"It takes the whole village to raise a child," an african proverb.
Mutapa stood inside his cave as he attended to a wound on his right arm. The encounter with the Manyika people had almost cost him his life. Various calabashes sat on a rocky platform that reached his chest.
Torches of fire were placed around the cave making everything inside it visible enough. There was a fire lit in the middle of the cave.
He took several herbs and placed them in a small bowl. He ground them using a stick. After they were throughly crushed, Mutapa took the semi-solid substance and placed it on the wound. He winced for a moment and closed his eyes as the herbs sank into his wound.
He then turned around and sat near the fire. "Your heart is too bitter, my son. If you don't change, this vengeance mission might be your last," the voice of an elderly woman said.
Mutapa raised his eyes and saw the woman's figure perched in the shadows of the cave. He knew she had been watching him for a while. "Our forefathers died in the hands of those people. They destroyed our way of life. Someone has to remind them of their sins," Mutapa responded.
"You have become powerful. If you don't learn to control your power, these people will use that against you. They almost got you, didn't they?" The elderly woman asked.
Mutapa shoved a log into the fire and remained silent. The woman walked towards the fire and sat across him. She looked deeply at him as if she was trying to find what was hidden in the deepest depths of his soul.
"Vengeance was not our plan in the first place. Remember the plan was to create our own haven with people who appreciate our abilities," the woman said.
"Makosi, our forefathers would have wanted us to avenge their deaths. All those kingdoms agreed to kill our fathers and some of them were burnt alive. I watched my father's death," Mutapa responded.
"I know. Four kingdoms will come after you. Your plan has many flaws and it almost got you killed," Makosi said.
"So what do we do? Stop attacking them?" Mutapa questioned.
"You put yourself in a compromising situation, my son. Listen to me now. Stop attacking them. Make them fight among themselves. They will reduce each other to ashes in less time," Makosi suggested.
Mutapa nodded as he starred into the fire. She knew that arguing with him would fuel his anger more. For a moment he remained silent and then said, "I know how to make them fight among themselves."
Makosi smiled as she watched Mutapa starring into the fire. She rose to her feet and approached the calabashes and took out a piece removed from the bark of a tree.
She took it to Mutapa and extended the herb towards him. "Eat this. It will strengthen you," Makosi said.
Mutapa took the herb and started chewing it as he hatched a plan to make the kingdoms fight among themselves.
Meanwhile, Changamire Zama of the Bantu kingdom was under pressure from his subjects. Almost every day, their herds of cattle were attacked by wild animals. When Mhare returned, he found the king and a group of herders gathered around the carcasses of cattle that had fallen prey to wild animals.
"Today it was the lions, yesterday it was the hyenas. They come every day for our livestock," one of the herders explained.
"Did they attack any of you?" Mhare asked.
"No, they just come for our cattle," the herder responded.
Mhare looked at the king and said, "What about our people? These animals never attacked our people?"
The king shook his head before saying, "Not even one. Just our cattle."
Mhare looked on the carcasses for a while and said, "He is onto something. He attacked the Manyika, the Zezuru, and the Karanga. He never took their cattle. Why cattle in our kingdom? I can feel it in me, something is terribly wrong."
They just looked at each but no one could give a definite answer to the question. They walked back into the kingdom and the king summoned all his advisors and elders to the court. Mhare and some of his warriors were present to narrate the tales of Mutapa's adventures in the Karanga, Manyika and Zezuru kingdoms.
Gora was present among these warriors who were present before the king.
"So you are sure that a man is collaborating with animals to attack our kingdoms?" The king questioned after Mhare and the others had narrated what they witnessed or heard in the Karanga kingdom.
"Yes. We did not see him but some witnesses are sure that it was the work of a man," Mhare responded.
"A wizard..." One of the elders said.
"He might be coming for us too. We need to prepare," Mhare said.
"Something is not right here. If he attacked the other three kingdoms, why hasn't he attacked us? Rather he is coming for our cattle. Or we are just thinking much into this. Maybe these are just stray animals doing this," the king said.
"Maybe he has nothing against us. He could have attacked us but he didn't. If he wanted to attack us he could have done so when he had the chance to reach our pasture lands," one of the king's advisors said.
"No. His animals are coming after our livestock. We need to establish why he's going for our livestock whilst he destroyed the other states," Mhare said.
"Our kingdom is powerful. Our location makes it hard for him to penetrate. I think he wants us to go after him. The only way he can defeat us is if we move from this place," a middle-aged man among the elders said.
"So he is too afraid to attack us like he did to the others?" Changamire Zama questioned.
"Yes. I believe he is trying to divert our attention towards cattle. He wants to frustrate us so that we go out there to look for him. And when we do, he will find a perfect time to penetrate the state," the man responded.
"I doubt. Cattle is our symbol of wealth and power. A kingdom without cattle has no power. He is coming after our power. If he destroys our wealth we will become powerless," Mhare said.
"That's when he will try to attack us..." One of the elders said.
"What if we are wrong? He's doing something here and I believe he's not going to attack us. He could have done that already. I believe there's much more to this cattle issue than we know of," Gora said.
The court went silent for a moment. The people in the court began whispering to each other until the whole court became a hub of arguments. The king raised his staff and everyone went quiet.
"We are dealing with an invisible enemy. The enemy is trying to get our attention. That's why he attacked our sister kingdoms and left us alone. He wants to instill fear into the hearts of our people. As for our cattle, we don't know why he's after them. But we nolonger have to keep our cattle outside the kingdom. The herders will keep our cattle inside the mountains. If they go beyond the mountains, the enemy will keep on reducing their numbers. For now, we stand strong and defend our kingdom. I want every mountain protected day and night. We have to keep him outside the mountain region," the king explained.
Everyone in the court listened carefully and nodded. Mhare raised his hand and said, "With all due respect my king, we need to find this man before he causes further damage to our land."
"Spies will be sent out there to gather information about this man. We need to know everything from his strengths, how he operates, his dwelling place as well as his weaknesses. If we find where he dwells, we will go to war. In the mean time we stay alive and strong," the king said.
"The other kings want to meet with you here. They will tell us more about their encounters with this man when they arrive," Mhare said.
The king nodded and people in the court dispersed to their respective homes. Mhare remained seated on his spot and the king said, "You need to go and rest."
"I need to be part of the spies looking for this man," Mhare responded.
"You need to find this man as much as I do. But you have to be here. You are the head of the warriors. They need motivation from their leader. If something happens, the warriors will fight with you," the king said.
"What if he doesn't come?" Mhare asked.
"That will be for the good of the people. They will remain safe whilst we find the enemy. Go home and rest Mhare," the responded.
Mhare nodded and left. On his way home, he felt the urge to go on a mission to find this man. He vowed to go by himself if no one was willing to risk their lives to find Mutapa. All his life he had been described by moments when he acted alone.