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The warm and humid weather kept Raina awake past midnight. Usually, when the hunters returned before the stars spread out in the night sky, she was asleep.
Tonight felt different. She could feel a foreboding in the air but couldn't put her finger on it. It was a starless night. Even the moon hid behind dark clouds.
The hunters returned yet again two weeks in a row without a game. They relayed that Jaguarian hunters from the neighbouring villages pursued them back, claiming ownership of the entire forest.
Raina fumed in silence. Her people were running low on food supply. Meat was an alternative they couldn't seem to afford. Her heart raged against the Jaguarians, the ruling clan, known to possess the strength and speed of a jaguar. They ruled before she was born, taking over territories in Chad because the spirits had empowered them. But the Elders said it was the wrong order, an order that came into being five decades ago after the totem was lost.
Just then, Kaka, her paternal grandmother, stood up and patted her teenage shoulders. "Patience, my child. Fate will rewrite our stories soon enough. Do you feel it?" She asked, sounding ominous.
Kaka was a centenarian, one of the oldest and most respected elders in Bokoro. She rarely spoke but when she did, her words were like prophecies.
Raina furrowed her brows. Kaka gave her a toothless grin, patted her cheek and turned into her hut for an early night.
Seated with her back against the mud hut, Raina fanned herself vigorously using a hand-woven raffia fan as the sweltering heat bore down on her. Suddenly, Kaka screamed out of her sleep and her mother, Salaami, rushed into the hut.
"Wayo! The elephants are coming home. They are coming!" Kaka muttered, her voice hoarse from sleep.
Raina sat up straight and listened intently. Only the muffled voice of her mother calming Kaka reached her. A few minutes later, her mother came out, sighed and sat down beside her. Beads of sweat lined her ebony forehead and upper lip.
"What did Kaka mean by "the elephants are coming home"?" Raina asked, a disturbed look on her face.
Salaami sighed once again. She clicked her tongue thrice, pressing her left thumb to her forehead before pressing it into the desert sand on which they laid the mat. A sign for warding off the evil spirits that brought bad dreams at night.
Raina held her mother's forearm gently. "Tell me," she begged quietly. Her mother shushed her. Raina removed her hands and waited. Salaami was communicating with the spirits.
Suddenly Raina felt the rush of cold winds from nowhere as the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight. She glanced around but saw only darkness, except for glowing lanterns from other huts close by. Salaami's eyes were still tightly shut as her lips moved soundlessly.
Raina looked up and watched as looming grey and dark clouds rolled in. There was going to be a storm, something Bokoro had not seen in decades. She glanced at her mother. Salaami was still in prayer mode.
As Raina stood to enter the hut, the grounds began to tremble followed by a roll of distant thunder. Salaami gasped and opened her eyes to glance at her daughter. "Kaka is right. Quick! Go into the room, open the pantaka box under my bed, and you'll see a neatly folded white cloth. Spread it and bring the 3 totem beads inside."
"Ha, Mama. You said we are forbidden to wear them until the lost totem is found by Turkalo and his warriors," Raina replied in confusion as the temperature dropped further. People were stirring and muttering in other huts. More lamplights were coming on in huts farther away.
A flash of lightning lit the dark sky, revealing heavy dark clouds.
"Raina!" Salaami scowled at her sixteen-year-old daughter. "Don't question me. Hurry inside now."
Raina ran inside the hut and within minutes rushed back outside when the commotion in the village was getting louder. Her mother stood with a group of women from neighbouring huts, whispering and passing out instructions.
"Raina," Kaka called from the doorway. "Help me out."
Raina pulled Kaka's hand over her shoulder, held her waist and helped her out of the hut. "Kaka, what's happening? Mama won't tell me anything," she asked.
The old woman gripped her walking cane tightly. "I told you our story will change soon. It's closer than I thought. Here. Put my totem on me," Kaka said. "And wear yours too. The elephants are coming home."
Raina obeyed and wore the totem beads with a tiny husk as a pendant around both their necks. Kaka stood on the small carved platform in front of the hut and watched with a slight smile as the villagers wearing their totems drew close and assembled in front of her. Their hut was the largest in the village.
Raina watched the scene unfold from behind Kaka with amazement and pride in her clan, the Elephantine Clan.
Salaami walked up to Kaka and stood beside her. She stretched her hand backwards and snatched the third totem from Raina with a frown.
Another flash of lightning drew gasps and whispers from the crowd as their pendant tusks glowed.
"Calm down, my clan," Kaka spoke with pride and authority that amazed Raina. She'd never seen her grandmother like this. "You feel the earth tremble and the spirits announce our freedom as I have. Turkalo and the warriors are close by. I feel them. We will no longer hide who we are. We are the Elephantines, wise and powerful, endowed by the spirits to rule. And rule we must!"
There was a roaring chorus of affirmation by the people followed by a peal of thunder. Just then the earth began to tremble again as the people gazed behind them.
Raina watched as the surrounding forest gave way to a gigantic white elephant followed by three large grey elephants. The elephants swayed majestically towards them.
On the white elephant was a tall and muscular man. He wore a similar totem, like everyone but his pendant tusk was longer and glowed red. Raina stood agape, watching as she remembered the stories of Turkalo, the warrior, who travelled with other chosen men to the land of the spirits to retrieve the lost totem.
Kaka narrated that Turkalo bravely took on the dangerous task four decades ago immediately after his wedding because he did not want his clan to live in subjection to the Jaguarians. Though he returned seventeen years ago to see his family before returning to his quest.
Raina furrowed her brows again in contemplation as the memory of the story came back to her.
The people began to ululate in celebration as the women sang, led by Salaami. They let the elephants pass through their midst. Turkalo gave a loud shout with his sword raised, halting the animals. The people watched in awe as the white elephant bent its ankles to the ground allowing Turkalo to jump down.
The warriors stood before Kaka and bowed. "Welcome back, sons of the Elephantine Clan. You have restored the power and pride of this clan and have the spirits' blessings," Kaka said, lightly tapping their shoulders with her walking cane. "It's time to celebrate, for the land is ours again!"
Another shout rang out among the people. Turkalo stood, his eyes beaming with love first at Salaami before they wandered towards Raina.
Raina froze, her eyes wide in shock as Turkalo and her mother embraced each other right before they walked towards her.
"Raina, meet your father, the Elephantine chief," Salaami said. Raina's eyes filled with tears as the rage in her heart against the Jaguarians' injustices made more sense.
Turkalo held her tightly to himself. "Welcome home, Baba," she whispered.