Chapter 2 — Fractured

Dande wandered through the forest. The odor of the acacias filled his nostrils. They were closer together here, and that made the going harder. The time-chiseled, drying tree branches reached out at him like fingers, pointing and poking fun at him. He listened carefully.  The silence was oppressive. Not even the odd bird call interrupted it. It seemed as if the forest wanted to make him feel more alone. It would give him nothing. Not even a breeze. Only stuffy air, heat and flies. They buzzed incessantly around him and his horse. He paused in the shade of a wild avocado tree and wiped the beads of sweat that trickled down his forehead. It was still early morning, but the sun was beating down hard. The horse twitched its muscles and switched its tail, chasing away the buzzing flies. Dande hopped off lightly and examined the dusty path. There were several prints on it. Some belonged to horses. Others belonged to the wild beasts. Probably impala. Or duiker - judging from how small and sharply pointed they were. But that was all he could see. He had reached the limits of his tracking skills. He slammed an angry fist into the base of the tree. There was no way that he was going to find Zugudini if she didn't want to be found. He winced as the sharp pain in his knuckles rose up his arm. He straightened up, cupped his hands around his mouth, and called her name again out loud. “Zugudini!”

He listened but heard nothing. Not even an echo. The forest had sucked in the sound of his voice, and all that remained was silence, resting heavily on him like a blanket. The thick  silence confirmed what he had feared but didn't want to accept - that Zugudini had betrayed him. There was no way on earth that she could be lost in those woods. She had shaken him off and - he was sure of it - was making her way back to the cave even as he stood there underneath the tree, staring stupidly at a set of tracks that made no sense whatsoever. He kicked a pebble and cursed. The horse neighed and stepped away from him, scared by his sudden movement. He pulled a twig off a bush on the ground and held it out to the horse. The horse approached and nibbled at it. He knew what he had to do. He would double back and try to find his way to the cave. Zugudini would have had to leave their horses behind and climb up the hill and ravines on foot. No horse could make it up there. That delay was his only hope. He could waylay her and stop them from taking the drum. He got back onto his horse and trotted off, keeping his eyes peeled on the ground. He had no idea in which direction the hill and cave lay, but if he could find the two sets of horse prints that he and Zugudini's horse left behind, then he had a chance at tracking her before it was too late.

“You two look like you were ready to ride off again,” Jilo said, cutting off Zugudini. She was grateful for the interruption. It gave her a moment to think. “Why did you stop laying the chinjira?” he asked.

Luba climbed down from her horse. “We did no such thing,” she said. “Are you sure you looked?”

Jilo nodded. “Yes. But we lost your trail several times. You made yourselves hard to follow.”

They recounted how often they had had to retrace their steps to find the seeds that Luba and Zugudini had dropped along the way. The path that the two women had taken had been the least obvious one, meandering through the woodlands at the foothills of the Mountains of Mwari.

When they asked them what they had been looking for in the Mountains of Mwari and Inzalo Ye Langa, Zugudini explained that their clients were cagey with details and had forced them to accompany them on a long and winding path in search of Mwari-knew-what.

"So eventually we shook them off," Zugudini said.

"That doesn't make sense," Jilo said with a frown. "You were tracking someone, no?"

Zugudini and Luba exchanged a quick glance.

"Yes, we were,” Zugudini said. “But we lost his track early on and explained to our clients that it was no more use tracking the man. We asked to be paid for the work that we had done up until that point, but they refused. They said that they'd pay us only when we found the man.”

“So we planned to rob them and take off,” Luba said.

“But they caught us in the act and up a fight,” Zugudini continued.

“So we just left them. We didn’t want to have the blood of the Mutapa’s men on our hands.”

“So you got nothing?” Jilo asked.

Luba and Zugudini both shook their heads.

“We wasted our time,” Zugudini said.

“Never work with government,” Luba added.

Jilo did not look convinced. “So you shook them off but didn't take anything from them?" Jilo asked again.

"What are you accusing us of?" Zugudini asked. "You think we would hold out on you?"

