₦airaland Forum

kinglee1:
Have you voted for your Story of the month? No?

Hurry now

https://www.nairaland.com/2906633/literature-sections-story-month-award#42540235

I don't have a voters card.

For more on and by Kachi Ugo:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KachiUgo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=765905890185808
Or Visit my website: www.kachiguo.com

Let me say this before I post: Happy New Month guys!

Okay! Updating in a few...

Yeah, I think I like the way it's going with Sarah Justice and her army of young idealist Elementals. And I might just start serializing this story on my blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Anyhow, if you've got suggestions or you've spotted a developmental error, do let me know.

Oh, and your comments are much appreciated!

Enjoy this update.

KU.

oppsyij:
U still on point##

Thanks a lot! Glad you like it.

For more on and by Kachi Ugo:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KachiUgo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=765905890185808
Or Visit my website: www.kachiguo.com

Alright! My update is ready. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Oh, and as I've said earlier, I'm totally flying blind here. So, if you know what should happen next, do let me know.

Enjoy!

KU.

oppsyij:
[color=#990000][/color]
Now I have turned to Oliver Twist for ur story¤¤¤best of brain

Next update coming soon.

ashatoda:
loving this. More update pls

Working on an update. Maybe later today.. .

For more on and by Kachi Ugo:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KachiUgo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=765905890185808
Or Visit my website: www.kachiguo.com

Updating in a few...

Hope you enjoy!

As I said earlier, I totally have no idea where this is going. I'm as much a reader of this work as you are. So, if you have any idea of what should happen next, please do let me know! Cause I don't. Lol.

Enjoy!

KU.

joanee20:
If dia chants are WAr..War, mine is continue.. update o.

I'll update! Maybe, later today...

For more on and by Kachi Ugo:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KachiUgo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=765905890185808
Or Visit my website: www.kachiguo.com

Okay! I'll do so. Although, I totally have no idea what happens next. Let's see what happens...

An impulsive story.

Finally broken into the Top 10 in UK!

The Great Hunt now #8 in YA Action Adventure in UK! Yay!

Last Day FREE. Get your copy now.

US: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018M6WUHE

UK: www.amazon.com.uk/gp/product/B018M6WUHE

It's now at #13 on Amazon's Best Sellers List

It's now @ #15 on Amazon's Best Sellers List for YA Action Adventure.

Hi everyone!

My book, The Great Hunt, is now available in Kindle Stores, and it has hit the Best Sellers List for YA Action Adventure and YA Dystopian.

It's currently at #16 on Amazon's Best Sellers List for YA Action Adventure.

In UK, it's on the Best Sellers List at #40 for YA Dystopian and #14 for YA Action Adventure.

In Japan, The Great Hunt is at #14 on the Best Sellers List and ranks higher than Susan Collins' Catching Fire (Hunger Games), which is at #18.

And it's still climbing.

If you have an Amazon Kindle account, you can get your copy here: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018M6WUHE

It's free till December 4

Officially, The Great Hunt and The Hunt Series are Best Sellers, making Kachi Ugo A Best Selling Author.

Cheers!

PS: I've added some screenshots.

Hi, folks! As you well know, my next book, The Great Hunt (#1, The Hunt Series) releases this November 30, and there’s a lot of excitement around it. It’s going to be available in Kindle Stores where you can download for your reading pleasure. But before that time, here’s a little peak under the hood:



SAMANTHA KRUS



Sam and Luke stood still and stared.



Dazzled was an understatement. Shocked was more like the word. Starting from the base of the hill and spreading for a vast distance was a dead and desolate land, rife with rubble, broken buildings, and huge ash piles reaching heights impossible. The area had a dark tint to it; it wasn’t because the sun was already setting; it was as if the air clothing the whole area had dark particles floating in it. To the far corner of the barren land was a small settlement: the closest village to them.



