It was a peaceful night in Jos City, the wind was calm, the moon was shining and almost full. In the middle of Jos City is Zibeh's house, a Single-family house but spacial and well decorated from the outside to the inside with a fence surrounding the whole house and it compound, there is a beautiful little garden in the compound right beside the house, a garden which specifically belong to Kiya herself. She would stare at the garden through her window every evening and night, it is like some kind of routine for her. Inside the sitting room of the house, two people sat across each other staring at each others faces. The silence in the sitting room was so drastic that even a sound of a feather hitting the ground could be heard until Kiya broke the silence.
[Kiya sighs softly] "Talk to me Dad.. What do you know about Arkhaviya and the white horn?"
"Alot" Zibeh answered frankly.
"Oh wow!" Kiya exclaimed; "So you do know alot right? And all my life I thought you never had anything to do with all weird stuffs as those, huh?" She asked.
"Haaaaa.." Zibeh sighed; He continued "You don't know what I passed through my dear. I ran away from my life, that kind of life, I ran so that you and your mother wouldn't have anything to do with my native cultures and traditions. I ran away from who I really was and created a new identity, at least so I thought."
"I want to know what you went through" she whispered.
----
200 YEARS AGO:
In the forest of Te'egbe in Ayrahku nation, a young man was visited by a super powerful being. It was on a fateful day, the day that the Ayrakans call the 'Zrehchi day', a young man walked alone into the forest to hunt for game. He went alone because he was one among the young men of Ayrahku who was known to be the bravest. That forest was the forest set aside by the natives specifically for hunting but the animals there were ferociously dangerous, but the young man never cared about the dangers, for all he needed was just time alone in the forest. He measured 6'2 in height and weight 160kg.
On that day, the animals of the forest seem to have notice something strange. Did they perhaps evolve to sensing the young man's presence. The only human the wild creatures in the dangerous forest feared, they were nowhere to be found. The young walked several miles into the forest without hitting even a rat and that was beginning to concern him. "What the hell is going on today?"He asked himself then suddenly a powerful voice rang directly into his head, so powerful that the strong young man almost fainted; "hehe.. I informed the animals of your arrival mighty hunter." the voice said. The young man frowned his face, his anger immediately began to rise from it sleep, he raised his head up and shouted, "And you think that is funny?" "Quite amusing I must say" the voice answered but this time softly. The young man began to fume in anger, for in his many years of experience of hunting, he had moments with terrifying entities, beings and animals that wanted to scare the bravery out of him but he conquered them all, and to him, that was only one of those moments. He hurriedly fixed one of his deadly arrows on his bow string, he drew the arrow back ready for a deadly strike. "You can show yourself now if you dare" he shouted. The entity with the powerful voice laughed softly and said, "Ah Ah Young Zibeh, you amaze me, in fact you amuse me, so brave and powerful now, but what happened to you in the future? So weak and feeble, always in the mercy of cheap weak entities." Zibeh's heart sank, he couldn't believe what his ears just heard. How could she say that to him, how could she think that he of all people could ever grow weak and feeble. "I didn't think you will become weak and feeble" the voice interrupted, "I only told you what I saw in the future."
"Who the hell are you woman?" Zibeh asked angrily.
"Pff.. I am not woman." she answered, "I am Arkhaviya"
[Zibeh fumes in anger] "Whatever you call yourself is not my business, now I am going to ask you only once; what is your business with me?"
[Arkhaviya chuckles] "Now you asked the right question young Zibeh."
Immediately after saying that, the space around Zibeh shifted, something that looks like a fire ring appears, it grew rapidly, big enough for a being taller than an average tall human to pass through. Before he could think of anything, a feminine figure appears from within the fire ring. She walks elegantly, beautifully, yet so powerful and imposing. Zibeh gasped and dropped on his knees "She is a goddess" he confessed. "To be frank with you, I am not a goddess." she said. "Then what are you?" he asked in a shaky voice. For in all his time on earth, in the land of Ayrahku, nothing has ever shaken Zibeh to the core like the being standing right before him. His entire body broke with cold sweat, from his very core he shivered. "Like i said before, I am Arkhaviya and you need to calm yourself, no need to fear" Arkhaviya answered.
"Tell me dream goddess, what is your business here?" Zibeh asked.
"Oh so you understand the meaning of my name?" she replied with a question.
"Your name is in a language familiar to the Ayrahkans. Are you in anyway connected to us?" he asked.
"Well, I am connected to all" she said, "and that is exactly why I am here. Please free your knees from the ground"
Zibeh got up from the ground, he find a large stone and sit on it. He sighed heavily, clasped his hand and raised his eyes to look at the divine being before him. "Am all ears if you may.. your higness" he said.
