Who Are These Men?

The palm wine tapper managed to avoid slipping off the palm tree, who knows what could have happened if had not secured himself properly. Palm wine tapping is a dangerous profession and he is a little too old to be engaged in it, none of his useless sons had chosen to follow their father's example. The foolish boys decided to take on other professional opportunities like fishing, farming and trade instead of helping their father in the palm wine business. If only he had taken in an Iwofia, someone who would assist him in such hard times too bad his stubbornness had to get in the way of his progress and now he is alone with no one to help in the business. He was so lost in thought that he failed to notice the men who were approaching up until they were upon him.

There are five of them dressed strangely, and from the look of it, they seemed formidable. They reeked with the smell of human blood and emitted the aura of death; he could see the weapons they bore had the potential to cut a Rhino in half and from the look on their faces it seems like these Leopards are out on a hunt only God will have mercy on their prey. The lowly palm wine tapper felt the overwhelming urge to be back in the palm tree, at least he would be safer there.

"Greetings" one of the men voiced "please we're looking for a village called Ilu-inọ"

"I see," the palm wine tapper replied, trying his very best not to tremble in fear "are you from Ilọrin?"

"Yes, we are Jamas on an Iṣẹ (mission)"

"Well, Ilu-inọ is not far away, walk in that direction along this footpath until you reach the Adegunju province and then ask for Ilu-inọ village"

"I give you my gratitude" the Jama acknowledged "how many days will it take us to get there?"

"Two market days if you are in a rush" the tapper replied

"Thank you," the Jama said right before he turned to join his companions

The palm wine tapper felt the aura of relief the moment the Jama he spoke to turned to leave, such a moment can make a man think about his life. He prayed that such a moment in life would never show its ugly face again.

****

A Forgotten History

A very painful headache accompanied the sunrise giving him an uncomfortable morning, Ṣeyi sat on the mud wall looking towards the horizon, wondering if he would ever find a chant that would help him in his venture to become a warrior before the next market day. What did the Ifa priest mean by "taken not given" the very question responsible for his serious headache, it's a pity the Ifa priest doesn't know how to speak plane Yoruba like everyone else, he wonders if there is someone he can meet for advice. By sheer coincidence Modupẹ was passing by on her way to the stream to fetch some water for her mother who is busy cooking the evening meal, the strong urge to sit down next to Ṣeyi overwhelmed her so much that she walked towards him hoping that she is not making a bad impression. Ṣeyi was so caught up with the riddle the Ifa priest gave him that he hardly noticed Modupẹ's approach; he didn't even know when she sat down next to him.

"Ṣeyi" Modupẹ voiced uneasily "is anything wrong?" She inquired, after seeing how deeply lost in thought he is.

"What," he replied, finally snapping back into reality, "the old priest said that he will not give me a chant"

"Did he explain why?" She inquired after a short pause as she pinched her wrapper in nervousness.

"You should know" Ṣeyi replied stressing his irritation "all these old men and their wise words. 'Taken not given' as if I'm supposed to know what that means"

"If he gave you a riddle that means he does not know the answer and intends to give you a confusing proverb to stop all of your questions," Modupẹ suggested even though she knows that it is not the case

Ṣeyi chuckled at that assumption "Why would a wise old man believe in a boy who spent all his morning Ẹṣọ's lesson carrying a stone above his head, I was never smart, to begin with," Ṣeyi snorted

"I don't believe that" Modupẹ scolded "and I don't ever want you to believe that"

"And how would you know?" Ṣeyi snapped ready to take out all his pent-up rage on the innocent Modupẹ who was only trying to help

"Because I know you Ṣeyi, better than anyone else except for Akin" she slowly reaches for his shoulder "you're the kind of person who always finds a solution to every problem that is your greatest talent"

Ṣeyi chuckled in disbelief, "I'm not that special"

"But you are" Modupẹ pressed, "I can still remember the day you saved a woman from being raped using nothing but your wits"

"I stopped a rape? Gbabe!" Ṣeyi asked in surprise, and then he said "Sorry I don't remember"

"It was nine seasons ago, my mother and I had just moved into the village and you were quite a hand full then"

"Yes, I remember" Ṣeyi chuckled "I used to look through other people's windows, then, peeping on people and wishing I had a family of my own. Funny, I never got caught, I was good gba,"

"Then chief Oloyede used to bully my mother, wicked man" Modupẹ shivered at the memory

