Aliya and Alisha held hands tightly. They found themselves in a fantasy world they never thought they could ever see. Only seconds ago, they successfully passed through the footpath that passed through the two rocks which in reality is one of the invisible doors that leads to a hidden dimension. There they stood, speechless and flabbergasted.
[Alisha Sighs] "Where are we Mom?"
"Hmm.. I don't know my dear. " [Sighs] "But I sure know that we are not in the same forest we were" Aliya replied.
"Definitely.. This place looks like a forest on top of a mountain or hill" Alisha contemplated.
"I could swear the voices I heard passed through those rocks" Aliya said.
[Alisha smirks] "Ah.. Talking about rocks.. I can't see the ones we passed through"
[Aliya in a shaky voice] "What?.. Where did they go?"
"I have no idea." Alisha answered rather nonchalantly.
The two women decided to move around the strange environment they found themselves. Since they could not find the road they came through, they needed to find another way, if at all there could be any. They marveled at the astonishing beauty of the forest. Everything about it is unique, as a matter of fact, no two trees or shrubs are the same. The waters flow in all directions, that is, fountains can flow from below upward and it perfect.
[Alisha chuckles] "Mom! Even the Lucid dream realm is not as stunning as this place.. I mean, this place is magic." She commented.
[Aliya sighs] "Well my dear I can't help it myself"
[Shuddered] "Mom wait" Alisha whispered,. "Can you hear that?" she asked.
"Yes I can. Probably the same voices I heard before" Aliya whispered back.
"We should follow the voices, maybe we will find a way out of here." Alisha suggested.
[Aliya chuckles] "Oh this place is so cool and all, but there's no where I'd rather be than home. So yea.. Let follow the voices."
Meanwhile not far away from the door that leads into the forest of the Gyu hills, the same door that Aliya and Alisha came through. Four hefty men stood under a gigantic tree, talking with husky voices. One of them stands out, more hefty, stronger and a bit taller, with more melanin in him, which made him appear more darker in complexion than all the other men. He has short dreadlocks on his head, his body is all covered with traditional tattoo-like markings. He seem to be the leader among the four men, his name is Goonlah.
[In a loud husky voice] "I Goonlah..! The one and only son of Guriyah of Ayrahku. He who was the strongest of all the Melimandus that Ayrahku has ever had. I will and must take what was meant for me, no matter what it takes."
"Reshini.." all the other three men chorused. {"Reshini" is Ayrahku word for "So be it"}.
While Goonlah swears to take what was meant for him, two women hides behind some bushes near the gigantic tree that Goonlah and his three friends stood under.
"Mom.. I think we should get out of hear. I don't have a good feeling about these weird looking men" Aliya whispered to her Mother.
"Shush.. stop talking. Do you want them to see us?" Aliya asked.
[Frowns] "Mom please I am serious. Let get away from these people"
"Ok fine we will. But I think we should stay a little while and see what they are upto"
Just then Goonlah raised his voice even louder this time.
"I Goonlah.. the rightful heir to the great Ritekhye. I will kill anyone who stands on my path to the great weapon. I will kill that Chief priest Chohu and take over his Brahnyi. Hmm.. Only then the whole of Ayrahku will know that I am the true Melimandu.. oh no; the true god of Ayrahku. Hahahaha."
From where they hid, the two women shivered at the words of Goonlah. In all their lives experiences, they have never felt an intent so cruel, so dangerous even from every fabric of his words.. Goonlah emits pure evil.
[Shivering] "Mom.. These people are murderers. Let run before they find us please" Alisha pleaded.
Before Aliya could think of what to say or even do, they over heard one of the men's voice telling the other men that he could see the man they have been waiting for coming.
Apparently the hefty men were up to five in number but they left one of them behind to do the spying work for them. He just brought a good-news to Goonlah their aspiring Melimandu.
[Smirks] "How close is he?" Goonlah asked the man.
"Very close" the man answered.