Without wasting any time, Arkhaviya began to speak in the voice of a goddess, "Zibeh.. Son of Zogu, mighty hunter of Ayrahku. I am a time traveller, I have been in the future, past and present, and I have seen how it ended. The future is terrible, only blood and gore, powerful entities who had always been targeting the earth for it life force will come forth to the plane and eat it up. Ayrahku the heart of Africa is their first target, being a nation surging with cosmic energy. You Zibeh will be the Ultimate saviour of earth and her earthlings."
"Ahhhhh" Zibeh interrupted. "What do you mean by me saving earthlings?"
[Arkhaviya sighs] "Your great ancestors will hand over to you the great battle horn Ritehkye. You will wield it cosmic power and fight great battles against evil men and dark cosmic entities."
[Zibeh gasps] "You mean I will be a Melimandu?"
"Yes the new Melimandu" she replied.
[Zibeh shakes his head] "That can not be possible, my best man Goonlah is the rightful heir to the great Mantle, his father is the current Melimandu."
"Yes that I know" she said; "But your great ancestors and the gods decided to strip Guriyah and his household of the mantle. He proved himself unworthy of the great power, the power he is currently using to suppress the natives and harness wealth to himself. Guriyah is by far the worst Melimandu through out the history of the great Melimandus."
On hearing the words of Arkhaviya, Zibeh's heart began to race like a horse, his strong body weakened and his blood got hot. He looked at the woman, he raised his head to look at the sky and raised his voice to ask; "Oh gods of our ancestors.. tell me this is not true. Guriyah is doing these with his powers?"
"Yes he is" Arkhaviya answered nonchalantly.
"Oh no, I was asking the gods." he blurted.
"I am the messenger from the gods you dummy" she shouted.
[Zibeh sighs heavily] "If anyone should have that horn, it should be Guriyah's son and that his son is my best friend, my best man.. I can not accept what the gods are saying. I cannot betray my friend."
[Arkhaviya laughs loudly] "Think what you want to think mighty hunter, the gods have spoken. See you another time..hehe"
The moment she spoke, she vanished without trace, as if she had never been there before, as if it was all a dream. Zibeh couldn't believe it, her message from the gods, her presence, it looks like everything was a dream. After calming himself, he picked up a huge race back home.
Few days after the visit from Arkhaviya, Zibeh's life turned upside down. Words flew across Ayrahku that Zibeh was planning an evil act against his best friend Goonlah so that he can take the mantle of Melimandu after Goonlah's father Guriyah. Zibeh, the beloved hunter, the man deemed to be the youngest greatest hunter of Ayrahku, the man who was credited for the slaughtering of the must dangerous forest creatures. Zibeh son of Zogu, a mighty warrior who in the eyes of his people has now become a betrayer.
The elders of the community summoned him who was once the mighty warrior and hunter. They asked him questions upon questions as to why he would betray his best friend. Zibeh did all he could to prove himself innocent but they couldn't agree with him. He told them about the visit from Arkhaviya but they only laughed at him, calling him delusional and mad. His best friend sported after him to kill him for trying to betray him but Zibeh had to turn himself into a fugitive in his own land just to escape his best friend Goonlah.
Things turned worse for Zibeh when the Community elders decided that both Zibeh and Goonlah will have to fight to dead in the arena to prove themselves worthy of the mantle after Guriyah. The victor becomes the heir to ritehkye, the next Melimandu in the waiting, but Zibeh could not agree with the elders decision. He could not stand his best friend, he could not bring himself to fighting Goonlah, the man they grew up and fought side by side with all his young life, so Zibeh had only two choices, to stay and face his friend turned brother and face the shame of defeat and victory or to run away from Aryrahku.
---
PRESENT TIME:
In the sitting room where Zibeh and Kiya sat across each other, Kiya's eyes filled up with tears, she couldn't hold herself. The story of her father's past life touched her to the very core of her being. She felt so bad for him, she felt the people were unfair to her father.
[Kiya sobs] "You picked the second option?"
"Obviously" Zibeh answered.
"You are a very string man and am proud of you for what you did" Kiya said.
[Zibeh sighs] "I had to do what I needed to do. I ran so far away from home, never thinking of her again. But all wasn't that bad, because I met your mother outside of Ayrahku, I fell in love and hence Us. You are the crown of our love, the light that conquered the darkness that almost consumed me and your Mother."
[Kiya still sobs] "Thank you Dad."
[Zibeh sighs] "I ran away but I didn't escape. The gods still came to me through you. Now what?"
Kiya explains.. "Goonlah came up in Alisha's story of a past experience. He was ferociously after the horn and even though the shaman faced him in a battle, Alisha have no proof whether Goonlah was defeated or not. After you told me you were with the shaman, I had hope that Goonlah was killed but now I don't know what to think."
[Zibeh frowns] "That hungry wolf will never stop chasing the Horn. Defeated or not, we will have to be up and doing. We have to train you to be the warrior you have been chosen to be. I am at your service my Great Melimandu."
Kiya smiled, held her father's hand firmly and from the depth of her heart she said, "Thank you Mighty Hunter."