"The foolish man wanted to force your mother to become his next wife," Ṣeyi said as flashes of his memory began to wash through his soul or maybe it's because he is all too familiar with the chief's habits. "But your mother always said no, so one day the impatient chief sneaked into your home in order to force himself on your mother"

"And you saved us that night" Modupẹ concluded

"No, I didn't if I remember clearly, I was peeping inside your house and when I saw the rape in progress I was afraid. I ran away that day, I was a coward," he said in self-disgust

"So you really don't remember," Modupẹ chuckled "yes, you ran away. To bang the gong as loudly as you could, you threw stones at the formal Balogun's door screaming at the top of your lungs. I remember, in less than ten minutes the house was filled with Ẹṣọs and chief Oloyede was seriously punished for his actions"

"Now I remember, that's why the woman wrapper (chief Oloyede) doesn't like me," he chuckled, he can use this info to tease the man, later on, he thought with a grin.

"That's why I believe in you Ṣeyi" Modupẹ continued, "your friend is hungry, you feed him by fooling the masses; if you are insulted by an elder, you make him regret it; if you need something badly, you steal it. That is the kind of person you are, you don't look at the problem you simply seek out the solution"

"Yes, of course," Ṣeyi said with a tone of excitement "I steal one 'taken not given' Modupẹ you are wonderful" and then he ran off

Modupẹ smiled, Ṣeyi is that kind of a person. When he rescued her mother from being abused by Chief Oloyede nobody even commended him or praised him for his efforts, they simply swept the whole matter under the mat and had the chief punished secretly. Ṣeyi on his own never asked for a reward, in fact, he completely dismissed the matter no wonder he forgot.

*****

Chant hunt

The Balogun stood in the Ẹṣọs garden observing some of the stone monuments placed there in memory of all the past warriors and heroes of Ilu-inọ village, beside her stood her Iwofia (apprentice) and the Osi-Balogun. The garden is a general meeting place for all Ẹṣọs though it is rarely used. The garden also serves as a memorial ground for all the great men of Yoruba land. The garden has some small trees beautifully arranged, carpet grass and several carved sculptures made from both wood and stone. Each sculpture represents a historical event, a lost chant or a great hero, some of the symbols are made to send messages and others tell a story, but the most important symbol in the whole garden is the stone representation of the staff of the great Arẹ-Ọna-kan kan fo. The symbol of the greatest and the most powerful Ẹṣọ of Yoruba land, the Kan kan fo is the leader of the entire Ẹṣọs and only one person can hold the office of Kan kan fo at a time.

"Woooww!!" Ṣeyi exclaimed in a mystified tone.

"Ṣeyi! What are you doing here?" the Balogun snapped

That's right, there is one small detail Ṣeyi forgot to put into consideration, only Ẹṣọs are allowed in the garden and that means he's an intruder. If the Balogun wants, she could have him thrown out "Ṣeyi calm down, now's not the time to panic" he thought to himself.

"Balogun please" Ṣeyi answered in a sad tone "I just want to learn from the best"

"Ṣeyi go away..." She was on the verge of snapping at Ṣeyi, but he countered her skilfully

"What is this?" He said, in a humble tone "please tell me the story behind this idol"

Is it possible for this Leopard to change its spots? She wondered, better to play along with the game until she realises Ṣeyi's true motives, after all, it helps if this boy pays attention to the teaching of the elders for once.

"This is called the stone of the Abiku" she replied, "it explains how a species of spiritual beings who enjoy tormenting innocent people by visiting barren women as unborn children and then leaving the world within the interval of five years. Then they repeat the process on the same family"

"So they keep getting born again" Ṣeyi inquired

"And again until the aggrieved family finds a permanent solution" she replied

"So that means that an Ẹṣọ's duty might not only be physical but also spiritual," Ṣeyi observed

"Indeed" the Balogun replied, she smiled at the mystified look on Ṣeyi's face enjoying the tour

Ṣeyi proved to be an attentive pupil, he learnt a lot about the stone figures and he asked questions where necessary which confounded the Balogun seriously, for one reason or another, the boy of mischief seems to be acting out of character. Ṣeyi learnt that some stone figures symbolized people who once created some basic chants, others symbolized people who tried to create a chant and died in the process, but what caught Ṣeyi's eye was a stone slab with the carvings of a man and a stone of the same size with several lines connecting the two

