Ahinta Asafo 4

Baaba and the ahinta asafo complete their preparations and enter the kakai world for the final battle between them and the kakai.

wo figures walked in silence towards the town park. The night guard shuffled wearily to his feet, recognised Supi Vuvor and without a word, let her and her daughter in. 'We'll be here till daybreak' Vuvor said softly. 'See to it that we're not disturbed'.

'The park guides are part of the second wall of defense out of 10 to protect the town from the kakai.' Vuvor explained. ' The asafo ahinta based in the village are the first'.

'Baaba, I brought you here because this is where the elders and the chief decided to set up and train a branch of the asafo for the sole purpose of banishing kakai'. 'The training field at the asafo village is based on this field. The village should be a bit crowded now so this will be an ideal spot to train.' 'So draw out your akofena, my child and attack me'.

Baaba swung her akofena at Vuvor several times only for Vuvor to dodge each swing. Vuvor suddenly flung her akofena at Baaba forcing her to sink to her left knee, raise her weapon and smack the projectile back into Vuvor's hands. Vuvor let off three darts and Baaba wildly deflected the darts away with a spin of her spear. With a burst of speed, Vuvor advanced towards her child. Baaba swung her machetes left and right to counter the flurry of blows that her mother was raining down on her.

Noticing a pattern, she swung her akofena to lightly tap Vuvor's neck, a move which would end the session. Vuvor swung her akofena to block it and struck it once, nearly making Baaba lose her grip on it. Vuvor's akofena swung in an arc from Baaba's left so using the spear as a pivot, she swung herself underneath the blow, her right hand grasping it and her left wielding an akofena that swept towards the Supi.

Vuvor blocked the blow with her afowatsen (tri-bladed akfena). With the akofena's blade locked in between two of the afowatsen's blades, Vuvor twisted her weapon to break the blade. Baaba drew out her akofena as soon as she felt the turn of the afowatsen and swung at her shoulder the instant that Vuvor swung at hers, causing the two blades to clash, creating hot sparks that flew out between them.

'They've already started, Twumasi' Ato noted. 'On your feet, son'. Twumasi staggered a bit. The moment his vision cleared, Ato was bearing down on him as Twumasi rolled to the right. The man's afonanta (machete like sword) sliced the air where Twumasi had once been. The two asafo raced towards each other. The boy attacked first, his weapon a blur in Ato's eyes but he spun from left to right, remaining untouched.

Ato spun to his left, his afonanta slicing upwards towards his son. Twumasi leapt backwards, drew his spear and swung it at him. Ato dodged it, blocked twice and hit it once. Twumasi nearly dropped the spear as the vibrations shook his arm. As he fumbled, Ato let off three arrows. Twumasi sheated his spear and let of three arrows as well cutting through them. He then appraoched the man from his right, his akofena intended to tap his father's shoulder but Ato also swung his weapon at it.

Their swings cut through the air between them, as they sidestepped each other, wary of the other's movements. They repeated the same dance with drawn spears and wooden bows. Ato rolled away from his son, plucked a twig and flicked it at him.

Before the twig could hit him, an arrow flew past him cutting the twig in half before striking a tree. Naarkie emerged from the bushes with a longbow and a set of thin arrows and informed him that the machines in the company building were malfuntioning again.

'I'll have to fix things now,' Ato sighed. He fished out a manual from his battledress. 'Refer to page 35 , Twumasi", Naarkie can help you to train as well'.

'It's one of Vuvor's manuals' Naarkie noted. 'Baaba told me she read it weeks before she was attacked, because she thought it was a good piece of fiction"

On a cold Monday morning, all the Supi were in attendance at the Big Hut.

'Ato, are the transportation devices and senses fully operational' asked the Tufohen.

'Yes'.

'Aseidua, your report'.

'Yesterday, we informed the public to stay away from the forest. My police force is handling town wide evacuation drills. All 18 hidden tunnels and routes have been checked and rechecked. If the worst comes to pass, the town will be evacuated in 15 minutes.

'Kuukua, psychological report"

'Most of the asafo are fully prepared to fight. Both the advance guard and the rear guard.'

'I will lead the advance guard into the kakai world' the Tufohen declared. 'Being banished is a risk I am willing to take if this is the one chance we have of ending this conflict'.

