Pharaoh of Fire (Land of Fire Book 1)

by Chadwick Duncan

  Assani took a few breaths and responded, “My apologies, your Excellency. I just want the best for you. I want to keep you safe. Inside the Palace walls is where you belong now, no longer on the battlefield.”

  Nairobi controlled his temper and responded, “I appreciate your concern but you forget how capable I am with a sword, I have got the hang of fighting with one eye now. Besides, Lali is a competent warrior as well, she does not require me to protect her.”

  He turned towards Lali and smirked, “It is a good thing your mother chose not to come today. Take your father and my sister within the Palace and protect them for me, please.”

  Lali grabbed Nairobi’s head and pulled him in for a kiss then responded, “Of course. Be careful.”

  Lali sprinted off with both Vishal and Nairomi. She led them into the Palace with two Japreet soldiers and two Hashish followed closely behind. Chukwuku also darted off into the Palace as he carried his mother, Ebunoluwa. Lord Assani instructed the soldiers and positioned them where he needed. Some stood atop the Palace walls with bows and arrows, others stood by each entrance, and a few archers rode the two elephants Lord Vishal and Lady Lali rode when they arrived. The Hashish all stood around Mansa Nairobi as he stood ready for the impending attack.

  Assani ran towards Nairobi, “Your Excellency, I shall soon return. I am heading into the Palace’s dungeon to speak to Rashid.” Nairobi nodded and Assani exited.

  Assani walked very briskly as he tried to make haste to Rashid. He went towards the rear of the Palace and opened a metal door, which then led to some steps. The stairway was dimly lit with a few torches as he descended down the steps. It seemed like an endless amount or steps but he finally arrived to the base. It was a singular room, with a metal cage and another set of iron doors behind the cage bars. Assani opened the cage door and then opened the solid iron door. Behind the iron door, was another iron cage, but Rashid sat behind these bars. Rashid’s body was covered in filth, his hair was grown out and scruffy. He sat on the ground and seemed to be playing with ants as Lord Assani approached him, but before Assani could utter a word, Rashid began.

  “It is funny how ants work so diligently for the greater good of their colony. I have sat here for so long toying with them, stealing the food they gather, and killing a few, but they always seem to refocus and get the task completed.”

  He stood up from the ground and brushed himself off. He then faced Assani and stared him sternly in the face, “It does not matter what life throws at you, there are always only two options, either you fold to life, or life folds to you. These ants take whatever I dish out and continue fighting, and so have I.”

  Assani grew outraged and yelled, “But how!? You have been locked up! No one has talked to you, you are nothing, and you can accomplish nothing! I can squash you here right now if I must!”

  Rashid smirked, “Killing me now will change nothing, ‘the dye has already been cast.’ Remember that phrase? You or Chukwuku said something along those lines when your murdered my brother. I cannot quite remember.”

  Lord Assani stepped back, “H-How do you know that?”

  Rashid walked towards the bars and grabbed them, “Do you really think Nairomi was tending to her flowers at night when she left her room? Which idiot would fall for such a lie? For a man as smart as you, you made the tragic mishap of not paying enough attention to Nairomi, the last Nguvu within the Palace.”

  He continued as Assani’s face was filled with fright, “She has told me everything. She heard everything even though you attempted to remove her from the room. The Hashish guard that escorted her out was a friend of hers and put his feelings towards her over your orders. Since you imprisoned me, with the help of him and Nairomi, I have been informed about each of your plans and made a few myself.”

  Rashid’s smile widened, “I instructed Wasim on which course of action he should take. He told me how you slighted Lord Mateus and we used that to our advantage. Having those extra men to help smuggle in weapons was easy, after all, the Angola head the trade dealings of the Empire. Specific shipment delivered to the barracks throughout Gibralta had secret pockets or compartments for weapons. All we needed were for his soldiers to deliver them to the Nguvu.”

  Lord Assani barked, “How did you even get so much information in and out of this cell without me knowing!? Sure, maybe Nairomi and the Hashish could slip in here once or twice, but to have the constant communication needed for your plan, my guards should have caught them! Wait, how would they even get in? I hold the key for these locks!”

