Yishume nesihlanu

The music rumbled and rolled over the field. The pounding of the drums and metallic ring of the Mbira was alive and causing a vibrant feeling to spread through the air. It was the war-cry of the Meru pack and Zain, Chief of the Meru people, led their pride in the sadistically beautiful dance. They looked beautiful. Their nails were onyx black, much like their hair, and filed into a crescent point. Ever the superstar, Zain ended the performance by performing a triple swirl and being lifted in the air by four shirtless sculptures.

That's one way to start of the tournament.

The best part was that Zain wasn't even competing for Riley's hand in marriage. They simply wanted to raise the bar before her other suitors embarrassed themselves or our ancestors and our queen.

Quaahir was clapping obnoxiously loud beside me. I elbowed him in the rib to get him to stop. He chuckled and continued to clap – adding in a whistle for good measure.

And I thought incubi were supposed to inspire pleasure in their company, all the Nubian chief inspired me to do was roll my eye and knock him upside his skull. A true success story, Quaahir was.

Next, Lwazi stepped up. The Neberu tribe was a formidable one and the leopard shifters had always stood at the side of the South King. Lwazi's old brother was set to be one of my suitors as a child but with civil war came a lot of broken promises and lost crowns. So now, all that was left of a once-proud clan was a scared boy trying his best to follow the choreography and maintain his composure before shifting. We all applauded his efforts. Despite my dislike for his advisor, he was still a boy and he had the potential to grow into an honourable man one day.

The Impundu siblings waltzed out onto the field and the air turned static. The retards were smirking my way – they were stealing my move. Natori opened her arms and released a cry towards the sky. The sound stained the sky grey and angered all of the clouds overhead.

Katlego (or Kat according to his imaginary friends) stood behind her and held an iron triton above his head – he had a metallic glove over his left arm. He looked towards Riley and winked before he beat his glorified armband with the triton, summoning lightning from the sky. Both Natori and her idiotic brother's eyes turned white and the red clay from their hair melted away – exposing electrified locks that looked possessed. They were doing the dance of electric eels and they were doing it to show that even the heavens would bow at their feet.

This pissed me off, but I quelled to urge to steal their thunder, literally. This was my only shot at ridding myself of Riley and dumping her into another's arms. I was losing patience with the princess and her insistence to unearth the past. She was determined to erase history and the emotions that lived there but I couldn't afford to have them resurface. So, I let the ancestors most obnoxious children perform their little light show and watch as both Katlego and his equally annoying sister flash Riley flirtatious smiles.

When they are done, it is time for Riley to step up and prove why she is worthy of being fought for. This was her moment. She had been preparing for it since she was a little girl. I looked at her – she was shifting her weight between feet and clicking her tongue.

"Why are you stalling? You've had these moves memorized since eight," I reminded her. She glared at me and bit her cheek.

She looked down and mumbled, "what'f I make a fool of myself. I cannot be shown up by 'them'". She motioned to the others – her suitors.

I rolled my eyes. Of course, she would choose this moment to lose her self-esteem, I grumbled to myself.

This was for both of us. I relented and grabbed her chin, making her look at me. Her hazel eyes were shimmering and for a second, we weren't enemies. She looked so small under my touch and I found myself melting. She leaned into my palm and sighed softly.

"Come on, Riles. We've got this. We'll show all of these idiots what the South can do," I said confidently. She smiled at me. This felt good… too good. Just today, I told myself, just today.

She nodded and then took a deep breathe. Game time, vermin. I smirked as the princess took a step forward raising her hand, signaling that her warriors should enter formation. I joined her, standing beside her in the center of the quad. A lioness and an orisha – two supreme rulers of the African people. With us united, nobody would be able to resist.

Just as I moved to start, someone gently grabbed my shoulder.

"There is a change in plans. I need you and the princess to follow me at once," the dwarf of a man whispered to me in a panicked voice. Riley met my eyes and furrowed her eyebrows. I nodded towards the man and motioned her to follow. She did.

Once we were out of earshot, he informed us there was an attack on the Mpande territory and that Riley and I would need to report home immediately. They offered us their emergency teleportation pods. The rest of our warriors would have to drive, along with our luggage.

As we turned to follow him, we were blocked by none other than Quaahir and Zain; even little Lwazi stood beside them.

"You don't think I'm letting you have all the fun, right?" Quaahir said, smirk present. I smiled at him.

Zain simply shrugged and said, "anything to escape this boredom." Fair enough.

With them at our side and Lwazi's forces, we were unbeatable. Maybe being home wasn't all bad – loyalty is a rare commodity to find in exile.

We arrived at the Mpande estate in a haste and I jumped out of the pod, I tripped when I got to the ground. I disregarded the shooting pain in my knee as I raced towards the house. I noticed that the house seemed undisturbed by an attack.

"Lissa? Sammy?" I screamed, running further into the house. I searched the halls for my family, running upstairs towards their rooms. They were empty. Shit. Where were they? I asked myself. I looked outside of the room��s window, spotting a crowd on the field below. I all but teleported there, parting the crowd with my voice.

"Lissa!" I shouted, pushing people out of my way, "Sammy!"

I caught my beautiful love in my arm. Thank the gods, I thought in relief. She was safe and in my arms. I hugged her tightly to my chest and breathed in her fresh scent. She wrapped her armed around my neck. I could feel the vibrations of her body and she sobbed into my nape. I rubbed soothing circles into her back and waited for her breathing to calm down before pulling away slightly.

"Lissa, sweetheart, it's okay. You're you

"We were on patrol. They came out of nowhere… surrounded us…They took him… he… they … it was so …" Desaley's words turned to white noise. I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. All I cared about was that my best friend was taken – he was in danger. I should have been here, I scolded myself. I was supposed to keep him safe. But I put Riley over him.

"Don't worry, Lissa," I said kissing her head, "We'll get him back. I refuse to lose another brother."

I was standing with Lissa in my arms, she was trying to calm her breath against my shoulder, and I was trying to stay Earthed. As long as I could feel the movement of Melissa's chest against mine, I could match her heartbeat and sync my breath to hers.

I needed to get him.

Who would take him?

How did they find out he was here?

Why would they allow him to go on patrol?

My mind was overflowing with questions and I was running out of patience to wait for the answers. By the time, Lissa was ready to exit my embrace, I knew what I needed to do. Whoever took my brother would find themselves leaving this world without their skin. The echo of their screams would serve as a warning for anyone who considered to hurt my family.

"What happened? I want to know what happened" Riley commanded her pride. Everyone went silent for a second before one of the warriors stepped forward.

"Princess, they came out of the forest. The used some kind of smoke that put us all to sleep. They used these… masks," he informed her. She nodded her head and asked him to continue.

"That is all, princess. When we woke up, they were gone," he said.

That's all?

"What about my brother?" I demanded. The other warriors exchanged looks.

"Come on he's a ghost. I say good riddance. At least they didn't harm any of our people," he said. I didn't reply.

I simply looked to the sky, allowing my nitric fury to fuel me and a bolt of lightning shot through the clear blue sky and met my open palm. Before anyone could react, I attacked the idiot in question and delivered an electrifying slap that petrified the blood in his veins and turned the rest of his body into a grotesque version of a toasted yam.

I couldn't hear anyone or see anything. The world was on fire and the only thing that would prevent it from turning to ash was getting my brother back to safety. Despite the crispy man at my feet, my entire body was frozen; there were blue flames danced through my veins. I looked towards the clearing, seeing only the primitive shapes of trees before racing towards the clearing.

I needed to find Sammy. I refuse to lose another brother to somebody else's war.