Epilogue

A scream echoed from the Balogun's hut, a scream of pure anguish that communicated the hopeless state in which the all-powerful Balogun of Ilu-inọ finds herself entangled.

"They are going to ruin me!" She cried in a panicky tone

The Balogun had six others in her presence; her apprentice summoned them the moment she noticed that her master going through a psychological breakdown. The ones her apprentice called are among the highest-ranking Ẹṣọs of the village, including the Ọtun the Osi-Balogun and the Akọgun. They had come into the privacy of her hut unwilling to let any other member of the village see her in this state of mind; they all expressed the same level of surprise to see someone as strong as the Balogun on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Those boys are going to send me to an early grave," she cried in dismay

"Balogun," the Ọtun said, "No one is going to fry Akara while you are still alive, please do not speak of dying"

"Ẹyin Oloye (Great Chiefs)" the Balogun saluted, "Mo Daran (I'm in trouble) I need your council because as Balogun, I used my own words to condemn myself"

"Tell us who or what troubles you, the only thing that a Lion should fear is a stronger Lion," the Ọtun voiced

"It is Ṣeyi…" she began

"And Akin" the others concluded with a chorus

"Yes," the Balogun responded

"The weapons of mass chaos" the Osi chanted

"The untameable cats of Ilu-inọ,

The childlike masters of mischief,

A smile upon their face is the smile of trouble,

Their actions bring disgrace and laughter is doubled,

Though as Ẹṣọs, cunning as the fox and wise as a priest,

Mischief in a childlike disguise,

Dangerous if they are kept alive,

Dangerous if they are left to die,

Dangerous if they are kept on a leash,

Dangerous if they are free or released,

Still, they remain,

Ilu-inọ's weapon that drives all her enemies insane,"

"What have they done now?" The Akọgun demanded, in a tone that stated that he was going to do something about it.

"Nothing," the Balogun said and then started pacing around her hut in a nervous tone

"Nothing!" The others echoed in a confused tone

"Nothing yet," she yelled in dismay, "I am in trouble, 'Mo daran' Yeh! What am I going to do now?"

"Balogun," the Osi said, "Please, explain the situation to us from the beginning, a blind man cannot make it to the market unless he is guided. Help us to understand the situation and then we will be able to render some assistance"

"Sit down Balogun," the Akọgun said "Explain the situation, and then we will be able to help"

So the Balogun sat down facing the other chiefs. She accepted a calabash of palm wine from her Osi-Balogun, and after a few silent minutes, she felt ready to share her absurd story. It started with the anticipated visit from some members of her paternal relatives; they expected her to cook a delicious dish for them. At this, all the chiefs chuckled; the Balogun has never been any good at cooking anything except for cooking up new chants for combat. The moment her relatives arrived, she boiled some Ogi for them in the kitchen and accidentally placed the wrong herbs in it. As a result, the Ogi turned into a black-looking paste. One of her relatives caught her in the fruitless attempt to throw the food away. To cover her shame, the Balogun gave the foolish excuse that the food was a medicinal herd she intended to sell later as a cure to a deadly sickness that had been troubling the village. The Balogun had her apprentice cook for her family as she summoned Ṣeyi and Akin to help her distribute the black Ogi paste; that way, her family would not suspect that she had almost poisoned them.

"How did they sell the black Ogi?" The Akọgun inquired

According to the Balogun, they had their friend Kenny use a chanted dog mask with the ability to turn its wearer into a dog, then in the form of a dog, he visited the eating house. The moment Kenny, in the shape of a dog, reached the eating house, he stole a piece of bushmeat and ate it in the presence of the customers and then fell, pretending that he died of poisoning. All the customers went into a state of panic, assuming that the bushmeat was poisoned.

"What!" All the chiefs cried at the same time, surprised that the Balogun would allow such an expensive prank

"Ṣeyi convinced the customers of the eating house that my black Ogi was the only cure for the poisoned bush meat," the Balogun continued

"Yah pa ri pa!!!" One of the Ẹṣọs exclaimed, then suddenly he fainted

"Ṣegun!" Akọgun shouted, in an attempt to revive the unconscious man

"Leave him," the Ọtun said, addressing the Akọgun "He is a regular at that eating house, I don't want to be in the shoes of those two boys when he wakes up"

"Balogun," the Osi said, "they helped you to sell the black Ogi and saved you from public shame. Why are you so tense?"

