The Chief's Wife, Jones M [ebook reader with android os .TXT] 📗

a crescent moon was present to shed light. It was better than a moonless sky because it could have been hard for Mwamba to make out the objects in his surroundings. He couldn't tell how long he had been asleep, and he was certainly not planning to continue sleeping after what had happened with the snake.

Mwamba located his mat and his basket. After sorting them out and taking a quick sip of water from his gourd, he went to walk away from the tree he had been sleeping under. However, an earth-shaking sound was heard. That ceased his movements, making him turn towards the source.

Gray clouds were gathering, and they would soon block the sight of the moon. By then, part of Mwamba's surroundings seemed to have gotten darker.

A flash of lightning quickly followed, and Mwamba groaned in disbelief. He could not believe his luck.

The flash of lightning came again. It provided for him enough light for a moment to be able to make out his surroundings. Without wasting time, he began walking quickly.

Mwamba hated the snake for waking him up. If the small creature hadn't appeared, he would have been asleep until the morning came. In fact, he was sure he could have slept through the storm. Now because of it, he was forced to walk around in the night.

A short while later, the view of the moon had been hidden by the clouds. Lightning continued to appear at certain intervals, giving Mwamba some light to make out his directions. However, it soon started raining.

Heavily.

Mwamba then took off in a run. Water splashed each time his feet hit the ground, increasing the chances of him losing his balance. The air around him mixed with the feeling of the rain pelting on his form made him feel colder than he already was.

After he had covered a couple of meters, Mwamba spotted another large tree, and he quickly went under it to shelter himself from the storm. Once he was under it, his mouth opened to pant due to exhaustion.

Mwamba moved to stand with his back supported by the tree as he waited for the storm to pass.

It didn't. In fact, it seemed to rain harder.

Mwamba sighed, realizing he would have to wait under the tree for a while longer. By then, the earth under him was drenched with water. He wanted to fall back to sleep, but the rain was making it hard for him to do so. He knew that if he were to lie on the ground, he would get sick.

As much as he tried to fight it, his eyes started to feel droopy. The sounds and sight of the rain and the storm were making him want to slumber.

Mwamba was starting to fall asleep, but it was after another flash of lightning when he spotted something shifting in the distance. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to focus on it. Unfortunately, the rain was making it hard for him to make out the shape of whatever was moving.

Luckily for him, another flash appeared. Mwamba tried to make out the figure again, and he was able to notice that something was undoubtedly moving towards him.

'Maybe it's an animal,' he thought, and traces of sleep quickly disappeared. Mwamba stood in alert, wondering if what he had spotted was a carnivore. 

The figure continued moving towards him, and when another flash of lightning lit the sky, Mwamba spotted green eyes. They even looked to have a shade of yellow.

'What animal has green eyes?' he thought again. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, especially when he realized the eyes of the creature were positioned too high for it to be of an animal's. In fact, they looked more human.

Mwamba's heart thudded as fear wrapped its cord around his form. He felt goosebumps rise on his skin, and it certainly wasn't from the rain.

"Hello?" Mwamba called out, clutching his basket in case he had to run. The creature, who was large enough to be a person, kept coming.

And then the eyes disappeared into thin air.

At first, Mwamba was shocked and confused.

Could it be that he was still tired and his exhaustion was making him see things?

He sighed, feeling relieved all of a sudden.

Another flash of lightning appeared, and the figure with the green eyes was suddenly in front of him.

Mwamba chocked on a gasp when he was able to make out the features of the animal. It looked like a man, but its skin was in a range of colors between sky blue and black. It had the usual unkempt hair that most of the men in his village had. However, what frightened Mwamba were the creature's appendages. It had claws and talons for fingers and toes respectively. 

Without another thought, Mwamba took off in the rain. Sleep had completely evaded him, and the only thing that he could focus on was the need to escape from whatever abomination he had seen.

Mwamba was close to screaming when he heard feet coming behind him. Moreover, the creature that surely resembled a demon made a terrifying sound between that of a lion and an elephant that chilled him to the bone.

It took a lot for Mwamba to increase his speed. However, the creature was still approaching him.

He screamed, especially when he heard another pair of feet coming after him. The sound of the creatures' running feet resembled large stones hitting the ground with loud thuds.

Mwamba clutched his basket firmly, determined to get away from the creepy beings. To his shock, something sharp grazed his back, and he screamed again.

