The Warriors of Oduduwa 2, The Crowned Hunter.

The next day all the warriors of the village had expected the Balogun to summon them, hoping that they would be going on a mission to retrieve the stones. But for some reason he was silent. Ade decided to take the opportunity to work on his farm after all he had not touched it since the last time, which was a few days ago and he was determined to harvest as much as possible within a short period. He was so intent on his work that he had not noticed the evening approach or the fact that the full moon stood high in the star crowded sky.

”Oju-aye ” the Ifa priest called

”Oro-Ifa ” Ade greeted back

”Olodumare has sent words concerning you again, ” the Ifa priest said

Again the cold chill rushed down his spine, his fears warming their way to the surface ”speak the words of Olodumare ” Ade said bravely

”Tonight it will happen, ” the Ifa priest said

***

The three witches

Meanwhile, in the dark, standing at the borders of the village were 3 dark figures each of them seemed to melt out of the shadows itself, they were all robed in black wrappers and their faces expressed the beauty of youth in its prime, but their eyes expressed seasons of ageless hatred, slaughter and woes. They were the forest witches

”What is his name Igbo-eje? ” The witch who stood in the centre asked

”His name is Ade ” the one called Igbo-eje (forest blood) replied

”No one dares to walk into the forest blind

No one walks into the Lions den and comes out alive

No one steals a cub when the Lioness is awake

Only a fool torments the forest

And the forest spirits are never silent

Whosoever runs from the tiger runs the race of death

And when the forest begins, it never ends

The forest will follow its prey until all is dust

Ade, you have tormented the forest

Ade prepare to run the race of death

Ade today, you are nothing but dust ”

The leader of the invading witches chanted with her dark gaze directed towards Ilu-ino village, an evil smile was upon her beautiful face ”my sisters, ” she continued, ”tonight will be the last night that anyone in this village will live, by this time tomorrow the only thing that will remain will be blood and death ”

”Igbo-eje ” she called to one of the witches that stood by her side ”go and rescue our captive sister ”

”As you wish ” Igbo-eje replied

”Igbo-ara go and torture that hunter ” Igbo-ara (forest flesh) nodded in reply

The two witches smiled in mischief and then vanished, leaving their leader behind to complete the grand evil plan. She looked towards the village with evil intentions, a stone appeared by her side, it contained a lot of power in fact; this was the same stone that all the warriors of the village have been searching for, for the past 2 market days

”You want this back so badly, then you can have it back, it will be the tool I will use to destroy you, ” she laughed

”let this stone bear testimony against this village

Let this village become an enemy of the forest spirits

Let the anger of the forest burn like a cloud of fire

Let the earth spirit declare an Alliance with the forest

Appear and burn your enemies o great fire deity

No one defiles your realm and lives

Spirit of the forest in anger takes vengeance

Let your image of the crimson fire appear, appear! Appear! ”

Suddenly the ground began to tremble, then the earth exploded, scattering pieces of rock and stones everywhere, then the Ebora exhaled as it reached out towards the mortal plane. An Ebora (evil spirit) appeared its entire head was burning with fire, there was a mask-like representation of its face as solid as a stone with the mythical stone embedded in its forehead. As soon as it emerged from the ground, it roared like a Lion only ten times louder it stood more than 50feet above the ground it took a while for it to adapt to its surroundings, as soon as the Ebora became accustomed to the environment it started advancing towards the village.

Usually, an Ebora can assume any form they choose, but the form that this one chose was the humanoid, complete with rippling muscles, bulging as it moved and with every step it took the earth burned, the trees burned and the evil spirit was surrounded by dust and ashes

”Its even more powerful than expected ” the witch commented admiring her handy work

The village night watch first spotted the evil spirit as soon as he felt the earth tremble. At first glance he knew there was trouble as soon as he realized the Ebora advancing towards the village; the night watch ran off to summon all the warriors of the village

”Edide !E dide eying Ologun e dide, ” (wake up! Wake up! All you men of war, wake up!)

