Akyeaa: Chapter 8

The next day, in the largest forest in Cape Coast,, two figures sat next to a third figure which lay on the ground.

'How is she?' asked Ntim.

'Not so well' replied Fosuaa. 'Ive reset her broken bones but she still hasn't regained consciousness.

After fleeing the village, the other villages abandoned the elder and the two women. Ntim couldn't blame them. They were trying to put as much distance between them and Ekuaba as possible. Even before she decided to seek eternal life, she was known to have roamed the land, killing whoever and whatever she met.

Fosuaa glanced at their nkunimdifo), the one who was supposed to save them. Akyeaa looked peaceful, as if she was merely sleeping. Or was it an eternal slumber?

Fosuaa rose to her feet, slung a knapsack over her shoulder and began to walk away.

'Where are you going, Fosuaa?

'To find someone who can tell me how to kill Ekuaba.'

Supi Ami, leader of the ten asafo companies in Cape Coast, accompanied Akyeaa across a brightly lit tunnel beneath the royal palace. They walked up to two large iron doors of a very special efiase (prison). Ami opened them, revealing three cells. Each one housing one high priestess.

Ami opened the nearest one and inside High priestess )konore looked up from her newspaper as her osuani walked into the cell. It was shut tight.

'Little Fosuaa', beamed )konore, 'It's good to see you'.

'Likewise. I see you're fully rehabilitated.'

'Completely. No more crazy ideas about manipulating the royal family from the shadows. So how can I help you?'

Fosuaa told her everything that had happened in Ankonamkrom for the last two days.

'So your nkunimdifo) failed,eh? Maybe she should have had a firearm. Then again, that wouldn't have done much good against her.'

'I know. That's why I'm here. Teach me how to become a kakai so that I can kill her with my own hands.'

'Absolutely not!' I know what you're thinking. You'll track Ekuaba down, kill her and then maybe kill yourself before you can attack anyone. Well that's not going to happen because once you become a kakai, you will only be able to think about killing people.'

'I won't lose control. I've trained my mind to handle stress levels that would kill the average human.'

'And that's why you became a priestess in only three months. Because you have a fine mind. However, the )w) (snake) like kakai, the ones that the Asafo Kuo wiped out years ago, were also fine priests and priestesses. They were trained for war. Their mental and physical prowess surpassed yours. But you know what happened to them.

'They decided to become kakai to protect their village from an invading army but their own village was the first one to be wiped out. By their hands.


)konore nodded. 'So you see, little Fosuaa, I will not let you suffer the same fate. Go in peace.'

Fosuaa left the efiase and walked past the high rise buildings and billboards of the city, Past any signs of civilisation. Past the forest where Ntim sat, waiting for her return. She stopped when she reached a sacred grove.

A place where bloodshed of any kind was forbidden. It was once a dwanek)bea (haven) for those whose lives were threatened.

She took a deep breath and removed an ahafo sekan (hunting knife) from her suit pocket. She set the knapsack down and opened it, revealing the sankofa bird. It was a wild guess,one that she had sought to verify from )konore.

Slitting the sankofa bird's throat might summon an ancient figure who would grant her the kakai transformation or drive her insane for breaking the rule on shedding blood. She hoped it would be the former. The bird looked at her with fright in its eyes, but it did not make a sound.

'Sorry, my friend' she said softly. She placed the blade against its neck and was about to slit it when a firm hand gripped hers.

'Fosuaa' Akyeaa said in between gasps for breath. 'Don't do anything crazy'.
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