"What's this?" He asked with a glitter in his eye

"This is the memorial of a chant created by an Ẹṣọ a long time ago, his name has now been forgotten, but his chant still lives on and maybe one day someone will be able to fully master the chant and pass it down to the next generation" the Balogun replied with a smile

"And the chant?" Ṣeyi pressed

"The chant deals with exchange when you move an object and replace it with another 'switch' a chant designed to replace the translocation chant" the Balogun replied

"Is it hard to learn?" Ṣeyi inquired

"Yes, it is very hard to learn, it's a dangerous chant. It killed its creator, it consumes a lot of Agbara and no one has mastered it. Hence it is a forbidden chant"

"What if someone can learn it?" Ṣeyi continued, and this roused the Balogun's suspicions

"Then that person would become very powerful and proficient in teleportation, in fact, the limits of such a chant cannot be measured" she replied. "Now Ṣeyi, no more questions about the stone chant" desperate to change the subject "here's another stone figure," she said, turning away briefly from Ṣeyi fully engrossed in her lectures. She failed to notice that Ṣeyi had suddenly lost all interest in the legacy of the garden, he simply faded away from the Balogun without her noticing while everyone's back was turned snatched the stone slab. The only thing he needs right now is a new chant not lectures on the history of the village, luckily the Balogun didn't place any guards about the garden cause she assumed no one would be foolish enough to obtain anything from the garden how wrong she was.

****

The stone slab

Being fully aware that the Balogun would be angry once she finds out he had taken the stone slap, Ṣeyi ran into the forest. He knows that Akin would be the first person the Balogun would consult if she needs to find any of their secret hiding places so he went further than he had been before in order to practice the stolen chant. In addition, he does not intend to return the chant until he has fully mastered it.

The moment he reached a suitable location to train, Ṣeyi picked up two large stones to serve as the objects he intends to switch. Then he painted them with wet mud mixed with chalk and charcoal in different colours in order to tell which is which. The first one was painted with white chalk and the second one with black charcoal, and then he placed his two palms upon the stone slab.

According to the ancient, lure among Yoruba warriors the moment one wishes to pass on knowledge, Intel of information; the process involves placing a small piece of one's Agbara into the object's spiritual core, making them become one. Therefore, if another touches this object with his or her eyes closed and feeds it with his Agbara, that person will be able to listen to the words of the originator of the object. Thus, knowledge can be passed on from one generation to another in an illiterate land.

"To switch two objects, you must have the image of both objects in your head

In addition, you must visualise where you want the objects to go

And where you want them to be.

Be careful, this knowledge might kill you

And then maybe the chant is actually determined by the nature of the Agbara in use

I have not completed this art so be careful"

"Hmmm!" Ṣeyi wondered, the instruction sounds self-explanatory yet he finds it difficult to ignore the warning. Should he follow the Instructions? He wondered, then he remembered, the chant killed its own creator. Therefore, following the instructions is a definite invitation to death; he will just haft to explore new methods for a solution. Therefore, he studied the stone slab one more time and then developed a plan in his head hoping that it would work.

Ṣeyi walked down towards the two stones, preparing mentally for the chant and the strain it might cause to his body. Then he placed his hands on the surface of both stones and started to pump them full with Agbara. The strain alone from losing so much Agbara is unbearable, Ṣeyi groaned from the pain, to think that he thought it is going to be easy. Finally, he chanted

"Ewọfunfun (you white)

Ewọdudu (you black)

Oya mu dapada (now take and return,)" he chanted

Then forcing every drop of Agbara into the chant and concentrating with every fibre of his being, hoping for nothing short of success. He filled the two stones with his Agbara and tried to exchange the two stones through brute force only to fail; he had used up half his strength in the effort and only succeeded in switching the stones in parts.

"Using pure strength and power is not the solution," he concluded

In his next effort, he attempted to pump his Agbara into one of the stones and then he placed the same amount of Agbara into the second stone. The plan is to trick the stones into thinking or assuming that their essence is in the wrong place, he easily transferred the Agbara in each stone and replaced it with the other. A witty technique that still failed, Ṣeyi neglected the fact that the nature of Agbara is the same as that of air in other words, the exact moment when he is exchanging the Agbara between the two stones most of it evaporated into thin air.

