Harmony of Lady Shadow Moon, DhNAi Divine [good beach reads txt] 📗

mind whenever she refused to visit him, waking in the middle of the night in a state of fright. He wanted to keep Alanah in his personal lair. She felt like the one and if not the one then she would give birth to the one.

Alanah would have the girl who could free him and send him back home. He was so use to getting his way he played his hand prematurely. Forgetting exactly who he was dealing with. Anubis manipulated time and hurried along construction for Alahuti's house in Nkosia. It was time to capture Alanah, so he saw to it that the Azaigh family moved south where his best lair was located. The family was on the move, leaving behind all of Nyjer.

The house was complete and Al's father approved of his new daughter in law. The Azaigh family was welcomed into their new community and Aniyla couldn't be happier. Anubis watched the family intently, patiently waiting for his moment to move. Once he knew the family was comfortable, he lured Alanah out into the forest on the night of a full moon, his plans were to keep her till she was of proper age. But once her parents got a whiff of it, the game became theirs to take.

Anubis nicknamed Aniyla the Annihilator and Alahuti the Quiet Storm. The two came after him for their child and for the first time in his existence he felt the very fear he's known to produce. Aniyla and Alahuti had potential to be as powerful as Anubis and on the nights of searching for their daughter they tapped into that power. Anubis never went for Aniyla's blood once she was widowed because he never forgot the ladies of the moon were always more dangerous than that of the man. Once Alanah was found she didn't want to be in Nkosia anymore and neither did her parents want her there.

Aniyla and Al didn't hesitate to send Alanah back up north to be raised by her maternal grandparents. Alanah without her parents took Anubis off her trail. He couldn't sense Alanah or go near her without her parents. She was protected until she became an adult. So he waited. Once Niyla gave birth to her son she went up north to stay with her family for a few years. Once he was old enough she moved back south with Al, both frequently visiting their children, but never staying. Both were afraid the wolf would follow them back up and permanently snatch their children.

And because of Anubis's too early movements on the board, he trapped himself to one location. When Alanah married a man of the sun, rather than the moon, it changed both his plans and fate. Not only was he trapped in Nkosia, but now Anubis he had to actually prove himself for Aanujah's favor.

 

 

“Whew,” Saki says, looking to her friends first, then back to Gran-Nai. “You lived one heck of a life Nai-Nai.”

“A life none a us could ever guess,” Aanu said.

“Well hold it there,” Aniyla says, wiping the sweat from her brow. “I have a few more. The mysterious death of my baby Al. Your Pah-Pah.”

Aaron shrugged, looking straight ahead at his Nana. “What's mysterious? Anubis killed him.”

Aniyla shook her head, drawing all eyes to her. “Not quite. He was in a weakened state ten, 'leven, twelve years ago. He didn't do outright murders. There's reason why this entire city was shaken, became frozen when he resurfaced last night. What he did to us...”

Aniyla stood and walked to the window, gazing the glorious morning. Feeling the still town that was trying to process all that happened only a few hours ago. She turned to face the youngsters. “You two were born and he began to act up. Nkosia turned into my old neighborhood right before my eyes. Oh,” she sighed. “But he went further than ever before...”

Aniyla thought back to that morning. November eighth of nineteen ninety-eight. The sun happily sighed warm blazes of rays down on Nkosia. The wind murmured whispers of gentle words through windows, creatures chirped, hopped, and rose in early day. Aniyla slid her robe over her lightly clothed body, and slipped her slippers on to greet the day.

She gripped the knob of the front door, ready to welcome the outside world into her world. The sight changed so suddenly she thought it was all just an illusion from the start. She heard Al approaching her from behind, he lightly kissed her neck.

“We both knew he would come back,” he whispered.

“Yes,” she replied, “but not like this.”

The sight was unforgettable, flowers slumped, tree branches were gnarled, and leaves fell away like dead hair. Shadow hung over the bright sun, shutting it from the world. Scents of rotting corpses, vomit, and months old trash rose in the air, coating it. A sickly light gray energy matter swirled in the sky, a shit-storm that would soon descend on Nkosia, doing only god knows what.

Aniyla rejoined her grandchildren at the breakfast table. Their eyes were widened, their mouths closed. “He tore apart the entire city. Buildings burned, collapsed, diseases spread like wildfire. Hell even now we still tryin' to bounce back from it. Midwave never knew or cared for that matter. Both me and Alahuti knew Anubis was gonna take over, like he did in Nyjer. So, we sought to do something about it. We couldn't allow him to do what he was gonna do to a peaceful place like Kosia.”

“Did Pah-Pah die in the heat of battle?” Aaron questioned.

