Chapter 9 — Dande, Son of Banga

Zugudini sagged against the drum. She had heeded the voices in the temple. She had beat ngomalungundu. Now, the throbbing subsided. Now she could know peace. A black wave washed over her eyes. Her head felt lighter. Light as a feather. Her heart was slowing down.

Throb….throb….

Throb.

A deathly silence descended over the temple. The echoes of the drum died down, as if swallowed up by the faded pillars and the moss and the stones. Hondo stared at Zugudini, mouth agape, eyes unblinking. Something warm trickled down his side and onto his feet. Blood. He looked at it as though it were not his. There was red everywhere. On the altar. On the drum. On the stones. The beam of light bathed Zugudini in its soft, gentle rays. She, too, was red.

“No! You will not take the drum away from me!”

Spear in hand, he charged.

Then it happened. The echoes of the drum returned, coming from the walls, the pillars, the floor. Only this time, they were not rhythmic and pulsing. They were a single, monotonous rumble. The earth heaved upwards, a wave of tectonic energy pulsing underneath it. It hurled Hondo into the air. He landed heavily on his side. The earthquake intensified, shaking the walls of the temple and ripping apart the pillars supporting it. A chasm snaked its way across the floor. Rocks from the roof came poured down and smashed into millions of pieces on the floor, filling the air with dust.

Dande struggled to his feet. Zugudini was prone beside the altar, rocks falling all around her. He made a wild dash for her, tossed this way and that by the quaking earth, zigging and zagging to avoid the falling rocks. He had to get her away from the altar. The roof was going to collapse at any moment. He cradled her in his arms, and scoured the cavern for the safest spot. The cave walls. They seemed to hold against the tremors. He rushed to the edge of the cavern, and lay her against a rough wall.

Without warning, a blinding flash of light ripped through the roof. The thunderclap that followed lifted Dande off his feet and threw him onto his back. He looked up to see the altar, charred, blackened and split in half, right down the middle. The drum sat where it had been, uncharred and untouched. A cold gust of wind swept through the room. There was a gaping hole in the roof. Clouds of dust swirled through it and into the angry black clouds that gathered overhead. Lightning zigzagged across the sky, threatening to strike the ground again. He had to get out of there. He turned to Zugudini. She mumbled and groaned, drifting in and out of consciousness.

A shower of hailstones clattered across the floor. Driven by the wind, they rattled against the walls, the pillars, and the altar. Dande covered his face and wrapped an arm around Zugudini as they smashed against them. In a few moments, ice covered the floor in a layer of shimmering white. That was when the rain began. There was no drizzle, no light shower. Just buckets and buckets of rain. Zugudini tried to sit up, but Dande pushed her gently back onto the floor, trying to shield her from the rain as well as any falling rocks, even as the tremors of the earth beneath him subsided and the rain grew stronger.

"Dande...it's... it's raining."

"Don't speak. We need to get -"

A lionlike roar cut him off. Hondo, teeth snarling and growling like a man possessed, rushed at them, spear clutched in both hands. The stone slab was cold against Dande’s palms. Heavy. He lifted it with both hands, muscles straining, just as Hondo’s spear came down.

The clash rang through the temple—metal scraping against stone in a shriek that echoed off the walls. The spear’s tip sliced sideways, carving a burning line down Dande’s ribs. Fire shot through his chest. Up. Down. His breath caught.

His feet slipped on the wet stones.

Down he went, skull meeting floor with a wet crack. The world tilted. Spun.

Black.

Hondo stood over them. Two bodies, still as the stones around them. Rain drummed against their skin. He held the broken shaft in his hands, turning it, studying where metal had met stone. The spear tip caught the lightning’s glow—still sharp, still hungry.

He pointed it at Zugudini’s throat.

She looked up at him. No fear in her eyes. Only disgust, cold and deep as the temple’s shadows. He dropped to his knees beside her, the broken spear trembling in his grip. Water dripped from his hair onto her face.

The drum watched. Silent now. Waiting.

"You used my blood on the drum and the altar," he said. "But the drum chose me, not you. Mwari chose me, not you." Zugudini eyed him with eyes full of hate.