"Because they demanded payment," the Balogun snapped

"How much," the Akọgun asked, knowing that they all can afford anything the boys can demand

"Not how much, they blackmailed me, ME," she cried out stressing the last word, "I am the Balogun of Ilu-inọ and they blackmailed me, ME!"

"Yes," the Akọgun acknowledged in an impressed tone "Ṣeyi is capable of blackmail"

"Did they ask for money?" Ọtun asked

"No, and that is what makes it worse" the Balogun voiced in a panicky tone

"So what did they ask for?" The Osi inquired

"Two market days of freedom," she said in despair

"I don't understand," the Akọgu n said

"They want two market days of freedom, in other words, they are allowed to do whatever they want to do without the option of punishment" and then she broke down into tears

"This is bad," the Akọgun observed

"This is worse than anyone could have imagined" the Osi observed

Ṣeyi being the bad boy that he is, proves that he is capable of performing a lot of mischief. The only force powerful enough to keep him under control is the Balogun; weakness. Ṣeyi is the kind of person who refuses to be limited by one person for a long time; one day the rope that holds him down is sure to be broken. The surprise is that he can achieve this feat at such a young age; even though the Akọgun hates to admit it, he is impressed.

"This newfound freedom you have granted them is uncalled for, we must find a solution to this problem" the Osi voiced

"What if they beat up the Oba's son or cause trouble in one of the other villages; or poison the village wells; or defile the shrine of Ifa; or venture into the evil forest or…" the Balogun continued in a panic attack

"Relax Balogun," the Osi said in a comforting tone, "I think I have a solution to this problem"

"Tell me," she demanded, grabbing hold of his arms violently "Tell me now!"

"You did say two market days of freedom?" The Osi confirmed

"Yes, and the solution?"

"Simple, send the two of them out to perform an Iṣẹ, and make sure that the Iṣẹ lasts far more than two market days for safe measure. By the time they arrive from the mission, the period of freedom would have expired" the Osi pointed.

"Yes," the Balogun said, seeing the possibilities. The realization brought a sly grin on her youthful face

The room was suddenly silent, and the signs of distress faded away like a forgotten memory; now she is filled with a huge amount of gratitude.

"Yes," she voiced again and then she did something unbelievable.

The Balogun reached out and grabbed ahold of the Osi-Balogun and then she drew him in for a nice long wet kiss of gratitude. The kiss took everyone by surprise, including the Osi-Balogun and the Akọgun. The others were completely flabbergasted, and the Osi-Balogun was mesmerised. The Balogun suddenly broke the kiss and then she pulled him in for another kiss.

"Thank you, Osi, you have saved my sanity," she said after the second kiss, then she strutted violently towards her front door and shouted out at the top of her lungs "Ṣeyi! Akin! Kenny!" No reply from the other end, so she stormed out of the hut, not even caring that she left some people in her house. The only thing she wants is to get rid of the two boys before she dies of high blood pressure or madness.

"Osi," the Akọgun said, smiling at the young man, "You have ventured where no man has been before"

"Osi" Ọtun said, "Well done, congratulations, now we are all jealous"

"That I had a solution to Ṣeyi's problem?" The Osi asked

"No!" Ọtun said, "That you were able to kiss the forbidden lips, remember to thank those two boys for presenting you with the opportunity"

"I will," they all laughed

"By the way, when next those two boys cause trouble, all ideas go through me for final approval before reaching the Balogun," the Akọgun said with authority, and this attracted the laughter of the entire group.

End.

The Warriors of Oduduwa Series.

I hope you enjoyed this story; if so, then please feel free to get yourself the rest of the books in this series. we will be releasing more exciting stories in the form of comic books, so please keep in touch.

The Warriors of Oduduwa

The Crown Hunter

The Assassination Attempt

The True Test of a Warrior

I also came up with a new idea one which I'm quite sure you'll enjoy and the title is

* The name of my system is Symbiot

The WordPress (https://subfura.wordpress.com) page is still far from complete, and we're working on several media channels, especially the audiobook, so please stay tuned. thanks again for reading my story.