The Descendant of the Fire Deity

On the Balogun's orders, every ẹṣọo of the lower rank were sent off to evacuate the village, especially the innocent children and their mothers, leaving behind the highest ranking warriors, in the person of the Balogun, the Akogun, the Otun and the Osi-Balogun, the Iya-lode and a host of others to handle the upcoming battle

"This Ebora is a descendant of the fire deity

Everything that it touches turns to dust

All that crosses its footpath will be consumed by the flames

It will never be stopped

It is an element of mass destruction

Using both fire and force

"I'm not sure if we will be able to handle something of this magnitude" the Iya-lode observed

"Stop giving the enemy reasons to be bold, we are ẹṣọs and we fear nothing and we will never run from our enemies," the Akogun said forcefully, then he added actions to his words by walking boldly towards the upcoming menace "duro be" he chanted

The chant Akogun used was a basic chant known to all warriors in the land and quite easy to break, but in the hands of one such as the Akogun himself such the chant can easily immobilize an elephant, unfortunately, such physical chants are ineffective against powerful spirits and elementals. The Akogun was famous for his ability to overcome great odds, but he is also famous for his inability to judge the strength of his opponent, he had that major problem, underestimating his enemy's potential. The Ebora broke the chant easily and then continued advancing towards its intended location. The Akogun stood shocked in awe of the Ebora's power anyone could see that his fighting spirit had suffered a great blow.

"Lara, Osi block that creature's path, now!" The Balogun commanded "I know a chant that can slow that beast down"

Ogunlara and the Osi-Balogun obeyed their superior immediately. Ogunlara stretched her left hand towards the Osi-Balogun, who stretched his right hand towards her creating an Agbara link between the two of them, which in turn amplified their power potential with this they were able to summon a wall powerful enough to slow down the Ebora's progress. The Ebora not being too pleased about it hammered at the wall viciously and roared in defiance.

"It is impossible," the head Witch said with an evil smile on her face. She watched as the Ebora slammed against the barrier with all its strength and with every blow it scored she saw the wall weaken. Ogunlara felt the strain of the Ebora's blows with every hit, it might be difficult for a barrier as strong as this one to hold against one so powerful but all they needed to do is wait for the Balogun to complete his offensive chant.

"It's ready!" The Balogun yelled "release the wall"

The Balogun had more than a thousand powerful chants at his disposal and each of these chants can be described as potent beyond human imagination, all the warriors watched in anticipation of the outcome of the Balogun's attack.

The Balogun had assessed the situation and concluded that the only way to take down the Ebora is with something huge so the Balogun started forcing Agbara into the elbow of his right hand using his left hand to hold his right elbow, his right hand began to forge a ball of pure Agbara, glowing in rich green light "Ino-ologun" (light of the warrior) the signature chant of the village.

As soon as the wall vanished the Balogun launched the supercharged ball of Agbara at the Ebora, which was falling face-first because of the sudden disappearance of the wall it was trying to smash.

The witch grinned "it seems like you children don't know what you are dealing with," she whispered

"This is not an ordinary spirit

This is a spirit like no other

Summoned from the darkest depths of the nether region

Feared by both humans and spirits alike

The descendant of the fire deity

And it always consumes the opposing force

There is nothing you can do but watch

This village is nothing but dust"

The very moment the chant "light of the warrior" reached the Ebora it dissolved instantly and the energy within was consumed by the evil spirit within a heartbeat, the heat of the Ebora simply made it difficult to land a frontal attack. The witch laughed at the humour, ants trying to take down an elephant.

"mo gbe, ko se se" the Balogun exclaimed (I'm in trouble, it didn't work)

The Ebora enraged by the fact that a pack of insects were able to slow it down raised its hands in preparation to launch an assault of its own. It raised its two hands and began to compress some of its heat in a concentrated spot, creating a ball of fire with the ability to level an entire forest

"Shield the village" the Balogun commanded in a panicky voice

"The stone that shields this village was stolen, remember" Ogunlara responded

"If the Akogun does not fight at full strength," the Balogun thought "Ilu-ina will perish"

As the Ebora got set to throw its ball of fire towards those foolish enough to stand in its way, the Balogun quickly began a complex chant hoping that he would be in time to rescue those precious to him, but that moment had long since passed because the Ebora had lunched the ball of fire before the Balogun had any time to complete his chant, as the fire approached the only thing he could do is to close his eyes and whisper the first word that came to his mind "God!" As though in reply to his silent plea the ball of fire turned back and exploded in the face of the Ebora causing it to fall flat on its back.