Beyond the settlement lay an immense and sprawling city of massive skyscrapers, which twinkled from the waning light from the sun. She knew there was more of this city to see, and she itched to go in and satisfy her burning curiosity, but she knew that this was one place she could not go. At least not until the Great Hunt.



They started down the hill at a careful pace, but when they reached the bottom, they increased to breakneck speed. Jumping over shrapnel, avoiding large piles of rubble, and being in the dark as to where they were going save that they had to keep south west, they ran the length of the barren land, their excitement building as they approached the village.



When they came to edge of the barren land, they slowed to a creeping pace. Then, the sun was already coloring the whole atmosphere with a golden light, signaling twilight, which was less than an hour away.



They were at the boundary of the settlement now. Huts, small cottages, and medium sized bungalows made of plywood and straws spread before them. A wooden fence two yards taller than Sam wrapped around the settlement. Sam found a tall tree close to the fence for them to climb. At the top of the sturdy branches, they had a better view of the village.



It wasn’t a very large one. Sam estimated a population of about a few hundred, each one of them small, weak, and feeble. They went around the village wearing drab gowns, though their countenance was anything but drab.



Sam felt disgust shoot to her throat.



Small. Weak. Feeble. This was how the people of Hannibus had described the nomadic omnivores. In fact, this was how anyone who was not from Hannibus was described. Clawless, fangless, having no strength or speed, how could they even survive in this world? Their daily breathing was an insult to the cosmos. Their mere existence was an effrontery to humanity.



And Sam knew to her very bones, as did every member of her society, that these humans were only good for meat. They were only good for slaughtering.



Luke called Sam’s attention to a group of figures stealthily making their way into the village. The previous pack would have set the village on high alert, making it extremely difficult for the second pack to make a kill. The nomadic omnivores that lived in the outlying villages may have been weak, but they weren’t stupid. They had several means of protecting themselves, which included terribly armed guards.



Usually, the second Mozungool pack was the stronger of the two packs that hunted together, because they went in when the village was alerted. This second Mozungool pack constituted nothing less than the strongest hunters in the whole of Renia, Ijaala Odenigwe’s district.



The group of six Mozungools leapt over the fence with the barest effort and spread into the village, their presence still unnoticed. Once they were scattered, it was a lot difficult to track their whereabouts. But sure enough, before the fifth minute since their incursion, screams rent the air.



“Cannibals!” someone shouted, and a giant bell rang.



Sam’s excitement grew to a frenzy as she watched the terror in the eyes of every omnivore, running in the opposite direction. Sam had not yet witnessed a kill, but her blood was already boiling with anticipation. She clapped, pouncing on the tree as the screams multiplied. She already knew lots of the nomads had been killed in this short time—this was how good the Mozungools were—still, she wouldn’t like it if she didn’t at least witness a killing.



Then out of the corner of her eyes she saw a Mozungool hoist a wiry old man on one hand. Crying, the man begged for his life, but the Mozungool didn’t pay any heed and jabbed a small blade into the man’s chest. A wail erupted from his mouth even as his heart ruptured.



“Whoops!” Sam squealed. Luke remained passive.



The village was already in disarray when the armed guards realized what was happening. They became coordinated and fought back. Shots were fired, and two Mozungools fell.



Luke grabbed Sam’s hand. “We’ve got to go!”



Sam was about to go with him, looking below her before she could descend, when from the corner of her eyes she saw a hunter moving on a small girl. They were to the far right, on the edge of the village.



“That’s not right,” she said to Luke, pointing at the hunter. “We don’t take children! We don’t kill children!” She was frantic now.



Luke saw this and said, “There’s nothing we can do about that. The girl is already dead.”



Refusing to accept that without at least trying to save the girl, Sam leapt from the tree, landed on the floor with a slight crouch, and bounded for the village.



“Sam, no!” Luke yelled. “The guards are already firing shots!”



Sam leapt over the fence without as much as an effort and angled towards the far corner of the village. Most of the houses were deserted, so no one saw her. And she was thankful that most of the Mozungools had concentrated on the other side of the village, so this was where all of the guards were.