She turned to Karama, expecting him to defend her and Luba. He yawned.

"We rode hard through the night to find you," he said. "I'm tired. I need a nap."

He sat down in the shade of a tree where they had hitched their horses, stretched out his legs, and shut his eyes.

"Now is not the time to sit and rest," Zugudini said. "We can do that later."

"We need to leave here," Luba said. "Before they come looking for us."

"Why would they come looking for us if you didn't take anything from them?"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Zugudini said. "These clients are as stubborn as Makalanga donkeys."

Jilo's eyes slid from Zugudini to Luba to Karama, dozing off underneath the tree.

"There's something you're not telling us. It's the first time that you would just dump a client without taking anything from them.”

He walked up to the tree and sat down beside Karama.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell us the truth. Besides, the horses need a rest, and so do we."

"We need to go," Zugudini said. "We're not safe here."

Jilo didn't answer. He sat down cross-legged, rested his back on the tree trunk, folded his arms across his chest and stared at them with unblinking eyes.

Dande rode along the forest path, hopelessly lost. Nothing was familiar. Even the acacia trees had thinned out and were now replaced by a species that Dande had never come across.

"Do you know where we are going?" he asked his horse. Dande was sure that it had understood him because the horse shook its head and neighed. Or was it because of the annoying flies that buzzed around its mane and Dande's face? They rode on in silence a while longer. Dande kept his eyes trained on the path and his ears peeled for any noises. The neighing of a horse came to his ears. It was ahead of him and to the left. Dande stopped and leaned forward, listening. Hooves clipped along on the hard forest path ahead. A rider was approaching.

Dande slid gently off his mount, like oil dripping out a pot, and landed silently on the path. He padded through the underbrush like a cat, his spear held tight, ready to pounce at any moment. Up ahead of him, through the bushes, a figure was crouched beside a horse, examining the prints on the path. Dande gripped his spear, sprang from the shadows, and burst through the brush; weapon poised to strike. The figure turned sharply; eyes wide with shock—it was Chenzira. Dande stopped cold. His spear dropped to his side. Chenzira’s mouth hung open, fear etched in his face. Dande exhaled slowly, muscles unclenching, while Chenzira let out a shaky breath and wiped his brow.

“That was close,” he said. “Are you also alone?”

“Yes,” Dande said. “Let me guess. The pygmy disappeared into the forest, and you couldn't find her?"

"They know these paths like the back of their hands. I should've seen it coming. They would lose us in the forest, regroup, head back to the cave, get the drum, and leave. A clever plan. I have been foolish.”

"I am going back to the cave. I will catch them there and stop them.”

“You’ve been going around in circles.”  He crouched and pointed at the trail. "Those are your marks. These are mine."

Dande frowned.

"I didn’t note any landmarks as we entered the forest. That was foolish of me.”

“I noted the sun. If you remember, we kept our backs to the sun as we rode into the forest."

"That means that if we ride towards the sun..."

"We should find our way back to the hill if the ancestors are with us. It's not yet noon. We will have to keep marking the position of the sun as we ride. Otherwise, we're going to spend the night in this forest. Where is your horse?"

"That was the weak part of their plan. They left us our horses."

"But if we don't hurry, we will miss them."

Dande cut through the bush and found his horse where he'd left it on the path. He and Chenzira set out at a quick trot, keeping to the path as much as they could but always making sure to keep the sun ahead of them.

The sun glowed saffron-yellow in the sky.  Jilo sat resting underneath the tree, watching Zugudini and Luba baking in the haze that rose off the ground.

Zugudini clicked her tongue in disgust.

"I don't have time for this nonsense," she said. "I'm leaving. Luba, are you coming?"

Jilo shot to his feet and clutched his spear.

"Get onto that horse and I'll drop you where you stand."

"You can't possibly get both of us." She got onto her horse. Luba stepped towards hers.