  Rashid began to laugh, “That is another false assumption you made. The Royal Guards love Nairomi. True, you and Nairobi boss them around, but they will jump off a cliff for Nairomi. They watched her grow from a child to a young woman within these walls and took care of her along the way. New guards would learn to love her based on the stories of older guards. She is the Palace’s one true flower, and you forgot to account for that. If she needed them to be quiet, then quiet is what they will be.”

  Rashid’s laughter settled and he continued, “And for the key, I instructed my brother and former Mansa, Habib, to make a spare just in case and give it to Nairomi in secret after Nairobi defeated Hatim. I never intended to be locked down here, I always assumed you would imprison Habib and the key would be his way to escape and return to Alharamu. Nairomi has been the catalyst in our entire plan.”

  Assani snarled, “No matter! I will kill them all once they arrive anyways! You, Wasim, and Vishal shall perish today!”

  Rashid fell to the ground and continued looking at Assani, “You have lost.”

  Assani spun around and stormed out the prison cell. He raced back towards the Palace and was greeted to a horrific sight. The gates of the Palace were demolished, with soldiers partaking in an epic brawl. The Elephants stomped around, crushing friends and foes. Men had limbs chopped off, heads laid on the ground, and other men had javelins sticking from their chest. Assani hurried through the chaos as he attempted to make it back inside the Palace. A few Mali soldiers he brought with him from Jua Nyeusi in case an event such as this arose, saw him and attempted to escort him to safety. While Assani tried to navigate the war in the Royal Garden, another battle was taking place within the Palace. Lali stood before the immense Chukwuku, as he attempted to grab hold of Nairomi, who stood frightened behind her.

  Ebunoluwa began with a sinister smile, “Just hand over Nairomi and we will not kill you.”

  Lali, holding a broom for defense replied, “No! There is a war going in the Nation’s capital and you are over here attempting to kill Nairomi! What is the matter with you!?”

  Ebunoluwa shouted, still wearing her uneasy smile, “The girl must die! She must, she must!”

  Lali gripped the broom tighter and responded, “Well, you will need to get passed me first!”

  Ebunoluwa shrugged, “Then have it your way, Chukwuku, I have a job for you.”

  Chukwuku smiled and charged towards the two. He threw a few punched at Lali, whom was able to evade each of his strikes. She then swung the broom and berated his face with a barrage of hits. He attempted to grab the broom so she pulled it back before he could lock his hands on it. His faces was battered and bruised, but he continued to smile and charged at her once more. He moved even faster this time, throwing punches with more speed behind them. Lali did her very best to avoid getting pummeled by any of his massive fists. She ducked, flipped, twirled, as she fought for not just her life, but Nairomi’s. Her shoes began to feel as if they were filled with cement as Chukwuku continued his relentless assault. She wondered how a man so large could have so much energy at his disposal.

  He realized she was exhausted and picked up the pace once more, not offering a single opportunity for Lali to get a counterattack in. Lali, to her horror, slipped as she flipped backwards, he saw this and rushed in for the kill. He was upon her in an instant, she could see the bloodlust in his eyes. As she was falling to her back, he punched down towards her to finish her off, but to his
surprise, she used her broom to nudge herself ever so slightly out of the kill zone. This slight evasion allowed only Chukwuku’s right fist to graze her right arm, but a graze was all it took to do serious damage. As she rolled away, the force behind the graze fractured her arm. The remaining force behind the punch was dissipated into the floor since he missed, but he did more damage to the floor than it to him. His fist slightly cracked the ground upon impact.. Lali released the broom and grabbed her arm as she screamed in agony. She rolled on the ground as Chukwuku slowly approached her. He stuck his tongue out and smiled as he salivated with each approaching step. Lali saw his face and was petrified in fright, then she heard Nairomi.

  “Get up Lali! Please get up!” Nairomi screamed as her eyes were filled with tears.

  She continued, “I will not allow him to kill you too as he did everyone else!”