In his third attempt, Ṣeyi tried a more direct approach, a foolish method that would have ended his life but for some unexplained miraculous intervention. To begin with, Ṣeyi brought his two hands together, forcing what was left of his Agbara into the chant hoping to forcefully invoke the switch, and because of that action, the chant drained him of what Agbara he had left and relinquished him void of Agbara, alive, dry and unconscious. It is a good thing that Bọlaji thought Ṣeyi and Akin the basics and the benefits of Agbara circulation and control because the knowledge might be what is responsible for his survival.

Ṣeyi opened his eyes 3 hours later feeling the odd sensation of emptiness, as he tried to move he felt the strain of all his switching attempts within every muscle in his body. "If this is how great warriors suffer to reach the top," he thought "then I'll be proud to go through the same trials" wrestling against the aches of and pains of his protesting body Ṣeyi struggled to his unsteady feet. Then he summoned all his Agbara following Bọlaji's instruction to the letter, using every inch of will power in his possession for the singular purpose of making the chant effective. From all his previous attempts, Ṣeyi deduced that he's been using the wrong approach, the switching chant is not supposed to exchange solid materials, no, it's supposed to exchange what the materials represent. In other words black is white and white is black.

"You," he chanted, "you are no more black but white, and you" he addressed the second stone "you are no more white but black, your substance means nothing, find another like you and SWITCH!"

Forcing the very fibre of his being into the chant, unfortunately, the mastery of the chant comes with a prize, as the Balogun said it is a forbidden chant and the backlash of the chant dragged out every drop of Agbara from Ṣeyi's body leaving him for dead. At least he had finally mastered the chant, But at what cost?

****

Switch

The Balogun was beside herself with rage and anxiety; Ṣeyi had been gone for over 2 days ever since he had taken the stone slab from the Ẹṣọs garden. She had ordered a search party among all the village warriors in the evening and she had summoned Akin and all the young warriors to coordinate a search through the nearby terrain surrounding the village. "Ṣeyi," she whispered in her heart, "please don't do anything stupid"

For fear of worrying the Ifa priest, the Balogun decided not to consult him for advice, all the previous hiding places known to Akin turned out to be a dead end. It is obvious the boy has gone out to master the chant, and to prevent her interference Ṣeyi hid where no one, not even his best friend would be able to disturb him.

The Balogun bowed her head in despair and prayed a desperate prayer, "God, please don't let him die" She might not be willing to admit it but she loves the two boys as she would love her own sons and as every second goes by she felt her heart falter.

The next morning Ṣeyi woke up with a mind-splitting headache, his last attempt at switching the stones was successful, but judging from the spots left on his body from mosquito bites, the amount of dust and dirt about his clothing he has been sleeping for more than a day. To succeed and yet to fail, the perfect chant, but of what use is it, to summon so much Agbara during a battle takes time, enough time for the opponent to land a finishing blow. Then to effectively use the chant limits the user to just once and then he blacks out, in addition to the amount of Agbara the chant consumes it is possible to deduce that he will truly die in a real-life situation seeing that he fainted during the test run. Thus, it is being tagged as a forbidden chant.

"I have failed" Ṣeyi thought, but then he's not the type to give up easily, failure is an unacceptable concept by Ṣeyi's standards. The only way to succeed in this chant hunt is seeking help from someone he has ignored for a while, Oluwa-ọrun (God of Heaven); after all, according to the high priest, God is the solution to all problems. So withholding all his reservations, Ṣeyi humbled himself by going down on his knees to pray.

"God, please forgive me for not speaking with you sooner" he pleaded, "I was too busy being a foolish troublemaker. I need your help, please help me to master this chant before the next market day" and in response to his prayer, Ṣeyi felt a warm sensation flush through his soul, granting him the peace he never knew, filling him with the regret that he should have prayed days before now. As Ṣeyi waited for inspiration from the creator of all creation, he felt a strange sensation in his spirit, the sensation told him that someone is approaching his secret hideout and he needs to conceal himself immediately. So, without any reservations, Ṣeyi went behind a tree close to the forest floor and hid, moments later Ṣodipọ and Nikẹ jumped into the clearing.

"Now where can that fool be?" Ṣodipọ growled

"We'll find him soon" Nike assured

"I hope we find his rotting corpses" Ṣodipọ snapped, "It is against my pride as an Alaramide member to go out searching for one so inferior"

"Did you know that Ṣeyi, Kenny, and Akin are the only ones who failed amongst us?" She asked, in an attempt to fuel his ego.

