Saadakrom: Chapter 3

For three rainy days, Akumaa had not been seen at home.

Concerned, Sena set off for the training grounds. Soaked to the skin, she reached the grounds only to find Akumaa seriously training. She struck every raindrop falling near her with her sandaled feet and hands, leaving her clothes and the patch of ground beneath her completely dry.

When the clouds dispersed and beams of sunshine fell from the sky, Akumaa sighed in relief, carefully avoiding parts of the grounds that were filled with hand and foot shaped holes.

'So you're done training, Akumaa?'

'Sort of. I did everything that Saada did shortly after she got here. Increased my speed by striking raindrops. Boosted my strength, which explains the holes in the grounds. But it's not enough, which is why I'm going to demand that Saada train me'.

Ignoring Sena's advice to let Saada be, Akumaa sped towards the huts of leadership. The Afena Fitaa on guard sunk into offensive stances, alarmed at the sight of a wild eyed girl running straight for Saada's meeting hut.

Akumaa only grinned and leapt onto the Afena Fitaa Panin's shoulder, before sailing over the protective wall encircling the huts. The moment her feet touched the inner courtyard, Saada came out of her hut, surrounded by the mpaninfo) and more Afena Fitaa.

Akumaa took a deep breath and sped towards Saada. Alarmed, the Afena Fitaa charged at her, their white handled afenas raised. Akumaa darted away from their reach with stunning speed, stopping only when she was an inch away from Saada.

'Hello, Akumaa' Saada said calmly. 'You wanted to see me?'

'Yes. I want you to train me.'

'Not now. I'm busy.' Why not build on what you've done so far?. It's obvious you've been training.'

'Yes, but punching holes in the training grounds isn't enough. I still feel like I can do more.'

'So you wrecked my training grounds. The repairs will come out of your salary. Since you're not going to go away anytime soon, I'll train you on one condition. If you falter even once or start complaining, your status as a lady of Saadakrom will be revoked.'

'Meaning?'

'Meaning that the puberty rights will be considered null and void and the entire village will have the right to treat you like a little girl. Which means you will no longer be a member of the nkwansrafoo.

'Also, you will address your age-mates as your elders, and you will do exactly what they say, when and how they say it.'

'Even Sena?'

'Especially Sena. Still interested?'

'Most definitely.'

Akumaa's training began at dawn when she was instructed to run around the village 50 times. To show her how easy this was, Saada raced alongside her. This was followed by an intense hand to hand combat session, most of which ended with Akumaa rolling in the dirt.

'Get up or there will be no more training' Saada warned.

At that, Akumaa sprung to her feet, surprising Saada with a flurry of punches and kicks that she struggled to block. At night, Akumaa read each and every written record of fighting styles that Saada had witnessed during her search for a safe haven. Three weeks passed and Akumaa left Saada's home more powerful than ever.

As Akumaa resumed her nkwansrafoo duties, Saada, after hours of contemplation, called for an assembly to be held in the village circle. Everyone attended, including the archer Kwansaa, who studied the gathering from a tree close to the village walls.

She drew a thin, serrated arrow from her quiver and drew her bow. The serrated edges would ensure that even if Saada was not struck in the heart, the blades would tear through her skin and leave a gaping hole when it exited her body. It was coated in a mixture of poisons to ensure that no single antidote would be effective.

Oblivious to the threat, Saada addressed the gathering. 'Fellow villagers, after years of living in relative safety and security, I have realised that you have the right to choose your own leader. Which is why effective immediately, I'm stepping down as leader of Saadakrom. You can even change the name.'

'I just hope that whoever you choose will be better than I ever was, at leading you. Our enemies' village is called Agyemankrom (village of the conqueror) but I hope that in time, they can conquer the darkness in their hearts and that they can reunite with us as one village.'

She opened a scroll. 'This is a list of worthy individuals. They include )baapanin Awo, )baapanin Araba,...'

