Mandebvu : The Demonic Lion

After killing the mermaids of the Sungano (unity) River, Brahmuhn journeyed far into hostile lands, battling lurid and monstrous beasts and ruthless witches, plundering their treasures, but Brahmuhn, not really concerned about gold and material food for the flesh, threw them into the rivers or just dropped them along the path. He set free those wrongly imprisoned in dungeons for no reason…'

Crowd of children: 'And then what did he do?'

'And then…after a grueling seven day journey on foot, Brahmuhn stumbled upon a deserted cave…or so he thought…'

Crowd of children: 'What was in it?'

'The cave descended for another two miles and in the deepest part of the cave was the Great Nyame-Nyame…' (The Great Legendary Serpent of Zimbabwe that is believed to have its dwelling in the Kariba dam).

There was a loud gasp from the children.

'As soon as his foot touched the ground, the Serpent woke from its slumber. It was the length of the Save River and its span was half that of a baobab tree. The only weapon in Brahmuhn's hand was the knobkerrie which had once been wielded by his great-grandfather in battle. As the Nyame-Nyame moved its great and massive body, there was a tremendous earthquake throughout the earth; an earthquake like never before. Brahmuhn raised his knobkerrie and…'

'And what is this nonsense you're filling the children's minds with now, Nyasha?' Tawana Masimba, now known by the entire village as Brahmuhn, had arrived to find Nyasha telling the village children of his "quests" just outside the homestead. Not only was Tawana now leader of the Vadhindi, but now twenty-eight years old he had already led the army of Chaponda Village into several victories against the Ndebele tribes. With dirty and scruffy dreadlocks, a brute and muscular physique and great wisdom, Brahmuhn was well respected by his people even though he was well known for smoking mbanje. His mother, Mai Kindi, had passed on a few years back, and now his father was gravely ill and very old and could now barely see. Brahmuhn had to handle the chiefly duties himself. The name "Tawana" was now rarely used.

'I was only telling the children of your heroic quests, my chief,' Nyasha explained.

'But how much of it is actually true, Nyasha?'

'Uh…'

They were now heading into the chief's homestead, leaving a multitude of children begging for the rest of the story. 'Don't believe everything you're told, Nyasha,' Brahmuhn smiled and gave him a friendly pat on the back in dismissal.

Nyasha was left standing alone, scratching his head in confusion.

'Your Humbleness…'

'That title is reserved for my father and only him.' Brahmuhn was now sitting on the throne in front of his three Elders: the first Elder; Dombo (Stone), the second Elder; Gumbo (Leg) and the third Elder; Shiri (Bird). The two Elders, Dombo and Gumbo almost looked alike: long white beards and faces wrinkled with age, but Shiri was much younger- about Nyasha's age which was about forty-two. Dombo was the one who had just referred to Brahmuhn as "Your Humbleness".

'Forgive me, my chief,' he apologized, 'You know very well that you do not have a title yet.'

'What is the gathering for? Why have you summoned me, Elders?'

'It's about the Ndebele tribes' advance, my chief,' Gumbo informed him.

Brahmuhn sighed in exasperation, 'I thought that we had resolved this matter already?'

'Not quite, my chief,' Shiri spoke this time, 'The two tribes of Matonsi you defeated were only a decoy for what is soon to come,' he added. 'It seems that the Ndebele tribes are now quickly becoming familiar with your war tactics…'

'And even if they were, I would still crush them! I've done it before and I will do it again,' he beat his chest with pride.

'With great respect, my chief, we all know how wise and powerful you are,' Dombo said, 'but I think it would be wise to increase the number of the Vadhindi,' he suggested.

Brahmuhn frowned hard, 'Are you seriously suggesting that I add more members to the Vadhindi? Dombo, do you have any idea what kind of training one has to go through in order to attain such a prestigious and noble position?'

'With great respect, my chief,' Gumbo spoke this time, 'You went through that training when you were only fourteen. What's to say someone twice that age…?'

'I endured that training because I am unique. Some grown men have died during that training.'

'Maybe if you lessened the intensity of the training…' Shiri started.