"We need to hide then" one of the men suggested.
[Sighs] "No.. We will not hide" Goonlah blurted.
"But if he sees us, he will run back" another man voiced out.
[Chuckles] "He is a Chief priest, the very man incharge of the Brahnyi of Ayrahku. His confidence will not allow him coward away. He trust in his powers but unbeknown to him, his end has come. Because I Goonlah, the son of Guriyah will take what's mine and nothing will stand on my path."
On hearing their leader's speech, the men stood on their ground, prepared for the Shaman who is the Chief priest, the man they have been waiting to ambush.
Just a few steps away from the men, along a footpath walks a man dressed in bizarre traditional shaman outfit. He is a middle age man, tall, handsome, dark and hairy. His head is full of long dreadlocks, his bearded face has not seen the light of a razor in years. His eyes are red due to voodoo smokes. His body is well chiseled, the kind of body every woman would kill for, but quite unfortunate, no woman ever get to set her eyes on him as his domain is the Forest of the Gyu hills. He lives in a cave in the forest. Inside the cave is located a Shrine, the shrine that the Ayrakans refer to as 'Brahnyi'. As the man picks his steps, gently and slowly. He does not stop on his path neither does he turn back. He felt something inside of him, a voice warning him of the path he walks on. Without halting, He looks to the sky, began to speak in weird native language, then a heavy laughter blurted out of him. Anyone that witness these would wet his trousers, because the shaman looks scary as hell.
Few minutes later, a heavy grin fills Goonlah's face. For his gaze has fallen upon the man he has been waiting patiently for.
[Smirks] "There you are" he said. "I have been waiting for you Chohu."
The Shaman halted. For he did not halt because of the threat in front or besides him, but because of an alien scent his perception had caught. "There are strangers here?.. How can this be?" He asked himself but in his thought. He decided to neglect the alien scent he perceived so that he can face the threat around him at the moment.
[Frowns] "You stand on my path son of Guriyah.. Let me pass" Chohu elegantly said.
[Smiles] "That will not happen" Goonlah rudely replied.
"I am the Chief Priest of Ayrahku, chosen by the ancestors. You dare not stand on my way."
"Hahaha.. I don't care who you are baba. I am only here for that which is rightly mine."
"And what is that thing that is yours?" Chohu asked.
"The Horn of the Melimandu, the great Ritehkye" Goonlah barked.
[Angrily] "You are playing with fire Goonlah. I warn you, let me pass"
[Smiles] "I will let you pass but only if you will just give me the talisman round your neck."
"You want to get into the Brahnyi?" Chohu asked.
[Arrogantly] "And take my Horn? Yes."
[Chohu Frowns] "Over my dead body" he said.
[Smirks] "Of cause baba. I did not expect you to make it easy for me". [Calmly] "That is why I brought some friends along."
Before Chohu the Shaman could think of anything, four hefty men had already surrounded him. He could sense their killing intents. They would do anything to please Goonlah, their future Melimandu, the man who promised them heaven on earth, the man who promised them protection and wealth and woman. Oh so even in a spiritually and magically advanced nation like Ayrahku, there are people who still think too lowly. In all readiness they stood their ground against the Chief Priest of their own nation.
From behind the bushes, not far from the attack area, Aliya and her daughter Alisha put their hands over their mouths to avoid any screaming by mistake. In their fear, they didn't know what else to do. They found themselves becoming a witness of an event they never thought they would witness. Their bodies broke with cold sweat, they tried to suppress the heart wrecking fear coursing through their bodies without success.
[Shivering] "Maybe this is the end for us Mom. Should by any mistake these men knows we are hidden here" Alisha cried.
[Shivering] "May the Lord protect us daughter." Aliya prayed.
Goonlah and his men fostered every ounce of strength in them. They rushed against the Shaman with only one intention, to take. To take the Talisman around the Shaman's neck, and should he not allow them take, then they will have to take his life for it. The Shaman's talisman is not just a talisman but also the only key to the Brahnyi of Ayrahku. Only he who wears the talisman can get into the cave which housed the Shrine of Ayrahku.
