A True Friend's Promise
Akin desperately jumped from tree to tree with all the strength he could master, such was his desperation to avoid being captured. He had sensed them coming a long while ago, at first, he sensed them at a distance and then he sensed them closing in on him. Akin quickened his pace and forced his weakened body to its limits.
"Run child, there is no place to hide" the Elder Jama taunted
The moment Akin heard the voice of the elder Jama, he felt a new wave of fear wash over his entire being, choking down the last ounce of confidence he had left. He put more effort into his sore muscles, moving with every single inch of strength he could muster with the singular goal of putting as much distance as possible between himself and the monster that sought his life. Akin sensed that for some reason the assassin was enjoying the game of stalking his prey, the aura of blood and the tension of death seemed to radiate all over the forest. He had to look over his shoulder repeatedly to prove to himself that there was no one about to strike him down, there was a very slim possibility that he was going to live beyond today, he thought. "I wish Ṣeyi were here," Akin admitted to himself, "He would have known what to do" What to do? "Should he go back to the village?" He wondered. Akin found it difficult to piece his thoughts together; his chaotic mind screamed with a single voice "I don't want to die". Instead of thinking of a solution to save his own life, Akin decided to think of what someone else would do in this same situation; what will they do? Bọlaji would probably plant seeds inside the body of his opponents, Akin thought, remembering the first mission against Agbako; Lekan would have fought like a wild Lion, but Akin cannot make seeds grow and lacks the brutal strength that makes Lekan unique. Then he remembered, "What would Ṣeyi do?" And the answer came into his mind immediately, the word whispered in Ṣeyi's voice "Pray". That is what Ṣeyi would have done, he would have prayed Ṣeyi would pray to God and God would answer.
Taking the risk, Akin paused for a second to catch his breath. His lungs hurt from extensive panting and he could feel his heart vibrate his entire body, despite the exertion he whispered the few words that came into his mind as he closed his eyes.
"God, I beg you to help me survive today's trouble, I need some help. Thank you," he prayed, and then he tensed his muscles and continued to flee
It is not an impressive prayer, but it is all that Akin can think of, it is all that time would permit. Akin knows next to nothing about prayers, but he has substantial knowledge about God and he knows that God is not the kind that ignores the prayer of the innocent. Oluwa-orun is a kind, God
"Now I've got you!" The elder Jama gloated as he attempted to cut Akin into two separate pieces
Akin evaded the attack at the last moment, almost getting himself slashed by the formidable-looking sword. To think that he had assumed that the Jama was behind him, it is a good thing that he took his Ẹṣọ training very seriously or else he would have been dead. As Akin looked back to assess the progress of his stalker, he noticed something queer, Bojubọle the silent eagle, attacking the elder Jama viciously with both beak and claws. That must have been how he was able to escape in a nick of time, the eagle had distracted his would-be killer giving him the few precious seconds he needed to escape the jaws of death.
"Out of my face!" The Jama ordered, using his left hand to knock the violent animal aside "I have a kill to collect"
The eagle was slammed against a tree trunk and to Akin's horror, the bird remained motionless as it fell to the forest floor, deep down in his heart he felt pain, it was like the bird had meant something to him but he could not figure out what it was.
"Lucky bastard, I'm still coming to kill you" the Jama taunted "There is no hope for you, today is the day you die and you will die by the edge of my Ida"
The Jama dashed forward, moving towards Akin in all haste. The Elder Jama had had enough of the cunning of the hunchback, never had he ever had to work this hard to score a kill. It's like the boy is protected by an unseen force, a force so powerful that has the ability to twist and bend reality to meet its needs, better to kill him quickly before something else saves his life.