“You made it rain using my blood,” he continued. “The blood of the one you love. That is why the ritual worked. It worked because of me.”

The cold wet drops splattering across his face brought Dande back to his senses. Where was he? Why was someone pouring water on his face? Why was he in so much pain. In an instant, it all came back to him. He sat up with a jolt. There was Hondo, pressing a spear tip into Zugudini’s throat. He tried to move. But the rain, the ice, the pain: everything was sore. Hondo would kill Zugi. He had to move. He stretched out an aching arm, and clawed his way towards them.

Hondo saw him coming. But he didn’t care. He turned to Zugudini.

“I could let you live. But you would be empress. And I would serve you. That I could never abide.”

“Then do it,” Zugudini whispered. “What are you waiting for?”

Something flickered in Hondo’s eyes.

“It’s hard to live knowing that nobody loves you. That was how I lived all these years. And then….” A tear came to his eye. “To find out that someone in Mwari’s wide earth does. Someone does love me. And to find out in this way. By spilling my blood. The blood of the one you love.”

Zugudini's eyes blazed.

"I stopped loving you when you made me an orphan ten harvests ago," she said. “It was his blood that is the drum accepted from me.” She pointed a finger weakly at Dande.

The words came to Dande like a ray of light in a dark forest. A wave of heat surged through his chest, giving new life to his broken, exhausted body. She loved him. All those years he had thought that he was alone in the world. He had been mistaken. She loved him.

Hondo’s head sunk on his chest. When he looked up again, they were cold and hard.

“So be it. The last thing your eyes will see will be his death.”

He turned on Dande the bared spear tip.

“Go well, Wild Dog.”

“I am no Wild Dog. I am Dande, son of Banga, Captain of the Barwe Tonga.”

Dande roared and hurled himself at Hondo. He drove his shoulder into Hondo's stomach and wrapping his bleeding arms around Hondo's back. The two men sailed through the air and landed with a loud, pain-riddled crunch on the sheet of hailstones covering the floor. They skidded across the ground, sliding closer and closer towards the gaping chasm in the floor. Hondo sensed the danger. He grabbed at Dande, at the floor, at the ice. The chasm drew closer. But there was no stopping their deadly skid. They tottered on its brink for an instant, then vanished over its edge. Zugudini agonizing shriek shook the walls.

"Dande!"

Luba’s legs shook. She pressed against the broken walls. Behind her, silence. No boots on stone. No shouted orders.

The earthquake had done its work.

A voice called from the rubble. “Help.”

She turned away and kept moving. The passage ended in fallen rock. She tried another route. Hailstones clattered through holes in the roof. Ice stung her face.

A scream cut through the corridor.There was no mistaking it. Zugudini. She scrambled over the rocks barring her way and tore down the passage.

Her palms scraped against stone. She ran.

The central chamber opened before her. Rain whipped through broken walls. Hailstones carpeted the floor like scattered teeth. She skidded on the ice. Water soaked through her skin.

Zugudini knelt at the edge of a chasm. Her shoulders heaved.

“Zugudini.”

No response. Luba dropped beside her. She peered over the edge.

Dande hung by one hand. His fingers gripped onto a crack in the sheer rock face. His knuckles were grey. His arm trembled.

“Hold on.” Zugudini reached down. He was too far.

“Get out of here.” Dande’s voice cracked. His hand spasmed.

“We need a stick,” Luba said.

She scanned the room. Her eyes found the rope by the altar. She sprinted across the chamber. Her feet slipped on wet stone. She grabbed the rope and raced back.

A boulder sat near the chasm. She tied one end around it. She threw the other end down.

The rope fell short.

“Oh, Mwari.”

She glanced at Zugudini for any ideas. None would come from her. She was too distraught. Luba sprung to her feet again, scoured the room. A broken spear shaft. That was it. She grabbed it and tied it to the end of the rope. Her practiced hands trembled. What if it wouldn’t hold. She let it down again. It reached him.

“I’ll swing it. Grab it with your free hand.”

