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DEVIL'S WIND: THE GREAT HAMATHAN
It came without our knowledge, deadlier and scarier. So they kept us.
They said we were the hope to humanity's curse. For a hundred years we stayed hibernated after the Devil's wind attacked.
The devil's wind came along with creatures unknown by the men of science. So ancient lore whispered that they kept us here for the future.
The whole of room Africa shrouded in Mist and hunted by devil creatures.
For a hundred years the mist reigned along with the creatures and they won us.
We lost to them, humanity's greatest failure not even our tech could stop them. They had devoured the world, they had devoured other continents and ours was the last.
The West African continent. We believed we would win, but we failed.
So the Mind seers created us and kept us here as a spring of hope for humanity's future.
For a hundred years they reigned, for a hundred years men lived as slaves beneath their iron ropes. Humanity was lost along with the mist.
If there was any prayer to be whispered the ones left should pray for us to awaken.. They should pray for our resurrection. And maybe....maybe there might be a spring after the mist, a spring of hope.
CHAPTER ONE: YOU
You were born during the reign of the mist. You were born a servant to the creatures who took away every thing.
Mother told you stories of how we once lived in peace, in freedom and joy.
Mother told you of how smart phones were used in the past.
She would grow mute at once when she heard or saw the creatures approaching.
The creatures were not ugly beasts with sharp teeth and iron claws. The creatures they say were men like you.
Only taller and white haired and scarlet eyed. You escaped during that morn from the field of fruits in search for the story mother once told you.
" The Orishans." She whispered to you one night over fire. " They've been kept somewhere hibernated, let us pray they wake so they free us." She said.
You travelled far to the forsaken plains a world of dust and broken buildings and overgrown trees.
Your name was Berima and you were seventeen and you were arrogant and you were wild and fearless.
And you were wanted by the creatures. You came across a an old bunker, during the hours of the angry sun. You've been away for months in search of what mother called the Orishans..... The Hibernated ones.
And it seemed your hope slowly diminished turning to pale vapor.
So you came across an old underground bunker forced your way into it. And came across an old dark corridor with spider webs roaming at its corners.
A rusting smell held the air, your torch light gripped tight by your hand as you surveyed the strange building.
Remember you were a fearless youth, you forced open a bunch of metal doors and came across an old room.
And what you saw fascinated you. You came across a container with a girl floating silently in its blue waters. A name was written beneath the container.
" Asaase Yaa." You pronounced and your eyes gleamed with both shock and excitement.
Mother told you stories of the old gods. The Ashanti gods who were worshiped ages before the rise of phones and the attack of the mist.
Mother told you how they've all been forgotten and buried by the sands of history.
Mother told you of Asaase Yaa, she told you of Ananse the Trickster, Nyame the creator and Tano and Bia as his sons.
Mother spoke of other gods from different clans.
You remembered immediately you saw the name.
" The Orishans.....the Hibernated ones." You whisper in shock. You find ways to free the floating girl, you find ways pressing buttons and codes on the old computers, non work so you rush to find a metal bar and smash it against the glass as it cracks and spills water to the earth beneath you.
CHAPTER TWO: ASAASE YAA
I feel to the earth. I was wet and cold and naked, the earth beneath me was cold as well I slowly rose to my feet only to meet a boy, a teenager. Standing before my eyes with a metal bar.
He stared with grave shock as if he had seen a ghost. He rushed to pick an old cloth and tossed it to me.
I'd been asleep for a days unknown I knew nothing.
All that I remember was that evil mist and those strange annoying scientists blending magic with science taking me away from mother, I remembered mother's screams when they took me away from her.
They said I was the future, I was brought her along with other kids to be worked on by the bloody hands of those scientists.
But this boy before me was a naive soul I could sense.
" Who are you?" I asked Wrapping the cloth around me.
" I'm errr Berima. You....you are an Orishan?? Our hope??? " he asked with smiles and surprise all the same.
" Orishan? " Is that what those bloody scientists told them to call us?
I frowned. " What do you mean by that? "I slowly approached with a frown as the earth slowly quaked with my every step. Dust falling off from the roof above us.
