In the vast expanse of space, a voice filled with anger echoed,
"The gods have abandoned us,the heavens are not fair, I won't accept this! I DON'T ACCEPT THIS!!
You don't rule over me, I'm now the God of this world, the one true god!"
Ripples of golden energy exploded in waves,shaking the universe.
Far from the conflicts of gods and heavens, on the outskirts of the Tangnia kingdom, was a village of hunters, the Tongo clan. The Tongo clan members had a brown complexion that seemed to absorb light, with a subtle, star-like freckling or a shimmer reminiscent of a night sky. Most of them had their hair in short and long, thick locs; only a few had afros, and most females had their hair braided beautifully into different designs.
The children of the Tongo clan would travel to the nearby city to study or to apply for knighthood within the Tangnia kingdom.
The clouds were dark grey,heavy rains pouring down. In the biggest hut where the village chief lived, a woman's cries could be heard. Midwives' voices could be heard from outside,
"Push,Push, you're so close."
After a few minutes,the woman let out one last scream and a baby's voice echoed as the newly born baby started crying. From the east side of the village, the chief appeared wearing his signature cloak made from the skin and fur of an alpha white wolf, and behind him, three hunters followed carrying the carcass of a huge lion with a black mane they had just killed.
They reached the chief's hut and placed the lion on the ground.The chief dropped to one knee and slit the lion's throat and its blood flowed into a small bowl he was holding. He quickly rushed inside with the bowl in hand. His wife met his gaze, her hair matted with sweat but a beautiful smile was plastered on her face as she stared at her newborn child. Her eyes darted to her husband who was looking at her and their child.
"It's a boy,"she said, her voice weak but filled with joy.
A smile appeared on the village chief's mouth as he walked closer,
"My son,"he said, his voice trembling. He dipped his thumb into the bowl filled with blood and drew a line from the newly born baby's forehead to the tip of his nose. He dipped his fingers again and drew two more lines on the baby's cheeks. After he was done, the baby stopped crying and started smiling.
The chief quickly walked outside,his face serious,
"It's a boy!"he yelled.
"Yeeees!!!!"
"Congratulations Chief!!"
"A new great hunter has arrived!!"the Tongo clan people yelled.
The chief lifted his right hand in the air,
"My fourth son is born,tonight we celebrate!!!"
"Yeah,yeah!!" the people screamed.
"Bring in the divine doctor to bless my son,"the chief yelled.
The men of the clan had already started drinking.They made way for the divine doctor to pass through while they drank.
The old man,stroking his beard, walked with finesse, with the people of the village bowing to show their respect.
The old man only waved with a smile on his face,left hand behind his back. He walked into the village chief's hut. The chief quickly showed the Divine doctor the way to the child.
The old man reached the bed where the mother was lying with her son in her hands.
"I'll begin,"he spoke.
He placed his hand on the baby's forehead and closed his eyes.There was silence for a few seconds, then the old man's face turned ugly. He focused a bit more and saw a ball of green energy rush towards him as if to devour him, its intensity causing him to puke a mouthful of blood.
The old man fell down on his behind a few inches from the bed.
"Are you okay,divine doctor?" the chief asked. Lightning struck the middle of the village, shaking and scaring the hearts of everyone in the village. The celebration and the dancing in the rain quickly stopped.
The old man had his eyes wide open in fear,his hand shaking against the floor. He slowly lifted his right hand from the floor and pointed at the child.
"Evil,a..a...a bad omen," the old man's breath was heavy.
"...He...hh..he is cursed,that child is a bad omen, great evil is upon us."
The chief and his wife were frozen,a shared shock locking the air in their lungs.
"Divine doctor,what can we do to save our son?" the mother asked.
The old man sighed,his voice filled with great sadness, "Get rid of him, this child needs to go while he's still young, maybe the Gods will accept him since he hasn't committed any sins. With the horror I saw inside this child, I would say he's the spawn of the devil. If he lives, I would give your clan at least 12 years before....EVERYONE DIES."
