20 War gongs are sounding

"War gongs are sounding even louder!" A war that has been on right from the beginning of time; when the foundations of the earth were laid; a war between good and evil and it is going to take place this coming market day.

"A war?" Ego asked with so much disbelief in her voice and on her face.

"Yes, a war between Abali and Anyawu. There will be a clash between darkness and light. The force of darkness will try to swallow up that of the light which will result in total darkness for a short period of time in the afternoon tomorrow. The darkness will stretch as far as your eyes can see" the old lady said staring straight into the burning fire like she was receiving what she is saying from it.

"Darkness in the afternoon?" Ego asked once more with doubt still on her face as it sounded really impossible.

"Yes and throughout that period, both powers will be greatly released on earth. Abali will unleash the forces of evil to seize control from Anyawu while it will also try to do the same thing". The old lady said still gazing at the fire.

"Nne, wait oh! Let me get this straight; you are saying that tomorrow afternoon there will be a war between Abali and Anyawu?" Ego asked.

"Yes," the old woman murmured while nodding her head gradually.

"And that as a result of the supernatural battle; there will be darkness all over the world?"

"Yes," the old lady responded again gradually refocusing on Ego. She then asked, "You don't believe me?"

"I don't really know if I do or not; it is just that I have not experienced darkness in the afternoon before and I've never heard about it before. So pardon me if I find it difficult to believe".

She said still analyzing the information in her mind.

"And that the Abali will release the forces of evil to engage in a battle the Anyawu, whose forces of good will fight back to retain its position as the one in charge of the day" Ego concluded.

"Exactly my daughter, it now depends on the one you can tap into. If you successfully tap into the force of good, then you can ask any good thing and it shall be done. While on the other hand if you tap into the force of darkness and ask any evil thing, it shall be done also" the old lady paused.

Ego's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at that. She could not believe what the old lady had just said. "Nne, wait oo, she paused and smiled "You mean I can ask for anything tomorrow afternoon during the battle and it shall be done?"

"Yes, it shall be done but you need to first tap into either of the force before you can achieve that," She said now turning back to the fire.

The smile on Ego's face gradually wore off when she heard that. "How can I tap into either of the forces?"

"Now that's an important question! But to answer your question you need to first decide which of the forces you want to tap into" she replied.

Without hesitation Ego responded "Of course, into the force of light" and without pausing she carelessly asked with her both eyelashes rose up "who will want to tap into the force of evil".

The old lady gave a short wicked laugh before saying "You will be surprised to know the alarming number of people that will be tapping into the force of evil during the blackout tomorrow, just to do evil with it. She paused, then turning towards Ego before she began

"You see, there is a deposit of good and evil in every one of us under the sun. Some grow the good; others both the good and evil while some grow only the evil until the good part dies off. But for you, it is like you have continually grown the deposit of good in you until it seems like that is all that is left. So you see, most people are not like you; they are in this world just to do evil as you are here to do well. They don't see the world through the eyes of a child covered in sweetness and love just like you do. They don't think as you do neither are they as selfless as you are. You are…"

Ego had to cut the old lady short because she was so surprised that the old lady that has just known her for this short period of time can say all these good about her while some important people that she has known all her life has never said any of such kind words to her.

"Nne thank you for all these sweet compliments," she said shyly. "My mother has always drummed it in my ear that being good is beneficial. She will always say "it still pays to be good my daughter" after I've done something as a way of commending or admonishing me. So I try to follow that dogma".

The old lady looked away from Ego as the smile on her face disappeared swiftly. "On how to tap into the force of good; when the battle is going on and the sky is still dark you must carry a mortar and pestle with plenty quantity of dry grains of maize and take it to any four-way junction you know".

The old lady paused then pulling her ears once again she said "On your way to this four road junction you must not utter any word or turn back no matter what you see or hear. If you turn back or shout, anything that happens to you is your own keg of palm wine".