Sons of the gods #18

Continued from #17

By Ashley

Katabani’s eyes dropped once more. He felt himself falling, falling but he was not hitting hard ground. What was this unfamiliar place? It was too dark and he could not see anyone else. He could not see anything.

The only sound that came to his ears was the echo of a strong and calm voice. It was a story. His memory vaguely recollected. He was listening to a story. Of course he was. It was  Kayikuzi’s voice that was echoing in his ears. He could not fade out now and struggled to pull himself out of the trance. 

How could he phase out at a time when he was nearly discovering the way of the man? 

“Are you still there?” Kayikuzi’s voice sounded clearer now. 

“I am here. I am listening.” Katabani confirmed, his voice cracked. His throat was so dry but he forced himself to speak, probing Kayikuzi to tell him the whole story. “ Tell me what the mighty Gulu decided to do for the boys.” 

Kayikuzi looked at the boy thoughtfully, wondering whether to continue in spite of the his state but the determination in him to hear it to the end burned like a wild fire in a forest of dry grass and twigs. He chose to go on.

“The maids said Kano the first failed too fast, for he rushed for the food, now I am quite sure that was not good.” he said, with laughter in his voice, “ For even in the fields, all he cared for was food and well, yields.”

“But is it also not true that food sustains all of us? Where would we find survival without it?” Katabani croaked.

Kayikuzi directed his gaze to the boy, a frown marring his face. A young man of too many questions. Even at his weakest, he dared to be inquisitive. He smiled to himself. This Katabani, Death was surely going to spit him out.

“And Kano the second, it was he that the maids thought Gulu would adopt. After all a leather belt and a hide were surely signs of craftsmanship. By that, I can abide.” he added.

“ Then there was Kano the third, whose wit gave Gulu such pride. He made him drop his arrogance, they said he made him reminisce!”

“I am sure Kano the third will get the most prestigious name.” said Katabani, his eyes shutting and opening reluctantly.

“What do you expect from a man of such respect after such a series of events? I say no one can predict.”  

” The eldest took the fall, took no heed to the call, they blamed it on his squabble, it made him look feeble.”

Katabani looked at the blurry outline of Kayikuzi, the desire to nod taking over him. It would be easy for him to do if only his head did not feel like there was a heavy brick attached to it. All the same,he did make an attempt to nod as he agreed with Kayikuzi’s response.

“The youngest took the praise, his aura shouted ‘brave’, he won over Gulu, putting him in a haze for never did he drop his gaze.” 

“ The second, well he did almost nothing but like the mediocre he indeed was, his silence was still challenging.”

“Jaja Kintu must have had it all planned out, right? If not, why would he send his sons to the mighty Gulu?” Katabani asked, weakly.

His thoughts  had to be voiced. He was not one to swallow his inquiries and he still had a lot of questions floating through his mind.Why was his throat so dry? 

“Well to me, absurd is the tale, when you get to learn where the names of the sons hail,”Kayikuzi drawled.

“Why?” Katabani asked, clearly puzzled. Shwenkuru used to tell him this was the most fascinating part of the story. He used to tell him it was the cleverest notch of it all.

“For what has milk got to do with a name, and what has food got to do with the same!” Kayikuzi exclaimed aloud. “ I heard you call this the way of the man. To me, it sounds like a road to fun,” he chuckled.

Shwenkuru had to hear of this. Katabani thought to himself. He was juxtaposing Shwenkuru’s idea with that of Kayikuzi. Why was there such confusion to the way of the man? Is that how the way of the man was? Confusing and complicated? 

Final chapter to be released next week on Wednesday.