He was afraid, he quivered stepping backwards, but all of a sudden he grew bold at once standing still and fearless as I approached.
I felt good when he shivered, I was happy at his weakness, did he know that I somehow enjoyed it? That he would break my inner happiness?
" The creatures. They came,they took everything from us. Our people have prayed for your resurrection for years, You are the only ones who can free us Asaase Yaa." He remarked and I froze.
" Asaase Yaa?? " They named me after an ancient Ashanti goddess?? Those fools! I frowned.
He mentioned the creatures, I remembered them clearly. They were a forgotten tribe who somehow discovered a power unimaginable. They locals say that they found a stool an ancient one of unknown origin. It contained power, strange and odd and dark.
And somehow they told the whole world that they existed by wiping out men and using the rest as slaves, Colonizing the whole of humanity with those bloody mists they summoned from God knows where.
"How many years has it been since they attacked?" I asked with cold eyes.
"Hundred." He remarked.
At that moment I froze and my eyes quivered.
"Hundred???? I've slept for hundred years??????" I shouted and the earth shook once more.
CHAPTER THREE: YOU
The building shook as she shouted. She was young like you, Seventeen like you but only that she had slept for a hundred years.
Her eyes were glimmering gold, her locks divine and white dripping with water.
She was a beauty, but not a friendly one.
"I've read about your kind from the Odd books." You remarked. " Where are the others?" You added.
"Odd books?? Hmm as for the others." She whispers scanning the room with her amber eyes. You stare silently observing her every move.
" Have slept for ages boy.... All I remember were those scientists who call themselves Mind seers, somehow merging science with Magic trying to create us." She answered. Walking by pass you, you follow in excitement.
" I bet the Creatures have turned themselves into world powers." She remarks.
" Yes....that's why we need you and the others." You speak softly.
Her eyes widens with surprise as she stares at you.
" We were scattered across the Continent. " She remarks, her breathing sounding strange to your ears.
Her memories slowly returning.
"Get me out of here." She frowns.
The both of you came out of the underground bunker, she met the crescent moon in the dark blue skies.
A cold air hit her soul. She feels the sweet coldness caress her smooth skin as you stare in wonder, her beauty.
"What year is it?' She asked sternly.
"Have lost track of it " you respond with an odd face.
" What????" She frowned.
suddenly you both felt a buzzing sounds in the air. Then from above you spot flying jets forged out of strange wood hovering above your heads.
"The Creatures." You say shockingly with bewildered eyes. "They've found me."
" What??" She frowns as well Staring as the strange ships hover around her, it irritates her. Memories flicker, she grins and suddenly you feel the quaking of the earth beneath your feet.
slowly the sands beneath your feet began to form a swirling circle round both of you, you Stare in grand awe. She stands with grim eyes. The ships hovering to and fro above your heads.
A surge of power, flowing beneath her skin, you can see it, you fear, you tremble.
And you believed our invaders would come from space. But they were here right here with you only waiting for the right time to strike.
And your only hope was this girl, the girl who had been under hibernation for a hundred years and more.
All your hopes placed within her.
At that wondrous moment you were not the main character...... She was.....and she was damn good at it.
WRITTEN BY DERYUS SNOW
The phone rang.
I roused from sleep and gave a weak "hello". It was my mother. It was always my mother. She called me constantly these days. Was she lonely or was she worried about me?
"Hello! Are you there?", she shouted. I had zoned out, like I did everytime she called. In the last few years, I realized that I could not sustain the energy to continue a conversation. Especially with her.
"Yes, yes I'm here. Just getting ready for work" I sighed. That was the magic word. She valued work, hard work. She valued it too much to keep me from getting ready. I didn't hear what she said before I heard that comforting click of the call ending. I glanced at the phone screen to check the time, but I only saw the date.
March 13, 2006.
It had been 10 years. Ten years. How had I managed to survive the last decade?
I had been 15 years old. Since then every year felt like a betrayal. I was here and she was not.
I blinked back tears, let out a breath and decided to actually get ready for work. I still didn't check the time. I couldn't bear to look at the phone again to see the date and still hadn't gotten around to buying a clock. Do people even buy clocks anymore?.