"Just as well, those bastards are weak, they don't deserve to be called Ẹṣọs" Ṣodipọ replied with a satisfying smile if only he knew that Ṣeyi was hiding in a place nearby.

"And what do you think about me" Nike inquired with a slight blush

"As usual, husband-hunting," Ṣeyi thought to himself from his hiding place

"Nike," Ṣodipọ scolded, "let's be serious, my mission now is to give the Alaramide tribe the fame it deserves, I have no use for love at this age"

"Liar" Ṣeyi whispered "You're seriously after the king's daughter"

"I wasn't talking about your tribe, I was talking about you," Nike said to Ṣeyi's surprise,

"She is good," Ṣeyi thought, women, always proving that they are in love, whereas the only thing they desire is the fame of the Alaramide tribe

"For now let's just find Ṣeyi, the Balogun wants to see him," Ṣodipọ said in a stern voice "I hope she banishes him from this village"

"No, she's worried about him" Nikẹ corrected

"Who is foolish enough to worry about an accursed son of the shrine" Ṣodipọ snapped

Ṣeyi felt the embers of his anger burn within his core at Ṣodipọ's remark, but did nothing about it after all this is not the first time that Ṣodipọ has called him the son of the shrine behind his back.

"Let's go," Nike said in an urgent tone "if he's not here, then he has returned to the village" putting action to words, Nike jumped into a nearby tree and Ṣodipọ followed in her wake after a final scan of the environment.

"So the Balogun is looking for me," Ṣeyi thought in laughter "Well, I'm not going back until I have mastered this chant," he said walking out of his hiding place.

Instead of continuing his training, Ṣeyi decided to amuse himself with a few minutes break by fooling around, he picked up two stones from the floor and did something very immature.

"Nikẹ" he addressed the first stone "Ṣodipọ," he said addressing the second stone,

Nikẹ stone; 'Ṣodipọ I love you, marry me, let me become Mrs Alaramide (he said imitating Nikẹ's voice) don't worry your money will take care of me'

Ṣodipọ stone; 'I love you too, but as the foolish leader of the Alaramide tribe it is my duty to marry the ugliest girl in this village' (he said replicating Ṣodipọ's voice)

The foolish behaviour continued for a while with Ṣeyi making the stones to kiss several times and even a third stone (Akin) stealing Nike from Ṣodipọ this greatly amused Ṣeyi and distracted him from his training until something strange happened.

He unconsciously applied a little Agbara to the stones for no reason whatsoever and in an instant all the stones he was playing with switched places, the switch was so fast that he almost missed it

"Eaaa!" Ṣeyi exclaimed "Haba!" He exclaimed again

What did he do? How was he able to achieve the results without any effort? On the other hand, is it what he had said? The questions in his mind triggered off many other questions, something definitely happened and now he is determined to find out. So, he thought back on his actions, everything he had said and every mistake he had made. Thus, through his errors he was able to discover the solution to his problem, the stone he had once addressed as Nikẹ he called Ṣodipọ and the stone he called Ṣodipọ he called Nike. The solution to the problem is not an exchange of materials or essence as once assumed, it is an exchange of identities.

"Gbabẹ," Ṣeyi exclaimed, "that was my mistake I was trying to exchange solid objects and matter rather than names (Identity), Gbabẹ!"

Ṣeyi remembered during one of the Osi-Balogun's lessons under the tree, he had told them that names had constituted a major link of power in the spirit realm. The name of a person or of an object represents the balance of a battle; it can be the source of strength and the source of one's weakness. The major reason why Ẹṣọs never give out their real names, Ṣeyi himself has never told anyone his real name not even Akin, the only two people who knew his name are the watcher and the Ifa priest.

"You!" Ṣeyi said, pointing towards the black stone, ready to test his new-found knowledge "your name is white stone," then he faced the second stone "and you, your name is black stone" and then he chanted, in an instant, the two stones switched places and to Ṣeyi's relief he had used less than a drop of Agbara

"Yes! Yes!" Ṣeyi shouted in triumph, now he has a chant that is specific to him a chant that gives him an edge above all his other opponents. He felt like screaming for joy like a cock at dawn, now he qualifies to become an Ẹṣọ of Ilu-inọ

******

Now he is More Dangerous

The Balogun stood with all the other elderly titleholders, beside herself with panic, cursing herself for allowing a fourteen season old boy get the best of her. Most of the Ẹṣọs present are the ones she had hand-picked herself with the ability to track down other warriors through the essence of their Agbara. They had gathered for the urgent search of Ṣeyi of whom she is hoping is still alive. The Balogun is certain that Ṣeyi would hurt himself in the process of trying to master a chant that he does not understand; if the stupid boy needs a chant, he should have asked her, she could have given him a very potent chant. Why did he haft to resort to stealing? She growled.