"Who dares to lay his hands on my fire deity" the Witch shouted

***

As Ade ran half the way his mind was in constant indecision, "should I go back? Will the Balogun be able to handle it? I must be with my wife, no! The village needs me, what if something happens to her" and so on. Ade continued to struggle with what was right and with what was wrong until he laid his eyes on the evil spirit. It was indeed worthy of being recognised as a serious threat, Ade observed as the beast absorbed the Balogun's attack and the moment the beast launched an attack of its own Ade forced himself away from the side-lines using the ancient "da pa da" meaning (back to the sender). Now is the time for Ade the hunter to get involved in this fight.

Ade stood boldly looking towards the Ebora, even though he was astonished by its massive build and bulging muscles, the power potential of this beast didn't impress him. Ade had a long rope with him as well as his short cutlass which he always carries around like a personal handbag, now's "not the time to marvel at the magnificence of the enemy's size" Ade said to himself "now is the time for action"

Ade drew out his cutlass from the leather sheath and struck down a nearby tree chanting the words "great wind of this world, sharpen the edge of my blade, let it be that nothing will stand in the way of the raging wind". The wind blade, forged by the smiths of Ilorin who reinforced the steel with the Agbara of the 4 great winds of the world, a blade that can only be wielded by a warrior of the wind covenant, a blade with a blunt edge but strikes true. It was rumoured that this very blade makes it easier for the wielder to manipulate the wind.

As the tree fell Ade whispered a silent word of apology to the tree, according to the Yoruba culture a man who dares to harm a tree must apologise to the tree for his act, who knows, the tree might have been the home of a strong spirit. The tree fell across the footpath and on top of the Ebora temporarily pinning it to the ground.

The Ebora roared in defiance unconsciously increasing its heat as it struggled to free itself from its immobile state, it struggled with every fibre of its being, burning its way through the tree, roaring and incinerating the earth itself creating a pool of molten magma.

"Great ropes of the forest

Weaved from the choicest of the forest materials

Brought from the most enchanted part of the forest

Blessed with the cords that can never be broken

Cords that can never be burnt by fire

Cords that can never be broken by strength

These ropes will hold down a thousand elephants

I give you my Agbara

Use it to make yourself strong

For by my word, you will not break from this battle"

Then Ade forced his Agbara (spirit energy) into the rope to make it unbreakable, the Ebora had finally freed itself from the fallen tree, Ade the hunter jumped as high as he could, combining his physical strength with his covenant to add the extra boost, jumping from one tree to another to get closer to the monster. Then he struck, first, the loop was tied round the Ebora's neck, then using the trees as vantage points Ade jumped from one tree to another tying the beast up in the process. By the time Ade was sure that he had the Ebora properly tied up, he used his Agbara to manipulate the shape of the rope making it thicker than usual.

"Now, big bad spirit," Ade gloated "it's time for you to come tumbling down"

"Interesting" the head witch whispered as she observed the battle from the side-lines

***

Igbo-eje the third Witch had found her way towards her chosen prey, the captive sister, she was sent to rescue Igbo-ojiji (the shadow of the forest). To make things more interesting the foolish Balogun had left one of his underlings there for her to slaughter, or is it to guard the prisoner she could never tell they all die in the end.

Otun-Balogun was the Balogun's right-hand man, the Balogun always had a reason for his actions and a perfect explanation for every decision he makes. Otun always stood in awe of the Balogun's tactical knowledge, the only reason why the Balogun had not given the order for all the warriors to go out and hunt for the stone after the arrival of Ade, Babalakan and Osi-Alara was that he knew that the witches would be coming for their sister. If he had alerted the village of the impending attack most of the best fighting men in their arrogance would rush off into the forest in search of a fruitless fight, the more cowardly ones would flee the village thereby cutting the village's combat strength by half. What he hadn't counted on was that the witches would attack this early or that they could summon such a powerful Ebora. To crown it all the Balogun instructed his Otun-Balogun to guard the captive witch with his life.

