Chapter 33

Luyanda rushed forward and fell to his knees beside him.
“Jabu? Can you hear me?”
Jabu moaned. Luyanda gently touched his shoulder. Jabu’s eyes flicked open.
“Msiza, flashlight.”
Jabu squinted as the beam of light from Luyanda’s wrist washed over him. His face was covered in bruises, and an angry weal cut across his lip.
“Dude, what happened?”
Jabu mumbled something incoherent. Luyanda tore the gag off his mouth and helped him to sit upright.
“They found it,” Jabu rasped. “They found the stool.”
“Wait here,” Luyanda said. “I’ll be right back.”
Luyanda shot through the shadows and found Nomsa waiting where he had left her.
“I’ve found him,” he panted. “Follow me.”
He led her through the house and along a passage that he guessed led to the basement. Soon enough, he found a trapdoor on the floor that revealed a set of stairs descending to the cellar. They made their way down gingerly, using the light from their pads to guide them, and quickly undid Jabu’s bonds.
“They found the stool and left,” he said. “That Yisa is one son-of-a — .” He broke off into a fit of coughing.
“I’ll get you some water,” Nomsa said, “Where’s the kitchen?”
“Just above the stairs, to the left. We have to go,” Jabu said, trying to get to his feet.
“Easy, man,” Luyanda said, coaxing him back down onto the floor. “Just drink something first and then tell us exactly what happened.”
Nomsa returned a moment later with a glass of water. Jabu chugged it down, then he leaned back and winced in pain.
“Tell us everything that happened,” Luyanda said. Jabu took a deep breath, and begun.
“It was early this afternoon, like some hours ago. Uru called an urgent meeting, saying that we had to pack everything and leave. He had found the stool. The others got busy putting things together, but I tried to find out where we were going. Uru refused to tell me. So I tried to sneak into his office and to see if I couldn’t find anything that I could then send to you guys. That’s when Yisa caught me and raised the alarm. They beat me up, and left me tied up and left. I’m guessing they expected me to starve to death.”
“Why couldn’t you use your swords?” Luyanda asked.
“I can’t control them if I can’t see them. And I don’t know where they are. They might have even taken them with them.”

“We’re too late,” Nomsa moaned.
“No, we’re not,” Luyanda answered. He helped Jabu to his feet.
“I need you to try and remember, Jabu. Anything at all. About where they could be going.”
“I’m not sure, but I think I heard Uru mention Nubia more than once after we hacked into the university database and stole everything we could find on the ancient stools.”
“Which explains why Bimba’s files disappeared,” Luyanda said. “It’s a good thing she had those hard copies.”
“You guys went to see Bimba about this?”
“Yeah, and she turned out to be a big help, too.”
“Do you know where in Nubia he was going?” Nomsa asked.
“I saw a map of it on Uru’s desk just before that rat Yisa busted me. He’d stuck a pin on a place, but I can’t remember it’s name.”
“We have to follow them there,” Luyanda said.
“How on earth are we going to do that?” Nomsa asked.
“They’re moving fast,” Jabu said. “They’re using Yisa’s abilities to travel underground. There’s no way we can catch up with them.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” Nomsa said. “For starters, let’s first figure out where to go. Nubia’s a big place. Fela,” she said, flicking her wrist, “bring up the records I scanned from Dr. Bimba. I need you to find any places in Nubia where stools of dominion were reported to be.”
“One moment please,” her pad replied. “The location in Nubia that is most closely associated with the research on thrones of dominion is pyramid KL342, also known as the pyramid of Narmer.”
“Narmer,” Jabu gasped. “That’s what he’d pinned on the map. Narmer.”
Luyanda scratched his head.
“Uru and his gang have gotten a big headstart, and they’re travelling much faster than we can imagine. I think the only way we can catch up with them is if we do the same.”
“None of us can travel underground like Yisa,” Nomsa said.
“He calls himself Mwindo nowadays, by the way,” Jabu said.
“I know, but what if we could fly through the air?” Luyanda said, giving Nomsa a meaningful look. She shook her head and took a step back.
“No, no, no,” Nomsa interrupted. “I can’t do it. Don’t even think about it.”