As she continued to read, Awo felt sick to the stomach. The other candidates saw Awo as a mentor and would throw their weight behind her. Saada had virtually handed leadership of the village to her. Awo turned to Kwansaa's perch in horror at the same moment that she had a clear shot of Saada and let the arrow fly.

To the Afena Fitaa, the arrow seemed to have materialised out of nowhere. They were all too slow to intercept it's path. Inches away from Saada's back, she suddenly spun around and cracked it in half with one swift movement of her right fist, grazing it. She suddenly clutched her chest and fell to the ground as the poisons from the arrow coursed through her body.

The Afena Fitaa huddled around her. One of them placed her hands on her chest and wrist and shook her head. Saada, it seemed, was dead. The rest of the villagers fled from the circle in a blind panic, except Akumaa, who noticed a lone figure sliding down a tree, and darted towards Kwansaa.

The moment Kwansaa's feet touched the ground, Akumaa grabbed her right shoulder, spun her around and punched her across the face with her right fist. The village seemed to spin around her as she stumbled to her right. Akumaa struck her belly with her left foot, causing Kwansaa to double over in pain.

She heard the tell-tale signs of an angry mob behind her. She had planned to leave the village seconds after taking the shot to avoid being lynched. She had not counted on Akumaa attacking her. But as the mob got closer, she had a crazy thought.

She would surprise Akumaa, whose attention was now on the mob, with an attack from behind, hold her at knife point and threaten to kill her unless they allowed her to leave.

She slowly drew out a sekan (knife) from the folds of her cloth and lunged at Akumaa, but Akumaa suddenly spun around and punched her to the ground.

' Saada would not have wanted her to be lynched.' Akumaa reminded them.

The mob slowly dispersed and Awo's baguafo (bodyguards) picked up Kwansaa.

Saada's funeral was held that night. Quiet and solemn, just the way she would have wanted it. Her own gong was struck 105 times, signifying her age, even as she lay in a box made out of her favourite scroll shelf. For 30 minutes, the villagers reflected on her life and the life they had left, determined to be the best they could be. Until death, a kakai in their belief, came for them.

Awo left the funeral grounds last. It was too late to apologise to Saada. Had she known of Saada's intentions to hold an election, she would never have aided Kwansaa. She paused briefly at a freshly built efiase (prison), one built solely for Kwansaa.

'Nyamekye sent a spy to follow us into the village today. But my baguafo made sure that once she was too close to the village, she would be silenced permanently. The same way I'm going to silence you, Kwansaa'.

Awo motioned to her baguafo, who suddenly held Kwansaa down and forced her mouth open.

'In the village I was liberated from, they had two ways of silencing gossips. One was to cut a tip of their tongue, giving them a permanent lisp. The other was to cut out the entire tongue. ' Awo sighed. ' I need to ensure that you never tell anyone about my dealings with your village.'

The next day, Sena and Akumaa were fetching water halfheartedly from the well when Saada's Afena Fitaa approached them.

'Sena, you are under arrest for conspiring to murder Saada. '

Akumaa stood in front of Sena. 'She's innocent. You're not taking her anywhere.'

The panin of the Afena Fitaa stepped forward. 'Akumaa, if you do not step aside, you will be punished as well.'

'No!'. 'I'll take you all on, if I have to".

'Akumaa' said Sena,' it'll be fine. I'll go with them. Justice will prevail.

So Akumaa watched as they took her best friend away. She fetched the water needed for their homes, finished her chores and headed to the elders' circle. She edged past a large crowd that had gathered there, just in time to hear Awo read her sentence.

'Sena, for the crime of infiltration and aiding an assassin of Agyemankrom to kill our leader, you are sentenced to life in prison with hard labour.'

Sena was led away by the town guard, even as the crowd screamed for her head and a stunned Akumaa looked on.

Two weeks passed and Akumaa finally got permission to see Sena, now tagged as a dangerous criminal. Akumaa entered the cold, damp cell and embraced Sena. She suddenly sensed two figures behind her and spun around, prepared to fight. One was Kwansaa, her mouth covered in blood and bound in chains.

