March 6, 2015
March 6, 2015
Efa Gue Kurow (Efa, Destroyer of nations)
Efa Gue Kurow (Efa, Destroyer of nations)
by safohen
In the not-so good old days, kakai (monsters) roamed the land, devouring entire villages when they felt like it. Humans cowered in fear of their raids. Even those who tried to appease them with offerings of their best cattle and farm produce were eaten anyway. Before long, they hid in the bushes and forests, dreading the day when the kakai would eventually find them.
Eventually some of them decided to fight for their survival. Among these brave souls were two siblings. A brother and sister who, in one night, had slain eighteen anoma (bird) kakai. The man was Atsebu Amamfi, a gramo (giant) and a legend among his people even before he started killing kakai. The woman, the more powerful of the two, was simply known as Efa.
Eighteen more anoma kakai flew towards them, their talons raised. Efa wrenched two ekumapraban (long handled axe) from the head of a fallen kakai and stabbed a kakai that dove towards her in the throat. She pulled out the axe heads from the dead kakai and spun around a second, before clipping its wings.
It hit the dirt with a dull thud before feebly attempting to rise. Efa stomped it with her left foot and it lay very still. More of them foolishly dove towards the woman and repeatedly, they poaid for their foolishness with their lives, as she slashed them in halves with her ekumapraban.
Only two remained and they flapped their wings and headed for the dafety of the night sky when two hands clamped down on their talons. Atsebu smashed them to the ground , breaking every bone in their bodies, before crushing their heads underneath his feet.
In silence, the siblings buried the thirty-six anoma kakai under the moonlit sky. At midnight, Efa straigthened herself.' Atsebu, I need you to take the people of Etsii village to Ihikrom tonight.'
'Why?"
'Because we just killed thirty six of the anoma kakai flock. The Anoma kakai nation will send an army to wipe out our village. I'm sure I can take them out but if I fail....'
'No, big sister' interrupted Atsebu. 'We will fight them together or die trying'.
'Someone has to keep fighting them after tomorrow. At least until more people learn to fight for themselves. Ihi, the village champion of Ihikrom wields the Nyameakuma, an ekuma (axe) that enabled him to wipe out the Sakramansum (dark wolves) clan. You and the others will be safe there, whilst I attempt to wipe out the ten Kakai nations'.
So that morning, when a thousand anoma kakai descended from the skies to destroy Etsii village, Efa was ready for them. They flew swiflty towards her as she darted towards them. In two swings, she slashed one in half, leapt off the falling kakai and slashed ten of them in two swings of her nkodze (weapons).
The rest suddenly flew around her rapidly, forming a wall of feathers and creating a deadly vacuum . She sunk to her knees and gasped for breath as the circular wall became smaller and smaller. With a mighty roar of defiance, she sent her nkodze flying through the wall on her left, slashing in half, ten kakai.
On her second wind, she punched through the kakai on her left, destroying their formation and darted for her akoidze. A kakai dove at her, talons raised but she punched its beak, smashing it, before wrenching it off and stabbing the kakai with it. She rolled underneath two more, snatched her nkodze and stabbed them from behind.
She dashed towards the other kakai, nkodze swinging and began to clear a path through them. Her entire world became a series of punches, kicks and swings. The kakai who had not fallen flew to her left, stood in line and simultaneously flapped their wings furiously.
This generated strong bursts of wind that uprooted trees and displaced rocks as well as the fallen bodies of their kin.
Yet, Efa pressed forward, digging her nkodze into the ground every few minutes to resist the wind pressure.Exhausted, the anoma kakai stopped the attack and Efa killed them all.
In the middle of the day, Efa headed towards the Anoma Kakai nation as it braced itself for her arrival. They all shared a psychic link, that enabled them to see what others saw. With their sharpened talons and razor sharp wings, the twenty four million kakai were no match for Efa as she hacked and slashed them mercilessly.
Their shrieks of horror and agony could be heard by the other Kakai nations and the leaders of these nations died of fright when they heard that she had not only killed them but she had burnt the nation down as well.
