God King: Book 1

Chapter One

At almost six feet, brown skinned, straight nosed, long black and gold dread locs and sixteen year old Zahair Nzama and his best friend Emeil sit cross legged under a tree on Zahair’s family estate playing marbles and chatting. They both live in Kingdom 3, a Kingdom that hasn’t seen a proper King in at least five years. They were under threat of being overthrown and losing their Kingdom to simply become inhabitants of another Kingdom, succumbing to their rules and ways of life. Zahair’s family estate was vast with flourishing land and cattle. They earned their money through selling or trading cattle. Both Emeil and Zahair live on separate family estates but spent most of their time together. So it was pretty common for Emeil to be hanging out with Zahair as he completed chores. Zahair developed a bond with Emeil when Emeil's parents passed away a few years ago. They became a sort of family with Emeil's grandparents and Zahair's parents.

Today, Zahair was given the task to watch the cattle and count the new calves. With the heat, the chore became harrowing and he couldn't concentrate knowing that tomorrow the gangsters were going to come by to collect their tithe. Tithe was made mandatory by the new gangs in the area. Since they hadn’t had a proper king in a while, these gangsters took on the role of some so called gods or “servants of god” as they called themselves. “Wanna be-s” more like. They demanded ten percent of earnings from every family in Kingdom 3, wreaking havoc if they didn’t get what they came for. He’s seen many families being forced out of their homes at gunpoint. These gangsters had established rules that saw anyone living there, paying gangster taxes on the land and if they couldn’t they would be made homeless or killed. The stress of tomorrow weighed heavily on him since his family was struggling hard to get by themselves.

He tried distracting himself by playing a few games with Emeil here and there but it frustrated Zahair to know that his parents worked so hard to earn what they had and then here comes these entitled wanna be thugs demanding to be paid what they didn't work for.

"Like who are they? You know? Who even are they? They just come in here with their weapons and instil fear into everyone. That's how they control the people around here. I just wish my parents could see that they're being controlled by fear, if they were just less afraid..." Zahair spoke.

"I know right, if they were less afraid then they could see that these gangsters and them have equal power and be able to fight back. But then again, when you fight back, someone loses and you just hope it's not you but it's no guarantee." Emeil added.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to bring up..."

"It's okay. I understand the frustration."

Emeil's parents had lost their own lives because they didn't have the money to pay them back. They put up a fight but since they weren't prepared for the battle, they lost.

"All they do is wreak havoc", Zahair continued, "destroying people's homes, deciding who can or cannot cross borders they've created, separating children from their families and who knows what else they're doing. I just wish somebody would just STOP them."

"I'm sure your parents will figure it out tomorrow. Don't worry about it too much."

"How can I not worry Emeil? We don't have enough cattle to pay what they're demanding and survive. If my parents pay what they have, then they won't have any money left over for themselves until the next tithe. They'll starve or have to find something to barter and it's just so unfair! Because they worked and earned this money. What did the gangsters do? Huh? Are they playing their part in keeping this community together? No! They're destroying it and demanding compensation. They’re not right in the head, they can’t be. Someone’s got to stop them. Who made them god?"

A calf can be heard mooing in distress. Emeil calls Zahair's attention to it. The calf can be seen stuck in a muddy creek, struggling while its mother paced the edge of the creek, mooing in panic trying to get help for her calf. Emeil gets up to run over. Zahair stops him.

"Wait, this has happened before. Look at this."

He closes his eyes. Emeil looks at him like he is crazy. Emeil wants to go and save the calf but he's somehow held in place to witness whatever Zahair was doing. Zahair begins to envision what has held the calf in place and figures out a solution in his mind. Once he's done so, he starts whispering to the calf.

"It's okay. It's okay. Relax." He sends the calf directions with his mind. "That's right. There you go, you can do it. Just a few more steps and you'll be freed".

Emeil stares at him as he whispers, not sure what he's saying exactly.

"Good boy!" He exclaimed. Emeil jumped. Zahair's eyes reopened and he had a smile on his face. Confused, Emeil turned around and followed Zahair's gaze to see the calf back on land with its mother, covered in mud. He looked at Zahair, still unsure what he just witnessed.

"What the heck was that?" He asked Zahair.

"I figured out the other day that I could do this"

"Do what?"

"Reassure the animals with my mind and help them out. Isn't that cool?" He beamed.

"Yeah, that's pretty awesome. I thought you were losing it for a second. You know my grandpa has told me many tales of the old ways, how they would use special powers to lead and survive. Looks like you might have one of those special powers."

"Nah, those are just fairytales."

"How can you say that? Don't you see what you just did?"

"That was nothing special, it wasn't a super power."

"What would you call it then?"

Zahair shrugged. "I don't know, coincidence?"

Emeil scoffed. "Yeah right, how come I don't coincidentally speak to animals in my mind, huh?"

Emeil tried closing his eyes and focusing on the calf. He started whispering, "Come over here, come to me, walk in this direction, come on", he opens one of his eyes and looks at Zahair, "Is it coming?"

"What?"

"The calf?"

"Uh, no"

"See! It doesn't work for me. I was calling it over in my mind and it wouldn't come"

"Maybe because you were pushing it too much, you needed to relax a bit."

"No, it's because I don't have those special powers. I'm telling you man, you have been given a gift."

"Yeah, I don't believe in that stuff anymore"

"Suit yourself", Emeil shrugged.

They finished up their duties, counting the calves, exercising the cattle and getting the baby calf cleaned up, free from all the mud. They fed them and cleaned up their messes, trying to get it all done before it was time to wash up for supper.

Thanks for reading the first chapter in my book, GOD KING: Book 1, this is the first book of a series. I hope you enjoy, if you would like to read the next show some love, comment, share and tip :) Thank You so much!