'Enough of this nonsense!' Brahmuhn shouted in anger. 'The Vadhindi will always be a group of six, with me at the helm and that is that!'

There was a sudden shriek from outside.

Without hesitation, Brahmuhn got to his feet and headed outside.

Outside his homestead there was confusion and chaos everywhere. People were running in all directions from something but could not make up their minds which direction to take. A man came and fell at his feet. 'What is it? What is going on? What is everyone running from?' Brahmuhn asked him.

The man was trying hard to catch his breath, 'I…It's…it's Mandebvu (great beard) my chief…Mandebvu is back! He has carried off a small girl into the forest.'

Mandebvu was a very large male lion with a black mane. He had been terrorizing Chaponda Village for the past three years. For the first two, he had been stealing goats and chickens but had now recently developed a taste for people. The previous year he had allegedly killed a woman fetching water by the river.

Brahmuhn raised the petrified man to his feet. 'Quickly, rush to the Vadhindi's homes and tell them to get their weapons and rush over here as swift as a knife on a chicken's throat!'

'Yes, my chief.' The man got up and ran as fast as he could to inform the Vadhindi of Brahmuhn's message. Their homes were not that far off and were not that far apart.

Brahmuhn headed back into his hut. The Elders had been discussing between themselves but became quiet as soon as he entered the room.

'What is it, my chief?' Gumbo asked him.

He walked over to the weapons lying against the walls of the hut at the far end of the wall. There was a very long sharp spear, a bow and arrows, two sharp daggers and his knobkerrie. He reached for the knobkerrie.

'Do you think that is a wise choice, my chief?' Dombo asked him looking severely doubtful.

'This weapon has won me many battles, Dombo,' he said flipping it in his hands, 'I doubt that it is about to fail me any time soon.'

The Vadhindi were now assembled outside his hut: Tortoise, Shumba, Hippo, Mamba and Cheetah. Even at the ages of thirty-five, they did not look that much different from the last fourteen years.

Tortoise wielded a bow and arrows, Shumba; a very long spear about twice his height when he held it beside him. Hippo carried a large bag of stones, Mamba had a sharp dagger in each of his hands and Cheetah was carrying his prized whip.

'Men!' Brahmuhn began, seeing that they all looked prepared, 'Mandebvu has caused us great sorrow and great loss. He has been stealing our goats, our chickens and our families for too long!'

'Brahmuhn!' they beat their chests.

'It is time for us to avenge our losses and our families!'

'Brahmuhn!!' they beat their chests again and shouted louder this time.

'Now…Are we boys, or are we men?!'

'Men!!'

'Soldiers, or civilians?!'

'Soldiers!!'

'Warriors, or conquerors?!'

'We are gods!!!'

'Then let us prove it! Let us kill Mandebvu this very day!'

'Long live Brahmuhn!!!' they yelled and began running into the forest with Brahmuhn in the lead.

The forest was very quiet. Brahmuhn had expected to hear at least Mandebvu's roar as soon as they entered the forest. But fortunately, he had been taught how to track wild animals by Chief Kindi and he was now putting these skills to use.

They advanced with caution as if Mandebvu was lurking in every corner.

The Vadhindi, quite ignorant of tracking methods, were using their weapons as their guides, parting the bushes as they walked.

Tortoise would occasionally launch an arrow into a bush and wait for any sound to respond.

Shumba's method was similar. He would poke a bush and wait for a response.

Hippo was aimlessly trailing behind. His bag of stones slung over his shoulder, each and every stone inside as though he was unwilling to part with any of them.

Brahmuhn, on the other hand, would pick up a handful of soil from what he suspected to be a paw print. After sniffing the soil he would dart his eyes around, put the soil back, stand up and continue walking.

Hours had passed and the team was now losing hope. Mamba grew hungry and he saw a lonely fruit hanging in a distance from a large bush. He smiled. 'I might as well treat myself to a snack,' he laughed to himself. He reached out one of his daggers to cut the fruit loose from its branch. The bush rustled but just for a quick moment. He took a step back. Just then, Mandebvu leapt from the bush and fell on top of him.

'Help!' he yelled helplessly, trying to keep the lion's teeth from his face...