Sum sensed the killing intent of Panin Tum in the darkness of her room, but waited for her opponent to attack. Two spears flew out from the darkness and straight towards Sum's head. She moved it slightly, as they tore past her and struck the wall behind her.

Sum let off several needles into the shadows which pierced through the walls and several pillars, turning them to dust. A blur spun out of the shadows and swung twin afonantas at her right. Sum struck at it with her own serrated akofena. Tum blocked the swing and spun to her left, swinging at her again but Sum let of a barrage of steel needles, each one striking her joints and restricting her movements. Tum fell on her knees

Without a word, Sum stabbed the panin in the chest. Several young kakai swarmed into the room and Sum stepped aside as they devoured the panin, leaving no trace of her as they hurriedly rushed out of the door. She stopped one of them with a hand.

'Apae, tell the other mpaninfo that Bu has failed to bring an asafo to us to open the breach from our side to begin the invasion.' 'Tell them to prepare for the worst'. '

Baaba swung repeatedly at Vuvor, forcing her back. Vuvor swung her akofena at Baaba's right but she blocked it with her own akofena twice and then leaned backwards as the akofena swept the air, inches from her face.

Baaba swung a spear to Vuvor's right but she blocked it inches from her shoulder. She then blocked another swing to her left arm and swung her akofena at Baaba which she dodged. They spun away from each other, assumed offensive stances and run towards each other even as the sun began to rise in the east.

Asafo companies will break into two formations', the Tufohen announced. The advance guard will enter the kakai world and the vanguard will stay behind to guard the town should the first guard fail'. The three extra 'walls' situated in the park, town centre and schools will be the next line of defence if the kakai wipe out the vanguard and reach the town'

'The vanguard of Company 9 will also coordinate reentry into the human world should we succeed' Ato noted. 'Each company is advised to hold firmly to their weapons for teleportation by the disassembling of molecules is painful and unnerving.' A loud hum was emmitted from the 9th company headquarters as the Warp Particle Accelerator (WAP) Vuvor's creation, was remotely switched on.

'Baaba felt her toes slowly breaking off, then her kneees and her hands, as her molecules began to disassemble. If she had had time, she would have screamed from the pain but everyone took their cue from their grey haired supreme general, the Tufohen, who remained calm and composed. The forest animals shrieked and screamed as the hum reached deafening levels and then minutes later, the noise stopped, the asafo were gone, and the forest was very, very still.

A kakai watched the three suns in its sky lazily when three breaches opened on its right. Three asafo emerged from them and struck it with their spears. Other asafo spilled out from other breaches to meet kakai that attacked them. In the north, kakai were struck by several arrows from the 3rd company led by Vuvor. In the south, kakai were banished as Baaba and Afua flung their spears at them. A kakai lunged towards the schoolgirl, then spun to her left and swung its serrated blade at her shoulder but she blocked the first swing, parried the next and slashed through its spear, striking it at the neck and banishing it.

Other kakai fired their steel needles at her but Baaba deflected them into a kakai behind her and darted towards them, banishing them with three swings of her afena.

'So the humans are here' Panin Sum sighed. 'Pae (Burst), lead the kakai of the north, Gu(Collapse), lead those of the south. I will be with you shortly.'

A stream of kakai led by a red clad kakai rushed toward Twumasi and Kuukua's company. They attacked in sync, with each other as their sword swings and steel needles clashed with the asafo's akodze. Twumasi, with his akofena in one hand, cut a path through the kakai, not wasting a single movement. Suddenly a coalblack spear angled towards his chest but he spun back and parried the thrusts of a white clad kakai who wielded the spear. The black clad kakai lunged towards him but Efua blocked its path with her afonanta and swung upwards at it.

It spun to its left and attacked her repeatedly. Danso clashed with a kakai and slashed it across the chest, fully banishing it. Gu attaked him with an akuma as Danso spun away from the attacks and later banished the kakai panin in three quick swings. Ato struggled with a kakai whose weapons kept shifting from sword to spear and to projectiles. He memorised each change and adjusted his weapons accordingly before stabbing the kakai in the chest.

A kakai panin rushed towards kakai and let off a volley of needles that she dodged, even as she drew out an akofena and knocked Pae's akofena back and slashed it with her own. Pae leapt back, from Baaba's second swing and swung a serrated spear at her but Baaba rolled under the akodze, slashing its knees, forcing it to kneel before her.