“No,” she said, “he went and got himself possessed. He never knew it of course. I never understood why he gave himself so easily. Why he leave me like that?” Aniyla looked away.

Aanujah touched her granny's hand. “Grandpahpah didn't have a choice. Did he?”

“He always had a choice. You could mentally fight Anubis, I've been doing it for years. That's why he never came after me. Al didn't give himself out of fear, there was something that happened between them. Something Anubis said or did that gave him pause. I just don't know what it was.” Aniyla exhaled, squeezed Aanu's hand and let it go.

“Anyway, I knew he only had about a day or so to live. I planned the best day. I sent him off to the mall out Midwave to his favorite shops. Get the food he loved, buy a good movie. Whatever he wanted to do while I prepared the house.” She fell quiet, took another deep breath.  “Well to make a long story short he got shot in the mall. The possession had him actin' crazy, climbing on the walls and things, baring his teeth. The cop put eight shots into him.”

“Oh my god,” all three said.

Aniyla nods her head. “Mm, I sued the shit out a Midwave, that's how I kept this house all these years, without working. It took me a while to get to it, 'cause I knew he was gonna die anyway. But he should of died with me, his love, his wife. Not like that.” She shook her head. “But I can say this, justice did come full circle for our family. 'Cause that dirty cop is dead. Died just the way he deserved.”

“How he die Nai-Nai?” Aaron said.

Aanujah questioned, “When did he die?”

Aniyla eyed the three kids. “Last night. Paza Pits. He was the soul and body taken.” She left the table. The kids felt the chilled vibe from Aniyla. Her heart ran red with passion, but it went solid blue with a glaze of ice at the thought of the cop who took her husband. The kids understood more than she knew of why Anubis never thought to come after her.

A few days pass, the paranoia, panic, and trouble only escalating. Aniyla didn't let the kids out of her sight, so going back to Midwave was out of the question. She barely wanted them to go to their friends' house around the neighborhood. The three were discussing it before they went to bed. There was more on Saki's mind, but she only wanted to speak it with Aanujah.

She listened for Aaron to shut the door and his feet trotting down the hall to his own room.

Aanujah sighed and turned towards the window, watching the clouds cover and reveal the waxing moon.

“Nu-Nu,” Saki softly speaks, “you goin' to sleep on me?”

“Naw girl, just admirin' the beauty a the night. Why? Whatsup?” Aanujah flips over in her bed to look at S'hkmanyu.

“What really went down in the woods? You was the last one standin'. Tell your best friend, yo sister, the wolf real?”

Aanu lets her breath out hard. “He's real Sak. I saw him. Crazy thing is, I 'on't think he knocked me out. I think I just fuckin' fainted. From some crazy shit like that.”

“I hear you. But what we do about it? We way pass the point of not being involved. I mean this ish is foreal foreal in our backyard. We can't just ignore it. To do that would be...” Saki simply shook her head in the dark.

“To do that would be beyond foolish. Especially if we can actually stop him.”

“You got any ideas Nu?”

“Yeah one, but you ain't go like it.”

“Sock it to me. What we got to lose?”

“My idea is to go to sleep. I can't deal with this madness till the sun roll back up.”

Saki laughed, Aanu joined. “I feel you Nu. Night girl, love ya. We'll handle this in the mornin'.”

“A'ight. Love you too. Good night.”

Track 5: Dark Woman on the Rise

Aanujah didn't utter another word, she fell instantly into sleep.

She tossed on her side, her fingers caressing the smooth silver silk duvet. Her eyes slowly opened, glancing around her spectacular room. Loving the high ceiling decorated with elegant chandeliers and painted patterns lacing and twirling about the ceiling in warm golden and cool silver hues. She was searching for someone. She stood reaching for the table near her bed, so she could stand steady. The woman glided to her fancy tall mirror, checking her morning appearance. In the mirror was Aanujah, her already dark skin a shade darker from the intense heat of the sun, her skin a flawless dark mahogany, her eyes a stunning rich violet.

And her hair was colored bright cherry red, bringing out her red undertone, hair thick, bushy, long and coiled. Her apparel a lengthy thin Kemetic dress, snug around her full curves, that she slept in. She reached for her light robe, hanging on her mirror and slid her bare feet down the marble to the next room where her balcony was located. A granite archway led to her balcony and a glorious sight followed. Stories below was the forest that stood between the palace and the rest of the empire.

Aanujah breathed in deep as she watched the towns on the other side of the forest begin to come alive. The woman loved the simplistic beauty of the villas, townhouses, and small quaint homes that lived comfortably next to one another. She craved to hear the roar of children running about the city, meeting friends or sticking their nose in grown folks' business. The scents of baked goods strong enough to find her sense of smell, noises of chimes signaling the stores