The Warriors of Oduduwa 2, The Crowned Hunter.

illage

”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.