She unhooked her spear and then flung it at it’s neck, banishing it completely. Baaba then walked towards the spear, but then sensed an intense killing intent. She rolled to her left as the blade of a spear ripped through the air, striking the place where she had stood seconds ago. She regained her composure, sunk into an offensive stance, then leapt back as a steel needle tore through the air, missing her neck but grazing her leg.

She let off an arrow but it was smacked into her leg. As she yanked it out, she noticed a black clad, bone white kakai glaring at her. Machetes drawn, Panin Ko (Battle) lunged at her again and again but Baaba yanked out her own machetes and they both swung ferociously at each other even as the clashes heated the air around them.

Simultaneously, they drew out their akofenas and clashed again, discarding their broken machetes. The sparks from the clash nearly blinded Baaba, forcing her to draw backwards, even as it slashed her hat, the kakai blade inches away from her scalp. Baaba used her left akodze to stop the blade from spliiting her head and the right akodze to slash the kakai’s hands.

It gritted its teeth and the pamo marks on its hands stopped forming halfway. It spun to her left swinging its akofena which twisted and then extended into an afowatsena and angled towards her left shoulders. Baaba suddenly reached out and caught the akodze bare handed with her left hand and her right thrust an akofena at its throat.
It blocked the thrust as she loosened her grip on the akofena, drew out her machetes and slashed the kakai on both sides. It stumbled backwards,then suddenly darted to her right. Baaba blocked a swing from her right, then reading her fighting patterns, advanced forward, machetes blocking attacks aimed at her sides.

For each swing from the kakai, Baaba weaved and bobbed, dodging it’s attacks and dealing out her own blows, blocking with her machetes when she had to. Each slash was repaid in kind, but Baaba moved quickly from low swings to an onslaught of fast and powerful slashes both high and low until she slashed through its blades, and swung onwards to its abdomen slashing it.

The kakai’s breath became labored, an unfamiliar weakness quickly spreading to all its joints. The pamo marks spread all over its body and enraged, it lunged towards Baaba with its spear but Baaba was faster, as she sped towards the kakai, slashing through its spear with her akofena. The broken pieces clattered on the ground.

Baaba slashed from left to right and from top to bottom and sped off, even as the kakai was banished, raising a gust of wind and dust. Baaba sped towards the lone tower in the north, joined moments later by other asafo. Suddenly a steel needle tore through the air, slashing at her sleeve. She noticed three kakai heading towards them from the direction of the tower.
Danso slashed a kakai four times,then wiped the sweat from her brow. ‘Supi Vuvor’, he called as Vuvor smacked a kakai in a single slsh, its body spinning through the air and then banished as soon as it hit the ground.

‘What is it, Danso?’

‘The plan was to set miniature versions of the Warp Particle Accelerator in the point of the kakai world with the highest breach signatures, which in this case is the tower. Once that’s done, we’ll use it to leave the kakai world and the devices will synchronise with the one in our world, keeping both worlds apart permanently by jump starting the Spiral’

‘I’ve detected two breach signatures, and the smaller one is moving right towards us’

Vuvor called Baaba via the portable radio. ‘Danso has identified a kakai that is emitting a strong breach signal moving towards us. ‘Even if we seal off the kakai world, she may be able to permanently open the barrier between both worlds on her own’.

‘So we banish her first, mother and then seal off the kakai world permanently.’

‘Correct’ responded Vuvor.

Baaba checked her own detector, identifying Panin Sum, one of the three kakai as the one who needed to be banished and sped straight towards her. There were no war cries, no sudden pause and no traces of fear as the kakai and the asafo clashed in the space between the crevices. The Tufohen sprinted ahead, cutting and banishing the kakai between her and the trio.

Sum’s squad fought Tumasi and Danso, each asafo clashing with two kakai. The humans noticed a common fighting pattern of the kakai. More kakai spilled out from the cracks in the ground and swarmed the asafo. Naarkie fended off two mpaninfo with the common and weighted arrows. She then unsheated her ndar to fight three young kakai.
Kuukua and Asabea fought off several young ones with Aseidu and Ofori as the rest of the asafo formed a protective ring enclosing panin Sum with Vuvor, the former Supi who was now the Tufohen, (Commander at arms) and Baaba, one of their strongest asafo. They swung at Sum from all sides but she blocked their attacks, and sidestepped their subsequent attacks with ease.