The )sebo (tiger) kakai nation sent their most cunning warrior to confront her.
'Efa of the Fantse' it grinned. 'I can grant you anything you wish with my dark magic. Wealth, eternal youth, happiness, you name it'.
Efa silently cleaved it in half and continued her march towards the )sebo Nation. None of them survived her attack and their buildings were burnt to a crisp by nightfall.
At midnight, the onini (python) kakai nation sent their deadliest )brafo) (executioners) to kill her. They approached her mat, only to find her wide awake and expectant of their arrival. She tortured them for information about their )man (nation), killed them and then destroyed their )man.
A few onini kakai and other types fled into the forests to hide from her. In time Efa became known as Efa Gue Kurow, destroyer of nations. The fairy kakai relied on their invisbility powers to keep them safe but Efa killed them all, using a keen sense of smell and sharp reflexes.
The remaining kakai )man ceased to exist by the end of that week and humans eventually came to dwell again in the land that the kakai had ceased from them. The dreaded kakai took their place in the darkest forests, of the land.
Tired but pleased with herself, Efa returned from her campaign only to find that Etsii village was no longer the same. She knew this because she and her brother were kept away from the public eye, in a large prison cell.
The new chief, Kweku Babone came to explain the reason for their incarceration one day. 'You and your brother are an asset to the village. Weapons that we will eventually use to conquer the surrounding villages in order to build a new glorious empire. You may attempt to resist at first, but eventually, you will be 'trained' to use your nation-destroying powers for my benefit'.
For two weeks, Efa trained her jailers in the art of killing kakai and on the third week, she and her brother stealthily left the village for the haven known as Saadakrom. The jailers were suspended and they formed an asafo kuo (club). On the surface, they encouraged people to join the asafo and engaged in asafo activities.
Their real function was to kill the kakai that slithered out of the dark forests and attakced people. Years passed and the land became a nation but the tradition of the Asafo Kuo was passed on from one group of women to another non-related group.
In the year 2013, one of the asafo kuo set up a school called Asafoakyere Kwaakyewaa's School for Girls and Efa's dual ekumapraban was given to Nyamekye and her four friends, the new members of Takoradi's Asafo Kuo.
Eventually some of them decided to fight for their survival. Among these brave souls were two siblings. A brother and sister who, in one night, had slain eighteen anoma (bird) kakai. The man was Atsebu Amamfi, a gramo (giant) and a legend among his people even before he started killing kakai. The woman, the more powerful of the two, was simply known as Efa.
Eighteen more anoma kakai flew towards them, their talons raised. Efa wrenched two ekumapraban (long handled axe) from the head of a fallen kakai and stabbed a kakai that dove towards her in the throat. She pulled out the axe heads from the dead kakai and spun around a second, before clipping its wings.
It hit the dirt with a dull thud before feebly attempting to rise. Efa stomped it with her left foot and it lay very still. More of them foolishly dove towards the woman and repeatedly, they poaid for their foolishness with their lives, as she slashed them in halves with her ekumapraban.
Only two remained and they flapped their wings and headed for the dafety of the night sky when two hands clamped down on their talons. Atsebu smashed them to the ground , breaking every bone in their bodies, before crushing their heads underneath his feet.
In silence, the siblings buried the thirty-six anoma kakai under the moonlit sky. At midnight, Efa straigthened herself.' Atsebu, I need you to take the people of Etsii village to Ihikrom tonight.'
'Why?"
'Because we just killed thirty six of the anoma kakai flock. The Anoma kakai nation will send an army to wipe out our village. I'm sure I can take them out but if I fail....'
'No, big sister' interrupted Atsebu. 'We will fight them together or die trying'.
'Someone has to keep fighting them after tomorrow. At least until more people learn to fight for themselves. Ihi, the village champion of Ihikrom wields the Nyameakuma, an ekuma (axe) that enabled him to wipe out the Sakramansum (dark wolves) clan. You and the others will be safe there, whilst I attempt to wipe out the ten Kakai nations'.