Sam turned another small street and came upon the hunter. He had cornered the girl to the fence and had his knife out. The girl didn’t look like she was older than nine. Her hair was tied in to small shafts on opposite sides of her head. She wore a faded brown gown. Looking into those innocent, big round eyes, Sam felt something cut in her.



The fear in the child’s eyes was inhumane.



This is wrong.



Luke stopped short beside her and grabbed her hand. “We have to go,” he whispered to her, between breaths. The hunter had not noticed them; he had his attention on the little girl, who by now was sobbing.
“If we get involved, we’ll not only get into trouble, we might get killed here.”



The hunter had not yet struck. Despite the sound of whistles afar, and the cry of men—Mozungools and nomadic guards alike—this hunter’s attention was fixed on the girl. He danced forward at a deliberate pace, revealing his fangs, claws, the taut muscles on his body, and his blade that was already stained red with blood.



Sam, with a flare of anger, realized what he was doing. He was taunting her. Putting fear in her heart so the last thing she felt when he thrust the blade though her chest was utter despair and hopelessness.



Sam’s anger burst through her mouth in a roar. “Stand back, hunter!” She dashed forward, covering the distance between her and the hunter in a split second. But she didn’t attack the huge man. Rather, she grabbed the hand that held the knife and pulled it out of its strike poise.



The hunter glared at her. Shock fleeted into his eyes first, then anger. He pulled his hand free, shoving her away from him. Before she could regain her balance he brought a fist carrying all his weight to bear on her face. Upon impact, Sam felt lightning spread from her cheek through her brain. She hit the ground with a heavy thud and remained paralyzed for a few moments, her head spinning.



The Mozungool took giant strides towards her, but Luke intercepted him. When the Mozungool recognized Luke, he growled and glanced at Sam. “Stay away from our Hunt, Cranian bitch!” He turned away and approached his prize, cornering her so she couldn’t dart away.



Sam recovered fast and leapt to her feet. Luke held her shoulders, struggling to hold her back. Her anger grew into a rage, and her predatory instinct took over. She shoved Luke away, sending him falling on his back.



“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said to the Mozungool, walking towards him with piercing calm. “Because now, I’m going to have to kill you.”



The Mozungool turned, and Sam charged at him. The man’s knife came down on her head. She stopped short in its path and raised her two hands. The man’s wrist caught in the V of her joined hands. Then she jabbed his abdomen with her ankle, knocking the wind out of him.
The blade fell off his hands as he staggered back, gasping desperately. Sam picked up the blade and ran towards the Mozungool.



“Sam,” Luke cried out. “Don’t!”



Sam leapt on the hunter, striking his forehead with the base of the blade. The man crumpled to the floor, moaning and trying to remain conscious. Sam looked down at the man, panting, her blood aflame with an unbearable desire to see his blood flow. She went down on her knees, thrust the blade into the base of his chest, and cut with one single slice to the man’s waist. Blood and intestine spilled out, while the man screamed in pain.



Sam pulled out the blade and thrust it into one side of his neck and pulled the knife along until it was on the other side of his neck, and the whole neck was immediately submerged in blood. The Mozungool tried to scream, but rather produced a gurgling sound that sent blood flying everywhere. Sam raised the knife, held it with her two hands, and jabbed it into his forehead, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. It was then, and only then, that her rage was satisfied.



She dropped the knife, rose to her feet, and walked to the girl. When the girl cringed upon her approached, Sam thought the better of it and retreated. Luke was looking over the dead Mozungool’s body, shaking his head.



“You shouldn’t have killed him, Samantha.” Luke only called her by her full name when he was furious with her. And she could understand. The Mozungools were as much his father’s hunters as they were his hunters, his people. He’d been honor bound, and perhaps blood bound, to fight for the hunter, as much as he was honor bound to report this murder.



“I don’t regret killing him, Luke,” Sam said, still relishing the way she was feeling, protecting the girl from harm. “I’d do it again if I have to.”



