Origins of an African Elemental Read online

  His face glowed bright and his features became more pronounced, more sinister. Mawu stepped back.

  Eshu snorted, coughed, and vomited puffs of smoke that filled the room. He doubled over in a fit as he grabbed his belly. His jaws expanded and filled until a larger crimson ocean burst from his mouth. Mawu was engulfed in smoky power that threatened to choke away her very existence.

  The Guhruhi encircled her, cradled her, and spoke softly into her ears. It promised it would abandon Eshu.

  Eshu screamed, “No. I will not allow it. Return to me! We have joined. I will kill her. You are mine!”

  A funnel cloud whirled to life, its narrowest point centered over Eshu’s gaping mouth as he labored to suck the Guhruhi back into his body. The red mist refused to be drawn back into Eshu. It continued to whisper of power, fame, and fortune, if she would let it join with her. If she would let it live off her unborn child as a shadow twin soul. All she’d have to do is say, “Yes.”

  Mawu screamed “No!” and allowed the war song to overtake her heart and mind. She summoned her golden battle gear adorned with Adinkra symbols that attached to her for protection. Raising her arms, the hilts of the machete-like Akofena war swords connected with the palms of her hands, and she swung into the Guhruhi, harnessing the full power within the blade from Nana Buluku’s bright light. Her heart and mind were clear. Death to the ancient demonic force today.

  The Guhruhi shrieked and slid back into Eshu’s body through his nose and opened mouth. Eshu’s eyes blazed, and he called his red and black battle armor. Eshu’s long ebony stick fell into his hands and he swung one side towards Mawu’s face.

  “I will kill you, little niece,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “You can try, Uncle.” Mawu dodged his stick and sliced his arm, but the Guhruhi healed the wound.

  The two fought toe-to-toe.

  Eshu shoved Mawu and punched her in the face. She lost her footing, stumbling back as she crashed to the ground. Her war swords fell from her grasp, and Eshu took the opportunity to try to stomp her hard in her pregnant belly. His foot came down and crunched the palace floor.

  Mawu was too fast and rolled away. She sat up and held her hands using powerful thunder to electrocute him.

  Mawu wiped the blood from her mouth, retrieved her war swords, and charged Eshu. He held up his black stick, but it shattered when it connected with both war swords. Mawu made a final war cry as she crossed both swords at the base of his neck.

  “You haven’t won, yet, little one!” Eshu laughed maniacally as Mawu severed his head from his body.

  Eshu’s body collapsed and his head rolled across the floor, still laughing. Mawu could see the threads of sticky red, oozing in a spidery web across the floor to reconnect the broken pieces of his body. She summoned a quake of earth magic that sprouted from the floor and began to encase Eshu in a prison of unbreakable diamonds.

  In her mind’s eye, she directed the roots, worms and soil to prepare to plunge Eshu into a deep cavern where he would be sealed forever.

  “You can’t keep me caged!” Eshu’s laughter grew louder. “I shall return to avenge myself.” With one more sinister laugh that made Mawu’s body chill, Eshu’s essence exploded into ashes that floated away.

  Mawu tried to capture all that was Eshu using her elemental magic, but the Guhruhi intervened, cutting off her ability to breathe.

  That’s when she heard the small whisper.

  “We almost won, Nana Buluku, We will follow Eshu’s essence and we will rebuild through his male bloodline. You haven’t won this universe—yet. Soon we will control all three and you will be forced to join your power with ours.”

  Mawu collapsed. Her body was weary and her mind was tired.

  Another prophetic vision took her over. Here, she could see the past, present, and future. In the dream world, she found she had uncanny abilities. It was here she knew she must remain, but there was something she must do first. She must give her descendants the power of the elements; she must create the priestesses of Mawu.

  She knew, in the final battle between good and evil, her descendants would face the Guhruhi again, but it would take three hundred years of oppression, slavery, and new lands. Her descendants in the Africana diaspora would become strong enough to challenge the evil.

  She awoke in the arms of her beloved Norse God. He’d come to fight for her, to mete justice, but he found he was too late. She told him all that had happened and what she must do.