"Leave this place daughter of the forest," he said boldly "do not defile this place with your cursed feet, one step closer and you shall face the fury of my blade"

"Step aside child" the witch mocked "I'm in a good mood today, so leave this place before you face the wrath of the forest, all I want is my sister"

"No one touches her" Otun growled

The Otun had been warned that all witches had powers that go beyond the comprehension of men and that he should be careful, but no amount of warning could have prepared him for a true life encounter. In an instant the Otun drew out both his short enchanted blades, hoping that the witch would be distracted by his staff and attacked as fast as he could. The Otun's goal was to ensure that he scored a deathly blow before the witch had any time to take him down.

"These blades are cursed with the worst of venoms

And with the fingers of Shoponno

Anywho tastes the edge of my divine blades

Will die the death of pain and torment"

With those words, he had his attack in place and sealed her fate, if only he had put into account the fact that the witches have too much aura within them, that they do not need to chant to manipulate the elements. As soon as Otun reached the witch to score his so-called one-hit knockout blow, the witch raised her left hand and deflected the Otun's blade.

"You have been consumed by the jaws of the Lion" the witch whispered

Suddenly unseen knives started to cut away at the Otun's tender flesh before he could muster any counter chant, an invisible knife slashed his throat rendering him speechless and another slashed the tendons in his left leg, in a short while the Otun became nothing but a big heap of slashed flesh and blood. The Otun fell to his knees, clinging to his staff for support and he watched helplessly as the witch freed her captive sister.

"Igbo-ojiji, the great shadow of the forest. Awaken," she chanted, the captive witch called Igbo-ojiji roused from her tormented slumber with a start. The moment she laid her eyes on her sister, her face softened as though she had just woken up from a very bad dream, but then she took in the environment realising that everything that had happened was real and began to panic anew.

"Eje, my sister, what have you done" she inquired in terror

"It is good to see you again too" Igbo-eje mocked "now join us as we destroy this village"

"No!" Igbo-ojiji replied "we must flee, flee before the hunter finds out what we have done"

"You are afraid of a mere hunter?" Igbo-eje growled, wondering what could have had such an effect on her sister, "he is a boy who would be destroyed by the wrath of the forest"

"No sister," Igbo-ojiji said, trying as best she could to get her sister to understand the gravity of the situation "I've seen his true power, he's not human" grabbing a hold of her sister's hand "we must flee"

Igbo-eje gazed upon her sister angrily, her first impulse was to slap the foolishness out of her, but then she pitied her after all she's the one who had been tortured by this same hunter. It's only logical for her to be afraid of him "too late, even now this village is being turned to dust, by the time the day's over everyone will be dead, now follow me"

***

Ade tugged at the rope with all his strength, hoping to force the Ebora down to the ground, if all goes well he'll be able to finish off the evil spirit and join his wife in no time, or so he thought. A black cloth enhanced with Agbara sliced through the rope, causing Ade to fall on his hunches and freeing the Ebora in the process. As Ade recovered from the sudden interference he realised that he should have put the witch into account before he rushed off to handle the Ebora. He raised his head only to find the evil spirit towering over him making preparations to stomp him to death.

"How can I handle both the witch and this evil spirit at the same time?" He wondered

"Kill him" the witch commanded with an evil smile on her face

***

The Akogun stood motionless, still marvelled by the way the Ebora broke the chant that he the strongest ẹṣọ of the village manifested, it's just not possible.

"We should help him," the Iya-lode said

"We'll only be in his way, what we need is to wait for the right moment" the Balogun replied

"What about the Akogun?" The Osi-asked "he can use his covenant to control the beast"

"No the Akogun is not strong enough," the Balogun said, a little louder than he had intended "we need a stronger ẹṣọ" hoping that his words would vex the aged warrior into action

"Balogun, I agree with you," the Iya-lode added, catching on to the Baloguns' ploy "Osi, order some of our lower ranking warriors, take the Akogun to safety with all the other women and children in the village"

The Balogun chuckled and the Akogun sparked, yes the Iya-lode is the only woman in the village who has a knack for insulting the great men of the village, especially one as short-tempered as the Akogun.

"I am being ignored," the Akogun thought, he had allowed fear and weakness to swallow his pride as a warrior "A boy who is afraid will never step into his fathers' chieftaincy" then he wondered if he is worthy of the position that he sits in now "I have shamed my fathers with my fears. Unforgivable! Unforgivable!!" Of which he shouted the last word

"Me!!" He chanted

"Akogun o!!, Akogun oooo!!"

