The Ultimate Adventure: Journey to the Spirit Kingdom

By Robert Henning

"Journey to the Spirit Kingdom" unfolds in the magical African nation of Makgadigadi. An English mining baron is determined to tear up the country’s wilderness park in search of a precious mineral, and the only force opposing him is the Animal Spirit Council. Unfortunately the seven ghosts that sit on the council cannot stop bickering amongst themselves. In desperation they seek out a human leader to guide them, and what they end up with is a soft spoken girl named Savuti. Will this quiet child really be the answer to the councilors’ prayers? And is she strong enough to overcome her greatest weakness?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Henning
• Release date: Jun 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458088819

Robert Henning

Rob Henning was born in South Africa and educated in New Zealand and Australia. He has degrees in commerce, politics and film, and currently lives in Los Angeles.The Ultimate Quest – Olympic Gold is part of a trilogy that celebrates young heroes. The other two books are The Ultimate Fantasy – Chinese Hero and The Ultimate Adventure – Journey to the Spirit Kingdom. You can find out more about these books at www.olympusbooks.com.

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The Ultimate Adventure

Journey to the Spirit Kingdom

By Rob Henning

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Smashwords Edition

Text - Robert Henning - copyright 2007

Cover art - Bonnie Van De Ven - copyright 2007

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photographic including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the author.

The author can be contacted at [e-mail]

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Dedicated to young heroes everywhere…

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Cast of Characters

Savuti ~ Princess of Makgadigadi

Chinsala ~ King of Makgadigadi

Charles Livingstone ~ A British mining baron

Grace Willow ~ Assistant to Charles Livingstone

Mbamba ~ Prime minister of Makgadigadi

The Animal Spirit Council

Shumba the Lion ~ Councilor for meat eaters

Ndlovu the Elephant ~ Councilor for grass eaters

Sinkwe the Bush-baby ~ Councilor for tree dwellers

Khozi the Fish-eagle ~ Councilor for birds

Kubu the Hippopotamus ~ Councilor for water dwellers

Bhungane the Dung-beetle ~ Councilor for insects

Nkoya the Spitting-cobra ~ Councilor for reptiles

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Prelude

There is magic everywhere in the great and wonderful land of Africa, but it is not something you can truly see with your eyes wide open. To know and understand the powers that move through the bush, desert and jungle you must be a dream walker.

What is a dream walker you ask?

The answer is very simple: a dream walker is a special person who can dance with the spirits of the wild and talk to the ghosts in the air. A dream walker is both a visionary and an explorer of Heaven.

These people are very rare mind you, and are often difficult to find. Some will make their special status well known by painting their bodies and wearing outrageous costumes: but then others will hide their talents and pretend to be like normal people.

Occasionally there will be a dream walker who does not know about their own powers. When these people reach a certain age Fate steps into their lives and helps them discover their wondrous potential. They undertake a journey to the Spirit Kingdom, and when they return to the real world they are like newly born butterflies.

What follows is a story about just such a person. Her name is Savuti, and though she seemed quite ordinary to those around her, she was in fact the very opposite.

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Chapter 1

Our story begins under a Milky Way that was showing off as best it could. The African night sky was littered with a billion and one stars that all twinkled and sparkled like perfectly cut diamonds, and no one with a soul could look at them and not feel very, very small. Closer to the ground the night air was pulsating with the sound of chirping crickets. There were thousands of them (all part of Mother Nature’s choir), and only occasionally would their infernal racket be interrupted by a lion’s roar.

Deep in the African bush, and away from prying eyes, stood a cave as old as the sands of time. It burrowed into a small mountain of rock, and was the perfect hiding place for snakes and other creepy crawlies. As well as providing shelter to small creatures, the cave also served as home to a vista of paintings. Each was made by the hand of a medicine man with chalk, blood, ash or resin. The list of painted animals was a who’s who of the African bush: buck, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffe, lion, elephant and hippo. Little stick men could also be seen on the cave’s rocky walls, and these figures all held spears or bows and arrows. Taken all together the collage of pictures told the story of the Great Hunt (or, as some people described it, the never ending quest for food).

