KAMBI
I had never known warmth from my father. Only orders, fists and abuse. At just ten moons old, I stood among towering warriors, my tiny frame swallowed by thick leather armor that stank of sweat and iron. My hands trembled as I clutched the sword that was too heavy for me, afraid to drop it for the fear of what my father would do to me. My mother's screams still haunted my ears - the pleadings she made to my father, begging him not to take me along.
"She is just a child…please my Lord…do not make her see such carnage at such a young age." But father paid her no mind as he dragged her off to the cells and tied her up, after she threatened to kill herself.
Father cared for no one but himself and his power. I knew he hated me. I was a girl - a weak and foolish girl. A mistake as he liked to call. I was not interested in his love or recognition. Father hated everybody. There was nothing special about being hated by him. There was nothing special about the emotional and physical abuse, nor about the scars and the trauma. We were all pawns in his game. We all existed to give him a sense of power and superiority. To him, we were all worthless slaves, and he… he was a god.
"Princess…princess…Kambi. Pay attention. Your father is looking at you." Never had a title been so worthless than the one which I bore- an Alpha Princess, the first and only legitimate daughter of the feared Alpha Amusu of Oru - the Pack of the Black-Silvered Wolf. I was his True Heir, the first fruit of his groins. But in reality, I was just a prisoner- a royal prisoner.
The arena was bathed in a cruel red glow from the torches held by the assembled warriors. The ground was scarred in deep claw marks from countless war drills, and the scent of iron, sweat and old blood hung heavy in the air. Many were already in half shifted forms, claws scraping against the dirt, fangs bared in anticipation, waiting like lap dogs for the command of their master.
"TONIGHT, WE HUNT AGAIN!" A vicious cheer broke out among the warriors, in anticipation for the bloodshed.
"THOSE PACKS WHICH HAVE REFUSED TO SUBMIT TO ME…ALPHA AMUSU, THE ALPHA OF ORU, THE PACK OF THE BLACK-SILVERED WOLF, WOULD PAY DEARLY FOR THEIR SINS!"
No matter how many times I heard his voice, it always sent shivers through my bones. Every breath he drew seemed to vibrate through the clearing, an unspoken promise of violence and death. The monster of a man, easily towered above all who stood in the arena. Jagged scars clawed across his broad chest - trophies from countless battles of bloodlust. His eyes burned with a cruel shade of amber, and in the darkness of the night, it blazed like a fire - leading all that followed to destruction.
The Hunt, as father liked to call it, was a tradition he started last full moon. War was his favorite sport, and when no one dared to challenge him, he began leading his warriors into neighboring packs and territories, slaughtering innocent wolves, and raising their children as slaves in his pack. To him, there was no such thing as free, only unconquered. Once again, it was time for The Hunt, and father deemed it necessary to take me along.
His eyes finally met mine among the crowd of warriors. I stiffened my breath, counting to ease my anxiety but my heart would not stop beating. "My daughter would hunt with us today." The word 'daughter' spat out like an abomination. I felt so tiny, a trembling rabbit surrounded by ravaging wolves. "I want to hope that if she goes, I could make a man out of her. The Goddess chose to curse me by giving me a female child for a True Heir - a worthless female."
The words stung. I do not know why. I hated him to my bones, so why did his words still affect me? Tears fought to break out but I held them in. "Please… please just let me go home. I just want to hide under my blankets and listen to Mama sing. Please…" Slowly, he walked up to me, and placed his heavy hand on my shoulder, burning into my skin like a brand. His claws pricked through the leather of my armor, reminding me that there was no escape. Not here. Not ever.
He leaned down, his breath hot and foul against my ear. "Raise your blade," He ordered.
Terror.
My fingers were slick and sweaty and I almost dropped the blade. Slowly, shaking, I lifted it above my head. "Now…roar for them. Show my warriors that the blood of an Alpha runs in your veins." My throat closed. I could not. The eyes of the warriors bore into me, hungry and eager to see if I was worthy - or weak.
Father's claws dug into my shoulder. Pain lanced through me. "ROAR!"
So I did. A thin, broken sound at first, more whimper than war cry. A few warriors laughed cruelly. Father growled, squeezing harder until I thought my bones would crack. The pain ripped the sound away from me. I screamed - high, raw, and terrified - but it echoed through the clearing like a savage cry all the same. The warriors howled back, drunk on violence, taking it as a sign. Her father smiled. " Good girl," He rumbled, voice dark with cruelty. "Now you are truly my daughter."
"I wish I could die. I hope I die."