Knowing that the Shaman Chohu will never willingly hand over the talisman to them, they decided to kill him for it.
[Chohu Smirks] "You think you can do anything to me?.. Let me show you the might of Chohu the Chief Priest." He raised his right hand up and with a smile on his face he said a simple spell.. "Indeh nyi toh nshyen" SWOOSH.. A powerful purple light blasted from his raised hand to all the men rushing against him and all of a sudden their speed began to reduce until they weren't moving again. Terrified, Goonlah's eyes balls almost gushed out of his skull in terror.. "He can freeze time" he thought. Goonlah didn't see that coming. He didn't prepare for this trick. Chohu's spell caught Goonlah totally off guard, and the Shaman will kill them all in no time if he will not use his trump card, his last hope. While still in a time frozen state, with all his strength Goonlah forced his mouth to open. He needed to do something before Chohu will do anything rash to them. He slowly opened his mouth and said a spell he didn't want to use.. "Wruchi Nwu" he murmured. The moment he said the spell, his body started vibrating and before anyone could blink, Goonlah's soul broke out of his body. His physical body broke out of the frozen spell Chohu fixed them in and dropped on the ground while his soul transformed into a phantom gigantic wolf visible to the naked eyes. The sight of the phantom wolf simply scared Chohu, he couldn't believe that anyone would know the soul spell let alone use it. The fear he allowed to creep inside of him made him loose his guard. "This is impossible" Chohu murmured.. "No man knows of this spell, how could he?" He thought. While He is still marveling at the huge phantom wolf in front of him, he found himself head to head with the wolf and before he could think of defending himself, BOOM! The wolf gave him at uppercut blow, BOOM!! another blow to the ground and BOOM!!! a terrifying blow that sent him flying against a gigantic tree some distance away. CRACK! Chohu felt his spine broken. The impact of the blows and his body against the tree tore him apart from the inside. Blood gushed out of his mouth, he began to cough painfully.
[Chuckles] "And here I feared you would be tougher. You made me bring four men to fight you, though they proved useless but I still got you."
[Coughs] "That was a forbidden spell you used son of Guriyah. How could you?"
[laughs] "You underestimated me baba, and that was your first mistake."
[Chohu Groans] "What you sow, you will reap. That spell was forbidden for a reason. Now your soul is corrupted, darkened and cursed. You will never amount to anything Goonlah. Like your father before you, who abused the power of the Great white Horn ritehkye. Because of whom the ancestors stripped your family of this great power. You.. like your father, will never amount to anything."
[Chuckles] "Blah blah blah Chohu the great Shaman. What you said does not mean anything to me. I will get what I want no matter what."
Immediately after dropping his words, Goonlah drew out a sharp dagger. He ceased Chohu on the neck, raised him from the ground and just like that, Goonlah gently, gradually and slowly shove his dagger into the heart of Chohu.. He watched in amusement as his blade pierced open the flesh of Chohu, fabric by fabric. Chohu let out a heart wrecking cry.. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!." And while he cries his thought went to the strangers hiding behind the bushes just few steps away. He felt pity for them, he wondered what Goonlah and his men would do to them should they lay their hands on them. He perceived not only strangers but fragile ones. He sensed the sweet scent that oozes from the aura of Females. Deep in his heart before giving up his ghost to the cold hands of death, Chohu silently prayed in his heart, "Oh ancestors, Protect the strangers, pull them out of this place before the wicked finds them." He led out a last loud groan and died.
Goonlah withdrew his dagger, took off the talisman from the lifeless body of the Chief Priest. He adorned himself with the talisman and began to walk to the cave which housed the Brahnyi, which is the shrine of Ayrahku. His friends followed him, cheering him and calling him great names. "Goonlah the true warrior, Goonlah the true son of his father" they echoed.