“Eww!” She spat it back into her cup.
Willard’s laughter rang from the other side of the room.
“Drink up, ladies. The bitterness does not last very long. You will regain your strength once your cup is empty. I promise,” Kronan remarked, his deep voice bouncing off the cave walls.
“Thanks,” I mumbled into my cup and attempted to swallow a mouthful of the nasty smelling tonic.
“Smells like old socks,” Maya said through a pinched nose.
After we had downed the tonic, I lay back on a big pillow and Maya rested her head next to mine, her arm also cradled mine. The tonic had succeeded in calming us. As we lay beside each other, in the embers of the unknown, I smiled warmly at how quickly we had developed such a close relationship. It had only been two days but it felt like I had found my place when I was with her. I heard scuffling and the sound of a wooden chair hitting the ground. My body shook and Maya sat up immediately. The three warriors rushed over to us, and with their backs against us formed a half circle.
“Easy guys,” Kronan said, signaling the same message with his hands.
“What is she doing here, Kronan?” Tatos shot him a disgusted look.
A white ghost-like figure emerged from behind the cave entrance. The warriors tightened their circle around us, their hands almost touching. Kronan held out his hands toward the white ghost, lifting the white robe and revealing the figure beneath it.
“What is he doing?” Tatos whispered to Enoch.
“Not sure,” he replied.
As the figure came closer, I realized it was a Zulu. Her face was covered with white tassels, which hung from a crown of red beads. She wore a long, white dress that only showed her black, skinny arms, and as she drifted toward us her bare feet peeked from beneath the long dress.
“I’m not here to harm you,” she said, her voice steady and soft.
“Kronan?” Enoch straightened.
“She’s here to help, Enoch,” Kronan said resolutely.
“Whatever you say, Kronan.”
The warriors bowed their heads and let their arms fall to their sides. Maya let out a sigh of relief as she peeped around Willard’s arm inquisitively.
“Enoch, Willard, Tatos, I would like to introduce you to Nomsa. Her name means faith in Zulu. She is an old and dear friend of mine.” Kronan’s voice was warm and welcoming.
“A witchdoctor,” Tatos pronounced. “One you have hidden from us?”
“I could smell her a mile away,” Willard said softly to himself.
“Yes,” Kronan said, nodding. Either he hadn’t heard Willard or chose to ignore him.
“Hmm…” Tatos glanced at Enoch and exchanged the same look with Willard who had drawn his sword.
“As I was trying to say…” Kronan continued. He looked at the sword clenched in Willard’s fist. “…Nomsa is a dear friend of mine who is here to help,” he said insistently.
“We don’t need her help.” Enoch said heatedly.
“Enoch, we trust Kronan, don’t we?” Tatos enquired, looking back over his shoulder toward him.
I felt myself wavering slightly. I was confused. A Zulu witchdoctor? It was all bad news to me.
“We trust you,” Enoch said, slowly lowering Willard’s sword with his free hand. His other hand was resting on the bow behind his back. “Put it away,” he said gradually.
Kronan put his arms around Nomsa and hugged her like they’d known and loved each other for years.
“I’m so glad to see you’re alright,” he said.
“Kronan,” she said, her voice sounding concerned. “My brother might be many things, but…” She paused, looked over at us and then back at Kronan, her neck almost bending backwards to meet his gaze. “…killing his sister? He would never even attempt it. He knows my power is greater than his. It always has been.” She shrugged her shoulders. “This is why…” She turned back to us, her deep, brown eyes resting on mine. “…we are here today.”
“Hmm…” Kronan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It didn’t stop him from killing his own father.”
“My father…” She began, folding her hands together. “…bless his soul…” she said, raising her head. “…was blinded out of love for my brother. Love makes fools of us all,” she declared as she looked at Enoch. Her gaze then swept over everyone’s faces until it came to rest on mine. She smiled gently.
“Power…” Kronan said, waving his huge hands at the sky. “How much power will it take before…?”