She stared in disbelief as Saada stepped out of the shadows and wrapped a warm cloth around Kwansaa. She then turned her attention to Akumaa.

'This poor woman has had her tongue cut out from her mouth. Perhaps by the same person who let her into the village. That's the reason I've decided to stay hidden here. To find out who did this and to support Sena in this difficult time.'

'As to how I'm still alive, my body has a higher than average resistance to a wide range of poisons, so even a mixture of 2 or 3 will not be enough to kill me. I developed this during my brief stay with Asafoakyere Dede of Nyansakrom. At midnight, my body recovered fully enough for me to dig myself out of my own grave.'

'Since I designed the village's layout myself, it was easy to hide my prescence, sneak into this new efiase and remain hidden indefinitely. Now I need your help to find the )baapanin who has broken our laws'.

'How can I do that?"

'Sneak into the records hall and find out whose exit and entry into the village has been altered or destroyed completely.'

So that night, Akumaa stealthily entered a heavily guarded records block, a little disappointed that they weren't more vigilant. She checked the records speedily, pausing only to ensure that she had not been spotted. She noticed that Awo's entry and exit logs were missing and exhaled deeply.

Awo was now more or less the leader of the village. Now she knew that if she did not leave now, she would suffer the same fate as Kwansaa. She returned the scroll to its position and left as quietly as she had come. She reached her hut and was about to enter it when she sensed a prescence behind her and turned around only to face the village guard.

The panin of the guard stepped forward. 'Awo demands your prescence at the grand )baampaninfo hut at once'.

Moments later Akumaa faced the )baampaninfo, standing in the same spot that Sena had stood, before being sentenced. Awo spoke first. 'Akumaa, do you love your village?'

'Yes'.

'So much that you would defend it from it's enemies?'

'Of course.'

'Excellent' beamed Awo, to Akumaa's discomfort,. 'Then tomorrow morning, you, Saada's Afena Fitaa and half of the village guard will march to Agyemankrom and kill everyone of our enemies'.

'That's not right' objected Araba. 'Saada would never have wanted us to destroy our enemies.'

'But she's dead' snapped Awo. 'Killed by an assassin from the very village she wanted us to reunite with. They have made it clear that they cannot be reasoned with. This is the only way that we will truly be safe from their attacks. Or would you prefer that we continue to wait for the next horrifying attack?'

'No!' her colleagues said in unison.

'Then tomorrow, we kill those venomous brood of vipers in Saada's name'.

At 30 minutes to midnight, Akumaa snuck into the efiase to see Saada and told her about Awo's plan.

'Alright, join the march' shrugged Saada.

'Why?'

Saada pressed a scroll into Akumaa's hands. 'Show this to the Afena Fitaa, halfway to the village and to Nyamekye when you subdue her forces. That way, no one will die. Now get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow.'

Akumaa and the other villagers reached Agyemankrom the moment the sun rose above the horizon. The first 10 guards were quietly subdued before they had a chance to fight. The remaining villagers drew out their akodze and charged at them.

Back at Saadakrom, Awo proposed the creation of a permanent force, one that would conquer potential enemy villages. Suddenly the gates to the hut were flung open and Saada and Sena strode in, shocking everyone.

'No one's attacking any more villages after today' Saada roared. She snapped her fingers and noiselessly, the remainder of the village guard surrounded Awo.

'Of all the things you've done up till now, cutting out Kwansaa's tongue was one of the worst, Awo.' You're going to your new efiase for a long time'.

'Saada, Agyemankrom is going to be...' began Araba.

'Destroyed?. No, if Akumaa follows my instructions, there is a chance that both villages can be reunited'

.

Akumaa struck down the )brafo) guarding Nyamekye. 'So you've come to kill us all, just as I predicted'.

'No, we come in peace' Akumaa said before handing Saada's scroll to her.

Nyamekye read it slowly and after a long silence, said. 'These are acceptable conditions for reunification'.

In the afternoon, Akumaa and her villagers walked side by side with the villagers of Agyemankrom into Saadakrom. Saada addressed them. 'Let us begin the reunification talks'.