N'Chalo's Challenge

Chapter 8

The wind howled as N'Chalo trudged through the desert, constantly scraping grains of sand out of her eyes and ears. Even at night the heat was unbearable. Her mind pondered over what this new challenge might be, Is it another Deserthound? More than one of them? A creature much worse - is there such a thing? Or am I a pawn in one of the Mighty One's schemes?
Her next step sank into the sand. N'Chalo tried to run away but she kept sinking, faster and faster until she was just shoulders above the ground.
As she screamed, the Mighty One spoke mockingly, 'Queen N'Chalo, too young to carry the weight above her shoulders.' As he finished his words, N'Chalo was submerged.
She began to fall through pitch black, she was somewhere cold. She continued to scream. Had she been tricked into falling towards her own death?
Squelch! She fell hard against the ground, her body bruised. As she picked herself up she realised she was covered in wet, sticky mud. She wanted to wash it off but was glad it cushioned her to prevent every bone in her body from breaking.
She began to walk, pulling hard with each step as her feet kept sticking to the ground then she heard a whoosh, a sharp intake of her breath as she detected a presence, 'Papa is that you?' But that wasn't all, there was someone else too, 'N'Dali are you there?'
'I'm always with you, N'Chalo,' it was the voice of Papa, 'but I'm disappointed.'
She proceeded forward and there he was, his ghost - a translucent, blue figure of the former king. He stared at her, so much anger in his eyes. 'You lied to me, what were you thinking?' he scolded his daughter, 'Befriending a Deserthound - a cold blooded killer?!'
Another ghost stood by Papa, of a boy the same age as N'Chalo. He was clean shaven, had short dreadlocks, a face like his father's and he wore tan shorts and the same bracelets as N'Chalo - it was N'Dali and he too wasn't most pleased to see her, 'How could you spare the creature that took my life? You've dishonoured me sister!'
And with those words N'Chalo was hurt, 'I love you both and I never meant to dishonour you N'Dali,' she sobbed, 'I lied, Papa, because... I didn't think you'd understand, I've decided to find a new way forward. So many have suffered from the challenge and it has to stop.'
'N'Chalo I...'
'You're right Papa,' she cut in, 'I don't know what I was thinking, I'm an unworthy Queen.'
'You have a good heart, N'Chalo, I'm sorry I wasn't a better father. I believe in you and you must have faith in yourself.'
N'Dali walked to his sister and spoke:
'You have great wisdom but you have to listen to your people, you can't enforce change when they're not ready. Your words are your greatest asset, you have to fight for their trust. Go, N'Chalo, the future of Ofusa is in your hands.'
The ghosts of Papa and N'Dali faded.
She continued on, walking across the mud until she got to a pool of water. She stopped for a moment and thought as the water lapped at her feet. What if something was inside the water, waiting to jump out and attack?
She took a deep breath before she placed her toe into the edge of the pool. There didn't seem to be anything so far. She stepped further into the water until each step became a paddle. N'Chalo was certain there was nothing in the water, at least for now.
There was a faint chime, the further she swam the louder it grew. She saw the source of the chiming, at the back of the cave was a stretch of mud with a tree, it's wood decayed and it was deprived of branches.
'You have one more task, young queen.'
N'Chalo continued to swim until she reached the mud and walked up a slope and out of the water.
The tree regenerated, sprouting branches which sprouted their own leaves. Lots of round, spiky fruits appeared, hanging from the branches and rapidly growing in size, they were pinepods, N'Chalo looked at them in disgust, Ugh! They smell foul and taste rotten. Does the Mighty One know I hate them? Has he been watching Papa cook us breakfast all this time?
'Eat a Pinepod,' the Mighty One spoke, 'and you and your loved ones may reunite. Choose wisely, some are fresh, some poisonous. Your choice will determine your fate.'
N'Chalo checked each branch thoroughly, searching for the freshest fruit but there was barely anything different about each one.
The water began to rise, the mud began to shrink. She picked from the back of one of the middle branches. She grabbed a spike and peeled off the shell of her fruit.
The other pinepods shriveled along with the leaves and branches fell as the tree rotted.
The water was rising faster, it had gone up to her knees. N'Chalo faced drowning or eating a poisonous fruit. What a fresh piece of fruit would do to her, she wasn't sure.
The water rose to her hips and then just above her shoulders as she scoffed the fruit down her throat.
In seconds she was underwater and there was no sign of anything, as if everything had been destroyed by the pool. All that was left was darkness. Was she unconscious? She couldn't tell, it had been a blur since she had walked out of the city and into the quicksand.
Her heart beated heavily and her ears began to ring. Had she been poisoned or was she drowning?