There was no doubt that it was one of the creature's claws.

Mwamba took a short moment to think of what to do, and that was when an idea came to his mind. He quickly turned to his right, and then he ran straight; he kept making turns in order to keep his distance from the monsters.

They followed him, not even exhausted by the sudden turns that Mwamba was taking.

By then, the sun was close to rising. The rain had stopped pelting on his back, and the clouds were becoming more visible. In fact, they seemed to be becoming bluer.

Mwamba realized he was able to make out his surroundings. He turned around, and he soon wished he hadn't. Two monstrosities were closing in on him.

By then, his feet were aching from all the running he had done. He was close to giving up and allowing the creatures to do what they wanted to do to him. 

It was after a while when he noticed there was silence. Mwamba stopped running and turned to look behind him, noticing he wasn't being chased anymore. He soon felt confused.

For a moment, he thought he had been hallucinating the creatures. He started walking back towards the route he had come from. Any notions about the creatures being hallucinations were wrong. The monsters were actually real, and they had stopped at a tree meters away from him. Moreover, they were both staring at him, baring their sharp teeth at him.

Mwamba felt fearful once again. Seconds passed, and he watched the creatures slowly fade into thin air. He looked around him, and that was when he noticed the rising sun.

Mwadime's son did not know how to feel. He started walking once again, away from where he had seen the monsters disappear. It was a good thing that it was exactly the direction he was intending to take. He soon stopped to sit under a mango tree. He was able to rest his aching feet, and as much as he wanted to stay awake and see if he would be attacked again, sleep began taking over him.

 

Chapter Ten

 

Meanwhile, at the village...

"Someone's coming!" one of the villagers yelled loudly. At the same time, everyone stopped what they were doing to head towards the person who had yelled. That also included the chief and the village elders.

Indeed, a couple of people were on their way towards the village. The villagers were wondering if it was the chief's son who was returning. However, it turned out to be two people heading towards the village.

Mwadime's mood immediately turned sour. It was not Mwamba returning, but it was the men who had been sent to look for Mkanyika at the top areas of the hill facing the village.

The men were well-received by the people. It was evident that they were tired and hungry.

"Did you find her?" one of the village elders asked the men as soon as they were in his view.

"We didn't find anyone," one of the men replied.

It was hard for the chief to swallow. Nonetheless, he nodded his head before excusing the men to go rest.

So far, all the men who had been sent to look for Mkanyika had returned. All except for Mwamba. 

The chief could not help but worry about his son. Was he safe wherever he was? More importantly, was he still alive?

"Well, Sire, it is now all up to your son to find the girl," Mwachofi, one of the elders, said.

"You are right, Mwachofi," Mwadime said. "Let us all pray that he finds her and that he returns in one piece."

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Mwamba had been having quite a rough two days. After the incident involving the demonic beings, he had been hesitant to fall asleep. He kept forcing his eyes to remain open all the time due to the paranoia that the creatures would come after him again.

On other matters, Mwamba had made progress with his task. He was already on the opposite side of the hill, making his way through the tall trees as he continued his search for Mkanyika.

Mwamba had noted the side of the hill was quite different from the side that faced his village. It had evergreen trees, and it never failed to rain on each day; it didn't matter if the rain was light. There was also a constant presence of fresh air in the mornings and evenings. The land was suitable for agriculture, especially since the climate favored it.

Yes, the other side of the hill was wonderful. Mwamba even understood why his father wanted access to it. However, there was one thing that was bothersome to him: its steepness. The ground was uneven at certain points, and he found himself walking up and later moving downwards. It was really exhausting and it was slowing down his pace.

Mwamba later found himself sitting on his mat under a tree, eating a mango that he had packed in his basket. He was exhausted from all the walking he had done on that day. The sun was already setting, and it was almost time for him to go to sleep. However, he was still scared of the monstrous creatures making another unexpected appearance and coming after him again.

Mwamba continued to fight off the urge to sleep. Unfortunately for him, after he had finished feeding himself, it started to rain again. The sound of the rain hitting the leaves above him was like a lullaby, even when some drops escaped and landed on his form.

"Do not fall asleep. Do not fall asleep," he kept chanting to himself. It did not do the trick because he soon found himself yawning. A short while later, he fell asleep.

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The sound of approaching footsteps roused Mwamba from his slumber. He silently cursed at himself for sleeping before he shot