Mlezi, for the first time in more than two decades, stepped into the main Umande Village.

Behind him, were five of his greatest warriors – The Fire Breakers, Thabiti and Ua. They were all clothed in thick furry clothing that fought back the sharp cold of winter unlike the remnants of the Umande village who watched from their rickety huts as the giants followed their leader towards the hut of the elders where they were greeted by three old men who were attended by two small guards- well, they were small in comparison to Mlezi’s men. These five were also the only ones in the village who wore warm clothing with everyone else still wearing mostly loincloths.

The elders welcomed Mlezi’s group with scornful eyes and led them into their hut within which a few skinny women could be seen sitting about.

They weren’t skinny by nature, it’s just that there wasn’t much food for them and they had nothing to trade with.

Mlezi was very strict when it came to trade policy.

Something had to be offered in order for something to be given and anyone caught breaking this rule or giving away things for free to people outside of Mlezi’s protection, was severely punished.

Either by being forced to fast for two weeks in an apology to Sav’ta, me or exiled.

Those who chose to fast weren’t allowed to eat anything and if they got sick they were healed and kept from dying.

Those who chose exile fled to many places.

Some went north and died to the elements or made it to the Forest Afor.

Others sought refuge beneath the shade of the Great Tree of Mbegu.

A few even sought refuge in the small tribe that had established itself at the southern foot of Mount Kupumzika.

They were a diverse mixture of both Umande and Chofumah people.

“Feel free to sit.” One of the elders said as he and the other two sat.

Mlezi and company joined them in sitting and what followed was a deep silence.

The eyes of the elders quaked and they didn’t bother hiding their animosity but Mlezi simply crossed his arms.

“So… why did you call us here after all this time?” Ua asked but the elders seemingly ignored her.

“Answer her,” Mlezi growled.

“We… have seen just how well you are taking of our people. It takes a good man to feed his family well but… it takes a great man to feed the families of others.” The first elder wheezed.

Mlezi remained silent.

“We appreciate all you have done but there are some things that cannot simply be cast aside and forgotten… like tradition.”

Mlezi’s eyes narrowed.

“I do not think calling you chief of the Umande would be unfitting, no?” The elder asked with a weak chuckle but again, Mlezi remained silent.

“But the Umande have always had elders to guide them through triumph and strife, birth and death, and more. So… we would like to fulfil our purpose, as ordained by the ancestors.”

“I don’t see a problem with that. I think that people should be free to come here as they please to continue practising the old ways.” Ua said with a nod but this made the elders’ scowls deepen.

“Pardon us, Chief Mlezi but must your woman be here during such important talks?”

Mlezi remained silent although his brows had furrowed a little.

“Is that all?” Ua asked.

“Ahem! We think it would be more practical if we operated in a more central location. Next to the chieftain’s home, for example.” The second elder said.

“Ah- I see. So, you want a place in Central Hatua. Well, that can be arranged but what do you have to offer in exchange?” Ua asked.

The elders turned their eyes to Mlezi who remained silent.

“Err… it is said that a great man often has many wives. We could offer you half of ours, adding five women to your side.” The third said and it was here that Mlezi sighed, making the Elders stiffen.

“I want the mountain.” He thundered.

“E-excuse me? Age must have taken my hearing for a moment but could you please repeat what you said for this old man?” The first elder asked.

“We have been thinking about where best to rebuild our home and although building it in the centre of Central Hatua would be acceptable, I want somewhere that’s easily defendable and Mount Kupumzika seems like the perfect place.”

The elders sat with perplexed faces for a moment.

“But that is hallowed ground!” The second one yelled.

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“True. We will not build atop the summit nor will we desecrate any of the graves.”

The first elder stuttered for a moment before deeply frowning.

“Listen and listen carefully, boy. I do not know where this… this hubris is coming from but if you or your demonic men place a single foot on that mountain, we will cleave it off and toss it aside just like we did you all that time ago.”

Mlezi didn’t respond.

He instead picked up his spear and led his group out of the hut and they made their way back to Central Hatua which had become a city of wood and stone.

Most of the houses to the north were made of stone and wood and were sturdily built and maintained.

The ones to the south had also been rebuilt although they were significantly smaller.

The city had a single central road which led from the southern entrance up to the central gate which led into North Central, as it was called.

The road then led up to Mlezi’s hut.

He had established a route that led from North Central, all the way to the Forest Afor, although it went around the Kifo Valley instead of through it.

This road was patrolled by his men, some of whom were stationed in a logging town in the forest Afor.

The northern Chofumah didn’t particularly mind the chopping down of the trees and they were thankful that Mlezi’s men had gotten rid of the Pangolins so they didn’t complain.

Mlezi had also set up a town by the northern coast which served to explore the ocean.

They had developed simple scouting rafts which went on short missions into the vast waters.

Mlezi wanted to know what lay beyond the horizon.

It was a popular belief that the spirit realm was what awaited them but Mlezi wasn’t so sure.

