Blackness surrounded Nkechi as she fell through the sky. The tree branches grappled at her skin like hungry wolves. Tugging and shredding through her flesh. She tried to grab a vine to help brace her fall, but the position she fell in it made it impossible for her to grab onto anything.
Her life flashed through her eyes in vibrant colours. A kaleidoscope of images fluttering through her sight. Her past, present and future merging into one colourful blur until her world went black as she crashed to the floor.
When Nkechi eventually came to, her left eye was still pulsing, and her body felt completely shattered. She could only focus on the physical pain because if she focussed on anything else, she would be completely shattered.
Hushed voices climbed through the dark forest, and through her swollen eyes, she could barely make out the appearances of the people around her. There was a haunted silence as the few tribespeople's who followed her to the ground, stood by and waited. Nkechi was unsure what they waited for until the earth beneath her battered form vibrated with the force of someone landing.
The energy shifted around them, the malice and anger so strong that Nkechi failed to decipher who the person could be. When those dark familiar eyes came into her focus, the last vestiges of her heart splintered.
"Fem-" Nkechi choked, her blood gurgling in her mouth as she tried to call for her livid brother.
His face was transformed into an emotion Nkechi had never seen directed at her. He was disgusted and that alone brought a cry of anguish from her bruised and swollen lips.
She rolled her battered body to her stomach as she tried to climb to her feet, but she was too weak. The move alone brought a sharp pain to her ribs. She grappled at her stomach and was horror-stricken when she pulled her fingers away and they were covered in thick oozing tar-like blood. Her eyes stung as bile burned through her throat and cascaded onto the floor. The action of vomiting took what little energy she had left, and she collapsed to the floor. Her tear and sweat slickened skin meshed with the remnants of her vomit and blood.
Her chest rattled as she wheezed through her lips. The pain she felt grew tenfold the longer she lay there. She was tempted to just pray for death, but her fate was never going to be that simple.
As if sensing her thoughts, Matin made his appearance known to her. His bulky form swooped low as he crouched down beside his daughter. She stared listlessly back at him through her engorged, glassy eyes.
The sight of her crumpled body brought such disgust, that he felt as if he would be sick right beside her. Not one part of Nkechi's body was spared. She was covered in cuts and bruises. Her beautiful cocoa skin that had once been a canvas of the goddesses' favour, was now a clear display of what the outcome would be if the tribe gained their Razi's ire.
Clearing the tears from his eyes and the emotion from his voice, Matin stood to his feet. He could barely look at his wife or his favoured council members. He knew how they felt, he could even agree with them, but no one was in his place. As a Razi and leader, he could not allow his daughter's disobedience to go unpunished. If he showed favour to Nkechi, then it would leave room for everyone else to challenge him and would ultimately lead to disorder. Even so, his intended decision was going to be lighter than what anyone else would receive. Nkechi would live and she would have the opportunity to live amongst them. Not many people could boast that they were given a second chance.
He silently motioned for one of the councilmen to lower the cage. Zira bellowed in rage at the sight of the wooden cage being lowered to the floor of the jungle.
"Enough," she cried. "Have you not done enough? Just look at her," she sobbed, "look at her," Zira pointed down at their daughter as tears cascaded down her face. "She has suffered enough. She understands her place. We all do. Now please, let her be."
Zira's body shook as she begged her husband to show mercy. Her heart was completely obliterated. She had never wanted to take sides and had never imagined that she would have to. For years, she had prayed to the goddess to be kinder. To show mercy but it was in this moment that Zira realised her prayers had gone unanswered. The Goddess had made her decisions long ago, and her revelation of this event to Zira had only been to help lessen the burden Zira would face. Even so, Zira pleaded with her husband, the man she chose and loved with all her being, to show mercy. To show love and compassion to their only daughter.
Her heart instantly hardened when he ignored her pleas.
"Put her in the cage."