  Lali looked towards Nairomi and then looked behind Chukwuku as he approached her. She saw the Hashish guard’s mangled remains on the ground, along with, and most tragically, her father, Lord Vishal. Lali began to cry as she mustered the strength to get to her feet. She picked up the broom with her left arm and twirled it while staring at Chukwuku. He then charged towards her, but this time, she charged back. While running to Chukwuku, she slammed the broom against the ground, breaking off the bristle section of it. Once he leaned in to punch her, she weaved and stabbed him in his abdomen with the jagged wooden spear. She lodged the spear in his side and drove it out his lower back. Blood began running out the wound, but he did not utter a word. Lali looked at his face and saw that he remained smiling and stared back at her, she was struck by fright as he pulled his arm back and prepared to deliver a blow.

  Sensing the impending doom, Lali attempted to jump back, but was too slow. Chukwuku grabbed her left arm with his and unleashed a brutal strike to her face. The punch shattered her nose and violently jolted her head back. He then let go of her arm and she collapsed to the ground, with her face covered in blood. She lied motionless on the ground as Nairomi stared in horror. Chukwuku pulled the wooden spear from his abdomen and threw it to the ground.

  “She will have to try better than that to kill me, nevertheless, that is the most fun I have had in a while mother,” he stated as he tended to his wound.

  Ebunoluwa walked towards him and kissed him on the cheek, “I know it is, my baby. But you are not done yet, I still have a job for you.”

  Chukwuku instantly stopped tending to his wound and stared at Nairomi. He began to smile while he approached her. Nairomi begin to run towards a door to her left, but to no avail. He charged and slammed it shut right before her, then slapped her to the ground. He walked towards her while she groveled and backed away from him. He stepped on her right leg, crushing it effortlessly. She released a blood curdling cry, which he then added to as he crushed her right leg. He lifted her by her neck and strangled her. He smiled as he stared into Nairomi’s eyes and saw the life leaving them. She gasped for air and scratched his hands, but her feeble attempts did nothing. Suddenly, the doors down the hall busted open, it was Nairobi.

  “Lali! Nairomi! We need to go, we are losing the figh-” but before he could finish his thought, he saw Nairomi in Chukwuku’s clutches.

  As if his heart stopped, Nairobi continued, “W-What are you doing with my s-sister?”

  He repeated with fire behind his voice, “What are you doing to my sister!?”

  He walked forward and saw the dead, Hashish, Royal Guards and Vishal on the ground. He stepped over them each one by one, as he continued his furious gaze towards Chukwuku. But something caught his eyes, he looked over to the left and saw a figure lying on the ground as well. As he approached, he saw it was Lali with her face bloodied and battered. Nairobi then clenched his teeth so tight that they began to crack under the force of his jaw. He gripped his sword so tight that the leather of the hilt began to fuse to his skin. Tears began gushing out his eyes as he looked at Lali. He then swiveled his head and looked at Nairomi and even more tears began flowing from his eyes.

  Lady Ebunoluwa began as she looked at Nairobi, “I am sorry, your Excellency. They were all traitors and must be punished. You saw the Japreet soldiers outside, they called them. You cannot be so naïve.”

  Nairobi mustered up enough patience to exchange words with her as his anger increased, “Then why does Chukwuku have my sister in a choke hold!?”

  Ebunoluwa, looked at Nairomi and then back at Nairobi, “She carries a bastard. She refuses to get rid of the child so we have to get rid of her, or else we will tarnish your legacy.”

  He screamed, “There is a damn war going on outside and you are in here worrying about a-a fucking legacy!? Put my sister down at once!”

  Ebunoluwa mumbled, “I cannot do that. She must die.”

  Nairomi gathered enough air in her lungs to speak one last time, “Nairobi…I forgive you.”

  Once she finished her speech, she smiled and fell silent. Chukwuku released her lifeless body and it plopped to the ground. Nairobi watched in horror as the one last person in this world who truly loved him, was taken from him. His mind was instantly bombarded with all the images of them growing up, fighting, and playing. He now realized he had nothing, his mother is dead, his father is dead, his wife is dead, and he just witnessed his sister’s dying breath. He did not know what emotion to display, as he was hit with every emotion a human could feel all at once.