“I’m afraid it’s worse than we anticipated. The girl…” Her eyes met mine.
A shiver ran the length of my spine. I looked to the ground away from her. “…she’s everything and more.” She said softly.
“I have learned much from my visit with my brother.” She grimaced turning her back on us. The warriors gave a silent nod and followed her back to the leather-bound book resting on the solid, wooden table beside the potion cabinet. I rolled my eyes at the dramatic scenery. Maya and I stared at each other for a moment. I grabbed her arm and all the overwhelming apprehension I had pushed down since the attack earlier threatened to explode inside me. I did not want to see another Zulu ever again after my last encounter, and now there was a Zulu witch among us.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Traveler
The potion had worked its way through our systems leaving us subdued toward all the anarchy. Maya and I lay sprawled out beside the fire absorbing its warm glow, quietly discussing Nomsa. Kronan treated her like she was one of his own. That alone, led me to believe I didn’t know much about their race at all. However, I didn’t feel I could just dismiss all the stories I’d heard. When I looked at Nomsa, I couldn’t imagine how she could be compared to a monster. I thought about the tale of Shaka Zulu. He was strong willed and obsessive – somewhat like Hitler, and just like Hitler, he wanted to populate the planet with his kind; they both thought their kind were the chosen race, the pure race. I didn’t know then that my knowledge of Shaka Zulu would be important information as to why the Zulus were hunting me. I studied Nomsa from head to toe and back, she seemed gentle, humane and pleasant even. I watched her carefully as she gracefully glided between the shelf and the table, skimming through the book as if she were desperately seeking very important information. The clattering of multi-colored beads and bangles along the length of her arm echoed throughout the entire room. Huge red disks dangled from her ears, swaying back and forth as she hastily read through each page she turned. Her face, partly hidden behind a veil of beads shimmered beneath the strange ceiling lantern, but as she pulled the tassels back behind her ears, I studied her features carefully, hoping her unveiling would reveal something about her. Nomsa and the four Minoans eventually came walking toward us. Enoch lagged a short distance behind. Maya and I rose to our feet as they came closer. My heart began to race as Maya dug her nails into my palm, just like Sam would have. I thought of Sam and how she would completely freak if she knew about all the action she was missing out on.
Kronan picked up on our fear. “It’s okay, girls,” Kronan said with a reassuring smile.
Why did he need to reassure us all the time? Was it just for my benefit or for that of everyone in the room? I pondered. Tatos’ knuckles turned white as he pulled his hands into tight fists at his sides. Practically everyone was uneasy at this point. The witchdoctor took another step toward us, her hands reaching out for mine. I bit down on a gasp, let go of Maya slowly and shot a panicked look in her direction. Nomsa took both my hands in hers, gradually pulling them toward her, and gently rolling them over, rested my palms on her chest; eyes closed and brows furrowed in concentration. Her hands were warm and soft against mine – not at all what I had expected. She then closed the tiny gap between us so her toes touched the tips of my boots. She was almost as short as I was. She stood completely still for a moment. The room was totally silent except for the crackling of the flames in the fireplace, and the musical sound of a small trickle of water in the distance. She exhaled and proc
eeded to do what I imagined must have been a reading. She repeated the process with Maya, took a step away from us and bowed, her eyes lingering on my face. My right hand reached for my cheek, where it touched what I assumed was crusted mud. As I pressed down harder, I felt a dull pain shoot through my skull. At first, it felt as if my face was bruised. Someone cleared their throat loudly, startling me. I turned to see Kronan standing behind us. He walked around and followed Nomsa as she walked away. Willard trailed behind them, but Tatos just stood there staring into the flames, his one hand resting on the stone mantle surrounding the fireplace.
“What do you suppose that was all about?” I asked Maya softly.
“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” she replied, looking intently at her hands. She seemed sad. “I wish my mom was here right now,” she said quietly.
“I know.”
I stroked her back.
“This is all too strange.”