“I think if you wanted to, you could create a whirlwind strong enough to take us all the way there and back.”
“Are you out of your mind? I’ve never done anything even remotely close to that. What if we got ourselves killed?”
“What choice do we have?”
“I’m not doing it, Luyanda. I’m putting my foot down.”
“Come on,” Luyanda pleaded. “You saw what you did to the wall just now.”
“I’m willing to take the risk,” Jabu said. “There’s no telling what that madman will do if he gets his hands on the stool.”
“So am I,” Luyanda said. “I’ve already lost my birth parents. I don’t want to lose my foster parents, too.”
Nomsa bit her lip. Luyanda could see the struggle that was going on inside of her.
“Please, Nomsa. For Keita.”
“Fine!” She crossed her arms angrily and glared at them. “But if you all die, it’s going to be your funeral.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Luyanda said, raising his hand for a high five and putting it down again when he saw the glare in her eyes.
“And,” Nomsa added, pointing at Jabu, “I don’t want to hear any complaints if I cause you any more pain.”
“Pain?” Jabu asked, grinning. “What pain?” He took a step forward and winced, clutching his side and sucking at his teeth.
“I’ll make it,” he said. “This is personal for me now.”
“Great,” Luyanda said, giving him a worried look. “Let’s get going.”
“We need to get provisions before we go,” Jabu said. “Who knows how long we’ll be gone for. And some weapons, too. .”
“You’re right,” Luyanda said. “Can you show us where everything is?”
He nodded.
They helped Jabu out of the cellar and onto the passage. They decided to keep the lights off, and to use the flashbeams on their pads instead. Jabu lead them to armoury. It was a long, low room. Rows of spears, shields, axes, cudgels and daggers lined the walls. Luyanda spotted a long, double-tipped spear lying in a corner. He picked it up and balanced it in his hands. He nodded. It would do just fine. Nomsa stuck a set of daggers into her pockets.
Jabu spotted a pair of diamond encrusted sword hilts. His eyes widened, and he hobbled across to the wall and grabbed them in either hand.
“I knew he’d leave them,” he said triumphantly.
“Ozidi’s swords?” Luyanda asked.
“Why didn’t he take them?” Nomsa asked.
“Because he can’t control them unless I’m there.” Jabu answered. “That’s as far as he got with this experiments. He can only control our powers if we are close by.” He tossed the handles into the air. Two broad, gleaming blades hissed as they shot out of their hilts. He caught the swords in his hands, swished them around and hurled them at Luyanda. Luyanda ducked even as the blades zinged back into their hilts, and the bladeless hilts shot past his head, doubled back, and returned to Jabu’s open palms, like boomerangs.
“Jabu!” Nomsa shrieked. “What are you doing?”
“Just testing my skills,” he said, as he tucked the hilts into his belt.
“You could’ve killed him!”
“No he wouldn’t. That was awesome!” Luyanda beamed, straightening up and regarding Jabu with newfound admiration.
“If you boys are done showing off your toys, then maybe we can head over to the kitchen and see what food we can find?”
“Right,” Jabu said. “Follow me.”

Jabu led them to the kitchen. They rummaged through the cupboards, grabbing whatever they thought would come in handy to keep them going for the next few days. In a few minutes, their backpacks were full of canned food, bottles of water and a couple of small pots and pans.
“I think we’ve got enough to last us at least a week,” Luyanda said, shoving a box of matches into his backpack.
“And if not, we shall just ration,” Nomsa added thoughtfully.
“Let’s hope it won’t have to come to that,” Jabu said with a groan.
“It shouldn’t,” Nomsa said. “We are going to have to make sure that nobody sees us leaving. We don’t want to get into any more trouble than we already are in.”
“Don’t worry about the neighbours,” Jabu answered. “The properties in this area are so large that there’s no chance any of the neighbours is going to see us.”
They lugged their now heavy backpacks through the house, keeping the lights off and relying on Jabu to guide them to the entrance. Soon, the cavernous doorway loomed up in front of them, and the silver moonlight shone on the white pebbles outside.
“Let’s hope we won’t have to do any trekking,” Jabu said, dropping his backpack onto the ground. “This thing is heavier than it looks.”