So that morning, when a thousand anoma kakai descended from the skies to destroy Etsii village, Efa was ready for them. They flew swiflty towards her as she darted towards them. In two swings, she slashed one in half, leapt off the falling kakai and slashed ten of them in two swings of her nkodze (weapons).
The rest suddenly flew around her rapidly, forming a wall of feathers and creating a deadly vacuum . She sunk to her knees and gasped for breath as the circular wall became smaller and smaller. With a mighty roar of defiance, she sent her nkodze flying through the wall on her left, slashing in half, ten kakai.
On her second wind, she punched through the kakai on her left, destroying their formation and darted for her akoidze. A kakai dove at her, talons raised but she punched its beak, smashing it, before wrenching it off and stabbing the kakai with it. She rolled underneath two more, snatched her nkodze and stabbed them from behind.
She dashed towards the other kakai, nkodze swinging and began to clear a path through them. Her entire world became a series of punches, kicks and swings. The kakai who had not fallen flew to her left, stood in line and simultaneously flapped their wings furiously.
This generated strong bursts of wind that uprooted trees and displaced rocks as well as the fallen bodies of their kin.
Yet, Efa pressed forward, digging her nkodze into the ground every few minutes to resist the wind pressure.Exhausted, the anoma kakai stopped the attack and Efa killed them all.
In the middle of the day, Efa headed towards the Anoma Kakai nation as it braced itself for her arrival. They all shared a psychic link, that enabled them to see what others saw. With their sharpened talons and razor sharp wings, the twenty four million kakai were no match for Efa as she hacked and slashed them mercilessly.
Their shrieks of horror and agony could be heard by the other Kakai nations and the leaders of these nations died of fright when they heard that she had not only killed them but she had burnt the nation down as well.
The )sebo (tiger) kakai nation sent their most cunning warrior to confront her.
'Efa of the Fantse' it grinned. 'I can grant you anything you wish with my dark magic. Wealth, eternal youth, happiness, you name it'.
Efa silently cleaved it in half and continued her march towards the )sebo Nation. None of them survived her attack and their buildings were burnt to a crisp by nightfall.
At midnight, the onini (python) kakai nation sent their deadliest )brafo) (executioners) to kill her. They approached her mat, only to find her wide awake and expectant of their arrival. She tortured them for information about their )man (nation), killed them and then destroyed their )man.
A few onini kakai and other types fled into the forests to hide from her. In time Efa became known as Efa Gue Kurow, destroyer of nations. The fairy kakai relied on their invisbility powers to keep them safe but Efa killed them all, using a keen sense of smell and sharp reflexes.
The remaining kakai )man ceased to exist by the end of that week and humans eventually came to dwell again in the land that the kakai had ceased from them. The dreaded kakai took their place in the darkest forests, of the land.
Tired but pleased with herself, Efa returned from her campaign only to find that Etsii village was no longer the same. She knew this because she and her brother were kept away from the public eye, in a large prison cell.
The new chief, Kweku Babone came to explain the reason for their incarceration one day. 'You and your brother are an asset to the village. Weapons that we will eventually use to conquer the surrounding villages in order to build a new glorious empire. You may attempt to resist at first, but eventually, you will be 'trained' to use your nation-destroying powers for my benefit'.
For two weeks, Efa trained her jailers in the art of killing kakai and on the third week, she and her brother stealthily left the village for the haven known as Saadakrom. The jailers were suspended and they formed an asafo kuo (club). On the surface, they encouraged people to join the asafo and engaged in asafo activities.
Their real function was to kill the kakai that slithered out of the dark forests and attakced people. Years passed and the land became a nation but the tradition of the Asafo Kuo was passed on from one group of women to another non-related group.
In the year 2013, one of the asafo kuo set up a school called Asafoakyere Kwaakyewaa's School for Girls and Efa's dual ekumapraban was given to Nyamekye and her four friends, the new members of Takoradi's Asafo Kuo.
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