Nkechi shrieked and wailed as pain consumed her body. Rough arms grappled at her. Her flesh torn skin protested against the harsh treatment; her limbs flailed about as she tried to dislodge their grips. She was unaware of where she was going but her very being rejected at their presence. She cried and begged when it became apparent that she could not break free, but no one came to her rescue. Not even her brother Femi. Completely destitute, Nkechi curled into a ball and sobbed as the gates of her prison clanged shut.
Her mournful songs climbed louder and louder the higher the cage lifted into the air. Her howling was echoed by the sounds of her mournful mother. As if the goddess too were crying, the sky opened up and rain came torrenting down upon them. Nkechi shivered in the unending cold, crying and crying until eventually, her tears melded into the rain. Her heart pulsed weakly as she inhaled a few wheezy breaths and then stopped. Her world completely darkened.
In a distant world, she heard words of love and safe passage chanting over her body. Soft hands pushed at her wet hair. Full lips kissed at her hot forehead and roughened fingertips stroked at her eyebrows. The world remained dark around her, but she was not alone. She felt a heart beating in time with hers. Nkechi had no idea where this person was, but she could feel their vibrations through the cosmos. The pulse was weak at first, but upon feeling her weak energy, theirs grew. Nkechi had no idea what was happening, but she knew that whoever she was connected to, needed her. Her pulse was weak, her energy depleted, but with what she had left she pushed it into them.
Her body instantly felt cold, bereft. She felt empty as if all manner within her had disappeared, but the feeling was fleeting because just as soon as her energy left, it came back tenfold. A wistful smile graced her lips as she felt both of their energies growing the longer, they stayed connected. The hot pulse of life flew through their beings.
The chants grew louder and stronger, the urgency of each word growing until Nkechi felt her soul glowing from within. A bright light flashed in her mind.
When the light eventually dimmed, Nkechi was alone. No energy but her own flowed through her and no chants filled her head. She could feel no one. She was utterly alone. A tear glided down her cheek as she mourned that connection and so much more.
Nkechi slept fitfully that night. Her body craved the chance to begin regenerating but her mind was tormented. The screeching of the wildlife kept her mind awake even as her eyes remained shuttered. Flickering as her dreams were utterly stark.
She lay there for days on end, her mind and body withering away until the time was immaterial, and reality was nothing but a figment of her imagination. Throughout her imprisonment, she often felt people visiting her. She could feel their bodies hovering over her and see their energies in her mind. Sometimes she could hear their words but oftentimes her body was too lethargic for her to make sense of sentences. Three main energies visited her. One was so pure that it often brought a sense of calm to Nkechi. The other most frequent energy she noted was a vibrant yellow that matched the suns glow. The least frequent but the one that Nkechi felt most connected to, was a rich purple hue.They visited Nkechi and pried broth into her weekend lips and made her drink gulps full of water. They sang songs and helped groom and soothe her fragmented body.
The days crawled by in a deep depression. The atmosphere around her felt tainted and her body seemed to be withering away but her mind and soul were growing. Somehow, her resilience had not been beaten out of her. When Nkechi's soul had eventually grown strong enough, she found the blankness that had once coated her mind, slowly receding. Piece by piece, the world around her came into focus. It was blurry on account of her still swollen eyes, but her consciousness had slowly begun to return.
With the return of her awareness, came the acknowledgement of many revelations.
Femi had yet to visit her.
Nkechi had matched the energy's she often saw in her mind with those who visited her. The pure energy she had felt matched Ife. The female was often skittish and went to great lengths to hide. Through her swollen eyes, Nkechi made revelations about Ife that brought clarity to her confusing world. Tobi's energy was the vibrant yellow and he often sang or hummed to her. His angelic voice was a secret to many, leaving Nkechi feeling blessed to have heard such beauty. They visited her daily, Tobi with his silent anger masked by his singing and Ife with her gentle touch. The person who the purple hue belonged to had yet to visit, but Nkechi was sure that the royal hue belonged to her mother. They helped fix some of the fragments of Nkechi's heart with their care and affection, but the more they came to visit, the more her brother's absence was noted. Until one day, when Ife had finished sneaking Nkechi some soup, Nkechi decided to speak her first words.