Luyanda turned to Nomsa.
“Over to you, Nomsa. You’re in charge now.”
Jabu rubbed his shoulders, and slung on the backpack again.
“I hope it will be quick,” he said.
“I don’t know how long it will take to get there. According to my pad, it’s a six hour flight.”
Jabu groaned. Luyanda patted his back bracingly.
“Then the sooner we leave, the better,” he said. “What do you want us to do?”
“I think that we should hold hands.”
Jabu shot a dark glance in her direction.
“Just do it, man,” Luyanda admonished, and stretched out his hand towards Jabu. Jabu took it grudgingly, and Nomsa took his other hand and locked arms with Luyanda. She closed her eyes tight. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the leaves in the trees beside them started rustling. Soon, the branches begun shaking and swinging wildly as the wind picked up and started whirling about them. Dark clouds wheeled over their heads. There was a flash of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder. The wind speeded up and was now blowing in powerful gusts, whistling past Luyanda’s ears angrily. Luyanda was running short of breath. He squeezed Nomsa’s hand, willing her to understand that he couldn’t breathe. She squeezed his hand back and nodded. Luyanda noticed the wind around him die down. A wall of air had formed around them, creating an oasis of calm in the midst of the raging storm. Luyanda sucked in a mouthful of air, his shoulders relaxing as the air rushed into his chest. Then, without any warning, his feet left the ground. A wave of panic shot through him, and he glanced at Nomsa next to him. She was focused, her lips tightly screwed, eyes pressed shut. He looked down and could make out glimpses of the ground far below them, in between the wisps of turbulent clouds whirling about them. His stomach went cold. He quickly closed his eyes and imagined himself lying on the beach, sunbathing.
He waited a few moments, then took another peek between his dangling feet. The clouds still wheeled about them at a dizzying pace, but every now and again he could make out the city far below them, it’s tiny lights winking in the distance. He glanced at Jabu. He had his eyes squeezed tightly shut. But Nomsa’s eyes were open. She kept glancing at the pad on her wrist, then at the storm of clouds around them. She seemed fully focused on keeping them in mid-air and moving in the right direction.
The cold air nipped at Luyanda’s skin, and he shivered. He could no longer make out the ground beneath them. They were hurtling through the sky now, and Luyanda wondered how much longer he could hold out against the biting cold as the temperature dropped drastically. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it any more, the air about him got warmer. They were descending, and slowing down at the same time. Once again, he could make out the ground below, through the wisps of clouds twisting about them. In the distance, the orange sun peeked over the horizon. It was dawn, and a sea of beige sand stretched out in all directions beneath them. Every so often, massive rocks dotted the brown sea, and broke the monotony of the wave-like sand dunes. As they floated towards a particularly large mound, Luyanda realised that it was a pile of ruins. It must have been a city many centuries before. Rocks splayed across the sand in all directions, with a few still resting quietly on top of others, the last remnants of ancient city walls. He noticed a pyramid jutting into the sky, on the western edge of the ruins. He gave a yelp as they narrowly missed it’s point on their way down and crashed into a sand dune.
“Sorry,” Nomsa said, as she picked herself up “I hope everyone’s alright?”
“That was great,” Jabu said, as he dusted the sand off his shirt and pants. “Ten points for the take-off, and minus ten for the landing.”
“No broken bones though,” Luyanda said, as he picked up his backpack and spear off the ground. “Does anyone know where we are?”
“That’s the pyramid of Narmer,” Nomsa said, nodding at the stone monument looming over them. “We got here in about half the time a plane would have taken. I was worried we’d miss it in the dark, but luckily, the sun was already coming up, so spotting it was easy.”
“You mean we travelled faster than a plane?” Jabu asked. “How did you manage that?”
“The whirlwind made it hard to breathe, so I had to create a bubble within it. That was lucky, because it meant less friction, and so we could move faster.”
“That brilliant, Nomsa.” Jabu said, “Well done. But next time I’d like some peanuts for the flight please.”
Luyanda guffawed, and trudged through the deep sand to the pyramid.
Jabu and Nomsa picked up their backpacks off the ground, and joined him. They stood running their hands over the rough stones piled on top of each other. Each of the blocks was several feet wide, and taller than a man. Luyanda stared at it in awe.