"Can't I?" Jilo asked, spinning the spear lightly in his fingers as he picked up the other one beside Karama. Zugudini knew that he could. Jilo was the best spearman of the gang. What Luba could do with a dagger, he could do with a spear. She had once seen him drop a man riding away on horseback at full tilt, at two hundred paces off. Jilo had both the strength and the accuracy. During his time in Butua country, he had won numerous honors in their annual harvest games and was distinguished for being the best spearman in the kingdom. But he'd been too rebellious for the army. That, coupled with the envy that he inspired in the men around him, had driven him to embrace the life of an outlaw. He had met up with Karama and the rest of the Eagle Claw gang during the siege of Matope. After realizing that being an outlaw wouldn't make him rich, his sense of justice became really strong, and he decided to throw his spear in with them for the sake of liberating the slaves in the empire. To be honest, he didn’t care much for slaves, but it did give him a sense of importance, which suited his ego just fine. His inherent distrust of authority never left him though. It always irked him to have to take orders from the rest of the Eagle Claw members. If it were up to him, he would have run the gang himself and would've mixed their liberation exploits with those of a more lucrative nature. He doubted that the rest of the gang were as altruistic as they claimed, which was why, with this latest conundrum, he was certain that he had found the chink in Zugudini's moral armor. Finally. He would knock her off her moral high horse of freeing and liberating slaves, prove to them all that she was just as greedy as he was, and finally get them to see that they could indeed balance being freedom fighters with being thieves. The two realities could co-exist peacefully. So when he threatened Zugudini with spearing her from a distance, it was not a threat that she could take lightly. She had no way of knowing that the man didn't actually want her dead. She just figured that his normal suspicious bent had taken a turn for the worse. Zugudini slowly got down from her horse. Luba stepped back from hers.

"What I suggest," Jilo said, "is that the two of you just sit down here in the shade of this tree while me and Karama and the horses rest. Then, once we've all regained our strength and had time to think, we can talk things over and find a way forward. That's a good way to solve this, no?” Luba and Zugudini knew that he wasn't asking. He was telling. Luba looked to Zugudini for direction. Zugudini threw up her hands in mock frustration.

“Mwari help us all.”

She tramped over to the shade of the tree and sat down heavily. Luba followed and settled herself beside her. Jilo lowered his spears and set them on the ground next to him. He sat down against the tree trunk and, and kept his eyes fixed on Luba and Zugudini. Karama said nothing.

Dande and Chenzira trotted along the forest paths, going as fast as they could while keeping their eyes peeled on the tracks. Chenzira took careful note of the sun, whenever a gap in the branches allowed it. Noon was approaching. They were running out of time. To his delight, the trees they trotted past now started to have a familiar look about them. Dande gasped and stopped his horse. He leapt off and pointed to the tracks beneath their feet.

“There are four sets. They came this way.”

Chenzira nodded. We are getting close," he said. "We'd better proceed on foot."

They led their horses silently along the path. The trees thinned, and up ahead, beyond the tree line, they made out the rocky knoll in the distance. Dande froze. He counted four horses beneath the lone tree at its base. He had been expecting two.

"They have company," he said.

"Thank Mwari, we didn't just ride in. Let's get closer."

They tied their horses to some trees and, keeping as low as they could, crept right up to the edge of the tree line. They could make out the four horses nibbling the thin grass beneath the tree, one figure sprawled out asleep in its shade, and three more figures seated.

"Let's get over there," Dande whispered, pointing to a clump of forest that projected out to the hill. "We'll get a better view from there."

Zugudini and Luba sat in the shade of the tree, looking forlorn. Speaking to each other was out of the question. They couldn't even make signs. Jilo watched their every move like a hawk. Zugudini stared at Luba, trying to catch her attention. Eventually, Luba looked up at her, and Zugudini opened her eyes wide. Luba blinked. She was listening. Zugudini swept her eyes in a wide arc across to the bush nearby, speaking her thoughts in her mind as she did so. She wanted to find a way to escape. Luba nodded slowly. She understood. Zugudini wanted Luba to know she wanted to retrieve the drum first before she took off with it. She flicked her eyes up the rocky mound, towards the cave - twice, then thrice. Luba's eyes widened, questioning. Zugudini flicked her eyes up the hill, then towards the forest. Luba tilted her button nose forward. She understood, and she agreed. Good. Zugudini glared at Jilo. He met her gaze with a stupid frown. Good. He was none the wiser. He had always been slow. He was a great marksman and a good fighter but not gifted with a powerful mind. Zugudini wondered how on earth he had survived as an outlaw before he had met them.

