Hayakunnah!
(Episode 17)
The king raised his sceptre and silence fell over the whole place. He motioned in our direction, and the warriors shoved us forward with their spears, exposing their large, irregular, brown teeth as they chuckled. The king stepped forward to address the people to which the ecstatic crowd responded with their version of ‘All hail the king!’
The king’s regalia inspired fear. In addition to the paintings he had on his face and body, his drape was made of lion skin worn such that the lion’s head rested on his shoulder. His crown was made of leather and eagle feathers. With his physique and stance, I had no doubt in my mind that he was a warrior-king. When the king finished, he gave the floor to the chief priest to proceed with the pre-sacrificial rituals.
Their language was as strange as their ways. It was spoken with a forceful cadence and explicit gestures. Though weird, I didn’t think it was difficult to understand for someone who had ears for languages. For someone who could speak five different languages fluently, it wasn’t long before I began to understand what they were saying.
The chief priest raised both his staff and rosary and said at the top of his voice, “Hahutaka, mi puputunga aki Hayak. Mi delikunta sho nganka tun Hayakunnah. Yahakun babalu, mu nganka Hayak ntunga. Bilisi bilisi fakunga.” (Greetings my great descendants of Hayak. It is my pleasure to present to you the great sacrifice for this year’s celebration of Hayakunnah. Behold! When the moon is full tonight, we shall offer our oblations to Great Hayak. May he continue to protect and bless us all)
The people responded with an exuberant shout of, “HAYAKUNNAH!”
It was time for the chief priest to examine the offering—us. The sun had set entirely now, but the whole place was aglow with burning torches. The moon had started to peep from behind the clouds. The warriors lined us up beside each other with our hands tied behind our backs. We were weak and thirsty and had bruises all over our body and face. One after the other, they stripped us of our tops, and the chief priest carried out the examination. When it got to my turn, immediately they removed my shirt, Fiona’s crescent moon pendant and the buckle of my belt glistened in the flickering light.
I saw the warrior princess jerk. Her eyes bulged, and she ordered, “Stop!”
The chief priest was taken aback. The supreme commander also frowned. The princess walked up to me, gawking at the pendant. I was confused, and her penetrating stare frightened me. She held the pendant and examined it thoroughly and then my buckle. I wondered what she was doing. Her eyes wandered over my muscled body. Undoubtedly, my bulging chest and six parks that now paid host to hundreds of sweat beads caught her fancy. I saw passion burning in her eyes. She bit her lips to suppress the feeling.
“We cannot sacrifice these people,” she said in their tongue, and after rewarding herself with a smile, she exclaimed, “The Prophecy!”
The people hooted and exchanged surprised looks.
Supreme commander sprang forward. He was not happy with the turn of events. He scolded his niece, “How dare you interrupt the holy proceeding, Hayakharet? And what prophecy are you talking about?”
“The Great Prophecy, of course!”
“Ah, the Prophecy.” The chief priest suddenly became thoughtful. “The day that the moon and the sun become one, that day, your saviour will arrive.”
“And how have the moon and the sun met? Tell me, little niece,” supreme commander snarled at her.
“Long live the king,” she courtesied. “Father, chief priest, and the royal council, for hundreds of years, we have waited for the prophecy to be fulfilled. We have waited for the day the sun and moon up in the sky will become one, but we have been looking in the wrong direction. Look! The sun and the moon have met today!” she pointed to the pendant and my belt buckle which had the shape of a shining sun engraved on it.
“Hmmm!” The King and the chief priest nodded. “Could it be that the words of the Prophecy are not to be taken literally?”
“And who is the saviour? These bunch of cowards that were defeated by a band of warriors led by a woman?” the supreme commander sniggered.
“And that woman is the commander of the best army on earth, uncle!” Hayakharet shouted at the supreme commander.
“And do not forget I am the SUPREME COMMANDER, little niece!” His eyes glowed.
My friends and I exchanged looks. Though they did not understand what was being said, they got the gist. The situation soon degenerated into a heated argument. The king intervened. He ordered the guards to lock us up in the dungeon while he consulted with the chief priest and his council to decide before the full moon.
***
The dungeon was dingy and damp. The moonlight filtered in through a tiny opening at the top, close to the roof, providing the only source of light. Our hands and legs were shackled by long chains attached to the walls. From the window, I saw that the full moon was almost entirely out in the sky. A crow cawed above the window as if reminding us that there was a little time left before our death. That is if the mosquitoes and fleas in this prison did not kill us first.
The mosquitoes buzzed in circles around my head, making it difficult for me to think straight. Annoyingly, I couldn’t free my hands to squash these insects or at least chase them off. The mosquitoes here were not like the ajebutter kinds of mosquitoes in Lagos. They were also savages—The Katanga—you know those black ones with white stripes on their legs and proboscis so long and sharp that could bite through thick jeans? They taught me to respect mosquitoes.
My ears picked up the sound of hurried footsteps approaching us. Three shadows slipped into the dungeon from underneath the door. I stiffened. The door flung open, and the light from the torch almost blinded me. Commander Hayakharet entered, closely followed by two fierce-looking warriors. It was perhaps our time to die.
To be continued … Watch Out for the Next Episode!