After a hasty bath, and squeezing my growing belly (not from pregnancy, it was just fat from the multiple nights going to bed beside takeout boxes) into a skirt suit, I checked the fridge and pantry for anything that could be called "breakfast food". I already knew that I would'nt find anything but I suppose this was a way to shock myself into a change.
A change I had been telling myself needed to happen ever since graduating University. I had survived. I had graduated. I could potentially have kids and live a long life. She could not. So, I had to honour her.
I knew this made sense. I knew it would give me a sense of purpose, but it was easier to sit in guilt. Guilt provided me with adequate excuses not to do anything fully - not to dream fully, not to live fully, not to love fully.
I tried to shake off these thoughts as I hurried through the door to the bus stop. I hummed a tune to lift my spirits. I walked out into the humidity of the day. I hadn't even checked the weather. I continued to hum. Not even three minutes into my walk I felt the error of not checking that damn weather app. This wool suit was a bad idea Why was it so freakin' hot? Am I okay? I quickly looked around to see whether I was the only one the weather caught off-guard. But the street was unbelievably empty - save for the 2 people at the bus stop - it was a ghost town. The neighbourhood is usually quiet, but not this quiet.
Something felt off. More off than usual. Or was it all in my head? The low rumbling of the bus engine interrupted my thoughts. As I listened to the familiar sound, I felt sweat slowly beading at my neck and beginning to run down my back. Ugh.
I could hear the bus getting closer but instead of walking briskly to the bus stop, I ducked into the small restaurant on the corner of my street. I stepped through the doors and watched as the bus slowed, stopped, picked up passengers and then drove away.
"Which tune is that?", someone asked close by.
"Excuse me?", I turned slowly. I was met with a greasy, smiling face. "I heard you humming, was just trying to catch the song", the elderly waitress said. Oh, I was still humming. Should I tell this old lady that I hum when I am nervous, overwhelmed, confused? That I am humming to quiet the voices in my head? That I am slowly losing a grip on life?
"Oh, just an old song", I said with a crooked smile, as I took a seat in the nearest booth. I could feel sweat pooling under my arms. Was I okay? Was I sweating out a fever? I brought the back of my hand to my forehead and neck to check, but didn't know how hot a fever would feel against the back of my clammy hand.
Myrtle stood wordlessly adjacent to the booth. Myrtle, that was the waitress' name, or at least the name on the rusty badge attached to her discoloured apron. "Maybe some water to start?" She reeled off the breakfast specials and I quickly ordered something I didn't really want just so she could leave the table.
I took my phone from my purse and saw that it was 10:17 am. I was 2 hours and 17 minutes late for work. Where did the time go? All I remember about the morning was my mother's phone call and getting ready for work. "You need to get it together Cindy", I whispered to myself. At that point I decided to send my supervisor an email saying I was not feeling well and was taking a sick day. I turned the phone off and then slipped it back into my bag.
That might just be what I need. A day to sit with my emotions, with no distractions from my cell phone. Therapy hadn't worked, going to church hadn't worked, talking to friends - the little I had left - hadn't worked. So maybe I just needed time alone. To really be alone.
I would go home and just sit in silence. Is that how these kinds of breakthroughs would work? Is there something else I needed to do, other than sit and wait for tears to come? I would Google it. I chuckled to myself - I was attempting to fix my life in one afternoon with a Google search.
Myrtle came back with a platter - pancakes, eggs, some kind of breakfast sandwich, sausages, and a small cup of fruit. This was a lot of food. I instinctively felt the waistband of my skirt bursting against the rolls of my belly. I didn't really want to eat and I wasn't hungry but I ate the food anyway. Eating shut off the voices in my head. The ritual of cutting the pancakes and then the sausage, and balancing the egg on the tip of the fork for the perfect bite, felt almost therapeutic.
I had been trying to eat away my problems (well, really one main problem) for the last ten years. If it hadn't worked already it probably never would. But I finished the meal anyway.
I didn't want to leave this little restaurant. I didn't want to go home to deal with the reality. The reality that I would have to continue living in a world without my best friend. The reality that a phone call could have saved her.
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