  He kissed her lovingly and pledged his support to her cause by sending his descendants of men to guard her priestesses. He also vowed to take care of their child until she returned from her deep sleep.

  Mawu bestowed the Akofena war sword to her guardians. She visited her descendants and bequeathed elemental abilities first on twelve girls, then on twelve more, and she kept sharing her magic twelve at a time. Her child kicked as she allowed the power of the elements to flow through her and into the bodies of her priestesses until she was spent. Finally, when all her plans had been laid, she returned to her palace.

  When she entered, she found Loki and Hades attacking her beloved Tyr.

  Tyr and his wolf battled the two gods. It seemed as if he were at a disadvantage because of his one arm, but he swung his hammer with deadly intentions. Loki and Hades toppled over when his hammer crunched the palace floors. Mawu tried to come to Tyr’s aid, but he forbade her. She was far in her pregnancy and must protect their child. Mawu watched in horror as Hades burned Tyr’s wolf and moved in close for the kill. Tyr fought with valor, but in a trickery, Loki dealt him a death blow that he could not withstand.

  Tyr fell.

  Mawu screamed.

  Loki laughed like a jester.

  “Why do you cry over this one when it is I who am the father of your sweet child?”

  Loki floated to Mawu and tried to stroke her face as if they were lovers. Then he grabbed her arm tightly and shared a vision with her of the night her child was conceived. She fell into the vision where Tyr’s eyes were a strange color. She remembered it as odd. The realization dawned on her.

  “No! This cannot be!” Mawu looked at the body of Tyr and her anger exploded. She called forth and unleashed an earthquake that shook the entire African continent.

  Using her air magic, she plunged and sealed them both into a prison within the core of the earth.

  Mawu ran to her love, kissed his forehead, placed his bloody head in her lap and sobbed. She cursed her stupidity and rubbed her belly. She wished for the father of her child to be admirable, but Loki’s trickery had been her undoing.

  Her water broke.

  Mawu pushed her baby forth into the world as she screamed. Using fire elemental magic, she burned the cord and used air magic to breathe life into her beautiful honey-colored child. She lifted her baby and allowed her to float into a warm bath where she used her water magic to cleanse her child.

  Once the baby was clean and cared for, she allowed her child to suckle on her breast as she lay powerless and immobilized. This was a day of bitter sweetness. Mawu’s energy and magic was mostly spent, and needed to replenish through a very deep slumber. Mawu had to move quickly if she wished to protect her baby.

  Wrapped in a large mud cloth robe, she walked slowly to visit the human realm for one last time with her precious cargo. She kissed her lovely child on the forehead and said magical words that bound her child’s elemental magic to keep her safe from the Guhruhi. Mawu handed her baby over to the Akan Queen Mother and told her to raise this child as her own.

  As the Queen Mother accepted her child, Mawu’s insides threatened to collapse. So much disappointment, pain, and sadness and now she must sacrifice bonding with her baby for the good of this universe.

  She returned to her palace, and found a tomb to rest in as she fell into a deep, replenishing, dream slumber within the vastness of the universe. Mawu knew one day she would be resurrected by a little priestess in the American lands and be reunited with her child. As the Earth goddess s
lept, she thought of her daughter, Iniko, and wondered if her sacrifices had been too much.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Iniko

  Iniko sat up on her sleeping mat in the windowless shrine hut. She scanned the darkness pressing closer than the night. In the stillness, whispers of an approaching danger made her skin twitch in warning.

  Iniko’s father-in-law launched himself towards her from the pitch-black corner. She had little time to think, and her body reacted as a young mother desperate to protect her newborn baby.

  Her heart drummed in her ears as she slipped her hand under the smooth reeds of the sleeping mat and frantically patted the dirt until she claimed the dagger the Akan midwife had given her for protection. With reflexes a sixteen-year-old girl should not have, she gripped the hilt of the blade and stabbed the fetish priest twice. She pulled back the second time but left the dagger in his belly because the raw sulfur in his blood became overpowering and made her eyes water.