The whistles and yells of the guards drew near. Luke hefted the body on one shoulder and grabbed her hand with his free hand and led her away from them towards the fence. They scaled the fence and raced towards the forest in silence. Luke dropped the body on the path into the forest for the remaining members of the pack to see before continuing on their journey. When they were in the confines of the huge trees, night fell, plunging them into total darkness. They had to feel their way towards the city, which slowed their progress.



Along the way, Sam cleaned the blood off her hands with sand. To be sure, she hated herbivores and omnivores, and she would slaughter them, when given the chance. But going after kids was just off the list. Aside from being against the rules of the Hunt, it was immoral. Sam would not stand for such a thing if she could do something about it.



Luke was her closest friend, but if he decided to report her, she was ready to die for what she had done. The rules of Hannibus were clear. Killing a fellow citizen was criminal, and if found guilty, the killer would be killed, and then both the killed and the killer would be eaten.



Sam had murdered a Mozungool. If Ijaala found out it was her, he would press for the death sentence, and her father could not resist all four Masters of the Hunt, though he was the Lord of the Hunt. Despite knowing this, she still felt justified in her action.



She felt good.



“Are you going to report this?” Sam asked.



“I’m not going to report you, Samantha!” Luke shot at her. “But that doesn’t mean I liked that you murdered one of my own. I am very angry with you right now, and you would do well to remain quiet.”



Sam smiled in the dark and remained silent. She wasn’t going to die today!


THIS NOVEMBER 30
by Kachi Ugo

Read More at: http://kachiugo.com/the-great-hunt-a-ya-adventure/

Ever wondered what our world would be like if there were no animals? Well, wondering about that set me on the path of The Great Hunt. The premise of a world devoid of animals formed the basis on which the whole story was written. I hope it would be as fun for you to read as it was fun for me to write. More on this in my next blog post. As for now, here’s the trailer for my upcoming book:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja20MP4Y990


For more information: http://kachiugo.com/the-great-hunt-a-ya-adventure/

It’s the forty second century and there are no staggering advancements in science and technology. There’s only destruction and desolation. Earth is a fading shadow of what it once was, an almost lifeless blotch in the galaxy.

Homo Sapiens are no more…

Homo Hannibians and Homo Aloehexans roam the earth, locked by nature in a ghastly predator-prey battle which threatens extinction.

Caught in this battle are two teenage criminals: Samantha Krus and Luke Odenigwe, who for the grave crime they have committed will be condemned to the worst possible fate… If they’re caught.

THIS NOVEMBER 30

Learn more at http://kachiugo.com/2015/11/01/cover-reveal-the-great-hunt/

Fantastic! Let me give it a try:

Chris had climbed mountains and crossed seas, and now he stood before the man who'd murdered his daughter. He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Another one:

It was a simple recon mission. But when the starship arrived, it destroyed Earth only because the captain's daughter felt Earth was too blue.

©2015
By Kachi Ugo

All rights reserved.

Prologue Continued

She fell to the floorboards, concussed. Her Earthy magic remained aloft in the air for a few more seconds before it vanished as she fell unconscious.

The figure straightened his dress, stowed away his blade and walked to the door, stepping over the woman's limp form. The bedroom was every bit a child's bedroom, complete with a brightly colored wall, stickers of famous cartoon characters, and a hanging miniaturized solar system. At the center of the room was a pram. In the pram struggled a sleeping baby with his sheets. The figure pulled the baby free and examined the creature who would fifty years from now destroy the whole world with black magic. He pressed the baby against his chest and walked back down the stairs without a second glance to the mother of the child. He locked the door and gate behind him and started down the street, the darkness and heavy rain shielding his retreat. His cloak provided adequate shelter for the baby boy, though he exercised enough power over his magicked storm so that not a drop of rain touched his cloak. When he got to his entry point down the street, the rain stopped.

