Crucible

"They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

" Awogbemi, can we start now" said one of the seven ifa priest diviners.

" oh yes, let us start"

The beginning of the end, Seven ifa priests gathered together, a gathering born out of jealousy and greediness, for they covet the mighty throne of Oyo Kingdom for themselves.

In the days of King Oduduwa, Prince Oranmiyan was just a boy then, some group of men stirred up a coup in the Kingdom, in a bid to overthrow the Mighty King Oduduwa. It did not end well for all those who got involved in the coup. They were all executed publicly alongside their families. No family of a traitor deserves to live, says the King Oduduwa then.

Powerless to stir up a coup, the ifa Priests guided by Greed, gathered together deep within the forbidden mountain, they have carefully sought out the Grimoirre, it cost them a fortune trying to get their hands on a powerful dark magic Book, powerful enough to summon out the demons of Hell. They seek to lead the armies of Hell into battle and conquer the mighty Oyo Kingdom.

"It is time" let us begin the spell

"The kingdom shall be ours" they laugh menacingly.

They formed a circle, at the middle of the circle was a human sacrifice, a virgin girl, perfect in every way.

They held each other's hands, forming a circle of seven and began chanting the forbidden spells of the Grimoirre.

First, the cloud got darker, a storm gathered over their heads, it sent out a thunderstrike, fire descended and consumed the sacrifice, then the Seven were gone, deep within the storm, they find themselves in a Kingdom of Void, they found themselves at the center of a circle of another Seven, they saw Seven chairs and seated on them were the Seven Lord's of Hell. Wearing the crown and sitting at the middle was a dark figure with a crown on his head, an inscription was written on his breastplate "Lucifer, the King of Hell" seated beside him was another figure, with the inscription "Mammon, Lord of Hell" and beside him was seated "Asmodeus, Lord of Hell" seated beside him was also a figure with the inscription "Leviathan" beside him was also a dark figure with the inscription "Belzebub, Lord of Hell" beside him was a figure with the inscription "Satan, Lord of Hell" and lastly was a dark figure with the inscription "Belphegor".

The ifa priests kneeled before the Seven Lord's of Hell. with their head down, they heard a voice followed by thunder and lightning "Who have dared come before the Seven Lord's of Hell? "

" Your Lordship sir, it's your... "

" Silence" another voice said.

Humans now have the privilege to stand before us, the Seven Lord's of Hell? they have to pay for this disrespect to the Lord's of Hell, thought Belzebub.

Before the Ifa Priest could make their request known, Belzebub stretched out his hand, lightning struck the priests eyes, bringing out blood. The priests hold their hands in their eyes, they could see nothing. They lost their eyesight.

Then the Priests began to feel crumbled from within themselves, they cried out in pain, Awogbemi heard the sound of a balloon bursting to his left side, he knew what it means, another sound, then another sound, till it got to his turn and he burst out from within.

"Their soul is mine" says Lucifer the King of Hell.

On that day, the Seven Lord's of Hell made a final decision to attack the land of the Living, according to them, humans have grown so insolent and they need to be reminded that the kingdom of this world belongs to them.

First it was the villages, it started in the middle of the night, some said they were demons sent from Hell, others said they were Damned souls condemned in Hell, they began their attacks by torching the villages, killing every life and taking every soul they come across, keeping no prisoners alive.

An emergency meeting was called in the Kingdom of Oyo, all the neighboring kingdoms have set aside their differences and gathered at the Ancient kingdom of Oyo.

Different Kings with their Royal guards marched in rhythmically into the mighty city, a royal chamber had been prepared for the King's and their escort.

The meeting began that same night, they had no time for pleasure.

"I say we attack, we know their camp, it's in your land" cried out one of the King.

" What do they want? " asked another King.

" How much will I be paid for my armies"

And they continued till almost day break, throwing words at each other, each looking for a way to enrich his own kingdom.

"Enough" said the great King Oranmiyan of Oyo Kingdom.

"I've had enough of your blabbing" he continued..." There's war at our doorstep, can you not see it, are your villages and suburbs not burned? do you not think if we do not join forces, we shall all perish? "

There was silent for a while.

Then a vote was cast, each Kingdom was to send their armies in full strength to face the invading enemy. Five Kingdoms, five seal of agreements.

The following morning, the monarchs marched out, each departing to his own kingdom to prepare for war.

The day came, they all marched together as one, different banners, but one mission unites them, to fight back the armies of Hell and protect their lands.

They set their armies on array, it was agreed, the army of Oyo Kingdom should fight last, should the armies of the other Kingdoms fail, then it is up to the Oyo armies to protect humankind.

The attack begin in the night, the first Kingdom went for the offensive, all that could be heard for an hour was the sounds of blades cutting flesh, swords hitting shields, and echoes of screams. The spy that was sent to bring back reports of what had happened retuned with only one of his arms attached to his body.

"... all... dea.." he gave up the ghost.

The second, third and fourth kingdoms armies decided to go together, counting on their numbers to save them.

They unite together under one banner, they marched forward as one.

The screams lasted for two hours, after that, it was utmost silence.

A bird flew in to the Castle with a message wrapped on her feet, the king removed it and read the message. He sighed hard. His wife hugged him from the back, trying to console the Great King.