"Remember the first time we met, Ahaa. You were running to get some herbs from your uncle's farm, and you stumbled and hurt yourself." Ije could see the fear in her husband's eyes as she spoke. Fate was truly a cruel thing. Her voice was weak and faltering. She had survived the birth, but she had lost too much blood. Without the care of the midwives, she was dying. Slowly. Her child lay next to her, peacefully asleep, unaware of the troubles that lay just outside. "You laughed at me that day." Ahaa chuckled sadly. His eyes brewing fresh tears. The future he had pictured for his wife and their child, seemed so dark. The hut was empty, all the midwives had fled. The prophecy had been fulfilled. Their child was a cursed child who had brought downfall to the Pack. Outside, screams of terror tore through the air. Weeping mothers and children. Dead men and women - bodies sprawled like waste. Terror that had never been seen in Druala.
They were not prepared for it.
"She looks like you, Ahaa. She has your face." Her voice had broken. For the last twenty four hours, she tried to be strong to bring her child into the world. Now, she was fighting for her life while their whole world crumbled outside. She had everything she loved right there with her. Her child her husband. But it was not worth it. In few moments, there would be nothing left. "Why was the goddess so cruel? I have served her so wholeheartedly, all my life but she has ripped everything away from me. My father whom I never knew, my mother… and now…now…the two people who could make my life meaningful are about to be taken away too."
"Ahaa you have to leave. Take our child and leave. I am too weak…I will not make it. I…" "Ije…Ije…" The floods finally came rushing out. His whole life, he had never dreamed that he would blessed with someone as great as his Ije. Now, it was all slipping away. He tried to grab unto it, hoping that if he tried hard enough, he would save what little was left.
A piercing scream tore through the walls of the hut. Ahaa opened the curtains to have a peek. "They would soon find us…we need to go!" "Ahaa…Ahaa listen… you need to leave. Take her and…" "NO! NOOO…YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! I CAN NOT LEAVE YOU BEHIND." His voice had changed. Now, he was no longer Ahaa the great hunter. He was weak and broken. "Ije, you give me life. If I leave here without you, I might as well just kill myself. You made me who I am… I… I can not leave you behind." Ije had no words. She was trying so hard to be strong for them, but her heart had broken into millions of pieces. "Oh life… there truly is no worth in life. All these striving, loving and building, just to be torn to pieces within less than a blink of an eye."
The hut hut shook with every scream. Smoke coiled beneath the thatch roof, and the scent of blood soaked the air like rain. Ije coughed. Outside, fire licked through the land, and the howls of dying men, women and beasts echoed through the ravaged village.
Inside the hut, the world was unbearably still. Ahaa crouched low, waiting for the right timing to leave. He was determined to save them. They were his life. He cradled his daughter with one hand, and held Ije with the other. "Ije… Ije… do you think you could hold on?" She was to climb unto his back while he held their child at his front. She was weak. All signs of life had drained out of her eyes. She knew she would not make it. Ahaa knew too.
"Take her," She whispered one more time, hoping he would just listen. "You can not convince me to…"
Silence fell. A shadow passed the window. The door burst open.
A warrior stepped in - cloaked in smoke and death. Eyes burning like coal. "Found you!" Fear filled the room. Ahaa laid the child gently in her mother's arms. "Ije… we would name her Oluchi…the work of a god."
Bones cracked, his skin and body contorted. Fur exploded from his skin, changing him from man to beast in the blink of an eye. A snarl cut through the air. The warrior laughed and shifted - into something larger, darker. A war beast bred for bloodshed.
They clashed.
The hut shook. Ije placed her child on the bed, arms weak and shaky. But it was the last thing she swore to do for her child. She set her body as a protective shield, covering her daughter. She was waiting. For salvation or for death.
Ahaa fought with everything - his fury, his love, his desperation. The noise was loud, shaking the walls of the hut. Ije whimpered, her throat clogged with tears. Underneath her embrace, the child stirred gently but remained asleep.
Ahaa ducked under the swing of the warriors claw, fighting for their lives as blood spilled out of his side. The pain was deep. The warriors claws were poisoned. Soon, the poison would travel through his blood and paralyze him. Unwavering, he lunged again, this time sloppy and uncalculated. The warrior stepped aside, paying no mind to him. It was too late, the damage had already been done. Ahaa's wolf was too weak to go on. Slowly, he shifted back into his human form - half-naked, bleeding, convulsing from the poison running through his veins.
"Ple… please… please let… let them go. I beg you… I beg you…" In that moment, his life flashed before his eyes - the struggles, the fights, the hopes, the love, the family. All slipping away from his reach, and nothing could be done. What hope was there for anyone, if life could be lost in such a short while, to the hands of anyone who wished to take it? His eyes shut slowly, as he sunk into eternal slumber. He tried to force them open so he could see his beloved one last time but there was no use. He had gotten to the end of life.
He had lost.
Silence.
Ije strained to hear her husband's voice but there was none. She could not hear her Ahaa's voice anymore. He was not with her anymore. He had left her behind…he had left them behind.