Zugudini rose to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Jilo asked.

"I need to urinate," she said. "You want to come and watch?"

He didn't answer the question but rose to his feet and dusted off his backside.

"Who will watch her?" Zugudini said, nodding at Luba.

He glanced at Luba and scratched his head. He hadn't thought of that. Karama's soft snores reminded him that he had a partner. He kicked him awake. Karama snorted and opened his eyes.

"What?"

"Watch her," Jilo said. “I’m going with Zugi. She needs to pee.”

"Yeah, okay." He turned over onto his side and shut his eyes, snoring loudly and falling fast asleep immediately. Luba tried hard not to smile. Zugudini turned to Jilo.

"I have no weapons and no horse," she said. “Where do you expect me to go?" Jilo scratched his head with his spear shaft, then grunted.

“Is this the way to treat your business partner? With so little trust?”

"Be quick about it," he said. "If you're not back in five minutes, I'll come looking for you."

Zugudini clicked her tongue in disgust and stalked off, feigning irritation. Jilo watched her disappear behind a bush, then sat down again. Luba stood up.

"I also need to urinate," she said.

"You'll wait until your friend comes back," Jilo said, pointing at her with his spear.

"You can't stop me," Luba said, raising her voice. "Are you going to kill me for wanting to urinate?" She stood up. Jilo shot to his feet and pointed his spear at her.

"Sit down," he said firmly. Zugudini heard the little altercation between Jilo and Luba and thanked Mwari for Luba’s wits. By distracting Jilo, Luba had bought her the occasion to disappear into the bushes. And that is what she did.

Dande and Chenzira snuck through the trees and hid behind a cluster of shrubs. They were now facing the back of the hill. They could no longer see the gang members.

"What do we do now?" Chenzira asked.

"You go back to the horses and then ride up to them," Dande said.

"And you?"

"I'll approach them from this side, so they won't see me coming. When they see you riding up, they'll turn to face you, and I'll be able to surprise them from the rear."

"Then what?"

"Then we see what happens. But at least we'll have the advantage of surprise.” He started sneaking off, but Chenzira called him back.

"How will you know when I'm ready?" He asked. "You won't be able to see me riding up."

“Can you make the mwilo  birdcall. They're none around here." Chenzira nodded. It was one of the birdcalls the Barwe Tonga learned in basic training. He turned back to the trees, retracing his steps. Dande scanned the short stretch of open land between him and the base of the hill. Nothing stirred. He gripped his spear and sprinted forward.

Zugudini skipped up the rocks, retracing her steps as quickly as she could back to the ravine leading up to the cave. She would have to come up with a diversion if she was to give Luba a chance to escape after she had retrieved the drum. She glanced at the sun, beating down hard on her and on the rocks beneath her feet. They were scalding hot. She wished that it could trace its path across the sky faster. Things would be much easier if it were dark. But it was only noon. She sighed as she thought of all the things that could still go wrong in the course of the day. She came up with a plan as she ascended. Once she retook the drum, she would descend in the opposite direction and make a run for it. Jilo would have suspected something by then and would have gone looking for her. If she could circle back quickly, then she could find Luba. The two of them would handle Karama easily. Besides, he had feelings for her, and that was his weakness. He would never get really violent. She would play on his heartstrings and convince him to let them go, promising to reunite with them later. Perhaps when he saw the drum and realized the importance of the situation, he would acquiesce and let them escape. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it was the best that she could come up with. Things would never be the same between the four of them again. Maybe the Eagle Claw wouldn’t survive this. It would be a pity for things to end like that. But given the circumstances and the mission that she knew was hers and hers alone, there was no other way. But maybe it was Mwari’s will. If she destroyed the drum and brought down the empire,  then all the empire’s slaves would be free. In one fell swoop. She could think of no better way to end their many years of hard work.  That was a goal that was worth sacrificing the Eagle Claw for. Her mind flitted back to all their past missions. Their close shaves and shared hardships had created a bond between them. Only recently had Jilo started acting different. Maybe he was jealous of her leadership? She would never know. Nor did it matter. Soon, she would have the drum, and once she had destroyed it, all would be well again. She wondered what would happen to her once the drum was gone. Most likely she would be hunted down and executed. That wouldn’t be so bad. The slaves would make a martyr out of her. Maybe they would compose songs about her. She imagined meeting her mother in the realm of the ancestors. Would she be proud of her? Her mother's smiling face flitted before her eyes, and a deep emptiness overtook her. Her mother. She missed her so much.