"Enough playing around, it's time for us to end our little game" the Jama declared, as he followed the hunchback "Now freeze and remain in one place so I can kill you"
As Akin jumped to another tree branch in an attempt to keep his distance from the bloodthirsty Jama, he unexpectedly felt a strange cold chilling sensation in his feet along with an alarming numbness that seems to have crippled his movements. He instinctively looked down towards his feet to determine what was responsible for the numbing effect and to his horror, he found his two feet encased within a block of solid ice something he had never seen before. Akin screamed in despair, as he helplessly watched the freezing ice work its way up towards his knees, threatening to encase him inside a coffin of pure crystallized water. It is at this moment that Akin screams out the one word he never thought he would say, he shouts out the word in desperation and fear, "ṢEYI!!" He screamed as he plummeted towards the forest floor. Akin wondered if this was indeed going to be the very last moments of his life "If only I wasn't so hard on Ṣeyi, things might have turned out differently at least Ṣeyi will be here fighting by his side". Akin had only one thought in his mind, that Ṣeyi would find it in his heart to forgive him.
As Akin reached the point of impact, Ṣeyi reached out and grabbed a hold of his best friend allowing the hunchback to fall freely directing his friend towards the bark of the Iroko tree. The block of ice that encased Akin's legs collided with the base of the tree according to the precision of Ṣeyi's guidance, smashing the enchanted encasement and freeing the helpless prisoner.
"Run!" Ṣeyi exclaimed, and without thinking twice, Akin jumped into the trees without looking back
"You again! What must I do to be rid of you? Allah curse you" The Jama shouted, cursing the rest of his team for letting such a weakling pass them unnoticed
"Offer yourself as a sacrifice to Ifa and pray he is in a good mood" Ṣeyi replied mockingly
"You dare to insult me? Me the great elder Jama" the assassin snapped
"Yes, I dare," Ṣeyi replied "Those boys you left behind to stop me only slowed me down, by now members of the village must have taken care of them" he gloated hoping to disrupt the Jama's concentration
"Do you think you're special?" The Jama taunted, even though Ṣeyi could see that the assassin was visibly trembling with rage
"I am special" Ṣeyi responded with a nonchalant smile, "I am too much, everyone is afraid of the big yellow Ẹṣọ" he boasted carelessly
"That is a little too overconfident" the Jama observed as he chuckled to himself realising that the foolish boy was simply giving the hunch back enough time to make his big escape.
"Just remember, I'm the one who killed Agbako" Ṣeyi continued "So you have no hope of beating me"
The elder Jama smiled at the declaration of the foolish boy, he had known Agbako a long time. Agbako was the master of curses and the father of abominations. He had many enemies during his time and among them the Emir of Ilorin, thus, all the Jamas hated him.
"It is a pity that you killed Agbako before I had the chance to kill him, I never received the full rewards of that mission. Someone paid me a heavy amount of money to kill that cursed Alawo but I never received the complete payment, all because of you. Unforgivable," the Jama growled, brandishing his mighty blade "I will console myself by killing you" Now Ṣeyi started to regret that he boasted so carelessly
With the speed of lightning, the Jama moved towards Ṣeyi, unleashing a huge amount of killing aura. Luckily for Ṣeyi, the Jama is the kind of person who enjoys playing around with his prey before landing the finishing blow, if otherwise then Ṣeyi would have been dead from the onset. Now with the elder Jama stalking him and landing non-fatal hits, he has the opportunity to adapt to this rather unusual but formidable opponent. With the use of his speed, the Jama found it easy to appear behind the foolish Ẹṣọ and as the Ẹṣọ turned to counter or block the attack the Jama was nowhere to be found, the next thing that happened was the flash of white light followed by him falling to the ground. The Jama had scored a hit and Ṣeyi did not even see it coming.
The dance continued with the Jama assassin having the upper hand and scoring far more blows than Ṣeyi cared to remember, luckily the assassin was using his fists and the base of his sword. As the Jama moved in for another blow Ṣeyi ducked at the last moment fully aware of his opponent's attack.