Once. Twice. On the third swing, Dande caught it.

He let go of the rock. His full weight hit the shaft. Fire shot up his arms. The shaft burned his palms raw.

Zugudini and Luba pulled. Their feet slid on the ice. Their muscles screamed.

Dande’s head appeared. He hauled himself over the edge. Then he collapsed. His chest rose and fell like the ground had done during the earthquake.

Zugudini swayed. Luba caught her before she fell. The temple shuddered. Rocks crashed from the ceiling. Cracks split the walls.

“This place is coming down.” Luba pushed Zugudini onto her feet. “Stand up. Get up Dande or I’ll leave you here.”

“You wouldn’t,” Dande groaned.

“After coming this far? I can do anything now.”

Dande dragged himself upright.

“I can walk. Not sure about your sister.”

“We’ll manage her between us.”

Dande pulled Zugudini to her feet. She leaned on his shoulder. Then on Luba’s.

“After all that fuss,” Luba said, “you’re leaving the drum?”

The drum stood by the altar. Untouched by rain or hail. Another tremor shook the room.

“I’m not superstitious,” Luba continued. “But pray to Mwari not to kill me for touching that thing.”

“So now you believe?” Zugudini asked.

“Not really. But I’m not going to just leave it behind after it almost got me killed so many times. Dande, hold her.”

She let go of Zugudini and darted across the cavern. She dodged falling debris, grabbed the drum and sprinted back.

“This way.” Dande turned toward the main passage. Giant boulders barred their way. Dande groaned.

“We can climb over it,” Luba said. “That’s how I got in.”

“You weren’t carrying someone.”

“What choice do we have?”

They hobbled forward, and scaled the rocks as best they could. As they came to the passage on the other side, the rumbling grew louder. The archway behind them collapsed, sealing off the altar room. A cloud of dust choked their throats.

“Follow me. I came in another way.”

She led them up steep stairs covered with fallen rock.

"This is where I lost the soldiers," she said. "That was a great plan you came up with, Dande. They almost killed me."

Dande glimpsed a leg sticking out of a pile of rocks.

“Yes, it was perfect. These rocks fell on them right after you passed.”

“What makes you think I didn’t have a good lead? They never had a chance.”

Luba tripped over a step. Dande gasped in pain as the weight of Zugudini fell fully on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Luba said. “I need to focus on where I’m going. This drum isn’t helping.”

“I can walk on my own” Zugudini said. “I just need a crutch.”

A spear shaft jutted out of a pile of debris. Dande grabbed it and handed it to Zugudini.

“Here,” Dande said. “This should help.”

A spear jutted from the rocks. Dande grabbed it. Handed it to Zugudini.

“It’s a walking stick than Luba,” he said.

“It’s got less personality,” Luba said.

With Zugudini using the spear as a crutch, they moved faster. Rain refreshed them when they passed under broken roof sections. The drug’s effects faded with each step. Zugudini’s strength returned. The rumbling deepened.

“Almost there.” Luba called over her shoulder. “I can see the entrance.”

“We need to speed up,” Dande said.

He wrapped an arm around Zugudini’s waist and half-carried her. The courtyard appeared ahead. The stairs leading down. No soldiers. Behind them, walls crashed. The sound grew deafening.

They broke into a limping run, going down the steps as quickly as they could. They crossed the courtyard and reached the gates. The noise became a roar. They spun around. The trees around the temple courtyard collapsed. The earth bucked beneath their feet. A gaping hole opened up in the ground, as the temple vanished into the ground, and sent a mushroom cloud of dust rolling toward them. They coughed. Choked. The rumbling died and then, silence. The softly falling rain pattered on the hard ground and the leaves of the forest around them. The afternoon sun shone, making the rain look like drops of fire.

Luba handed Zugudini the drum.

“I don’t want to hold this anymore. Don’t want to end up like that temple.”

Zugudini grinned. She took the drum, and handed Dande the spear.

The bushes behind them rustled. They spun around. What they saw made their hearts fall.

Masks gleamed wet. Rain glinted off spear tips.

The vana va lungundu fanned out and surrounded them.