Lost in her thoughts, Zugudini did not notice the sparrows suddenly taking flight nearby. She did not her the twig crack in the bushes to her right. She didn't notice the poor imitation of the call of the mwilo bird. A shadow loomed up ahead of her, barring her way. The blades of the two spears in its hands caught the sunshine and gleamed in the noonday sun as they were leveled at her belly. She froze, her arms falling to her sides limp.

"So, have you also abandoned your friend and decided to save yourself?" Dande asked. "Is there anyone on this soil that you are loyal to?"

He brought the spears right up to her belly, touching her skin.

"Or maybe you're only loyal to yourself."

"Dande, you don't understand," she said. "You don't know what you're doing."

"Yes, I do. I'm finishing what I started. I'm taking that drum back to its home."

"Can we talk about this?"

"Yes. Let's talk down there with your friends." He pushed the spear against her skin.

"Turn around and walk slowly the way you came. Try to run, and I will kill you. I am not joking."

Dande, please-"

"Move!"

The bushes ahead of them rustled, and Jilo appeared in view, breathless and panting from running up the hill. He took one look at Zugudini, then at Dande standing behind her with his spears leveled, and raised his own spear.

"What treachery is this?" he asked. His eyes flitted from Zugudini to Dande. “You said you were no longer working for them.”

“Are you really that stupid?” Zugudini asked. "Haven't you noticed he's holding a spear to me?”

"She betrayed us," Dande said. "Stole from us."

"I did not steal from anyone."

"I knew it!" Jilo said. "I knew that you were holding out on us." He turned to Dande.

"What did she steal from you? As a member of her group, I have a right to know and to make amends for what she did."

Dande glimpsed at Zugudini. From her expression, he realized two things. First, that Jilo knew nothing about the drum. Second, that it was wise to keep it that way. His eyes caught a movement far below on the plain. Chenzira was on his horse, riding hard towards the base of the hill. Perfect timing. He took a step forward. Jilo leveled his spear at Dande.

"I have no quarrel with you," he said. "I just want to know what was stolen so we can make amends." Jilo's eyes gleamed with greed. Zugudini's rolled. She couldn't believe how stupid a man Jilo was.

"The only way to make amends is by returning it to me, and that I can do by myself,” Dande said. “You just need to take her and make sure she doesn't get in my way again." He took another step forward, pushing a spear into Zugudini's ribs. She winced.

"Wait," Jilo said. “If you retrieve what you were looking for, that means the job was done. That means we need to be paid."

"There will be no payment. Your friend did not keep her side of the bargain. She wanted to steal the item from me."

"What is it?" Jilo asked, his breath quickening as he tried to keep the excitement out of his voice. He failed. Zugudini turned and looked at Dande. His eyes met hers.

"What item is it?" Jilo asked again. Dande and Zugudini said nothing.

"Oh, I see," he said. He turned to Zugudini. "You said it was a worthless trinket, and yet you wanted to steal it?"

"It had sentimental value,"

"Maybe it will have real value as well."

"Listen, friend," Dande said. "I have no quarrel with you. Take her, and I'll be going on my way."