"I cannot sense the Agbara of the boy," one of the warriors said

"He knows how to hide his tracks" the second-mentioned "even the smell of his sweat is hidden from us"

"Balogun we've searched the outer ranges of this village, but found no signs of him" the third Ẹṣọ reported

"I followed Akin to all their hiding places in the forest; unfortunately he is nowhere to be found," the fourth said,

"Search harder," she roared "We must find him before something bad happens"

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so worried," the watcher said as he materialized beside her

"And how would you know" The Balogun snapped, "Think of what will happen if he is harmed, That is a dangerous chant"

"From what I hear Ṣeyi is fated to be the master of that chant," the watcher continued in his own mystic way, "He's not going to die"

This may have eased the Balogun's anxiousness a bit but the terror of him coming to harm is still fresh in her mind

Surprisingly the perpetrator of the Balogun's foul mood jumped out of a nearby tree and landed in front of the Balogun with the usual smile of mischief plastered on his face.

"moti de" he chanted (I have arrived)

"Ṣeyi!" The Balogun exclaimed, glad to see him alive and well despite the fact that he had several bruises on his body, furious to see that he feels no remorse about his actions "how dare you steal that chant!" She shouted at the top of her lungs

"The Osi-Balogun told me to get my own chant before the market day if I want to become an Ẹṣọ, and there is no one around to teach me so I stole one, problem solved. Gbabẹ!" Ṣeyi replied. The Balogun scowled at the Osi-Balogun coldly and the Osi in response looked around in search of the best escape route should the Balogun burst into a tantrum.

"Hand over the stone," she commanded, Ṣeyi instantly walked over to the Balogun wary of her right hand, after all, it will not be good for her to slab the memory of his new chant right out of his head especially now that he is yet to use it in battle. Then he handed her the stone slab

"Don't you ever do this again," she fumed

"I can't make that promise" Ṣeyi replied, "I don't have a teacher to make me a strong Ẹṣọ, I'll use any method necessary to grow stronger" the determination in Ṣeyi's eyes sent the chills down the Balogun's spine. This boy is definitely going to push her over the edge one of these days.

"Iru Ọmọ wo lele ee (What kind of a child is this)" she exclaimed, "Ṣeyi don't worry about finding a trainer, I'll find you one myself or I will be the one to handle your training, don't steal anything again" the Balogun replied

"Don't you think we should punish him?" The Osi-Balogun suggested, in a way to try and exonerate himself

"We will," She replied, "but I'm yet to think of the perfect punishment" the Balogun turned to leave.

"Wait!" Ṣeyi called with an even broader grin on his face than the one he had before

"What is it now," the Osi asked in a strong tone

"I forgot to return this" Ṣeyi said, giving the Balogun the stone slab 'AGAIN' with a grin on his face

The look on the Balogun's face was that of shock, how, she wondered the moment she saw the stone chant in Ṣeyi's hand. Looking at what she held in her own hand to confirm she still had the stone chant, what she found furthered her confusion, she found herself holding a calabash. The Akọgun who stood beside the Balogun throughout the entire episode found it equally surprising that Ṣeyi had mastered a forbidden chant. The Osi, on the other hand, felt the feeling of elation; the boy Ṣeyi is going to win him a lot of money.

"Thank you, Ṣeyi," the Balogun said in an unsteady voice, she could feel the watcher smiling underneath his mask. The watcher must have vanished the moment Ṣeyi arrived but she can still feel his cold presence.

"He mastered the chant," the Akọgun whispered, "but how?"

"Akọgun please stop thinking about how strong you think he is, think of all the mischief he is capable of now that he has such a formidable chant," the Balogun pointed out. In response to the Balogun's words, the Akọgun went pale

A chant-like that one, at the command of a boy like that, can spell disaster to anyone who might be foolish enough to challenge him, the image of the village is doomed.