IKENGA

“Brother Uzo, are we almost there? I'm tired and I need to pee.”

“Shut up, if you want to pee, go home, you knew we were going to walk far and yet you still followed us.” 

I pause letting out a deep sigh before turning to the two boys at my back, both drenched in sweat and dirt staining the loincloths covering their nethers.

    “You both aren’t supposed to be here you know, especially you.” I point at the boy at the back, his face turning away, “Why is he here, Uzo?”.

Uzo shrugs, “He was going to report to Father that I was coming with you, I made him a deal that he could come with us one that he could come with us, one I’m regretting now.” 

He glares at his younger brother who shrinks from his gaze, his small hands tightly wrenched around a stick. “But he’s right, how long till we find it?,” he continues, “It normally doesn’t take this long.” 

“I told you earlier that this mmuo is different,” I hiss. “It could break some of the protection charms me and Baba made, that’s why I wanted to go alone.”

        I look down at the back of my right hand, the nsibidi tattoo embossed onto my skin, the mark of an awakened. My chi is connected to the arusi Ikuku, the god of wind and as an awakened of our village, I’m tasked with protecting it from various evil spirits and sometimes bad people. It’s a big responsibility, one that I was told I had to carry by myself.

I feel a firm grip on my shoulder, and I look up at Uzo, his brown eyes filled with determination and a wry smile peeking through his rough beard.

      “Even if it was a great Lionan that we had to take down, you know I wouldn’t let you go by yourself.” I sigh. 

Uzo’s stubbornness was his greatest strength and sometimes his greatest weakness, ever since his father designated me as the village protector three solar turns ago, he joins me every time I go hunting a spirit sometimes against his father’s wishes.

 I don’t know whether it’s because he wants to prove himself as the chief’s eldest son or something else but I’m grateful for it, even if he can’t directly hurt or kill the spirits, his large frame and considerable strength have helped me plenty in the past.

“Thanks,” I tell him, giving him a firm grip on his shoulder as well, a sign of our friendship, I turn to Kamsi, “Go and pee over there.” I point to some bushes a bit away from where we were.

“But.. what if ..” 

        “Don’t worry.” I reassure him, “No spirits or dangerous animals are there besides we don’t want to smell your piss do we?”

He grumbles and pouts before rushing to relieve himself. I sit on the damp grass, fallen leaves crunching under me as I cross my legs. 

 “Keep watch,” I tell Uzo and he nods in response gripping his spear more tightly. I close my eyes. All mmuo are beings of pure chi, they can be seen by both awakened and non-awakened depending on how strong their chi is but only awakened can track and fight them. I slow my breathing and empty my mind, to sense a spirit’s chi, you must listen for its voice. I recall Baba’s teachings diving into a deeper state of consciousness, feeling, and hearing.

I can sense Uzo’s chi right beside me, strong and alert, Kamsi’s chi is a bit farther away, fear and doubt in him as he trudges back to us. Then I notice the chi of various animals scattering just to the right of him before a massive wave of maliciousness hits me, its mad laughter shaking my very soul.

“Uzo, we have to move,” I shout leaping to my feet. “ Kamsi is in danger.” He wastes no time asking any questions as we both sprint in the direction he headedKamsi headed earlier. This is bad. I grit my teeth, I knew it was not an ordinary spirit but this is way worse than I expected.

“UZO HELP!!!” A frightened yelp rings out. Oh no. I start to sprint faster, vaulting over iroko roots, ducking under low-hanging branches, dodging fleeing animals until I see Kamsi stumbling towards me, his left arm drenched in blood and a chunk of his shoulder completely bitten off. “It’s… coming” he wheezes before collapsing into the dirt.

I spot the spirit behind him, its body covered in shadows of the trees with only its eyes visible. Without wasting a thought I launch my spear at it hoping to catch it off guard but it dodges it at the last second and darts away.

“KAMSI!!” Uzo shouts as he catches up before seeing his brother sprawled on the floor, chest heaving, arm bloodied and the colour quickly draining from his face. I can feel the anger in his chi rising as his footsteps grow closer and he kneels beside me as I check his brother’s condition. “It’s bad,” I tell him. I pull out some herbs from my pack, crush them and rub Kamsi's shoulder. "This should stop bleeding."

"Would he live?"

"Yes, but... ."

“Good, now let’s go and kill that damn mmuo.”

“No.” I shake my head, “I’ll take care of it. You take your brother back to the village.”

“What??!!” He shouts, his voice echoing through the silent forest, “I’m supposed to just go home and let you fight that thing alone, especially after what it did to my BROTHER!! My pride as the Obi’s son won’t allow that.”

I glare at him. “And are you going to let that same pride be the cause of Kamsi’s death?” This isn’t the time for his stubbornness.

He hesitates, his muscles stiffened and tense with rage but slowly with a deep breath he relaxes then he lifts his brother carefully off the floor and puts him on his back. 

          “Make sure you kill it.” He says and I nod and with the speed of a gazellen he takes off in the direction of the village leaving me to face the spirit. I open my palm, willing the air to retrieve my spear. I trudge deeper into the forest in the direction that the spirit ran, with only the sounds of the leaves and sticks being crushed under my feet filling the air.

This is strange. Not only had the animals on this side of the forest seemingly disappeared into thin air but it seems to be even darker here.

 The canopy formed by the high-rising iroko trees bunching together like thick cloth to prevent the afternoon sunlight from getting through not to mention the humid heat had now become a chilling cold, one that sent shivers down my spine. Okay Ike, calm down, empty your mind, feel, listen. I shut my eyes slowly, letting everything go dark.

The soft green glow of the trees swaying slowly in the wind.

The dull greys of the air around me.

The menacing black chi that lurks above me.