  Her father-in-law’s eyes blazed then he tumbled forward, howling as he ripped out the dagger and flicked it across the room.

  “Is that all you have, little girl? It’s not enough you tricked my son into sharing his magic and lied to him about being a virgin. Now, you come into my shrine and try to kill me! My gods will bring their wrath on you.”

  Iniko wiped her eyes and ignored the strong smell as her heart hammered in her chest. She slowly scooted away from him to shield her child.

  “I have done nothing. This baby belongs to Kuumba. My Zawadi is your rightful granddaughter.” Iniko’s voice quivered but she held firm, biting her bottom lip. She’d wanted to be accepted by her husband’s family. She pinched her light skin. It was what distinguished her from the rest of the clan.

  Even Iniko’s adopted mother, the Queen Mother, never gave her the feeling of acceptance or love. She always wondered why her real mother abandoned her. In the clan, she may as well have been a lost soul. Iniko slumped—she mistakenly believed that she’d finally found her roots.

  Iniko lifted her face and scrutinized her father-in-law’s tall silhouette in the darkness. His talon-curled fingernail pointed at her from the shadows of the trokosi shrine hut.

  “You lie. Sons of Eshu can make only boys, but then you tricked him into the ritual ceremony with your Akan Queen Mother, and now he’s pledged his magic to a goddess.”

  He spit.

  “You made my son give away his birthright, his power of the fetish priest and Eshu. When you die, the blood vow will be fulfilled and all will return to him, then we will savor your child’s magic. She will be a wife of the trokosi and pay the debt for your treachery.”

  Iniko’s attention flashed to the warnings from the Akan Queen Mother about marrying the son of the fetish priest. When Kuumba asked for her hand in marriage and only required that her blood vow pay the bride price, she jumped into his arms with an eagerness to build her own family. They’d lived happily outside of this trokosi shrine until now. Kuumba’s father believed that he should have performed the mate bond ritual instead of the Queen Mother, which caused this misunderstanding about her birthing a girl child.

  Iniko refocused.

  Her father-in-law’s irises flamed, and she heard him slowly lick his tongue across his teeth like a leopard ready to pounce upon prey. Iniko crouched underneath the vile hunter while continuing to gently scoot her child behind her as a final battle line of protection. Her hands trembled, but she dug one hand into the dirt to throw at him and balled up the other into a tight fist.

  A woman’s voice chimed inside her mind. “Call forth your war sword.”

  Iniko covered her ears and shook her head from the earthshaking echo. She’d never heard this voice before; was it the magic she now shared with Kuumba? She pulled on the mate bond inside her mind for him to come to her aid. Through the connection came the square, fie mimosea, Adinkra symbol signifying internal conflict in their home.

  Their mate bond should have been strong as the mvuli tree, instead it was like the thorny bush. He believed she’d betrayed him and slept with another man. He was furious with her over the sex of their child.

  Iniko’s awareness moved past the mate bond—deeper. An intense bright light in the form of a machete-like sword materialized within the center of the hut. Iniko’s body awakened. A surge of powerful magic encircled her, and a female voice spoke to her soul.

  “I am Nana Buluku, and I need a champion to fight on my behalf. I need you to stand against an ancient evil that has taken residence in this last universe. You are a warrior. You are a protector of elemental magic. Your daughter is a special priestess of the earth goddess, Mawu and must be protected. You have been chosen to be her guardian.”

  The fetish priest shrieked, and his voice grew deadly.

  “Get out of my shrine, whore goddess. She has a debt to pay for her lies. Her virgin daughter belongs to me.”

  “No virgin can pay for the sins of another.” The voice made the hut quake, and the symbols of the fetish gods toppled over. The fetish priest’s eyes grew wide and moved from side to side, but his body froze. All movement ceased.

  A beautiful brown-skinned woman with a gold head piece and dressed in white robes stepped into the darkness of the shrine. The goddess smelled of sweet Shea butter and comfort.

  Iniko shielded her eyes from the brightness and could focus only on the golden beads around the woman’s ankles. Then, the great goddess bent down, lifting Iniko’s chin.