She kept them at bay with a serrated spear. Vuvor swung her afena at her right but Sum blocked it, forcing her to swing her machete at her right. However Sum’s serrated spear smashed down on her afena and slashed her chest diagonally. As Vuvor fell back, the Tufohen swung her blade to take her place at the attack but her afonanta was blocked by Sum’s own afonanta.

Sum pushed back and swung her spear to block an attack from behind from Baaba, and slashed at the Supi, her akodze a blur in the eyes of the old woman. The Tufohen stumbled back, her hand over her wound and when Sum swung her spear again for the kill, Baaba blocked the incoming attack and unleashed a flurry of fast strikes against the kakai, slashing her legs and shoulders in minutes.

The kakai blocked further strikes from Baaba even as the Tufohen recovered and swung at her from the right, at the same time as Vuvor swung at its left. The blades grazed her neck but Sum fought on, forcing back the pamo marks with sheer willpower. It drew out various akodze from it’s body and slashed Baaba’s chest with its afowatsena and at close range, let loose a sudden barrage of steel needles aimed at the asafo’s joints.

They spun away from the attack and advanced toward her from all sides but Sum darted forward, slashing ferociously with her akofena at all three asafo in the chest regions. The Tufohen stopped the next swing from Sum’s blade with her own and slashed its chest. Baaba slashed it from behind and dove to her left as the kakai turned to her direction, swinging its akofena at her.

Sum blocked Baaba’s other attacks but Vuvor slashed the arm wielding its akodze. Sum swung at Vuvor’s retreating form and as Vuvor thrust her afena at it, it leaned back, evading her attack. Baaba spun towards her, shifting suddenly from left to right to dodge Sum’s attacks. She repeatedly slashed it’s chest.

It struck the three asafo, pushing them back, their akodze barely stedy in their hands. Sum lunged at them again, pushing them towards the end of the protective ring. In the protective ring, Ato and Twuamsi struck down several kakai. Sensing that Baaba was being pressed, Twumasi let off three arrows at Sum who slashed them repeatedly.

Sum, for the first time in her life, felt slightly weary and yet dodged the attacks of the asafo continuously. Panting heavily, the combatants circled each other warily, respectfully keeping their distance away from each other. Sum shifted her foot forward slightly, then lunged at them, all four limbs bearing steel claws, pamo marks scarring it’s limbs and abdomen.

The Tufohen and Vuvor analysed the dangerous situation at once, and took on all of Sum’s ferocious attacks ,enabling Baaba to launch her attack. A slash from left to right tore through the kakai’s blades as Baaba advanced toward the kakai. Despite her injuries, Baaba struck through the kakai’s weapons, her slash causing the kakai to stumble backwards.

Baaba and Sum struck at each otheryet for every cut Baaba took, she dealt two more to the weakening kakai. Each slash drove it back and none of them could dodge or sidestep any of their attacks. Only blocking attacks from each other was possible as their endurance began to fall and their injuries began to take their toll on them.

Baaba blocked her machetes with a lone akofena and struck at her slashing her from top to bottom. Sum stumbled backwards as Baaba lunged at her, her akofena stabbing Sum, forcing her to the ground even as Sum’s machetes dug into her shoulders. The pamo marks spread across herbody rapidly as her ties to the kakai world were slowly severed and she was banished, leaving behind a strong gust of wind and dust.

The remaining kakai fought fiercely, roars of rage mixed with despair at the loss of Sum, their strength. However the asafo were relentless and soon there were no kakai between them and the tower. They hurried towards it, entering it even as the kakai from across the entire kakai world roared and rushed towards the tower.

Kuukua, Asabea and the other asafo kept the kakai at bay, even as Ato and Vuvor unveiled two miniature warp accelerator devices, shaped in the form of the afena. They formed a small circle, the warp process began quickly and they were gone before all the kakai in the kakai world swarmed the tower.

Later, that night, safe in their own world, Ato and Vuvor submitted their report to the Tufohen.

‘So the devices will hold in the kakai world and keep them away permanently?’ she asked.

‘Yes, the warp devices on both sides will keep both worlds apart permanently’ Ato noted. ‘Already, the Spiral is growing stronger by the second.'

‘And how is Baaba?’ the Tufohen asked.

‘Recovering faster than expected. She has played her part in the war. She has helped to keep her town, her country, her world safe.’ In a few days, if we’re wrong and the kakai manage to return, she’ll be ready to fight them again.
                               The End
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