form. We have to be vigilant.”

“It is good you came with me, my beautiful wife. When two people walk together, a trap becomes a mere noose that gets loosened with four fingers. Do not be afraid because victory is going to be ours,” Oma replied.

The couple rested for awhile and continued the voyage, but few minutes later, the wounded, deadly monster got on their way again. This time, though wounded, it was more aggressive than when it first appeared. Its dragon head was spewing fire, and its shark head bared its monstrous teeth. It was such a deadly encounter, but Oma and Mansa did not allow the fearfulness of the monster to scare them - they fought the monster fearlessly. At the end, it was Mansa who before the voyage, was so scared and often sounded discouraged, the one that got the monster slain. Joy filled her heart and that of Oma when they saw the sea monster writhing to battle for its life.

The voyage continued, and at the dawn of the second day after the deadly monster was slain, Mookoo island came into sight. It was a big island with a dense forest. There were many trees on the island and among them was one that was taller and bigger than all the trees. The sight of the tree got Oma and Mansa terrified. Such a huge tree was not one that they could hew down easily. Perhaps, it would take them many days before they could accomplish the purpose for which they embarked on the perilous voyage.

The boat gradually pulled to a stop at the shore of the island. And there, at the shore, Oma and Mansa planned about what next they would do. Entering the forest on the island where the huge tree stood was not something they had pre-planned. Thus, it was wise that they thought about it well before taking the next step.