"You missed," he mocked
"You luckily evaded just one of my attacks that will not give you an advantage" the Jama replied, "Luck serves the purpose of prolonging your suffering"
"I don't need luck" Ṣeyi barked happily as he slipped into another tree "I am stronger than you, you will be wise to fear me" At this the Jama laughed uncontrollably
Ṣeyi knew that his chances of survival are very slim despite his ability to switch; the only thing he cares about right now is Akin's safety, at least he was able to save his friend Akin from death by now the hunchback should be safe in the village under the Balogun's protection. He would have followed his friend and fled for safety, but his instincts as a warrior protested against it. This Jama is nothing like the others; judging from his speed and battle experience, running away would be futile, the Jama would simply follow them, overtake them and finish them off in next to no time, the only way to save the life of his best friend is to offer a scapegoat to the assassin. So Ṣeyi decided to be that scapegoat, using himself as a shield to protect his friend and to slow down the advance of the assassins.
"You, stronger than me?" The Jama laughed in disbelief "You don't even know who I am, do you?" The Jama growled, Ṣeyi wisely remained silent "I am the one you should fear"
"Sorry," Ṣeyi mocked, "I've never heard of you"
"I" the Jama openly declared, "am the elder Jama
Wielder of the ever-changing blade
The coldest of all the killers
The one who kills within the shade
Noble by birth, exiled by choice
The killing wanderer who kills for a price
My roots have long been forgotten
My name fades into the realm of lost fears
I am the personification of fear and death
My sword was pronounced its power divine
Its name changes with every kill I find
Encased in this blade will they remain
The souls of my victims and their powers are unchanged
Within the stone ornaments, that don my blade
Each stone a soul and each soul a covenant confined
Prepare to die and join the collection locked within my blade"
(Then he brandished his Ida once again)
"Fourteen stones of my strongest foes, prepare to face pain and woes"
From the elder Jama's Oriki, Ṣeyi observed that his opponent's sword had several expensive gems fused to the blade. This must be how the blacksmiths of Ilorin can fuse more than two covenants inside one blade. Usually, a person is only able to harness a maximum of two covenants within his physical body, a covenant inherited from the father and one from the mother only in special circumstances can a single person store more than two. The only thing that Ṣeyi wonders, is if the deadly weapon possesses the ability to combine multiple covenants, in a simultaneous attack; because if so then he is in more trouble than he can imagine.
"This is the 14th element, Ida," the Jama gloated "Ida,lọrinla, Ida okan elo ẹrinla. Now your soul is mine"
Ṣeyi knows trouble when he sees it and this is big trouble, fighting him head-on is a definite invitation to death and fleeing will serve no purpose, so the only way to survive this encounter is to evade all the Jama's attacks and seek out a weakness before his opponent is fortunate enough to give him an unfortunate death.
"The soul of Ṣango Remi is much to my liking
He had the covenant of lightening" The Jama continued chanting
As the Jama swung his blade in a killer stance, large bolts of lightning sprouted from the tip of his blade and caught the defending Ẹṣọ unaware; not knowing the fatality of the attack Ṣeyi assumed he could deflect the lightning strike with his two small blades, how wrong he was the inexperienced Ẹṣọ had his first moment of being electrocuted. Oluṣeyi suffered a great deal of damage from the electrical attack and found it hard to control his body, it became difficult to maintain his balance. Ṣeyi fell on the branch below the tree he once stood on and it took him a while to recover from such an attack, this is an opponent stronger than all the others he had faced.
"Kai" Ṣeyi exclaimed, "it seems all my opponents will be stronger from this moment on (he thought) no, Agbako was one of the strongest. I did not kill him through strength or skills; I killed him through superior intelligence and pure survival instinct. Winning is not about who possesses the greater power, but on how effectively one utilizes that power" Ṣeyi felt foolish facing the Jama head-on.
With the use of willpower alone Ṣeyi forced himself to his feet, his body heavier than usual. It seems like the lightning strike had a greater effect than he had earlier assumed. Though his body seemed unharmed, the memory of the agonising pain is still fresh in his mind and now he is not at his full fighting capability regardless, Ṣeyi attacked.