"I don't think so. I think we should all go down. All together. And talk this over. All of us together. The same way we spoke about this job right at the start. Remember? That’s only fair.”

Dande sized Jilo up. He could easily have killed him right then and there, but then Zugudini would've escaped. That would only complicate things. Plus, he didn't know how Chenzira was faring down below. The old man might have been in a whole lot of trouble. Dande felt responsible for him. If he died because Dande deviated from the plan or abandoned him, the guilt would've weighed heavily on his mind for a long time to come. Dande lowered his spears.

"Fine. Let's go down and talk."

Jilo motioned for Zugudini to descend the hill. She did. Dande followed.

When they came to the camp, they found Chenzira standing with his arms raised above his head, Karama's spear pointed at him, and Luba watching the two of them in amusement.

"This day is just getting more and more interesting," she said when she saw the three of them approaching. Karama recognized Dande.

"Where did you find him, Jilo?” he asked.

"Up on the hill. Helping her escape."

"I was not helping -." Dande stopped mid-sentence, realizing that he was wasting his time. His mind worked quickly, and he changed tack. "Listen. Let's make this simple. Let us take the ngomalungundu, and we will be on our way."

Zugudini's heart sank to her feet.

"You have the ngomalungundu?" Jilo asked, his eyes widening. He turned to Zugudini.

"That's what you called a worthless trinket?"

Like a child who had just discovered a new toy, a grin broke across his face. He turned to Karama and spoke rapidly, barely able to contain his excitement.

"You know how much that thing is worth? We could sell it and live like Mutapas for the rest of our lives."

Karama was staring at Zugudini, his eyes burning into hers.

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" he asked. Zugudini shrugged and didn't say anything. It was Dande who spoke.

"Your lives are about to become very short if you do not honor the terms of our agreement."

“That agreement’s been broken already, no? But I’m a reasonable man. I’m willing to negotiate a new deal.

Dande eyed him carefully. Jilo glanced at Karama, who was still staring at Zugudini like a dog that had just been sold by its owner. Jilo puffed out his chest and attempted to sound more confident than he felt.

"Let's say we make a new deal. We have the item. You don't."

"You don't have the item," Chenzira said. Jilo ignored him and continued.

“We have the item. You want the item. We can let you have it. But the more valuable the item, the higher the price. And since the ngoma is priceless, you better be willing to make us an offer fit for the Mutapa himself."

"How about I offer you your life," Dande said calmly. "How much is that worth to you?"

Jilo stiffened, then threw his head back and laughed.

"I think you're outnumbered, friend." he said. He turned to Karama, "What do you think we should get for giving them the ngomalungundu?"

Karama was still staring at Zugudini.

"When were you going to tell us about the drum?” She didn't answer.

"I have always trusted you," he said. "Why would you do this?"

Her eyes flicked to Dande for an instant before she cast them to the ground again. It was enough for Karama to understand a whole lot. He remembered meeting them speaking behind the tavern in the village, how quickly they had fallen silent when they saw him, how cagey they had been. His chest tightened, and he cleared his throat.

“Who is this man to you?"

"No one."

"Don't lie to me. Who is this man to you?"

"I told you. He is no one."

Karama snarled, grabbed his spear, and thrust it at Zugudini with lightning speed. Dande was faster. He swung his spear down and parried Karama's thrust. The two spear tips slammed into the ground. The two men stared at each other, breathing hard.

"I thought as much," he said, his eyes glinting at Zugudini.

"Thought what?" Jilo asked, blinking stupidly. Luba giggled, overwhelmed by how obtuse the man was. That was too much for Karama. He felt he was being made a fool of. Everyone was in on the joke except him.

"Listen," Dande started. "I have no quarrel with--"

Karama’s roar cut him off. The man pulled his spear free and thrust it at Dande. Dande leaped out of the way, and the spear stabbed nothing but the hot, dusty air.

