As Gora approached the Bantu mountains, he stopped to think his plan through. The Princess hadn't returned and Mutapa had instructed him not to be seen by the king before the Princess had returned.
Mutapa himself had vowed to return the Princess to make his plan solid. It was almost night fall and Gora had to wait until the following morning because Mutapa planned on returning the Princess in the middle of the night.
He found a small cave near the Bantu mountains and hid there. He put a small fire to warm up the cave and sat as he thought about what he was about to do. He had betrayed his own people because of power and he knew that this could have dire consequences on his life.
As he sat near the fire, he heard the footsteps of someone approaching. He took his spear and prepared to throw it. Makosi appeared on the cave entrance and Gora lowered his weapon.
"What are you doing here? And how did you find me?" Gora asked as he looked around to see if anyone was with her.
"My son, I always find you when you least expect it. I have important matters to discuss with you," Makosi said as she sat in front of him. She threw the skin of a lion's head at him and he caught it.
He looked at her suspciously and said, "Couldn't you discuss these matters when I was with you in your cave?"
"The walls have ears, my son. That's why I followed you here," Makosi responded.
"I am listening," Gora said.
"Mutapa is going to follow you wherever you go. He is jealous of you. When you finish this mission, I want you to kill him," Makosi said.
Gora was surprised by this and said, "Is this is a test?"
Makosi shook her head before saying, "I annointed him to become a leader of our kind. But the bitterness, rage, stubbornness and the love of power has consumed his ability to become a good leader. That's why I chose you to become the new leader of people of our kind. He feels threatened by you and I believe he is going to kill you when you finish this mission."
"Can't you just kill him yourself?" Gora asked.
"It's not simple. My duty is to anoint leaders of our kind and he was the first of our kind. Only someone with the same abilities as him can defeat him," Makosi explained.
Gora rose to his feet and began walking around the cave for a moment. He stopped and said, "You want me to kill Mutapa?"
"If you don't kill him, he will kill you," Makosi responded.
Gora sat down again and looked at Makosi. "So you chose me to kill Mutapa?"
"I chose you because the ancestors have their eyes on you. They have rejected him because his heart has prioritized revenge than what he was chosen for," Makosi responded.
"Why are you betraying this man? He will kill you if he finds out about this," Gora said.
"Not unless you kill him first. You were anointed with the oil on your head. He only has the power to control animals and the horn. The ancestors recognize you, not him," Makosi said.
Gora sighed and remained silent for a moment. He then asked, "Why wasn't he anointed with the oil in the first place?"
"His soul was bitter when I found him. I thought if I give him the power he would become better but no. He became worse as each day passed. His mind is filled with revenge and he has forgotten what I taught him in the first place," Makosi responded.
"So is there anyone who is going to be anointed after me?" Gora asked.
"If you forget why the ancestors chose you then there will always be someone to replace you. But if you remain true to the ancestors' no one else will be anointed. Only your descendants will be recognized as the true Mutapas," Makosi said as she rose up.
Gora looked on the ground for a moment as he digested Makosi's words in his mind. He nodded and stood up as well. "I hear you," Gora said.
"May the ancestors go with you. I will be waiting for you in my cave," Makosi said.
Gora nodded and watched as Makosi left the cave. He sat down and thought about what he was going to do with Mutapa. He feared the man and wasn't confident if he was going to do as Makosi had said.
When he slept, he dreamt Mutapa attacking him. In the dream, they were fighting. Then a woman who appeared to be his wife came and overpowered Mutapa.
When he woke up, his heart was pounding so hard and so fast, he could hear it in the silence of the cave. Sweat covered his skin and his throat was dry. The sun was already up so he woke up and rushed to find water.
He found a small spring in the mountains and he drank the water. When he was done, he went back to the cave and collected his belongings and prepared to go into the Bantu kingdom.
As he got out of the cave, he quickly noticed Mhare holding Ruva's hand as they approached outer edges of the mountains. He hid himself and waited until they had reached the top of the mountains. When they descended into their kingdom, that's when he began following them slowly.
But he knew that something was wrong because Mutapa was supposed to bring Princess Ruva. As a man who knew Mhare, his heart felt lighter because he thought Mhare might have killed Mutapa.
As Mhare and Ruva descended down into their kingdom, trap tripped a huge bark of a tree came flying and hit Mhare on the chest. He fell to the ground with his head first and as he tried to stand up, a rope caught his leg and hung him in the tree.
Ruva screamed as she watched him suspended unconsciously in the air. Warriors who were moving around the mountains to check the traps heard the Princess screaming and rushed.
They found hanging from the tree with his blood oozing from his nose and mouth to the ground. Quickly, they helped him down and carried him to the king's compound.
When they reached the compound with the Princess, a drum pounded and people came out. Mhare was taken to one of the huts whilst people in the king's compound rejoiced that the Princess had returned safely. They sang songs and played the drum.
Princess Ruva and the king went to the hut where Mhare had been taken and found an elderly woman attending to him.
"Chiremba, how bad is he?" Princess Ruva asked.
Chiremba analyzed Mhare's body for a moment before she said, "He will survive. But it will take time."
Ruva gave out a sigh of relief and said, "Baba, I have something important to tell you."
Changamire Zama took Princess Ruva to his heart. When they sat down Ruva quickly said, "Mutapa has a plan to make you fight with the other kingdoms. I overheard him speaking with his teacher and she is the one planning a war between us and the other kingdoms. We have to prepare for war, or warn the other kingdoms about his plan."
The Queen entered and fell upon Ruva's shoulder. When they seprated from each other, the king said, "Mhare is injured. You have to take to Mutapa's layer. We have to terminate him before he destroys us all."
The Queen shook her head and said, "No baba, we have lost our daughter once. We can't risk her life again."
"The enemy is planning a bigger war than we have right now. We have to stop him once and for all. She has to tell us where to find him," the king opposed.
"Our child has just escaped an evil man's grip. Find another plan as we wait for Mhare's recovery. Warn the other kingdoms about Mutapa's plans. That's the least we can do," the Queen said.
"Is Mhare the only man who survived?" The king asked Ruva.
Ruva nodded and said, "The others were hunted down by Mutapa."
The king rose to his feet and summoned all the elders and his advisors to tell them about the news Ruva had brought. "We have to go to his layer and stop him once and for all," one of the elders said.
"Mhare who knows the way is seriously injured. We can't risk my daughter's life again by taking her with us to a war with this man," the king responded.
They all agreed to send messengers to all the kingdoms. Whilst they discussed, Gora hid in the compound as he listened to their plans. He then approached some warriors at night with some animals. Since he covered his face with the lion's head, they all thought it was Mutapa. He threatened to kill them if they didn't follow and for the fear of losing their lives to hyenas, the warriors agreed to follow him.