The Akogun was the first to acknowledge the distress signal of the night watch, his house being closest to the village borders. The Akogun also felt the ground tremble and he could smell blood in the air, the moment he laid eyes on the Ebora he knew that he had no chance against such a powerful being one on one. ”So gi mmmmmmmm… ” the Akogun chanted and instantly every ẹṣọ in the whole village woke up with a start. The Balogun had once claimed that the covenant of the Akogun was special, it gave him an unnatural spiritual connection with all the ẹṣọs of the village. It gives him the ability to manipulate the actions of others should he choose to, in this case, he used his covenant to summon all the warriors to battle.

Finally, all the highest-ranking warriors of the village stepped into the villages defence.

”What is it? ” The Iya-lode inquired

”A very powerful Ebora ” the Balogun responded ”Ive never seen one this powerful before ”

***

There was a scream, the scream of a woman going through the pain of labour, 3 midwives had been informed and they were in attendance, helping her to deliver her baby safely. It was Adebisi, Ades wife. The appointed time had come and the Ifa priest was aware of this which was why he ordered the midwives to help her and he had gone to meet Ade on his farm.

”I hear the scream of the woman in labour, ” the priest said

”Adebisi ” Ade exclaimed in excitement, and then he ran off towards his home to be with his wife as she brings new life into the world.

”Such joy, such unspeakable joy, ” Ade voiced ”Olodumare has truly blessed me ”

Throughout the time of her pregnancy, Ade had feared that the baby wouldn survive or an accident would prevent the childs birth, but now all his fears have been laid to rest. He was now a father, but as they say ”the moment of happiness never lasts long ”, he heard the earthquake; he heard the sounds equal to the crashing of thunder and he saw the light that equals the blazing of the lightning flash, and this slowed his pace.

”The village is in trouble, ” he said, and then he stopped and stood still for a moment.

The Ifa priest appeared to Ade again, how he was able to reach Ade in such a short period, was no mystery; the Ifa priest also had the ability of translocation.

”The flames of Ogun burns with uncontrollable wrath against our village, Ilu-ina will be nothing but dust and stone by dawn, ” the Ifa priest said

”This will not happen ” the Ade proclaimed

”But your wife, you must be by her side, she screams for you ” the Ifa priest reminded

Choice, one of the most bitter words he knows, to choose between the path and the shadows; to save the village or to save his wife, now his heart was heavy. ”If this village dies, then my wife will die with it, ” Ade said ”I must set down an example that my child will follow, I will defend this village, ” Ade said boldly ”Oro-Ifa, please help me to defend my wife while I defend this village in her honour ”

It is hard to predict the chaotic chain of thought that clouded Ades thinking, how his heart yearned to stand by the side of his wife, the disappointment of not being there when his child will be born. He cursed, why was fate against him, why can he be there to touch his child the moment it comes into the world. Its not fair.

”I will watch her ” the Ifa priest replied

”Thank you, ” Ade said, and then ran off towards the direction of the conflict to defend the village that had been his home for 5 Seasons (years).

Unknown to them something lay hidden within the shadows, a pair of red eyes appeared in the dark, it was Igbo-ara the forest witch ”so he has a wife and an unborn child ” she grinned maliciously ”good! Well kill the wife first, and then we will eat the flesh of his child ”

Using her talent, the witch zeroed in on the sound of a woman in Labour. In less than 55 minutes she had found the hut, naturally, she would have followed the Ifa priest, but he vanished before her eyes, the Witch laughed

Adebisi was still within the hut resting, slowly recovering from her labour pains. She couldn have noticed the black form moving about the hut castings its evil chant, and even if she did, she wouldn have the strength to flee as the hut busted into flames, the midwives ran like scared rabbits leaving the helpless mother behind, the hut was burnt to ashes within 10 minutes, Adebisi did not survive. The only sound that could be heard was the ecstatic laughter of the forest witch as she towered above the inferno.