“It’s hard to believe that people made these without machines of any kind, isn’t it?” he said.
“How are we supposed to get in there?” Jabu asked. “Is there an entrance somewhere?”
“The entrance would be cleverly hidden, to make sure grave robbers don’t get in,” Nomsa said. “It could take hours to find it, if we’re lucky.”
Luyanda glanced at the sun, and at the shadow that the pyramid cast.
“We don’t have hours,” he said. “If Uru’s in there, he went in through the ground using Yisa. I think I can use it’s shadow to get in there.”
“And if he’s in there?” Nomsa asked, “What are you going to do?”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Before the others could stop him, he dropped his spear and backpack on the sand and merged with the pyramid’s shadow. The cool, dark silence of the pyramid engulfed him. There were shadows everywhere. He sensed them in the tiny cracks, rills and notches on the blocks all around him. He skirted along their edges, and soon was plunged in total darkness. He emerged from the shadows and into a long, low passage.
Soft murmurs came to his ears. Voices echoed off the stone walls around him, swimming up from the deep, dark depths of the pyramid. The passage sloped steadily downwards. He followed it, and hugged the wall when he caught a glimpse of a faint beam of light shimmering far ahead of him. He paused and listened. There they were again. The voices. The light was strong enough now to throw pale, twisting shadows off the jagged stone wall. He melted into one of them, and glided noiselessly down the rest of the way, coming to a halt inside a small chamber. There before him stood Uru, Yisa and Amina.
Uru stood next to a low stone table, and Yisa and Amina stood to his right and left, slightly behind him. All three had their backs turned to Luyanda. Uru ran his whisk over the table, slowly and methodically, chanting under his breath. A dull rumble shook the room, and the table glowed with a ghastly, iridescent light. His curiosity piqued, Luyanda inched along the shadows dancing on the wall, cast by the flaming torch that hung in a corner of the subterranean chamber. The glimmer on the table died down, leaving silver letters etched on its surface.
“That’s ancient Adinkra,” Amina said.
“What does it mean?” Yisa asked.
“I couldn’t make them all out,” she answered, and turned to Uru.
“What does it mean, master?”
Luyanda almost choked. He couldn’t believe that Amina had just called Uru, master. Uru didn’t answer the question immediately, but rather let his arms fall down to his sides, even as the writings on the stone disappeared.
“Master,” Amina said, “what did they mean? Did we find what we were looking for?”
“Yes, we have found it. It is locked within the stone.”
“Can I enter it and get it, then?” Yisa asked.
“You can try, but you won’t be able to. This rock is impregnable.”
“Maybe the Adinkra letters held the key, master,” Amina said. Luyanda bit his lip. Uru’s new title was getting on his nerves.
“Yes, they did, my dear,” Uru said. “The words were Nsoroma - children of the heavens. Owuo Atwedee - death’s ladder. Nyame Nnwu Na Mawu - life after death and Adinkrahene - greatness and leadership.”
Luyanda started. Nyame Nnwu Na Mawu. He recognised that. That was the symbol that had hung around Keita’s neck when he died. Yisa interrupted his train of thought.
“So what do they mean altogether?” Yisa asked.
“It means that the price to pay for greatness and leadership, is the death of the children of heaven.”
They were silent for a moment. Then, with a quivering voice, Amina spoke up.
“Who are the children of heaven?”
Uru wheeled around and stared at the two of them.
“Young ones. Innocent ones. Ones whose hands are yet to be stained with blood.”
Amina’s face paled, and she took a step back.
“Where are we going to find someone like that around here?” Yisa asked. “There’s nobody around for miles.”
“We have everyone and everything we need right here.”
“Who?” Yisa asked. Uru’s eyes flashed at him, and he nodded.
“I am deeply grateful,” Uru said. “Your sacrifice for the greater glory of our new empire, will not be in vain.”
Amina whimpered and crumbled to the ground, her face a mask of horror.
“But you said that we would be honoured. That we’d be your trusted advisors,” Yisa stammered.
“And you will. You will be immortalised.”
“You promised,” Amina croaked.