I roll quickly to my side as it drops where I was just standing, a menacing growl emanating as it laments its missed opportunity to kill me but it charges once again, swiping the air in front of my face.

 I quickly gather a ball of air in my free hand and fire it at the spirit, slamming it through the trunks of the trees, felling them and opening up the canopy, letting the sunlight in.

My body freezes as I finally see the full figure of the spirit as it claws its way out of the fallen trees; long sharp claws protruding from scaly fingers, a tattered and worn blood-stained dashiki covering most of its body, sharp jagged teeth dripping in a purple liquid and blood, pointed ears and beady red eyes contorted in anger, but most striking of all was the large red mat embroidered with various white symbols rolled and tied to its back.

If you ever see one anywhere, I want you to run, do you understand? You are not ready to face a spirit like that.

Baba’s warning echoes through my body, forcing me to grip my spear even tighter. I don’t have a choice to run, I tell myself. 

           The Yorubas call it an Egbere, an evil spirit that can consume the chi of man and animal alike and with each life it consumes the mat on its back grows more luxurious, there are rumours that taking it from the creature would kill it and grant great riches but no one has ever succeeded to prove that. But how is it here? Baba said they only come out at night.

I don’t get the time to think about it further as it charges at me once more, claws extended in front of it. I swiftly block the attack with the full length of my spear before pushing it off and attacking its head with a swipe. It ducks under it, quickly darting up an adjacent tree to hide in the shadows of the leaves.

       No hiding for you. I launch another gust of wind in its direction blowing out the canopy of leaves and releasing more sunlight into the area but I see no sign of it.

Suddenly a searing pain courses through my back, as I feel sharp claws slicing through my skin. “ARGH!!!” It felt like liquid fire was pouring into an open wound, the smell of burning flesh slowly rising from my back as I stumbled forward in pain. 

A deep menacing chuckle erupts from the egbere, a menacing grin plastered on its leathery face as it licks the blood of its claws.

“Ah, your blood is delicious, young one.” It says wickedly in Yoruba as it savours the taste of my blood. I open my hands trying to blow it away with another gust of wind but the pain worsens, and my muscles spasm as if they were being ripped from the inside out.

      I collapse to the floor, chest tight and my breath ragged. “You must be ‘awakened’.” It continues, “Although not one of these lands, it seems like my poison works all the same.” Poison?! I grit my teeth remembering the purple liquid that was dripping from its teeth earlier, something I should have noticed and now it’s stopping me from using my powers. 

“How.. is something like... You here?” I ask weakly.

“So you can speak my tongue, eh.” It replies, “Take a look around you boy, notice anything strange.”

I look around and to my surprise, the trees that I had destroyed with my attacks have been restored, as if nothing ever happened to the forest at all. Impossible I panic and the spirit grin grows wider. “Ah, I love the smell of fear. The balance of the world will soon be altered boy and dark times are coming, THE SCOURGE IS COMING AND THIS WORLD WILL SOON BURN!!”

A maniacal laughter erupts from its jaws shaking my body to its core, the poison has sunk in more, I can barely feel my legs, my vision is dimming but the words of the spirit keep ringing in my head forcing me to stay conscious.

I don’t know what he was talking about and I didn’t care right now. I need to find a way to kill it before it causes more terror for my village. I struggle to my feet using my spear to keep myself upright and face the egbere. “I won’t let that happen.” I rasp.

“You awakened are all the same.” It sneers, “olodos trying to be heroes and heroes always end up dead.”

It leaps at me, jaws open, teeth ready to carve through my flesh. I barely block with my spear but due to the effects of the poison I’m forced to my knees and it takes advantage using its claws to slash continuously at me, getting through my weak efforts to block its attacks and injecting more of its deadly toxin into me while it continues to laugh. 

         It eventually knocks me into the trunk of a tree, the pain almost knocking me out but I grit my teeth and rest against the rough bark, my chest heaving as blood flows from the wounds on my body, staining the tattered brown loincloth tied at my waist. 

“It seems that you are on your last legs, young one, how pitiful.” It slowly approaches, the glow in its red eyes even more menacing, claws scraping the floor, saliva dripping from its mouth, “However, I’ll enjoy your flesh and soul”.

It’s going to kill me, I’m going to die here. Fear grips me, as the reality of death draws closer. I can barely breathe, my sight is almost gone, my muscles aren’t responding, I can’t feel my magic, and the darkness is starting to close in.

Accept it. The voice in my head tells me, Be free from this responsibility that shackles you. My body relaxes and my grip on my spear loosens as I let it fall to the floor as I sink further into the darkness.

The power you possess comes with a great responsibility, you no longer hold only your life in your hands but the lives of many who will look to you to protect them. Do not fail them, do not fail yourself.

I lurch forward. Baba’s words forced renewed strength through my body. I can’t die. I tell myself. I won’t lose anything I hold dear ever again. 

Gritting my teeth, I close my eyes and feel for my chi within me trying to coax out as much as I can. However, the toxins in my body are like weeds, wrapping around it tightly preventing me from using my magic but I had to try even if it would damage my body further. Slowly, I open both palms towards the spirit stepping back until my back rests along the rough trunk of the tree, I only have one chance.

When it charges for the final blow, my body relaxes once again but now I’m straining every one of my senses to its maximum. Time slows as my brain processes every bit of information around me to its fullest, Nkwalite, a technique used by awakened soldiers to preserve their chi and increase their physical capabilities.

I see it leap towards me, teeth bared. I feel the pain as the claws thrust into my chest, the toxin being injected.

Wind shoots out my hand then I hear groaning, wailing and crying as I fall. A red mat falls in front of me, its symbols blurry as my consciousness fades. I reach out and grab it, holding it close to my chest to cushion my fall.

Then the darkness takes me.