The old man was a trusted divine doctor,respected by many, and all his predictions have always come true.
The chief and his wife's eyes were wide open,pupils shaking in shock. The chief's smile vanished. His shoulders slumped as he stared at his son, his jaw working silently. He ran a hand over his face, the lines of his brow deepening with a terrible weight.
"What do I do,the divine doctor is never wrong.....do I really have to sacrifice my son?" the chief was lost in thought.
He looked at the divine doctor;the old man's hand was shaking, and every time he glanced at the newborn a hint of terror would appear on his face.
"He's this afraid of this child.....what did he see?Maybe I should get rid of this child before a great disaster befalls my Tongo Clan," the chief thought.
With his head lowered,looking down, he took slow steps to the side of the bed. Tears started running down his cheeks while he held his wife's hand.
He wiped his tears,but more threatened to flood.
"My love.....maybe we should get rid—"
Before the chief could finish,his wife felt it from his presence, his walk, his breathing, his tears and the air around him; something was definitely wrong. She wouldn't like what he was about to say.
Her voice,though weak from labor, was sharp as a flint edge. "He is my son." She clutched the child to her chest, her knuckles white,
"How dare you think like that,I will never abandon him even if it means I'll have to raise him alone." A rush of fear overwhelmed the chief and he looked down defeated. He had to be careful with his next words, otherwise he would risk losing his wife.
The chief's voice was a hollow whisper,all the celebration drained from it, "We will raise him."
"This is tragic, this child shouldn't be allowed to live, great disaster is coming, the end is coming, a child of darkness born to destroy shouldn't be allowed to live," the old man walked out of the hut disappointed and feeling sorry for the parents.
As he left the village he spoke,
"Truly a bad omen,offer him to the gods and let his soul be purified."
The chief stared at the ground,tears flowing, hands shaking. He ran his fingers across his face, "Have the Gods forsaken me?" he whispered, walking back into the hut to his wife and child. He slowly walked towards them,
"Maybe we should listen to the divine.."
"He's our son,"his wife interrupted him, anger in her voice.
"My wife,the divine doctor has never been wrong."
She held her son tightly,"I will not let anyone harm my son, he's just a child, he doesn't know anything."
The whole village soon learned about what the great doctor had said and all the celebrations stopped.For the next few days, the child wasn't given a name and always stayed with his mother. She held him all day long; no one was allowed near him.
For the next few months,she never let the child leave her arms. Her eyes, once warm, now darted to the entrance at every shadow, her body tense as a drawn bowstring.
When a clansman brought a gift of woven blankets,her hand shot out, snatching it from him before it could touch the baby. "I'll take that," she hissed, her gaze unwavering until he retreated from the hut.
She walked around the house singing to her child when she heard,
"The chief has returned,we are blessed by the gods!" the people of the village celebrated. The Chief had returned from the hunt.
He spent his days from dawn until deep in the night with the other hunters,and only when it was night did he go to his hut.
"Husband,you have returned." The sound of his wife's voice made his shoulders jerk; he had hoped that she would be sleeping like the other days before.
"You can ignore me all you want,but we should at least give our son a name," she said.
"He's not my....he's a bad omen,"he uttered without even looking at her.
She squeezed her hand into a fist,hurt by his words, "Please husband, I will give him his first name, Omari."
"How can you give him such a grand name?"he retorted.
"I will not let him take our clan's last name,he will be Siwang." Then he went on the bed and closed his eyes.
"What does it mean?"she asked, but her voice fell on deaf ears.
And so,Omari Siwang grew. The name 'bad omen' became his shadow, and the love of his mother his only shelter. His father's back was a constant sight, a turned shoulder more painful than any lash.
The other children learned to scatter like birds when he approached,their fear a seed that, watered by their parents' whispers, took root in the barren soil of his heart and grew into a bitter, thorny rage.
Nine years later,the sound of a whip echoed from the chief's hut.