  Lady Ebunoluwa stood by Chukwuku as she began, “I am sorry your family were all traitors, your Excellency. This must be very hard for you to swallow.”

  Nairobi looked down at the ground as he continued crying. He bawled for a few moments but then his crying stopped instantly. He looked up, his eyes were powerful and menacing, and began “I will kill you all.”

  He then looked Ebunoluwa in her eyes and charged towards her. Chukwuku stood in front of her and threw a punch at Nairobi, whom avoided the punch and sliced him on his right thigh. Chukwuku threw another punch with his left arm, which Nairobi weaved backwards and dodged, he countered by thrusting his blade through the arm. Chukwuku pulled his arm back as Nairobi pulled the sword from it. Chukwuku used his immense right leg to kick Nairobi, whom in return used his blade to shield himself from the brunt of the attack. However, the kick was delivered with such immense force that it broke his left arm, and sent him sailing across the room. He tumbled to the ground but instantly rose back to his feet, as if he did not feel any pain from that attack. Chukwuku charged towards him, and he charged in return. Nairobi gripped his sword with his right arm and ran with his injured left arm flailing through the air. Chukwuku threw a grizzly right hook, which Nairobi chose to meet head on and thrusted his sword into his fist. His blade was driven between Chukwuku’s fingers and wrist, lodging it into his forearm.

  The force of the punch broke the blade from its hilt, so it stayed wedged in his forearm. Chukwuku screamed as blood began gushing out of his wound. He stepped backwards and Nairobi walked towards him. Nairobi saw the wooden staff Lali used to fight and picked it up. He sprinted toward Chukwuku whom was still in agony. Chukwuku saw the incoming Nairobi and threw a punch in response, but Nairobi dodged the blow once more and jumped in the air. He lunged and thrusted the wooden staff into Chukwuku’s left eye, driving the staff to the back of his head. Chukwuku continued looking at Nairobi as the broom was driven in his head. Nairobi was beside himself, he was exhausted and out of ideas, he wondered why this goliath of a man would not fall. Nairobi’s legs began to shake and he his breathing tripled as he tried to catch his breath.

  Suddenly, Chukwuku fell to the ground while he attempted to remove the staff from his eye socket. The earth trembled once his large body finally hit. Nairobi timidly walked towards him to make certain he was indeed dead. He kicked him to make sure he was truly defeated; and defeated he was. Chukwuku did not move a muscle as Nairobi examined his body. Nairobi then gazed around, but Ebunoluwa was nowhere to be found. Nairobi screamed to the heavens, clenching his fists and crying. He ran over to Nairo
mi and kneeled before her. He grabbed her body and held her in his arms, his tears showered her face while he pressed her head against his chest.

  “I am so, so sorry Nairomi! I have been a terrible Mansa and an even worse brother! I love you so much, please come back to me! Please sister!” he beckoned.

  “All you ever wanted was for us all to live in a happy home. You tried your best to make me at ease and I always resented you. I resented the love father had for you and was too blind and stupid to see the love you had for me,” snot began to run from his nose.

  He took a deep breath and shouted, “Come back to me! Please, please Nairomi! Do not leave me! I am so alone!”

  Nairobi heard footsteps and looked over to his right, it was Lord Wasim and Rashid. The men were horrified at the sight, Wasim nearly threw up when they saw the mangled remains of Lord Vishal and the guards. They continued into the dark room, and then they saw Chukwuku laying on the ground, with Nairobi kneeling as he held Nairomi in his arms. Rashid’s temper flared, he grabbed his sword and charged at Nairobi. He stared at the enraged Rashid, but he showed no response or emotion as he approached, instead, he stared blankly. Rashid stood over Nairobi, swung his sword back to unleash a finishing blow, but as he swung his sword forward to end Nairobi’s existence, his arm suddenly stopped. He looked back in confusion, to his surprise, it was Wasim that held his arm in place. Wasim stared sternly into Rashid’s eyes until he dropped the weapon. Wasim stepped forward and placed his left arm on Nairobi’s head.

  “I am sorry for your loss, Nairobi. Nairomi was precious, too good for this world,” Wasim stated as he walked closer.