The Warriors of Oduduwa 2, The Crowned Hunter.

On the Baloguns orders, every ẹṣọo of the lower rank were sent off to evacuate the village, especially the innocent children and their mothers, leaving behind the highest ranking warriors, in the person of the Balogun, the Akogun, the Otun and the Osi-Balogun, the Iya-lode and a host of others to handle the upcoming battle

”This Ebora is a descendant of the fire deity

Everything that it touches turns to dust

All that crosses its footpath will be consumed by the flames

It will never be stopped

It is an element of mass destruction

Using both fire and force

”Im not sure if we will be able to handle something of this magnitude ” the Iya-lode observed

”Stop giving the enemy reasons to be bold, we are ẹṣọs and we fear nothing and we will never run from our enemies, ” the Akogun said forcefully, then he added actions to his words by walking boldly towards the upcoming menace ”duro be ” he chanted

The chant Akogun used was a basic chant known to all warriors in the land and quite easy to break, but in the hands of one such as the Akogun himself such the chant can easily immobilize an elephant, unfortunately, such physical chants are ineffective against powerful spirits and elementals. The Akogun was famous for his ability to overcome great odds, but he is also famous for his inability to judge the strength of his opponent, he had that major problem, underestimating his enemys potential. The Ebora broke the chant easily and then continued advancing towards its intended location. The Akogun stood shocked in awe of the Eboras power anyone could see that his fighting spirit had suffered a great blow.

”Lara, Osi block that creatures path, now! ” The Balogun commanded ”I know a chant that can slow that beast down ”

Ogunlara and the Osi-Balogun obeyed their superior immediately. Ogunlara stretched her left hand towards the Osi-Balogun, who stretched his right hand towards her creating an Agbara link between the two of them, which in turn amplified their power potential with this they were able to summon a wall powerful enough to slow down the Eboras progress. The Ebora not being too pleased about it hammered at the wall viciously and roared in defiance.

”It is impossible, ” the head Witch said with an evil smile on her face. She watched as the Ebora slammed against the barrier with all its strength and with every blow it scored she saw the wall weaken. Ogunlara felt the strain of the Eboras blows with every hit, it might be difficult for a barrier as strong as this one to hold against one so powerful but all they needed to do is wait for the Balogun to complete his offensive chant.

”Its ready! ” The Balogun yelled ”release the wall ”

The Balogun had more than a thousand powerful chants at his disposal and each of these chants can be described as potent beyond human imagination, all the warriors watched in anticipation of the outcome of the Baloguns attack.

The Balogun had assessed the situation and concluded that the only way to take down the Ebora is with something huge so the Balogun started forcing Agbara into the elbow of his right hand using his left hand to hold his right elbow, his right hand began to forge a ball of pure Agbara, glowing in rich green light ”Ino-ologun ” (light of the warrior) the signature chant of the village.

As soon as the wall vanished the Balogun launched the supercharged ball of Agbara at the Ebora, which was falling face-first because of the sudden disappearance of the wall it was trying to smash.

The witch grinned ”it seems like you children don know what you are dealing with, ” she whispered

”This is not an ordinary spirit

This is a spirit like no other

Summoned from the darkest depths of the nether region

Feared by both humans and spirits alike

The descendant of the fire deity

And it always consumes the opposing force

There is nothing you can do but watch

This village is nothing but dust ”

The very moment the chant ”light of the warrior ” reached the Ebora it dissolved instantly and the energy within was consumed by the evil spirit within a heartbeat, the heat of the Ebora simply made it difficult to land a frontal attack. The witch laughed at the humour, ants trying to take down an elephant.

”mo gbe, ko se se ” the Balogun exclaimed (Im in trouble, it didn work)

The Ebora enraged by the fact that a pack of insects were able to slow it down raised its hands in preparation to launch an assault of its own. It raised its two hands and began to compress some of its heat in a concentrated spot, creating a ball of fire with the ability to level an entire forest

”Shield the village ” the Balogun commanded in a panicky voice

”The stone that shields this village was stolen, remember ” Ogunlara responded

”If the Akogun does not fight at full strength, ” the Balogun thought ”Ilu-ina will perish ”

As the Ebora got set to throw its ball of fire towards those foolish enough to stand in its way, the Balogun quickly began a complex chant hoping that he would be in time to rescue those precious to him, but that moment had long since passed because the Ebora had lunched the ball of fire before the Balogun had any time to complete his chant, as the fire approached the only thing he could do is to close his eyes and whisper the first word that came to his mind ”God! ” As though in reply to his silent plea the ball of fire turned back and exploded in the face of the Ebora causing it to fall flat on its back.

”Who dares to lay his hands on my fire deity ” the Witch shouted

***

As Ade ran half the way his mind was in constant indecision, ”should I go back? Will the Balogun be able to handle it? I must be with my wife, no! The village needs me, what if something happens to her ” and so on. Ade continued to struggle with what was right and with what was wrong until he laid his eyes on the evil spirit. It was indeed worthy of being recognised as a serious threat, Ade observed as the beast absorbed the Baloguns attack and the moment the beast launched an attack of its own Ade forced himself away from the side-lines using the ancient ”da pa da ” meaning (back to the sender). Now is the time for Ade the hunter to get involved in this fight.

Ade stood boldly looking towards the Ebora, even though he was astonished by its massive build and bulging muscles, the power potential of this beast didn impress him. Ade had a long rope with him as well as his short cutlass which he always carries around like a personal handbag, nows ”not the time to marvel at the magnificence of the enemys size ” Ade said to himself ”now is the time for action ”

Ade drew out his cutlass from the leather sheath and struck down a nearby tree chanting the words ”great wind of this world, sharpen the edge of my blade, let it be that nothing will stand in the way of the raging wind ”. The wind blade, forged by the smiths of Ilorin who reinforced the steel with the Agbara of the 4 great winds of the world, a blade that can only be wielded by a warrior of the wind covenant, a blade with a blunt edge but strikes true. It was rumoured that this very blade makes it easier for the wielder to manipulate the wind.

As the tree fell Ade whispered a silent word of apology to the tree, according to the Yoruba culture a man who dares to harm a tree must apologise to the tree for his act, who knows, the tree might have been the home of a strong spirit. The tree fell across the footpath and on top of the Ebora temporarily pinning it to the ground.

The Ebora roared in defiance unconsciously increasing its heat as it struggled to free itself from its immobile state, it struggled with every fibre of its being, burning its way through the tree, roaring and incinerating the earth itself creating a pool of molten magma.

”Great ropes of the forest

Weaved from the choicest of the forest materials

Brought from the most enchanted part of the forest

Blessed with the cords that can never be broken

Cords that can never be burnt by fire

Cords that can never be broken by strength

These ropes will hold down a thousand elephants

I give you my Agbara

Use it to make yourself strong

For by my word, you will not break from this battle ”

Then Ade forced his Agbara (spirit energy) into the rope to make it unbreakable, the Ebora had finally freed itself from the fallen tree, Ade the hunter jumped as high as he could, combining his physical strength with his covenant to add the extra boost, jumping from one tree to another to get closer to the monster. Then he struck, first, the loop was tied round the Eboras neck, then using the trees as vantage points Ade jumped from one tree to another tying the beast up in the process. By the time Ade was sure that he had the Ebora properly tied up, he used his Agbara to manipulate the shape of the rope making it thicker than usual.

”Now, big bad spirit, ” Ade gloated ”its time for you to come tumbling down ”

”Interesting ” the head witch whispered as she observed the battle from the side-lines

***