Seeds from Heaven by Jay Reynold

Author:Jay, Reynold [Jay, Reynold]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Confectionery World: Publishing Division
Published: 2011-06-01T04:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-four

The Coliseum

The torrid African sun arose each morning to find Suma Rungu and his son, Ra working out regularly at the coliseum along side the Bantu warriors of Zuva MuZi. The sounds of steel against steel could be heard echoing across the dusty arena floor this morn as the men had paired up for training with the new artisan swords made by the finest craftsmen of the City of the Sun.

Muumino assisted Sumu Rungu and Ra as she was better suited to the task than the giant Shongolo, who simply overpowered his opponents and showed little patience at teaching the craft. One was better off observing from a distance the expertise of Shongolo for acquiring the fine points of fencing. On the other hand, Muumino was acknowledged as the best fencer of the women and was also a patient teacher. Lighter sabers were the chosen favorite for practicing, however the clumsy antique slaver swords were often saved for the second part of the workout. Everyone wore protective gear and the blades had a safety device attached to each.

“Fence!” said Muumino who refereed for Sumu Rungu and Ra.

“En garde,” said Suma Rungu after giving the customary salute. The two parried for a half minute and Suma Rungu quickly gained the upper hand.

“You move like a turtle my son,” observed Suma Rungu as he moved forward and easily trust the tip past Ra’s defenses and acquired the point.

“Halt!” said Muumino. She spoke to Ra. “You defend too much and need to thrust more often.” She took Suma Rungu’s position and parried with him. “Thrust! Thrust!” Ra soon performed the thrust to her satisfaction. “Try again with your father. With luck you could defeat him one day.”

“En garde.” Suma Rungu lay back just a bit and Ra gained the point.

Muumino saw this—however gave no notice while she accepted a facetious glance from Suma Rungu. “See, you are doing better now. Practice now with your father. I must tend to others who need my help.”

“You learn quickly my son,” said Suma Rungu. “You will make a fine king one day.” The pair parried for a while, then sat on a wooden bench perched in the shade of the brick wall.

Ra cleared his throat and stared at the wall. “I plan to leave at the end of the month as I must return to my business. I thought I would tell you now as I know how much you wish me to stay.”

Suma Rungu brought a sponge from a bucket and squeezed water over his head. “I suspected as much. Your mind appeared elsewhere as we parried and you may imagine my disappointment to hear this. Without your taking a rightful place, the empire will certainly crumble with my passing. Ramazani will inherit the throne and do the best he can, however it would only be a matter of time until the struggles within would destroy all that I have accomplished here.”

Ra stood and gazed at the Ogo peaks on the horizon. Shongolo kicked up clouds of dust as he parried furiously with a trio of warriors.

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