The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

80.

Revai could not believe his eyes still. What he had seen Hombarume turn into was frightening, but now, Mhangura who was his only hope of escaping this situation was badly hurt and not winning. He was right about what he said. He was completely helpless; he could not even get back on his feet without Hombarume's thunderous stomping toppling him over yet again.

He wasn't used to being like this, he usually had a plan for everything, to fight no matter what, but this was an enemy he had never encountered before, this was something that was out to destroy him.

Mhangura's blood had reddened the soil around him, but he still kept on blocking the beast's vicious claws from coming anywhere near his body. The way he was jumping up into the air, it was as if he was not heavy and firm. Whenever the beast tried to pounce on him, he would simply leap up to avoid the attack. It seemed to be efficient for a while, but then Hombarume gripped his right foot mid jump, pulled him back to the ground and smashed his back right into the dry earth.

He let out an animal like laugh as he had done before, then he pulled Mhangura's beaten down body off the ground, propping him up as if he was a mere object. His skin rippled again, revealing the form that was common to all, the deceptive Hombarume.

'Spar with me, no more tricks,' he said, wiping off the blood that was still on his lips.

Mhangura stopped to take a breath, with sweat patches on his face and bruises all over his body, he would have quite a story if he ever made it out alive. For a moment, it seemed like he had begun to cry, then he was laughing.

'I do not need to prove myself to a beast like you, I have already won, Hombarume.'

Hombarume started to cough immediately, scratching at his throat as if there was something inside that he needed to remove. He was bruising himself but he continued to claw at himself, shifting between two of his different forms.

***

Mhangura continued to laugh, reveling in the pain he was causing Hombarume, to see him in such agony and not even realize what exactly was happening to him, it was all too perfect. He had tried to violently win the fight, but after everything he had learnt, from his grandfather, from his own experiences, sparring with men like Hombarume who led with their fists and not with their minds, he had to be smart..

He had observed impulse, aggression and what made it rush to the surface whenever someone was in a dangerous situation. All the fights he had were practice, while he was trying to perfect one of his most important tricks. Ever since he had discovered that he could do things, perform these strange acts that could get him burnt at the village square if he was caught, he started to focus on ways to defend himself whenever he would need to and it had all led him to this moment, to this chance encounter with an opponent he had never knew existed until this day.

'Ww-what h-have you d-d-done to m-' Hombarume said.

'You have been outsmarted by a pathetic sorcerer. The smoke that you inhaled has attacked the source of all your rage and aggression. Seems as if my herbs have prevailed, but unlike you, I do not spare my enemies,' Mhangura said as the two clay men re-emerged instantly, but now they were brandishing sharp blades.

Mhangura watched as one of them slashed Hombarume's chest, then the other followed in this stride, ripping him apart as if he was a small animal. Blood was spurting everywhere as they slashed and he shrieked, growled and moaned endlessly until there was nothing left but to give in. Mhangura looked at Hombarume in that moment and he knew that his grandfather had been right, there was always a reason, no matter how twisted or dark.

Mhangura could see from the corner of his eye, Revai begin to get up as the ground had stopped shaking and come directly towards him for the first time since this entire ordeal had begun. Hombarume's body, now lifeless lay on the ground drenching the pile of clay that was beside it.

'What are you?' Revai asked.

Mhangura looked at him with watery eyes that were full of pain, but the look that he received back was that of pure disgust, fear and anger.

'I am your friend,' Mhangura replied.

'No, tell me what you are and what that creature is!'

'I have to tell you a story,' he started, then he turned to look at the empty husk that was once Hombarume.

***

Revai was full of anger, but he was not sure whether or not someone who had potentially saved his life was worthy of such hatred that he was harboring. He had been lied to and deceived by both of these people, one of them now dead, meaning he could not explain why he had clearly tormented the village and pretended to be a good man, a man who deserved his pity and trust, the other had befriended him while hiding a secret identity, strange power that he had just used to ruthlessly kill his enemy.

Revai's anger was also towards himself for being foolish enough to be tricked, by the Chief, by Hombarume and by Mhangura. He was angry for not seeing it all coming, for having no power over everything that had happened to him for the past few days. It had all been bigger than him, something that he could never understand on his own. Despite thinking that he knew this man who was standing in front of him, he was merely a stranger whose motives he did not know, but he needed him to tell him now more than ever what it was all about, he needed the truth once and for all. He needed to know why he had seen Hombarume transform into a beast he had been describing as the enemy the entire time, why he pretended to not know what was happening, why he did not kill him through it all.

'Once there was a man who came here to the great village of Makura to seek refuge after hell had broken loose in his own village, he wanted to be free from the lies, from the deceit and the bloodshed that he had encountered. He wanted a new beginning, he wanted to be able to find the peace he had been chasing possibly his entire life, he had just performed a selfless act, one that cost him everything that he had worked for, a decision he could never take back. He saved a man from damnation,' Mhangura said.

Revai started to remember it all as it had happened, everything that had happened until now. All the decisions that he had taken until now, but something was different. It was almost as if he could see it all happen all over again, feel it happen. The day before the sparring contest, Hombarume's face when he warned him not to attend, his bruised body as he was shackled to the ground, the raw smell of his blood, he was part of it, he was reliving it.

'He was never sure about the rash decision he had made and he made all efforts to let the man he had saved know that he need not regret his choice. But the man he had saved was not who he said he was. He was impulsive and aggressive, therefore, before he came to the village of Makura, they parted ways,' Mhangura continued.

Revai knew that it was not how it had happened, but he could see it, feel it just as before, it was now the reality he lived in, and it was now the truth. He wanted to know about Hombarume, about what he was, but he could see him slipping away, he could see him slowly becoming a mystery once more, the ripples on his skin like water that had revealed his true nature, that had cleared the smoke and hid away the mask he wore, it was slowly disappearing like the mist of a winter morning as the sun begins to spread its warmth.

'They never saw each other again as the strange hunter disappeared into the vast forests of the kingdom, forever becoming an enigma. The man found the peace he was looking for and he accepted that his decision was not as bad as he had initially considered. He was not alone, he had a friend.'

Mhanguraconcluded and he saw the pain in Revai's eyes as he tried to fight slowly turninto acceptance.