"The soul of Akiba Wande is as gentle as the breeze but can make your heart freeze
His covenant was as cold as ice"
The Jama slashed again hoping to have Ṣeyi entrapped inside a coffin of pure ice, as the wave of blue freezing smoke came forth, Ṣeyi instinctively switched away from the freezing attack replacing himself with a nearby stone.
"I forgot the name of this bastard, but the covenant of the red fire is what he mastered" the Jama chanted as he unleashed multiple balls of red fire at the helpless Ẹṣọ.
Ṣeyi considered himself fortunate that his body had recovered enough to allow him to carry out some basic evasive manoeuvres, if not he might have been dead many times over and for some reason his switching ability seemed to be lacking in some sense. The ability to switch about the place as he had hoped simply failed in a desperate moment and then worked at the moment he least expected, there is something wrong with that chant.
"Yellow fire!" The Jama pronounced, as a stream of yellow balls of fire rushed out of his Ida to extinguish the life of his enemy. The fire almost consumed Ṣeyi but for the timely effects of his switching chant, which took effect at the last moment; he needs to work on the chant and perfect all the flaws.
"Agbara charged fire" Ṣeyi observed,
"And there is more where that came from" the Jama mocked "O, the great killer of Agbako and here they come"
The elder Jama attacked once more unleashing the full potential of soul Ida to an unusual extent, Ṣeyi looked back in terror as a stream of water rushed at him threatening to drown him to the next life.
AKIN'S RESOLVE
Akin kept on running towards the village of his assured safety in desperation, thankful that Ṣeyi had come in time to save his life, but somewhere deep in his conscience, he felt like he was betraying his best friend.
"He told me to run" Akin shouted out, reacting to the chaos riddling his mind fighting against the protest of his conscience. Nevertheless, his mind fought back "He asked you to run so that he would die for you, not because he wanted to prove that he is a better friend but because he did not want his brother to die"
"But he still betrayed me" Akin pressed
"When did he betray you? Child," the voice taunted, to this question, Akin could find no answer and his conscience found the opportunity to press its argument "Do you remember two seasons ago during the first Iṣẹ?" It pointed out, "When Agbako used his spirit sword on all of you, did he abandon you then? If I/you remember that event clearly, he risked his life to save yours and if you keep on running like a coward then the real traitor is 'YOU!'"
The sudden realisation was strong enough to stop Akin in his tracks, so even the words of a bitter person can carry so much venom. This will be the last time he will ever take the words of someone like Ṣodipọ seriously, such foul words nearly cost him his best friend and his life.
"I must go back!"
The moment Akin turned around to go back and help his friend; he felt his entire body grow numb, it shivered with a new kind of emotion, choking down the very courage that defines a warrior. Memories of the Jama's capabilities rushed through his mind, going back was the surest way to be killed, and it was this fear that weighed down his body. The kind of fear he never experienced before and it robbed him of every amount of dignity he claimed to possess.
"He is not going to kill Ṣeyi," Akin thought as an excuse to comfort himself "It's me he's after, I'm the one in danger I must run"
"He is your friend" his conscience argued, "Your best friend, are you going to let your best friend die?"
As though on cue, there was an explosion and then to Akin's horror, he saw Ṣeyi entangled by a long black tentacle completely covered in scales, smashing him through the branches of five trees and then throwing him down towards the forest floor. Akin noticed the blood that covered his best friend's brow, his heavy panting and the pain written in his eyes. Ṣeyi has been through a lot; no doubt, he has multiple wounds beneath his clothing and a few broken bones. Without a second thought, Akin jumped into hiding praying to God that the Elder Jama had not sensed his presence
"Fourteen covenants" Ṣeyi whispered, "Red fire, Yellow fire, Water, Sand, Stone, Air, Ice, Lightning, The Stones of Ṣango (explosives), Multiple weapons, Diamond Dust, Cursed Speed and Masquerade summon; now I know his strength, all I haft to figure out is his weakness," he said as a form of encouragement to himself
Ṣeyi tried to stand up but found out how difficult it is to move after receiving so much damage. "It is not over," he growled to his reluctant body "Now MOVE!"