"I am the one feared by many Baloguns

I am the one with the hand of the ancestors

When the Akogun speaks

The ancestors are the ones speaking

Every man, woman and beast must remain silent

The banner of the village masquerades

The father of all tribes

The one who must never be vexed

A-K-O-G-U-N oooooo!!

Nothing will wash the legacy of the ancestors away

And you evil spirit

You shall remember my name

Akogun ooo!!"

While the Akogun was chanting ghosts like figures appeared and vanished about him, revealing the virtue of his covenant. The covenant of the ancestors, then he concentrated all his efforts on his right arm, forcing as much Agbara as he could into his upcoming attack

"This is the hand of the Ancestors

This is the fist of strength

With this will I squeeze out the life force of my enemies

The hand of the ancestors is the hands of the gods

Now fall before me, you a false descendant of fire

I Akogun defy you"

His right arm began to glow in a burning blue aura and the heat that emanated from his arm was indescribable yet no one got affected by its scorching presence. The smile on the Akogun's face warmed the hearts of all the warriors present, finally, the Akogun had returned. Then he attacked the aura around the Akogun's right arm shot forward increasing in size and length, as soon as it reached the evil spirit it had gained sufficient mass enough to grab the beast from behind and pin it to the ground in an attempt to squeeze the life essence out of the Ebora rendering it completely helpless.

"Great ancestors of our land" the Akogun continued

"Lend me your strength, grant me your power

Fight by our side

Summon the gods in their full attire for war

Let them fight in rage

Let them fight in favour of our village

Eyin baba mi (my father's)

Let our enemies tremble in fear

Let them scatter and never be gathered

As they come for war, let them flee in shame

Avenge your people, fight for them

As they attack through one footpath

Let them flee through 7 footpath

As they face us, let them face a hundred vexed lions

Let them fear this village as they would fear the lion's den

Baba mi ooooooo!!" The Akogun chanted

"Finally," the Balogun signed "I was beginning to wonder when the Akogun would act"

"Finally the great elephant of Ilu-ina has returned from its journey to protect its pride, now this village is safe, Akogun you are a man" the Iya-lode praised and this caused the Akogun's head to swell with pride.

The Ebora had been pinned to the earth by the great spectral hand summoned by the Akogun, though the Ebora fought with all its might the potency of Akogun's chant remains unbroken. The fire scorched the ground and any plant life around that area disintegrated due to the ferocious heat coming from the unearthly beast. The elders didn't concern themselves with such minor damage, what matters are the lives of the villagers. Their mission is to stop the upcoming threat or to die in the process, should they fail then at least they would have bought some time for the evacuation process to be completed. The lives of all the villagers depend solely on the actions of the elders, and their fate decided by the success or failure of this mission

"The Akogun cannot hold that thing for long" Ogunlara observed

"Quick" the Balogun commanded as he observed that Ogunlara had a point "link hands a combined chant is far more potent than a than an individual chant"

In response to the Balogun's command all the elders of the village joined hands together to feed their Agbara to their neighbours and to absorb some Agbara from their neighbours with the Balogun as the centre mouthpiece, he held Ogun-Lara with his right hand and the Osi-Balogun with his left. Then he began to chant

"Ogun o!god of war

Ogun o! god of iron

Ogun o! god of fire

It is I, Balogun Alawo that summons your presence

In your anger and your rage,

Answer our cry for help

Does Ogun sleep when there is war in the land?

Is Ogun ignorant when men ride to war?

Open your storehouse, Great War god

And loan us your weapon of war

That would grant us victory over the enemy

Ogun oo! god of fire

Let your fire burn against our enemies

Do not turn deaf ears to the cries of your children

And let your iron chains come to our aid"

Suddenly a great spectral chain appeared glowing in bright Agbara, burning in crimson red of the god Ogun, as the chains touched the earth the ground melted at its volcanic touch. At the Balogun's command, the chains uncoiled like a python then coiled around the Ebora forcefully binding the evil spirit into a helpless heap of burning rage. Though it struggled against its bindings, it remained helpless.

A beast of unlimited power pinned to the soil like a rat in a trap, defeated by a bunch of helpless humans "roarrrrr!!" The Ebora cursed

"This village is far more powerful than I had earlier assumed" the head witch observed, astonished by the Ebora's defeat.