"Where is my brother?"
Ife's eyes lit up with joy at hearing Nkechi speak but then shuttered in darkness. Ife smoothed at the lapels of her cloak in nervousness. Ife's eyes remained on her lap before they finally met Nkechi's.
"He left. After you were placed in this cage, he argued with your father. It was very ugly and then he left. He has been gone for weeks."
Nkechi's heart throbbed at the realisation that she had been left in this cage for weeks with no visit from her father or a healer. If it had not been for Ife, Nkechi surely would have been dead.
Taking Nkechi's silence as her queue to leave, Ife gathered her items into her bag and prepared to climb down from the tree she had propped herself in. Her retreat was halted when Nkechi grabbed her wrist.
"Thank you, Ife, you are a pure soul and I could see that even when my eyes were closed."
"I couldn't let you suffer for a decision that was never yours to make," Ife whispered.
Nkechi tilted her head sideways as she perused Ife's appearance, her eyes slowly moving downwards until she glanced at the wrist she gripped. The cloak that Ife often wore, had been folded at her elbows revealing the beautiful artwork of monochromatic patterns. When Nkechi met Ife's eyes a silent conversation was had before Nkechi released her wrists. Ife slinked away quietly, disappearing like a ghost in the wind.
That night Nkechi could not sleep, though she rested her eyes, her mind and body were completely awake. She sat crossed legged as she gently ran her fingers around some of the lesser wounds that had begun to heal.
Loud rustling made her eyes snap open. A bright smile spread across her lips at the beautiful sight.
"Femi," her joy turned into a sob as she reached for her brother. He quickly climbed the rest of the way, so he was perched on the tree beside her. Through the bars, he stroked her cheeks.
Femi was dishevelled. His clothes crumpled and his hair way longer than he typically styled it, but he was here. In all of his glorious splendour. He matched her smile as he rubbed at the large globs of tears that welled from her eyes.
"Hey Niki," he sniffled, "How are you doing?"
"I'm better now," and it was the truth. Having Femi here had fixed pieces of Nkechi's heart that she thought would never be healed. He was the only family member she relied on.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you, but I had to go. I couldn't stay because if I did you would either be a botherless sister or a fatherless child."
Nkechi nodded her head solemnly. She understood her brother's dilemma and as much as she had wanted him here, she was happy he left. She did not want her father to die as a result of her decisions.
"It's okay but the least you could have done was wash before you came to see me. I'm sure you smell worse than me and I have been sleeping in my bodily fluids for weeks on end."
They both burst out in laughter at the truth in her statement. Femi smelled wretched. His body was covered in grime and filth that he had likely gathered when he was a Dahara.
Their laughter was short-lived as the reality of the situation crept up.
"I'm going to make him free you," Femi deadpanned.
"I don't expect you to fight my battles brother. Just having you by my side, here with me, makes everything better."
"I understand that Niki, but what kind of brother would I be if I just let you rot here for however long and did nothing about it? You deserve better than this, better than this tribe. For too long I have allowed him to undermine me, well no longer. You are my sister and you will be freed today."
Nkechi couldn't' argue with him because Femi was right. For too long their father had diminished her brother's masculinity and made him doubt himself. Matin had subconsciously filled his son with insecurities because it made him easier to control, whilst giving Nkechi freedom because he believed it would make her feel indebted to him. He had manipulated his children for years, whether he was aware of it or not and both of them had enough.
Nkechi had made the first move and though she had been brutally crushed by her father's strength, it had never been her who needed to fight him. It was never Nkechi's destiny to lead this tribe. That right had always belonged to Femi and he had finally realised it.
Nkechi had only been the sacrifice needed to begin the dawn of a new era.
Italics means she's having a vision or transcending/in the astral plane.
Lots of revelations in this chapter and the the one before
What do we think will happen next? Who was Nkechi connected to?