On this particular night the cave walls were covered with flickering shadows cast by the flames of an enormous fire. Lightness and darkness hopped and skipped around the grotto, and with a little imagination you might conclude the rock paintings were alive! The creator of the fire was a wise old man known as Sangoma. He had lived on earth for over 60 years, and sported a wondrous head of grey peppercorn hair. His wrinkled skin was dark brown in color while his teeth were brilliantly white (so it was impossible not to notice his smile). Sangoma wore many necklaces and bracelets and earrings, and around his waist there was a cloth made from zebra skin. He was quite a sight to behold as he danced his way around the fire over and over again. With each step that he took he cried out a chant to the heavens, and as the night wore on he drew closer and closer to the Animal Spirit Kingdom.

He had to get there… he simply had to... for something special was about to happen.

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The people of Makgadigadi woke to the wonderful news: King Chinsala had just become a father for the 12th time. The baby was a girl, and this was cause for much celebration. It was high time actually, for the king had 11 sons amongst his three wives and a family without a daughter was a family that somehow seemed incomplete. The news agencies in the small African country went haywire, and citizens called into radio stations to demand a public holiday.

In the lead up to the birth there had been much debate about the baby’s name. Staff at the royal palace had even sponsored a naming competition, and thousands of entries were received from around the kingdom. As it turns out, everyone submitted a boy’s name on their entry form for the king’s wives had a habit of delivering sons. The arrival of a girl meant that the competition had to be scrapped, and a name for the princess was seemingly plucked from thin air by a palace official. An hour after the birth a news report told the citizens of Makgadigadi that the king’s daughter would be known as Savuti. Most people agreed that the name was very pretty. Unfortunately the report did not say what the name meant, and so citizens of the kingdom just pretended to know the origins of the word.

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Truth be known, not everyone was happy about the princess’ birth. The prime minister of Makgadigadi discovered this fact when he greeted King Chinsala in the palace foyer. His Highness had just returned from the hospital, and Minister Mbamba fully expected to smoke a cigar with the man.

Congratulations Your Majesty, said Mbamba with a polite smile on his face. You must be delighted with the arrival of the princess.

Chinsala handed his leopard skin coat to a servant and then looked at his right-hand-man with a sad expression on his chubby face.

Well, another boy would have been nice, grumbled the king. But I suppose this was inevitable really.

Mbamba felt a twinge of annoyance in his heart, but he kept this well hidden. He was happy the baby was a girl, and it was a shame the king couldn’t feel the same way.

Yes Your Majesty, replied the prime minister softly.

Chinsala quickly shrugged the whole matter off his shoulders and patted his stomach.

I hope dinner is ready, he announced with a yawn. The Premiership Final starts in 15 minutes.

His Majesty was referring to England’s soccer league. There could be no mistaking the king’s true passion in life: he loved football more than anything else, and a major final was definitely more interesting to him than a new family member.

The king of Makgadigadi stepped past Mbamba and headed towards the foyer’s marble staircase.

At least I have 11 sons, thought Chinsala to himself.

Enough for a family soccer team!

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For two days and two nights Sangoma danced and chanted around his fire in the cave of paintings. He never stopped to rest or eat, and by the end of this process the old man’s body was physically exhausted. Strangely enough though, Sangoma couldn’t feel any aches or pains.

Some might call it a miracle, but during the night his spirit had escaped from the clutches of the real world. Sangoma’s soul was now up in the heavens, prancing about like a baby impala. The old man was perfectly free, and with this extraordinary power in his possession he organized the delivery of a birthday gift.

The present was a small polished stone with an engraving of an eye on it. Few people could know that the item was traditionally handed from dream walker to dream walker. It symbolized the strength of their special vision, and inside its very core there rested a spark of magic.

The distance between Sangoma and the receiver of the stone was over a thousand miles. For ordinary people this would have represented an obstacle, but Sangoma had nothing to worry about. His soul simply called out to a fish-eagle and instructed the bird to carry the stone to its destination. The chosen bird swooped down from the clouds and picked up the gift from the ashes of the old man’s fire. In a heartbeat the eagle was airborne, and with a divine instinct the feathered creature fluttered across the blue sky towards the Palace of Makgadigadi.

The journey would take a whole day, and luckily for the eagle there was a strong tail wind.

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Princess Savuti was going to grow up in a truly splendid home. Built from brown sand stone