"Did she put up a fight?" his partner asked as he approached him. Loas was a short, sharp man with a heavy build and a no nonsense face. He nodded at the baby in his hand.

"Yes."

"So, did you kill her?"

"No."

The clouds were still dark, nonetheless, he caught the frown on Loas's face. "She didn't put up a strong fight," he explained. "Perhaps, killing one innocent soul" - - he gestured to the baby in his hands - - "is enough for one night."

Loas spat a string of curses at the baby. "That thing it not innocent!" he grimaced.

The figure sighed. "It's still a baby, Loas. It's done no evil or good."

"Well too bad it would never get to commit anything at all," said Loas.

"Yes, too bad...," the figure agreed. The baby's fate was sealed once they got to their destination.

"What if she comes after us, Nnamdi?" Loas asked. Before his patner could reply, he stretched his hands far apart and brought them together in a loud clap. A stream of light erupted from the point of impact, coalescing into a giant paper thin screen in front of the two. Through the screen they could see into their world, or more correctly, their Time--AD 2070. They could see the bland white wall of their staging area.

"She'll never find us," replied Nnamdi as he reeled in his power over the weather. In an instant, the dark clouds disappeared and the Sun flooded the whole world with light. "Because she will never know where we came from. And more correctly, she will never know WHEN we came from."

Loas nodded and led him through the portal, closing it once they were on the other side.


###

© 2015
By Kachi Ugo

All rights reserved.

Prologue

The dark clouds churned as rogue swirls of wind ravaged the huge city. Scraps of paper, grains of sand, and every other thing that wasn't tightly secured hazed the air, reducing visibility to a few feet. The heavens were alive with sharp, brief sparks of thunder, every moment threatening a full explosion. People scampered for covering, knowing that very soon the grey clouds which were pregnant with water would unleash a storm on their heads. The police men who should have been patrolling Hoover Street were not exempt from this hurried motions as they sought cover a good distance from their post. And in their bid to escape a beating from the sky, they missed the hooded figure that moved fluidly in the direction of a modest two story residence. One that their commanding officer had instructed them to keep undisturbed for the next twenty four hours.

The figure waved his hand at the gate, revealing soft looking olive skin. The gate cracked open. Without breaking a stride, the figure flowed in a heavy black cloak towards the front door, pausing to glance at the building. It was dark except for the light bulb on upstairs. The figure waved his hand as before - - a soft click responded - - and the door swung in of its own accord, admitting the stranger. The figure marched straight ahead for the stairs, not looking left or right. When he turned into the passageway, he saw her.

"You can't take him away!" she muttered, her face ruined by a mix of tears and makeup. She had a long and sharp kitchen knife in a strong grip, and she stood in a defensive stance before the entrance into the bedroom. Some light from the room fell on the passageway, allowing the tall, hooded figure to scrutinize his adversary. She wore a golden blouse embossed in white with the word: Earth. Her black pants was peppered with clumps of wet sand. Her feet were bare, tingling with powerful magic. One that crammed into the small passageway, so strong that the figure swayed under its overbearing weight. Her eyes, though teary, gave no indication that she wouldn't go super Nova with her knife and magic if he neared her.

He took a tentative step forward and said, "My name is..."

'I don't care who you are,"she snarled, eyeing him with a hateful look.

"But you care why I have come..."

The woman drew a blank.

"You know you can't stop me," he continued, pulling on his inner power and letting it stir in the space. The woman felt it too, responding with a slight flinch as his power stroked hers. "You swore an oath. I have been sent to collect."

For a moment, uncertainty flickered in her eyes. Her grip on the knife softened. Her magic withdrew from the room. But it was only for a moment. "I can't let you have him!' she shrieked, gripping her blade tightly, and pushing her Earthy magic against his Woody magic.

"Stop this nonsense Sarah!" the man warned, bracing himself against her power. He also strengthened his secondary power in the hallway. Not too much to threaten her, but sufficient to respond to an attack effectively. His primary power had created the dark clouds and whirl wind outside. "You can't stop me," he repeated, and as if to buttress that point, he lifted his left hand and a huge bolt of lightning formed in the clouds and drove down into the lawn with a loud thunder.