  “Stand my child.” Nana Buluku’s touch buzzed with energy. “I am prohibited from remaining in this universe for long.”

  Iniko hesitated but finally stood. She didn’t feel worthy to stand in the presence of the great mother.

  “Why would you need me? I am unworthy?” Iniko lowered her head.

  “No. You are powerful and worthy. Adding your life force to this cause will reverberate throughout the three universes. It is for the creations to choose their side of the battle. I am but a humble messenger for good.” A golden drinking gourd materialized into Nana Buluku’s hands. Iniko lifted her shoulders and became mesmerized with the swirling liquid.

  Nana Buluku spoke. “You will face many trials and suffer but are asked to become a guardian of this third universe, the last standing, for all that is good. Iniko, you must agree to become a champion and pledge your support to the final protector, the earth goddess Mawu. Do you agree to stand with us and rid this universe of the ancient evil?”

  Iniko turned behind her and saw her helpless child.

  “Yes!” The words rolled from Iniko’s mouth without hesitation.

  “Then sip from the golden drinking gourd of light and become anew.” The goddess handed the drinking gourd to Iniko, and she gulped the colorful liquid. The coolness rolled down her throat and ignited, causing her cells to hum with energy. Iniko returned the gourd as new strength filtered throughout her system.

  Nana Buluku faded into the darkness, but her powerful voice boomed. “You are a warrior. Call forth your Akofena war sword to chop off the head of this beast.”

  Where the goddess once stood remained a golden war sword that gleamed. The earth shuddered as Iniko called the war sword to her by raising her hand. The blade glistened and her arm streamed with power. There was an instant connection as her palm took possession and closed around the golden hilt. A rush of energy lifted her feet from the ground and charged her with rare abilities for battle. Once she’d claimed her Akofena war sword, the room grew eerily silent as she dropped to her knees. She had been made anew.

  Iniko’s father-in-law launched himself at her again, with murderous intent. The young woman stood tall and crouched down in a fight stance. Adinkra symbols of the morning star inside a wheel danced on the smooth hut walls within the sword’s light. The fetish priest attacked with his sharp bone-tooth sword. She stopped its path with her war sword, making a scraping sound. Iniko heard the voice of the goddess guiding her with ritual words.

  “Sesa Wo Suban. I change or transform my life.”
/>   The newly-made warrior woman swung her Akofena war sword of light and liberation as she made contact with the neck of her possessed father-in-law.

  He crumbled, and she pushed him over and finished severing his head from his body. She took a deep breath, stood back, and wiped his blood onto her scarlet and black tribal skirt.

  Iniko’s ears hammered with adrenaline. When she turned away, avoiding the spreading pool of crimson—the first she’d ever spilled—the light of the war sword revealed Kuumba’s face frozen in dismay.

  Her husband wailed and fell to his knees. “Your goddess used you to murder my father!”

  Iniko was too stunned to move. In her mind, she tried to open the mate bond to explain, but Kuumba’s grief flared back and it closed. Iniko crossed her arms tight around her body, gazing downward. Her body was stiff, and her throat was tight as the sadness and dismay became a realization.

  She’d killed her father-in-law, but she had to protect her child. Her breathing slowed. She began to return to her senses as she glanced down at her husband in remorse. She almost ran to his side to comfort him until she heard her child whimper. She remembered her guardian vow as the whispering voice of the goddess commanded her to flee.

  Iniko hesitated, looking down on her beloved husband, but the goddess showed her a vision of what would come to pass if she remained.

  Iniko held her war sword and retrieved her dagger from the dirt floor, gently picked up her baby girl, and ran barefoot from the evil cold of the trokosi shrine and into the warmth of the tropical African night.

  The beads on her ankles shook as she reached the nearby river. Using a tribal cloth, she wrapped her baby securely between her breasts. In a second layer, she tied her war sword and dagger to her back. Iniko waded in a hidden lagoon to rinse off the blood. Under the moonlight, the water chilled her body but made her clean.

  The mate bond ripped open in her mind like a gory, unhealed wound. Iniko gripped her head in agony as she became buried under all of her husband’s rage. Her heart broke.