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Authors: Walton Golightly
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mighty army surrounds him! He will awe the White Men. They will not realize it, but this will be the beginning of their enslavement. The great army, and a mighty nation awaiting his word ⦠these things will distract the barbarians, for they are like children in that respect. They will gape and stare, their greed rendering their precious guns next to useless, making a mockery of their boasts of conquering legions and stone cities. And they will nod and grin, and think they are fooling him!They will walk in his shadow with their hands clasped behind their backs, and then, when they speak, their gestures will become more elaborate than a praise singerâs, and they will think him tamed, never realizing that he knows they believe their King Jorgi is stronger. Never realizing he thinks they might be right!
But this campaign will not be decided on the battlefield.
What they donât know is that Shaka is something their King Jorgi is notâfor if he is King of Kings, he is also Umthakathi Omkhulu, Sorcerer of Sorcerers, and it is with the First Fruits the beguiling will begin.
Once he dreamt of stones on a plain. And a journey, then an arrival â¦
Seen from afar the rocks resemble crocodiles sunning themselves, half hidden in the long grass. There is something reptilian about those rocks, those walls, those crude bricks like scales. Move closer and the crocodiles vanish; the rocks rearrange themselves, become something else. Circular walls creating enclosures; walls curving and ending; walls worn down by time and the elements to become rocky paths through the grass. A curse awaiting the awareness of words in order to give it life. A childhood taunt, lying in the long grass of memory, seemingly discarded, but never forgotten. An evil that beckons, but is willing to bide its time, knowing that time will come.
And he wondered about this dream of his. Did it have something to do with his Ubulawu, the talisman every Zulu king must seek out? He thought so at the time, and even sent out a band of trusted warriors to find the stones.
But the more he watched the White Men, the more he wondered â¦
Stones on a plain. And a journey, then an arrival. Perhaps those stones were theirs, and Jakotâs footprints in the sand the final stage of the odyssey. (Although thatâs only a way of seeing thatâs occurred to him while heâs been segregated in here, covered by this vile muthi. Which clearly does serve some purpose!)
Initially heâd agreed with Mbopa that skillful maneuvering would see the men from King Jorgi help him secure complete hegemony over all he sees, and extend the boundaries of his kingdom even further, since those ruled by greed are so easy to fool. As time passed, though, he began to wonder if they might not be able to offer him more.
Indeed, it was this realization that finally helped him climb out of the depression he had fallen into since the death of his mother â¦
There is much Shaka can understand about the ways of these savagesâthey are not so differentâbut of late heâs become intrigued by the things he canât comprehend or imagine.
This is why he thinks they can offer him more than they realize. Although perhaps, in the end, itâll be less about their offering and more about his taking, for this is something these aliens are not even aware they possess â¦
And the taking, the beguiling, begins now at the First Fruits.
Clench your fists, and remember what they said that day you clenched your fists beneath the cliffs that turned Ngozaâs capital into a citadel, and say it again:
Everything is ready.
The lion is crouching in the long grass ready to pounce.
He has seen further than his advisers, he has understood more. Now a victory greater than any he has yet won lies within his grasp â¦
Shaka stops pacing. So why, then, this strange feeling, this sense of foreboding, like the sudden stifling heat that precedes a summer
But this campaign will not be decided on the battlefield.
What they donât know is that Shaka is something their King Jorgi is notâfor if he is King of Kings, he is also Umthakathi Omkhulu, Sorcerer of Sorcerers, and it is with the First Fruits the beguiling will begin.
Once he dreamt of stones on a plain. And a journey, then an arrival â¦
Seen from afar the rocks resemble crocodiles sunning themselves, half hidden in the long grass. There is something reptilian about those rocks, those walls, those crude bricks like scales. Move closer and the crocodiles vanish; the rocks rearrange themselves, become something else. Circular walls creating enclosures; walls curving and ending; walls worn down by time and the elements to become rocky paths through the grass. A curse awaiting the awareness of words in order to give it life. A childhood taunt, lying in the long grass of memory, seemingly discarded, but never forgotten. An evil that beckons, but is willing to bide its time, knowing that time will come.
And he wondered about this dream of his. Did it have something to do with his Ubulawu, the talisman every Zulu king must seek out? He thought so at the time, and even sent out a band of trusted warriors to find the stones.
But the more he watched the White Men, the more he wondered â¦
Stones on a plain. And a journey, then an arrival. Perhaps those stones were theirs, and Jakotâs footprints in the sand the final stage of the odyssey. (Although thatâs only a way of seeing thatâs occurred to him while heâs been segregated in here, covered by this vile muthi. Which clearly does serve some purpose!)
Initially heâd agreed with Mbopa that skillful maneuvering would see the men from King Jorgi help him secure complete hegemony over all he sees, and extend the boundaries of his kingdom even further, since those ruled by greed are so easy to fool. As time passed, though, he began to wonder if they might not be able to offer him more.
Indeed, it was this realization that finally helped him climb out of the depression he had fallen into since the death of his mother â¦
There is much Shaka can understand about the ways of these savagesâthey are not so differentâbut of late heâs become intrigued by the things he canât comprehend or imagine.
This is why he thinks they can offer him more than they realize. Although perhaps, in the end, itâll be less about their offering and more about his taking, for this is something these aliens are not even aware they possess â¦
And the taking, the beguiling, begins now at the First Fruits.
Clench your fists, and remember what they said that day you clenched your fists beneath the cliffs that turned Ngozaâs capital into a citadel, and say it again:
Everything is ready.
The lion is crouching in the long grass ready to pounce.
He has seen further than his advisers, he has understood more. Now a victory greater than any he has yet won lies within his grasp â¦
Shaka stops pacing. So why, then, this strange feeling, this sense of foreboding, like the sudden stifling heat that precedes a summer
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