"Stop this!" Zugudini yelled, but Karama didn’t hear her. He bore down on Dande, stabbing and thrusting his spear with all his might. Dande fell back and parried every blow. Jilo was not about to be left out of a fight. He leaped into the fray, hurling his spear at Dande. The spear scratched Dande's cheek, drawing blood, and landed on the ground a few paces away from him. Jilo raced to retrieve it. Dande disentangled himself from Karama and thrust his spear quickly in and out of Jilo's chest as he raced past. Jilo continued forward on his momentum, then pitched onto his knees. Bright red blood pumped out of his chest in bursts. Karama yelled and drove at Dande, his spear leveled at Dande's belly, but something else caught Dande's attention. Chenzira's voice.

“Haai!” he called out. Dande looked up to see Zugudini making a break for it and sprinting back towards the rocky hill. Chenzira gave chase, but Luba dived at his feet and wrapped her arms around his ankles. The man crashed to the ground. The pygmy held tightly to his legs. Chenzira tried to kick her off, but her grip was firm.

Zugudini glanced over her shoulder and saw Chenzira and Luba grappling. At that moment, a spear came hurtling towards her. It narrowly missed and planted its tip in the ground between her feet. Dande remained where he stood, one spear in his left, his right hand still following through on his throw.

Karama attacked Dande from behind, but Dande dropped to one knee and twisted. He brought his spear up through Karama's belly. Karama stood there transfixed, a look of surprise on his face. Then he fell to his knees. Dande stood up and pulled his spear out of Karama's belly. Then he turned and stared at Zugudini.

The anger welled up within Zugudini like a volcano. She pulled the spear out of the ground and tore down the hillside, yelling at the top of her lungs.

Chenzira and Luba tussled on the ground. Twisting. Clutching. Tearing.  Luba was surprised at the old man’s strength. But she was quicker and more agile. Getting a momentary opening, she wrapped her legs around his throat and squeezed. Chenzira grabbed at her legs and pulled hard, but she pushed down still harder. They remained there, locked in a stalemate as Zugudini raced past and made a beeline for Dande. He stood there waiting for her to fall upon him, hoping that she would throw her spear. She was wiser than that. Their spears smashed against each other as Dande parried her blows. She was quicker than he expected. He had a hard time finding an opening to thrust his weapon. So quick was she that she kept him perpetually on the back foot with her rapid stabs. Her speed matched his strength. He realized his only chance was to bring the fight to close quarters. Seeing an opening, he dodged a blow and used his momentum to step within arm's length of her. Neither could stab the other now. Zugudini faltered, but Dande deftly spun behind her, pressed his spear shaft against her neck, and pulled back.

"Drop your spear."

"You'll have to kill me first,” Zugudini said, choking and spluttering as Dande choked her.

"I'll do it, Zugudini."

"Go ahead. You're just a killer. That's all you'll ever be. The wild dog.”

The words stabbed into his heart with greater force than any spear thrust he’d ever parried. With one swift move, he grabbed her spear, yanked it out of her hand, and hurled her to the ground. He was on top of her in an instant, his blade pressed against her throat.

"Go ahead, Wild Dog,” she breathed. "That's all you're good for. Do it."

Dande's eyes narrowed. His thoughts whirled. His heart beat faster. If all that she thought of him was that he was a killer, then he would prove her right. There was no use denying it. No matter what he did, she and the world would always only see him as one thing.

He drew his arm back, his nostrils flaring as he prepared to deliver the death blow. She met his gaze without flinching. He screamed in fury and brought his spear down with all his might.

Zugudini opened her eyes and gazed into Dande’s. They were burning with rage. Next to her head, his blade was buried up to its hilt.  They remained there in silence.  Staring at each other. Breathing hard.  A wail of dismay rent the air. It was Luba. She was on her feet. Chenzira was writhing, rubbing his genitals where she had kicked them. The ground beneath them shook, and dozens of hooves came thundering towards them.

A horn blew. A troop of masked riders galloped straight at them, a tsunami of hooves, shields and spears. In seconds, Luba, Zugudini, Chenzira and Dande were hemmed in on all sides. There was another short, sharp horn blast. In one swift motion, all the riders stopped and leveled their spears at the four.