“I am sorry it has to be this way,” Uru said. He raised his whisk slowly. Amina pressed her hands to her head and screamed. Vines shot out of the ground and shot their way, twisting and turning, towards Uru. Yisa sunk into the floor. Uru snarled, and waved his whisk. In an instant, everything froze. Amina’s vines hung a few feet from Uru. She blinked rapidly, the rest of her body immobilised. Yisa’s head stuck out of the floor, the rest of his body submerged beneath the rock.
“You disappoint me,” Uru said. “I expected more from you.” He waved his whisk again. The vines of Amina’s creation wrapped themselves around both Amina and Yisa, hoisted them them up, and dropped them onto the table. They coiled themselves around their bodies rapidly, pinning them to the stone.
“I am indeed sorry. I knew that Alkebulan would take sacrifice,” he said, “but not like this.”
“You will be killing them for nothing,” Luyanda said. He stepped out of the shadow and hopped onto the rocky floor.
Uru’s face went blank. For a moment, he stared at Luyanda, his mouth twisting in rage. He took a moment to regain his composure, then asked,
“Why should I take the advice of my enemy?”
“Because I don’t want anybody else to die,” Luyanda said. “You’re not my enemy. And neither are they.”
“You’re a fool. Keita has filled your head with hope and arrogance. It will be your undoing.”
“The stool isn’t in that rock,” Luyanda said. “It was removed a long time ago.”
“I see you’re a poor liar.”
“It’s in the Shadow Realm. Keita took it there a long time ago. You cannot get it now.”
The colour drained from Uru’s face. He took a hesitating step forward, opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing.
“You were willing to sacrifice the lives of your students before even checking to make sure that what you sought was inside.”
“Silence!” Uru barked. “I was unable to look at it. Not even Yisa could penetrate that altar.”
The ground beneath their feet started quaking. Rocks, pebbles and dust dislodged from the chamber’s ceiling.
“Yisa, stop!”
But it was too late. Whilst they had been speaking, Amina had loosed Yisa’s bonds and freed his hand. That was enough for him to grasp the table, and shake all the adjoining rocks in the cavern loose. The stone floor undulated like a wave in the sea. Luyanda was tossed into the air, and he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself.

He landed on his tummy, the impact leaving him winded. His throat squeezed shut as he swallowed a mouthful of sand, and he sat up, coughing and wheezing for breath. He opened his eyes and immediately shielded them from the bright sunlight that bathed the sand. Rocks lay scattered all around him. The pyramid was gone. Only it’s base remained intact, a quadrangle of jagged stone. He saw the glinting tip of his spear, half-buried in the sand, where he had left it next to his backpack. A movement caught his eye. Uru was already on his feet. Amina and Yisa pushed themselves onto their knees, coughing.
“You fools,” Uru breathed, and aimed his whisk at Yisa and Amina. He hoisted them off their feet, and suspended them in mid-air like marionettes hanging from invisible strings.
“I should kill you right here and now.”
“Let them go,” Luyanda shouted. “Let them go and I will lead you to the stool.”
Uru lowered his whisk, and Yisa and Amina dropped to the ground with a thud.
“Get me the stool, or they die.”
“Yes, but first— ”
“No buts.”
“I’m trying to say I don’t know how bring things back from the Shadow— .”
A resounding yell cut him short. Jabu leapt forward, his two gleaming swords bearing down on Uru. Uru ducked out of the way just in time. One sword missed his face by inches. The other almost took off his head. He rolled on the ground and leapt to his feet, cat-like. He raised his whisk. Jabu flew through the air, smashed into the ground, and lay still. Nomsa snarled, and directed a column of wind-driven sand straight into Uru’s chest, blasting him off his feet. Uru got up quickly, and waved his whisk at her. She rocketed through the air and landed in a sand dune several feet away. Luyanda watched her limp body roll down the dune, and roared in anger.
He pulled his spear out of the sand and charged at Uru, thrusting it with all his might and giving no thought to his own safety. Uru stepped back and dodged the blow. Carried forward by his momentum, Luyanda careened headlong into him. Uru neatly stepped to the side and stuck out his leg, tripping Luyanda and sending him into the sand face-first. Uru raised his whisk, and Jabu’s two swords pried themselves loose from Jabu’s grip.
