[COMPLETE] African Pride

5. Meet the Inlaws

I hated it whenever Busar dropped bombs like that on me.

I could handle the occasional roho mbaya or batch of poachers, but dealing with gods was something completely different. My powers made me superior to the average human and demons, but I wasn't even close to being equal to a god. Although there a couple dozen gods that the Ngai worshiped, they mainly focused on six.

Walking into my room when I return home, I went to the small altar that was erected in the corner. There were six small objects, each symbolizing the six prominate gods of the Ngai religion.

The center object was a simple white lioness statue with a golden collar around its neck. This symbolized Malkia was the Supreme Goddess, leader of the other five gods and was the goddess that protected the Ngai royal family. To her left was a miniature spear, the symbol of Haoinyao, the god of war, bloodshed and violence. He was the one that warriors would pray too whenever they went to battle, or during hunts. Next to spear was a plump clay statue of a woman with exaggerated features on the chest, hips, and thighs. This was the symbol of Najuma, the wife of Haoinyao and was the Goddess of beauty, love, desire and pleasure.

To the right of the cat statue was a fainted golden flower, the symbol of Zahra, the Goddess of farming, agriculture and the harvest. Next to the flower was fish, the symbol of Jafari, the God of rivers, lakes and ponds. The second to last object was a lump of black rock, the symbol of Keambiroiro, the God of the dead and the underworld. The last idol was an rectangular piece of metal, engraved with Ngai symbols, scorched and burned. This symbolized Barika, the Goddess of Fire, metalwork and crafts.

Putting the idols back into their correct places, I grabbed two candles from a nearby basket and turned off the lights before returning to the altar. Placing the candles in their holders, I lit them and clasped my hands together, taking a deep breath to center myself.

This was something that I had never done this before, attempting to summon the gods to speak to me. Normally, they would choose the time and place in which they would like to communicate, but that didn't always have the desired outcome. Once, I was in the middle of a test and I felt the room begin to spin, and before I knew it, I was standing before Malkia and the other gods. When I returned to earth, I had to face a very cross Foreign Language teacher, who thought I was making fun of her as I was chanting in backwards Swahili.

Now, I had to push such thoughts from my mind, or else my brain would turn mush at the sight of the gods.

I flexed my muscles, causing the tattoos to begin to illuminate through my skin. The air around me became icy, while my necklace burned hot, and when I opened my eyes they glowed as white as untouched snow.

"Imim imsar aziluuk, azmugunzuk an ewew..."

The orange flames of the candles changed to white, a swirling mist gathered around me as a abrupt jolt of energy shot through my body. My mind and soul began to split from my body, ready to ascend to the heavens where the gods resided... but a hard knocking on my door snapped me out of it.

"Karasi?" called a voice, that I knew to be Baba's. "Karasi, we need to talk."

Him knocking on my door interrupted the ritual, my soul slapping back into my body with enough force to knock me onto my back.

"Karasi?" Baba repeated. "Karasi, I know you're in there, I can see lights coming from under the door."

A snarl of anger exited my lips before I could stop it, as I walked to answer the door. When I pulled it open, Baba looked at me with a confused expression on his face.

"What was that?" he asked.

"What was what?"

"That... That snarl... and those lights?"