JEREMIAH 17: 9

The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Asani followed behind his advisor, using his blade to rid his path of the branches and grass that attempted to strangle and trip him to his death.

“This person better be worth all this or I would add a new head to my collection.” Asani said angrily, cutting another branch down.

“Umonde, Kumkani wam. – Patience my King.” Iliso said. “Silapha. – We are here.” The king’s advisor said, smiling happily as he moved the palm fronds that blocked his vision to reveal a small, mud hut.  

“We came all this way to see a mud hut!” Asani bellowed, shaking his head angrily, trying to understand what his advisor was doing.

“It is not the hut we have come to see; it is who lives inside the hut that is important to us.” Iliso smiled, his wrinkles moving as he smiled, making the ancient being look younger.

“Siza kubona bani, Iliso? – Who have we come to see, Iliso?”  King Asani questioned, the hint of worry very evident in his voice. It must have been Iliso’s smile that brought the twinge of worry into Asani’s voice or the dense feeling of death that surrounded the hut.

“Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem.” Iliso smiled. “We have come to the meet the wise person. After you my King.” Iliso stretched his hand towards the mud hut, edging Asani to walk towards it.  Asani hesitated, looking at his advisor with an ‘Are you sure you’re sane?’ raise of the brows.

The king looked at his advisor. For the first time in a while, Asani felt a hesitation to acquire power. The man who had killed anyone and everyone just to sit on a golden chair had a shady feeling about this mud hut with dead raffia roof. Asani didn’t want to walk into that hut, he didn’t feel that there was any wise person in there. He didn’t feel his problems could be solved by whatever or whoever lived inside the hut.

The only thing he wanted was to do was leave this place, this place that reeked with death and felt like the gates of hell. Asani wanted to flee! He knew, at the back of his mind, he knew he had come to meet the devil in its’ home. He had crossed the threshold of the natural and supernatural and he was sure he was on the wrong side of the supernatural. The side that demanded things he would never get back for things that wouldn’t last forever.

Asani knew he was at the gates of hell but he wanted power, he needed to secure his claim to the throne and this was the only way to do it. This was the only way to get rid of the princess with a quest to destroy everything he had worked for. In his mind, Asani didn’t think Iliso would have brought him here if the advisor hadn’t seen the need for it. So, with what little trust Asani had left in Iliso, Asani walked towards the hut with his advisor following behind him.

The path to the hut was clear, there was not a single plant growing within a wide radius of the hut. The land was bare and the soil looked like it had been decomposed beyond redemption. The hut was like any other mud hut Asani had seen but when was the last time he had seen a mud hut? Whoever lived in the hut must be as old as the elders of The Sands.

Asani looked around, there was nothing special about the hut or its surroundings. He didn’t see any windows, just a hut with a black cloth that hung above a doorway. The black cloth that hung above the doorway had a snake drawn on it. It was a warning that the foolish dare not make deals with the deceitful, but Asani considered himself wise, so he lifted the cloth with his staff and walked into the dark hut, Iliso following behind the king.

“The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” The soothing voice of a woman echoed around the hut.

“You see the heart of men, Isithixo, and you grant the desires therein.” Iliso spoke to the echo and a loud, evil cackle filled the dark hut, making the winds gush in fiercely through the unseen windows and the hut was lit up.

Asani saw himself in a round space, dimly lit and nothing special in this hut.  Where the light and darkness met on the floor of the hut, there was a large basket. Asani could have sworn he heard the basket hiss. He wanted to check what was inside the basket but Iliso refused, stopping the King’s staff.

“This is not our kingdom; we must respect our boundaries.” Iliso said.

In a far end of the hut, where the lights did not reach sat a woman; Isithixo. She had thick, black locks that had a matted look, and her lips were painted with the red of blood. She wore a turquoise blue cloth on the lower half of her body and her top was bare. Her locks being the only thing preventing her from sitting naked.

“I have not seen this evil heart in a long while.” Isithixo smiled at Iliso, her lips stretching in a disturbing way and her white orbs shone in the darkness.

“It is good to see you too, Isithixo. It’s always wonderful to be in the presence of a friend.” Iliso smiled, sitting on the ground, leaving a shocked and confused king standing.

“Is your friend going to sit or would he stand there staring at my womanly features?” Isithixo smiled, pushing her locks a little, giving Asani a better view of what was hidden under her dark hair. 