"One question I want to ask before I kill you that is; the one who claims to be the killer of Agbako" the Jama taunted
"Ask" Ṣeyi replied, hoping to give his body some rest time and recover enough strength for the next round
"That hunch back that you're defending, I believe his name is Akin Adegunju" the Jama began
"Adegunju?" Ṣeyi asked in surprise
"What do you see in him that is worth dying for?" The Jama inquired, "To me, he is just a worthless nuisance, a nuisance that has no purpose in life. He is better off being offered as a sacrifice to the gods; I mean, look at him, he is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. My employer offered a lot of money to have him killed more than fifty bags worth and he is not even worth it, too bad I have already been paid" the Jama laughed "So, why are you offering your life to defend a worthless thing like him"
Ṣeyi did not respond immediately, the question had more depth than he had expected. For one thing, Ṣeyi had never given much thought to how much Akin meant to him, he simply enjoyed each day with his best friend as it came allowing time to lead the way.
"Because we are both alike," Ṣeyi responded after a long pause
"That is a lie," the Jama growled
"It is not a lie" Ṣeyi shouted
"How can a thing that ugly look like you?" The Jama inquired in disbelief
"A monster like you wouldn't understand, but we are alike; we both have suffered the life of cursed orphans; we never knew our parents and we never had a tribe. We both grew up in a world that rejected us and treated us unfairly, he was lonely and he had no one. When I looked into his eyes, I saw his pain, I saw my pain; I saw his loneliness and I saw my loneliness; I saw myself" For some reason, Ṣeyi's eyes were leaking, and his tears fell heavily towards the forest floor. Each tear that fell off his best friend's chin felt like the hammer coming down hard on the anvil for Akin, such is the measure of his guilt and the weight of Ṣeyi's words.
"Akin accepted me the same way I accepted him, as an equal. To me Akin is not just my best friend, he is also my brother (rising to his feet) and I would gladly die to protect the only friend and family I have, even if it means my life" Ṣeyi shouted.
Akin felt a sharp pain in his heart, a pain that hurt far more than anything else in life. His conscience is right, he is a traitor; he is the one running away and Ṣeyi is the one defending him. 'Karawun Ṣeyi' (the shell of Ṣeyi), the title the Ifa priest had given him, a title that he does not deserve. Ṣeyi called him his brother, how many times has Ṣeyi called him his brother, his family only for him to stab Ṣeyi in the back? The guilt welled up inside him blurring his visions and filling him with too much desperation, the desperation to right all his wrongs.
"Ṣeyi!" Akin screamed as he ran towards his friend, either to fight with him or to die with him, but he swore deep down in his heart, to stand by Ṣeyi's side till the end.
"Akin!" Ṣeyi exclaimed, "What are you doing here"
"You're my friend, I can't let you do this alone" Akin replied
"Yes!" The elder Jama laughed "Two birds with one stone"
"Akin run, I will handle this," Ṣeyi said "All is lost, if you're dead"
"No, Ṣeyi 'we fight as one', you need my help" Akin pressed, "You need my help"
The moment Akin said the words 'we fight as one' Ṣeyi realised deep down that Akin was right, no one can win by fighting alone. If not for the help of his friends he would not have been able to kill Agbako and that was one of the most trying moments of his life.
"Yes! Akin, you are right, we fight as one" Ṣeyi said with a smile
Akin stood beside Ṣeyi preparing for battle feeling the warmth of the friendship they shared; this is where he should be, beside his friend facing a common foe. He can feel Ṣeyi drawing strength from him and he can feel the additional strength flowing from Ṣeyi into him, the adrenalin rush is undeniable.
"This entertainment has to come to an end" the Jama laughed "Are you both ready to die now I am tired of waiting it is time for me to collect my kill"
The elder Jama brandished his Ida in preparation for the final battle.