He and his family were convinced that, by interacting with me, they had seen the true grandeur of the realm beyond the physical.

They thought that if the spirit realm awaited them beyond the horizon, it would be more spectacular.

I wondered how they would react when they discovered the North.

I also wondered how they would react if they found the Island of Tablets.

.

..

The time eventually came for Mlezi to enact his plan and so he, along with Imani and Thabiti, who had long since moved to Central Hatua with his wife, mobilised fifty of his warriors and a hundred Chofumah men who would serve as construction workers before making his way to Mount Kupumzika where he was met by the elders who led a force of fifty men.

Mlezi looked into each of their eyes and the clouds above darkened.

He saw that they were clearly afraid, hungry and tired.

He took a single step forward, raised his spear and, using all the Glass Energy in his hair and beard, sent up a bolt of lightning that brought with it a thunder that frightened even his men.

“Those of you who do not want to die today are free to join my ranks! I will provide housing and food for your families!” He roared.

Several of the elders’ men glanced at each other and they gasped as one of them walked forward.

“What are you doing?” The first elder snapped while tightly holding his spear and leather shield.

The man lowered his head and eventually walked up to Mlezi before dropping his spear.

Mlezi looked at the young man and gently smiled.

“Stand behind the others.”

The man nodded before doing as instructed.

Several others followed and it wasn’t long before they were left with ten but even they trembled with fear upon realizing just how unevenly tipped the odds were.

“Move aside,” Mlezi said and although it took a moment, the men did so.

“Where are you going?” The first elder asked as his men stepped to the side just as Mlezi led his men to the mountain.

“Get back here and fight!” The elder screamed just as Mlezi reached him.

He then stood frozen, with widened and trembling eyes while Mlezi past him.

The elder fell to his knees and what followed was a construction effort that would take ten years to complete.

Mlezi kept his word that the summit and the graves weren’t touched.

Instead, a massive, ten-meter tall, five-meter thick, wall was erected all around the mountain and another, slightly smaller one was built just beyond the graves.

This created what would go on to be called the Garden of Graves.

Beyond the garden was the palace proper and it was a massive semi-circular stone building that faced the north.

It was cut in the middle to allow water from the summit to flow down without impedance.

As for its layout, it had three main rooms for Mlezi’s family and four smaller rooms for Ua’s parents, Mlezi’s parents, Maini and his family, and Thabiti and his wife.

It also had a large vault beneath it and this is where most of the Glass in Hatua was stored.

The Crystal Lands still had plenty but since very few people could actually use it, it was left mostly alone.

However, to be extra careful, Mlezi stationed fifty of his warriors in an outpost near the Crystal Lands and they monitored anyone who visited them.

Leadership was still very much held by Mlezi and Ua but they shared some of their administrative authority with Maini, who governed all activity beyond Hatua and Thabiti, who helped police Hatua itself.

As for the people who once called the southern part of Mount Kupumzika home, they had moved far to the south so as to not interfere with Mlezi.

After all, many of the key members of the village were part of the group who watched his son die.

I guess they still harboured a pang of guilt for what happened that night.

Or maybe they were afraid of what Mlezi would do to them with his new power.

During this time Sav’taism had become the dominant faith with a shrine of me being built in the centre of Central Hatua.

It was a stone and wooden building which housed a bronze statuette of me although since the man who built it had never seen my face, he left it blank.

Speaking of bronze, it had been developed thanks to the discovery of a copper mine to the east of Central Hatua.

Unfortunately, copper by itself was too soft to use for weaponry or tools, it was instead extensively researched and it was eventually found that by mixing it with tin and arsenic, the produced metal war harder and was more easily produced than iron which has rapidly run out since all the meteors and near-surface mines had been depleted.

It was decided that Glass be used for more important things like healing, agriculture and other uses.

Mlezi and his family had also become famous for wearing bronze jewellery with Mlezi wearing a crown which had a Glass eye at its centre and an inscription around it that read “Please continue to watch over us”.

Ua also wore a crown which was lined with etchings of open hands and inscribed with the words “Please continue to guide us”.

Jua had a chest piece which was covered with the words “Please continue to protect us”.

To many, these items signified Mlezi and his family as royalty and they had been dubbed by many, the Hennean Dynasty.

Well, their rule was considered to be the beginning of said dynasty with everyone expecting Jua to rule after his father.

But one group had grown to despise Mlezi and his family.

That group was a large percentage of the Chofumah population of Hatua.

Many of them were made to build the many grand buildings and walls while being left to live in small huts.

Chofumah men weren’t taught how to use the power of Glass unless they had important jobs and what little magic the women were taught was rarely ever used since they were rationed to one hundred grams of Glass per month, unlike Umande women who were given one kilogram.

All high-ranking positions in Mlezi’s army of warriors were also held by Umande men.

This created a great divide between the two peoples and although some Chofumah were fine as long as they got to live in peace, others saw the disparity in how hard they were made to work and how they were compensated for that work.

And thus, the divide may not have been wide but it was deep.