Then it began to rain. She made to say something, but instead charged him whipping up the clumps of sand from her pants with the wave of a hand. They shot at him like tiny projectiles, tiny and powerful enough to punch a hole through his heart. The man jumped out of their path. His hands shoved into his cloak and withdrew a small dagger just in time to parry Sarah's strike. He shoved a palm up her chest, stopping a full inch short of her body. Where his hand stopped, a powerful blast of wind continued, sending her body flying across the hallway and smashing into the ceiling. She fell to the floorboards, concussed...

Twenty six children are gone. They have been taken by a ruthless, barbarian warlord who has only one thing on his mind: Sacrifice. His heavily fortified fortress is high up the Evil Mountain, out of reach of the four governments of Lazul, with all paths to it rife with all manner of murderous, blood-thirsty creatures. The council of governors has passed its verdict: no help is coming for the children.

The children are left to a horrible, inevitable end, and their only hope lies in the hands of an unlikely, village straggler, Briksan, who in the darkness of night becomes an unspeakable evil—an evil he is frightened of. In the shroud of darkness, Briksan becomes a raving, lunatic killer with a twisted sense of justice, known only too well among nefarious serfs as The Vigilante.

But the quest is much more than rescuing a bunch of children he could care less about if they lived or died. The quest is more about rescuing Rachael, the woman he loves, who was kidnapped alongside the children. The quest is more about destroying his two most hated enemies, the Baka brothers, who are responsible for the curse upon him and who are cursed as he is. The quest is really about executing a sentence of death he had passed a long time ago, when he discovered that the barbarian warlord, Kaza, was responsible for the death of his parents.

Haunted by ghosts from his past and propelled by blood-hot revenge, Briksan must survive fierce battles with monstrous creatures if he is to reach the summit of the mountain. His endurance, his will, and everything he holds dear will be tested by the evil creatures that roam the paths to the mountain. Yet, Briksan will soon discover that reaching the fortress is only the beginning.

Curse of the Sword, Book #1 in The Vigilante Series, is a full length Epic Fantasy novel sure to get your blood boiling with anticipatory excitement!

Go your copy now: http://www.okadabooks.com/book/about/10043

Biohazard: A Trial By Fire


Most of Nigeria has become a wasteland. Scores of men, women, and children have been slain by the five day sweep of a deadly viral plague. Anarchy reigns. The society has failed. Law and order and basic human amenities have become a distant utopian concept to the remnants of the scourging. But it has only been one week, and things are about to get worse because the virus is still mutating.

Kennedy Nwosu has found a cure for the virus. He can save the remnants of the viral plague from falling to the virus. However, what he does not yet know is that he and his friends have come under the crosshairs of an assassin’s gun. The fate of Nigeria, and her heritage, rests on the shoulders of Kennedy and his cure. But before he can save the nation, he must first save himself. A trial has beset him: A trial by fire.

Available at Okada Books: http://www.okadabooks.com/book/about/10010

Enjoy!

KU

ArrowAssassin, if you have a manuscript for this already how is it you want to do a collabo? How does that work?

ArrowAssassin:
This is my first plot idea which I have a manuscript for already.

It's about a married lady, her name's Diana. She is always on business trips most of them but she is not what she seems. Her husband Tunde doesn't know that she is an Archangel. The Archangel Stronghold is a clandestine black ops agency that has helped in protecting the interest of the country since 1964 when it was founded. Nigerians don't even know it exists.

One of the rules of the Archangel Stronghold is that the offspring of an Archangel must be handed over to the Council to begin brainwashing. Diana has a son, Aaron, 6 years old and will go lengths to make sure they don't get him.

I won't reveal more than that on this thread. Drop your whatsapp numbers and let's get in touch.