Luyanda ducked out of the way of the attacking swords, as each of them sunk into the sand next to his feet. Uru determinedly thrust at Luyanda’s shadow, forcing Luyanda to jump, leap, roll and tumble at every thrust, ducking to avoid taking a direct hit to his shadow. He cursed and blessed the hot sun overhead, at the same time. It was blazing enough to cast his shadow on the ground, but high enough to keep his shadow close to his feet. Even as he dodged another blow, his knees shivered in exhaustion and his joints ached. It was tiredness that would finish him eventually. That would do him in even before the sun moved further across the sky and give Uru a bigger target to aim at.
He raised his spear to parry a blow, and thrust it at Uru at the same time. Uru blocked it deftly. Luyanda scanned the horizon, trying to find a shadow that he could jump into and make his escape. But all around them were sand dunes, as far as the eye could see. There wasn’t the slightest hint of vegetation anywhere. A sharp pain rose through his arm - and he shrieked. He had lost concentration, allowing one of Ozidi’s swords to piece the very edge of his shadow. Then he saw them. Nomsa, Amina, Jabu and Yisa. Lying flat on the ground, all around them. Their shadows huddled close against their sides. If only he could —
Blood spluttered out of his leg.
“You are getting tired,” Uru scoffed. “How much longer are you going to keep up this game?” Luyanda did not pause to give it another moment’s thought. He dashed across to Nomsa’s prone figure, and as soon as his shadow touched hers, he melted into it. He was in the familiar cool darkness, just beneath Nomsa’s consciousness.
“Nomsa!” he called out. “Nomsa, wake up!”
“Huh!” She sounded groggy. “Where am I?” Luyanda heard a slash, and pain shot through his side. Nomsa’s scream filled his head, and he jumped out of her shadow and into Yisa’s. “Yisa!” He called out. “Wake up!” We need you. Wake up.” Yisa shook himself groggily awake, and Luyanda leapt out of his shadow and into Amina’s.
“Amina,” he screamed. She didn’t move. “Amina,” he shouted again at the top of his lungs. “I need a place to hide. I need trees, and lots of them.” He emerged from Amina’s shadow and leapt to his feet just in time to parry another blow.
“You fool,” Uru snarled. “You think they can help you defeat —” Uru was hurled off his feet as Yisa shot out of the ground in front of him and smashed both his fists into Uru’s lower jaw. Uru roared in pain and fury. He turned the twin swords and sent them hurtling towards Yisa. Yisa sunk back into the ground, and resurfaced a few feet away. Uru went at him again, and Yisa once again submerged, knocking Uru off his feet when he remerged. Dark clouds gathered overhead and a loud rumble of thunder shook the earth as a bolt of lightning streaked to the ground and blasted Uru off his feet.
Luyanda saw his opportunity.
“Amina! Now!”
Amina thrust her hands into the ground, and a palm tree shot up out of the sand a few feet away from him. Another one sprouted a few feet further. Their shadows were adjoining. Then another and another, all with overlapping shadows. Luyanda melted into the shadow of the nearest tree, and leapt from shadow to shadow, moving as quickly as he could. He spun around and saw Uru rising slowly to his feet. Uru took one look at the trees, and the shadows all around them. He held his whisk aloft, and a dark plume of smoke wafted out of it, engulfing him completely. Luyanda’s breath caught.
“Lu! You’re still too close. Get away!” It was Jabu that shouted out to him. Even as he heard Jabu’s warning, Uru loomed up right before his eyes. A hazy, wispy shadow, but solid enough to hold the whisk in one hand and a sword in the other.
“You thought I couldn’t follow you here?” Uru’s high pitched rasp sent a shiver down Luyanda’s spine. Despair swept over him like a wave. Jabu had warned him that Uru could now mimic their abilities. But he had thought himself exempt. His arms fell limply to his sides for a split second. It was all that Uru needed. He thrust his sword at Luyanda. Luyanda ducked to the side, but not before the blade tore through his side. The pain brought tears to his eyes. His knees crumpled, and the earth beneath his feet gave way with a jerk.

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