“It is rude to stare my king.” Iliso spoke, tapping the empty space beside him.

“My apologies.” Asani said, sitting on the ground besides his advisor, never taking his eyes off from the woman in front of him.

“It’s alright. Most men come in here for one thing and leave with two.”  Isithixo said. Pulling her locks to cover her bosom properly.  “What is it that you seek, Iliso?”

Iliso laughed heartily. “I am still in your debt; I intend to pay my outstanding debts before I request for another favor.” Iliso said, eyeing Asani who was still fixated on Isithixo’s chest region.

“You have brought the king of The Sands to my hut. If I didn’t know better, I would have said you were showing me that you are raising your shoulders at my power. But I know better, Iliso and I know that very soon, you would have my payment. “Isithixo smiled at Iliso, before moving her attention to Asani.  “What can a lowly witch do for the king of The Sands?” Isithixo asked a spellbound Asani.

“Power! I want power! There is a little girl who threatens my throne and the revolution have taken a liking to this girl. I want the power to crush them and their hope! I want to be god!” Asani laughed merrily at the thought of becoming a god.

“Is that all?” Isithixo licked her blood red lips.

“Yes.”

“I would give you power, I would make you a god. But! Magic does come with a price. Is the king willing to pay the price of his desires?” Isithixo asked, crawling on her feet and hands towards Asani, placing her long finger nail on the king’s chest and drawing invisible marks.

A soft moan escaped Asani’s lips and Iliso shook his head in annoyance. “I’m ready to pay any price for my power.” Asani said in a ragged breath, looking down at the witch.

“Good! Then we have a deal!”  Isithixo cackled, crawling happily back to her dark corner. “Shall we seal the deal?” She raised a brow and the men nodded.

“Bring the bowls and the blade!” Isithixo yelled to no one in particular and in the blink of an eye, two wooden bowls and a snake blade dropped before the witch. “Stretch out your hand, your highness.” Isithixo smiled wickedly, holding the blade in one hand and her other hand stayed outstretched, waiting for Asani’s hand.  Asani placed his hand in the witch’s palm. This woman was going to give him the power he so desperately wanted, he could trust her.

A swift move of her wrist and she had slit Asani’s hand, letting the royal blood flow into one of the empty, wooden bowls. The pain was sharp, the cut was deep and the whole process happened in the blink of an eye.

The witch let the blood flow till she had a wooden bowl that was half filled with royal blood. Then she waved her fingers over the gushing wound and it closed up, like it had never been there in the first place.

Asani let his jaw drop to the floor. He had heard of magic, of witches, of powers greater than that of the ink and the blade but this was his first time seeing it.

“Now, it is my turn.” Isithixo smiled, slitting her wrist and repeating the process with the second bowl. “Now, we seal it.”

The witch poured Asani’s blood into her bowl of blood, covering the full bowl with the empty one and inciting her incantations. The bowls became one and on the top, the same serpent that Asani had seen on the black cloth appeared on the top of the bowl.

Isithixo chanted and chanted, she hummed and waved her body like a blade of grass in the wind while the wooden sphere of blood began to glow. She chanted louder and the winds began to whistle her chants and the flames danced like her body. Asani looked around, looking for the source of the winds but Iliso was calm, collected; he knew what was happening.

This wasn’t Iliso’s first visit to the witch’s hut, neither would it be his last. He had fulfilled his end of the bargain. He had paid off his debts to the witch and he had given Asani power beyond the feeble king’s imagination. Now, all Iliso had to do was sit and wait for his reward.

Isithixo danced faster, she chanted faster and the winds and flame responded to her. she began to cackle and as she cackled, the joint bowls glowed brighter and in a flash, the hut fell silent and dark.

“Go and wait, our bargain has been struck.” Isithixo voice echoed through the dark hut followed by her signature cackle.

Asani had made a deal with a witch, he would soon have power beyond his wildest dreams but he forgot the devil always collects. Nothing the devil gives is ever worth it and it never lasts long.

Asani walked in silence with his advisor. Asani’s mind was storming with the power he had just acquired; he was thinking of ways to end his enemy with the powers he had just acquired. Iliso had more important things to fill his mind, he had paid his debts to Isithixo and he was free, for now.