"it is massacre, we don't stand a chance" said the King Oranmiyan.

" I believe in miracle" said his wife, the beautiful Queen known in the land for her extraordinary beauty and for being fetish.

"Have Faith My Lord" with her hands on his chest, cuddling him up in her arms.

She rode to the temple of the old gods that night, she looked around the abandoned temple, looking for a way that leads to the old library. The temple of the gods used to be a place of worship to the old gods, a relic of an ancient history now forgotten. She found it, the path that leads to the old library.

"Eew" your Highness, I think we should leave" said the Queen's servant.

" No, it is here, our salvation is here"

She brought out a book, filled with dust, it was a miracle the ancient book can still be accessible.

She dusted it, opened it, the library shook as she read some parts of the book.

"it is real" exclaimed the Queen.

The Queen sent out a Raven back to the battlefield with a message,

"Commander, time is really short

this may be our only hope at victory

perhaps the gods of our lands will hear us and save us,

when all hope seems lost, read the words attached to this letter below, it's a prayer to one of our ancient gods, Ogun the god of iron"

cold shivers ran through the Oyo Kingdom armies.

Their commander knew it was time, it was dawn, it was now or never.

He mount his horse, a dark horse, he put on his helmet, marched at the front of the armies.

"This is where we stand

This is where they die

Hold on to this memories brothers

for it will be yours forever.

who's ready for some demon blood"

They all echoed " we are ready" while hitting their swords on their shields.

The morale was high.

They could see the armies of Hell marching towards them, they wait, patiently waiting for them to be in range of their archers.

When the armies of Hell got to their range, the commander gave the command, the archers released their arrows, arrows covered the sky, it rained on the invading enemies, striking them hard. The invading enemies kept on marching forward, some fell to the archers arrows, the rest continued marching. They collided at each other, swords clanging against each other, it was not a battle, it was a massacre. The invading armies of Hell were stronger and huge. The brave warriors of Oyo armies began to fall, one by one they began to fall on the battlefield. Arrows flying, Spears piercing each other, swords cutting each other's flesh.

In the heat of the battle, the Oyo commander saw his opponent, the invading armies commander, he stood before him covered in blood of humans, they drew their swords at each other, the Oyo commander ran towards him, he bent his waist upfront with his sword in his right hand, hoping to cut the Invader commander in half from the waist, but the demon was too fast, the demon jumped up over him, and with his own demonic large sword, he stuck the Oyo commander from the back, the Oyo commander fell down, covered in his own blood, bleeding from his back, he remembered the Queen's message. He reached to his pocket, dying, he read the ancient scroll words.

Then the grounds shook, a storm brew at the center of the war, and suddenly a being dropped from the sky, a tall, muscular and a powerful being. His eyes were burning with fire and two swords floating around him.

The Demon Commander gave charge and some of his minions charged towards Ogun, the god of iron, Ogun ran towards them, the swords flying ahead of him and striking all the demons running towards him. Ogun stretch out his hand and many swords and Spears appear on the sky, and it began to rain on the demons on the battlefield, the hells armies began to fall under the weapon of Ogun.

The Oyo armies regained their strength and attacked the Invading armies, with Ogun by their side, they could feel the victory.

The invading armies commander charged towards Ogun, he grabbed a spear and threw it at Ogun, Ogun grabbed the spear with his right hand, looked to his left, and used the spear to impale the demon who was fighting a human on his left. Ogun smashed his hand together and a mighty hammer went before him and smashed the Hells armies commanders head. With their Commander dead, the Hells armies ran back to Hell, those that couldn't run fell under the feet of Ogun the god of iron.

The Oyo armies began to roar and shout the sound of victory. They have defeated the invading armies. Ogun looked around, seeing he has given victory to humans, he took to the sky and disappear.

"Mom, look, they are coming back" the little girl shouted with joy.

The gate was opened to them, they were received with joy and celebrations. The Oyo armies has won the war.

it was a day and night of celebration in the Oyo Kingdom.

"Darkness..." The seven Lord's of Hell were gathered together.

"He must pay" said Leviathan.

"We know what we must do to him" Belzebub said.

" I want his soul here" Lucifer declared.

" an eerie sound..." Belzebub the Lord of Hell disappeared.

Ogun arrived at his Temple, each old gods had his own Temple built for them. Asake, the Temple's cleaner had been working at the temple for ages, she's as old as the temple is. Other old gods had long suspect the two of having an affair. The last time Ogun was asked at the meeting of the old gods, he told Sango it was nothing to be worried about.

Ogun entered his Temple, it has been ages since he was called into battle through the ancient prayer way. Something was off, no incense was being burned on his alter, perhaps she's too tired to do so, but it's not like her, Ogun thought to himself.

Then he saw it, a dark being, in his own Temple, with his claws on Asake neck, "crack" In his very own eyes, the mysterious creature snapped Asake neck, it was silent for split seconds, Ogun dashed forward with full force to attack the Being, the Being laughed menacingly, raised his hand, and the whole Temple collapsed on Ogun, then the Being grabbed her soul down to Hell, with her soul crying for help as it was been dragged down to Hell before Ogun's eyes.

"Nooooo" Ogun shouted.

"I'm coming for you Demon" Ogun shouted before he passed out.