The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

39.

The peak of Gomoguru had a glorious view of the village as it span out to where it met the great Rujeko river. On the other end you could see Makura village quite as well. If the mountains weren't famous for their mystery and sacredness, they would be well-known for a brilliant site seeing experience. From there you could see as far as the sugar cane plantations, a two day journey from Rujeko. In times of war, back during the battle of Blood River, the peak was used for signaling the warriors that the enemy was on the way. It was an efficient method at the time, but everything changed after the chaotic time known as The God's Walk.

A little was known and remembered about this time by the oblivious villagers, yet so much from it forged their path. After the battles were over and the villages came to an agreement, there was a rise in spiritual activity and a growing strength in belief of the supernatural. The Gomoguru mountain was deemed a sacred place and there was an increase in strange activity there. Many still ventured upward but stories of loved ones not returning became harder and harder to ignore. The gods were feared greatly and because of their strong presence in the realm during the time, Gomoguru was abandoned as a place of refuge and was feared for its increasing mystery.

The peak of the mountain was a mixture of rocky outcrop and tall shrubs, skewed trees and a great deal of undergrowth. At the center, rocks had been arranged and one above another, interweaving each other to form an impressive escarpment. Most of the area near the escarpment had little to no vegetation because of the amount of rock that covered the ground like a piece of cloth.

The center of the escarpment was ablaze with a roaring fire and drum players were surrounding it and preparing their drums at the large fire. Kudzai was facing the crowd of onlookers who were there to witness the amazing proceeding that were about to take place. Today he would finally become his father's successor, the new seer of Rujeko Village. He would have to take an oath and swear in front of the witnesses that were present and he would also have to be anointed for the power of the seer to vacate his father's corpse and be bestowed upon him.

The whole ceremony was intense and it began as soon as the drums were taut enough. Soon as the sound of the drums started travelling across the mountain, three maidens came up from the crowd and stood in front of the escarpment fire as Mushoriwa, Ranganai's elder brother also joined them, dressed in leopard skin and a tall porcupine quill headdress. After a few moments while the drums were playing and easily enticing and drawing the crowd in, Mushoriwa halted the excitement and everyone immediately grew silent.

Ranganai's body was only to be buried after the ceremony was complete and the spirits had blessed his eldest son in the midst of all witnesses. After Mushoriwa quieted everyone down and made sure peace prevailed, he thanked the gods for bringing the family together once again and for solving family disputes. Kudzai's eyes immediately flew to the second wife of his father who had been quite an instigator recently. He wondered if her bitterness would ever be quelled at all.

'Gods of our land, fathers of the skies and waters, we beckon you to come to our midst, to your sacred place.'

Kudzai was taken aback by the sudden chanting that had not been announced prior, plus his uncle's voice suddenly beamed across the semi open space in a way that it hadn't before. Everyone's attention was immediately grabbed and the man carried on with his prayer to the gods.

'We send forth our brother to join the fellowship of spirits and we call upon you to be kind to us, let us inherit his power and greatness,' Mushoriwa continued.

Kudzai almost broke off into laughter at the word "greatness". His father was anything but a great man, he thought. His strange demise was an indicator of that but he needed not stress it further lest the gods see his thoughts and decide to punish him as well. After the chanting was over, Kudzai had to be anointed by the three maidens   and prepared to receive his new power which would be signaled by markings that would appear on the upper left of his chest, a leopard which was the symbol of their family. Kudzai didn't know how far true that was but most of his relatives had confirmed that it would happen.

Before long, rare, sweet smelling oils were being poured on his head from the ceremony gourd by each maiden. His heart leapt when he heard one of the women in the crowd of onlookers streaming deliriously and yelling at the top of her voice.

'The gods are among us,' she said.

A shiver swept through Kudzai's body as the woman kept on screaming and repeating the same words. He had heard about masvikiro from his father but he was sure they were nothing like this, this sounded like someone mortified, not someone who had spirits speaking through her. He couldn't really open his eyes to see what was taking place either because of the liquid trickling down his face. The murmurs from the crowd increased and this made him more curious but above all, more terrified.

The drummers started playing again at an increased tempo this time as Mushoriwa performed the final chant, since the gods were already present. Kudzai felt himself become more and more light-headed. The last thing he remembered was the sound of the droning drums and his uncle's voice trailing away until it was just a muffled discord to the ears.

When he woke back up, the atmosphere had changed, the drums had stopped but the murmuring had grown even louder. His uncle was just staring at him with no words to utter, his other family members had the very same reaction. He eyed his mother and she stared back with eyes filled with confusion as well, the bitter second wife was whispering something to her mate while giving Kudzai an exaggerated side-eye. He looked at his chest to see if the markings were there, if the ceremony was complete. Nothing was there.

Glossary.
Masvikiro - spirit mediums