The genre is going to be an Action Thriller. For those who watch movies, see Bourne Ultimatum, Elektra and La Femme Nikita.

Anything can change as your opinions are extremely important.

#MakeWeCollabo

This sounds really interesting! It got me bubbling on the inside. Hey, what can I say? I'm a sucker for a good fantasy.

When an American military cargo plane carrying top secret medical supplies hits a lightning storm off the coast of Nigeria, the chief pilot, Captain O’Riley, and his copilot decide to dump their cargo and save their lives. However, what they could never have conceived is that they had sentenced a whole nation to a fate so dreadful that painful death would have been a mercy…

Here's the link: http://okadabooks.com/book/about/9984

I'll have the sequel uploaded there soon. Download, read up, and let me know what you think. It's TOTALLY FREE!

Happy Reading!

KU

EfemenaXY:
The eerie cries of the seagulls broke her reverie. Looking across the great expanse of water before her, she felt her eyes well up again for the umpteenth time. The bright sun filtering through the open windows did nothing to ease the heaviness in her heart, nor did the salty breeze whipping across her face easy the tightness constricting her chest. She should have been thrown overboard with the rest of them. That would have been so much better than the emptiness she felt searing through the depth of her soul.

It had been three moons. Three faithful moons since crazy Ameya, with her calabash of cowries, darkly outlined eyes, and frightful countenance had stared unblinkingly at her, foretelling an inescapable future. A future she had playfully laughed off. But she wasn't laughing now.

...That which you love so much will be your undoing...

How could it be? Who listened to Ameya's mad rants anyway? Life was full of probabilities but who or what was to say this particular probability would manifest, and manifest itself so?

...That which you love so much will be your undoing...

She loved to trade and was easily the most astute fish trader in the region, born from many seasons of experience shadowing her grandmother, aunts, mother, and female cousins. She had learnt from the best and was quick to spot a bargain. Farming had never been her forte, but she did what she had to do. The cocoyams had to be harvested and no-one was going to do it for her. Yameti suddenly turning up at the farm, offering to help her out so they could get to the fishermen at the riverside, hauling in their new catch didn't seem such a bad idea. It had rained heavily the night before - a freak storm in the middle of the dry season, and the river was nearly bursting its banks. It was bound to bring in lots of fish, something she could sell at the next market day for a killing. Yameti's offer seemed too good to let go.

She had wanted to go back home first for some cowries and beads to trade with the fishermen, but Yameti had offered to lend her the money instead. Time was of the essence, so without mulling it over, she'd quickly set out with her, in the direction of the Great River, missing the calculating smile that spread over her friend's face...

The walk through the newly cleared footpath was brisk, but as they approached the river, she felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. Something wasn't right. Spinning on her heels, she caught a glimpse of Yameti's wrapper as she fled, her shocked cry never quite making it past her lips as she collapsed into a heap, as something exploded at the back of her head.

Somewhere, as though from a far distance, she heard the anguished groans of people beside her. Her body rocked from sided to side as the floor underneath her seemed to move in the dark, damp room, filled with the putrid odour of human excrement. Her ankles and wrists hurt from where the shackles held her firmly to the ground. Suddenly, the room was filled with blinding light as an upper latch door was thrown open. It all happened so fast...being unshackled with the others...dragged out to the upper deck of the ship...a pale skinned man shouting orders as more of his kind swept down on them, haphazardly segregating them into two dysfunctional groups. A final shout from the pale man had his men swoop down on the terror filled struggling captives, throwing them overboard. Without so much a prayer for the drowning captives, he ordered the rest of them be dragged back to the dark hole at the bottom of the ship. That was many days ago. Tired and weak, she had been brought here, force fed to fatten her up for the great sale.

...That which you love so much will be your undoing...

Ameya wasn't so crazy after all.

"Oni-me!" She cried out in anguish for her mother, suddenly understanding the full depth of Ameya's crazy premonition. Only, it wasn't that crazy after all. Betrayal by her best friend.

Excellent!