"I heard he got suspended from school again,"one of the villagers spoke.
The villager next to him quickly retorted,
"The chief will surely punish him hard again;last time he beat him until he was nearly half dead."
Inside the hut,Omari had his hands tied to the foot of the bed while his father the chief whipped him. He gritted his teeth, refusing to let his father see him in tears.
His mother was banging on the locked door,pleading, "He's had enough, husband, please stop, please he's learned his lesson."
After a few minutes,the chief opened the door, leaving the young boy lying on the ground, bruised and in pain. The chief's wife rushed in and quickly untied her son.
"My handsome,strong young boy, I'm sorry I was late to protect you."
She quickly hugged him,
"It's ok to cry,your mom is here with you, Omari."
As soon as he heard the door close,he hugged his mother back. Knowing that his father had left, he started to frantically cry his heart out. After a while of crying, he was fully asleep on his mother's lap with her running her hand through his hair.
Most men in the village were muscular and well-built and females were fit and strong from a life of tending and crafting. Omari was mostly afraid of his father and how huge he was.
Night time came and Omari had just come back from taking a bath.He saw his older brother, the 3rd born, sleeping on their mother's lap. He clutched his fist and walked over there and kicked his brother away.
"Omari!You don't do that!"
He stared at his brother and a faint green glow shone in his eyes,"But you're my mom," he declared.
She took a deep breath and replied,
"Omari,I'm their mother too, and that doesn't mean I love you less." She sighed and continued,
"And all of you,not a word about this to your father."
A few weeks passed by and Omari was finally able to go back to school.He walked on the small dust road for a few minutes and he was able to finally see the city, the capital city of the Tangnia Kingdom, the Tangnia city. A few more minutes of walking and he entered the city. It was busy as always with people selling different things along the roads: food, jewelry, and pottery-made pots and bowls.
He took a right turn and he could see his school at the end of the street.Only he and his third-born brother went to this school. The first born was finishing his knight training and the second born had the call of the wild and wanted to be a mighty hunter like their father.
Omari walked in and most of the students'eyes darted to him, whispers rumbling through the air,
"He's back,the demon child."
"Bad omen,obviously back to cause trouble."
"I heard he almost killed someone."
"Soon,he'll definitely be a murderer soon, they should've gotten rid of him at birth."
One of the students quickly closed his friend's mouth,"Shhhhhh don't let him hear you."
The first thing Omari did was go to the back of the classes;his two minions were standing there waiting for him. They were the students who used to bully him, but one day he lost control and almost killed both of them. He was almost expelled, but his mother used the reputation of their father to save him from that fate.
"Boss,he's the one who reported you to the teachers," one of them spoke.
On the ground was a student trembling in fear,his head planted on the ground begging to be forgiven.
Omari looked at him and remembered how his father punished him for getting suspended,"It's all his fault..."
He walked forward and a faint green glow appeared in his eyes,and he swung his leg forward and it landed hard on the student's head. Red splashed from the kid's nose and mouth.
Omari turned around and started walking away.With a wave, he signalled his two minions to start punishing the student.
For the rest of his day,he was in class sitting in the back as always. Ever since he heard his teachers say knowledge is power, he never missed a class and became the best student in his class.
"I need all the power I can get,whether it's mental or physical power, I want it all. All these people annoy me, bad omen that, devil child this, cursed child that," he thought,
"Soon enough I'll have to kill."
He was never expelled because of his mother using his father's reputation,and he was also a genius. The headmaster needed him to continue bringing glory to the school in the school competitions.
After school,while walking home, he heard a beautiful voice singing,
"A prince born beneath the favor of the stars,crowned by Heaven's hand, loved by the gods.
Will he rise as a dragon that soars through the skies,"the middle-aged man finished his song,
"or fall as dust,forgotten by time," the middle-aged man whispered. His voice felt like sunlight breaking through the clouds. People clapped and threw coins in his basket.