“Tell me about it. I wish I could read everyone’s minds,” I said, scrutinizing the expression on each person’s face. They all looked concerned and a deep intenseness burned in their eyes.
“That would help,” she responded, her nose crinkling as she spoke. “Maybe my mom could give us some pointers.”
“Can you read minds?” I asked her again.
“I’ve never tried.”
“I wish I knew what the hell they were saying. What the heck is going on?” I asked bluntly, looking right at Maya.
Her eyes glazed over.
“What is it?” I said, leaning in.
“Have you heard of muti killings?” she asked, choking up as she tried to hold back her tears.
I felt my stomach drop and a cold chill sliced into my bones. My chest ached at the idea. At that exact moment, Enoch called for us to join them at the round table, distracting me from having a panic attack. As we neared, he pulled out two chairs for us to sit.
“Have a seat. There is a lot we need to tell you.” His voice was softer than before, distant and serious.
Kronan pulled up a chair opposite us, his long arms almost reaching the center of the table. Enoch pulled his chair closer to Maya.
“Everyone here knows me as the traveler,” Kronan began. “I was born on Poseidon.”
Enoch took Maya’s hand from her lap, and for a moment my eyes lingered on their hands.
“My father was a warlock who was searching for a cure for my mother’s illness. Her illness…” He paused. “…was giving birth to a Broken Blood.”
Kronan’s eyes met Nomsa’s. She nodded for him to continue.
“We traveled from planet to planet and between galaxies by means of a magic mirror; it’s what enabled us to travel between worlds. We were searching for a remedy that would wash away the impurities in her soul.”
Shaking, he reached underneath his dark purple robe and brought out a long pipe. He put his finger to the end of the pipe lighting it with a small blue spark. His eyes revealed that he blamed himself for her death. He inhaled deeply and blew out a puff of smoke, his gaze resting on the wall behind us. My eyes trailed the curling smoke into the darkness of the cave.
“It wasn’t until we went back to the planet she originated from – Earth, that a possible treatment emerged. We stumbled upon a witchdoctor, who happened to be Nomsa’s great grandfather. His team of scientists were on the verge of making genetic replacement possible. He said he would find a cure for us if we joined his cause. How quickly things turned sour. Hundreds of experiments followed.”
I leaned in closer and fixed my eyes on his mouth so as not to miss anything significant.
“As you know, Ava, your grandfather was the founder of this division. He took gene experimentation to another level. He was the founder of the Institute, which is how we know it today.”
He cleared his throat as his eyes fell on me. Gene experiments? I pondered while Kronan inhaled once more and puffed out another thick cloud of smoke.
“My father and Mandla, Nomsa’s father, spent many a night teaching me the gifts of magic and medicine. When we were not working, my father would take me down to the beach. It was there that I met a human girl. Her name was Kay.”
His face lighted up for a second, and then darkened once more.
“I had discovered my purpose in life, and more than anything, I wanted to be normal – a human. From then on, I separated myself from the lab. I was in love and had lost interest in our work. The cause was especially lost on me when we learned of my mother’s death. My father, however, persisted and became obsessed with escalating his magical powers to a darker magic. Delusional and desperate, he wanted to bring my mother back to life. My father and I grew distant as he became more and more fixated on his work. He would come home and tell me about the horrid outcomes resulting from mixing animal genes with human genes, and how he could create perfect humans outside of a woman’s nurturing womb. I begged him to stop, to allow us to return home, and to spend his days respectfully mourning my mother as she deserved. But, he felt he couldn’t go back home. He thought of himself as a failure. Eventually, Kay and I got married and we moved away. I had never told her where my father and I came from, as humans were not allowed to know about space travel or Minoans; we were a lost race.”
Looking attentively at me, he sucked on his pipe, breathed in a lungful of the contents and released the smoke, which spiraled above our heads. Its sweet smell burned my nostrils. His eyes began to wander as he continued.
“Kay was pregnant when my father came to tell me about the situation that Earth was facing. He told me the planet was running out of resources and was experiencing extreme global warming, which had brought about harsh and uncontrollable storms across the entire planet. Massive earthquakes were splitting countries in two, and islands were disappearing under tidal waves. Earth was dying. In a way, that was true, but it was mostly brought on by what was the start of World War III. Father had faltered in his Minoan ways, and felt almost… duty-bound, to believe that the experiments were to bring my mother back to life. He told me that the experiments they were conducting could result in the creation of a super human, one that would be able to survive the harshest conditions. He said this would assist humans in adapting to the next step of Earth’s evolution, and that we could take the technology back to Poseidon to save anyone ever to suffer the fate of my mother. He also believed that a spell and the blood of an infant from the third generation could bring the dead to life. The only hiccup was that we would have to continue the research on our home planet; its completion required a certain genetic trait that only Minoans carry. He believed that the strain was diluted because he, just like me, was a Broken Blood. “The evolution of the Gods,” he said. I thought he was insane and that these were merely the rantings of a lunatic desperate to bring his wife back to life. I begged him to take us back. Dad took me aside and told me that Kay’s genetic lineage originated from one of the first experiments that had been done. She was second generation. He said that he had accidentally stumbled onto the information and was coming to warn me that she was going to die. He got angry when I wouldn’t believe him, going as far as to ask me to leave her behind as the genetic lineage she carried was unstable. Her family was one of the lines left to outbreed the gene in hope that some great evolutionary step would force them, as a species, to activate a defensive strain and thus create the perfect human. I hated him for asking me to leave her. I refused. I planned to die with her on Earth.”
Kronan choked on these last words and twisted his neck sideways. He looked tired now, his face had gone pale. Nomsa removed her tasseled crown, bent over Kronan and kissed him on the back of his free hand. Willard and Tatos both cringed. Kronan’s empty eyes fell on them, and then reverted back to the flames across the room.
“Should I continue?” Nomsa asked.
She didn’t have to bend down even a little bit to look into his eyes. Sitting down, Kronan was as tall as I was standing. Kronan got up from his chair and walked over to the fire. Nomsa sat down gently,
pushing her long dreadlocks back from her eyes. She tied her hair into a low ponytail using one of her dreadlocks as a band. Her skin was radiant and beautiful, dark and smooth, like a slab of decadent chocolate. Her eyes sought mine, the flames reflecting off of their dark surface – like they were twin mirrors. I couldn’t concentrate at first; I was too busy mapping out the features of her uncovered face. She had a broad nose, high cheekbones and very full lips. I thought she too, was beautiful for her kind. Taking a sip from a steaming cup of tea, Nomsa prepared to continue the story. As she did so, I couldn’t help but look over at Kronan. He was poking at the fire absentmindedly, his shoulders slumped.
Nomsa began softly, “Kronan’s father was concerned that Kay might give birth to a hybrid of some sort. He was also worried that she would die giving birth to Kronan’s son’s, much the same as Kronan’s mother did. The only difference was that Kay would die instantly because of her lineage. He even believed she might produce monsters.” Her face warmed into a smile for an instant before turning somber once again. “She was carrying twins; her chances of survival were very slim at the least. Kronan’s father was leaving. He only agreed to take Kay with them because it was the only way he could save his son – the only thing he had left. But, he was not leaving alone, and he was not leaving through the mirror. The Government had secret pods or ships that they used, to fly their special breeds of humans to other planets. Only, the time frame that they had to perfect these experiments had elapsed. It was too late. They never realized how delicate genetics could be. Earth would wait for no one; war was breaking out.”
“I think the whole purpose of their experiments was to study and develop some kind of weapon, a weapon that enabled them to force their way into other galaxies.” Kronan spoke now, his eyes burning with anger. “A team of scientists and all the surviving subjects were boarding shuttles, heading for this planet.” Kronan chuckled and turned toward us. “My father had a soft heart – he gave up his planet to save a new race.”
The Broken Destiny Page 11
