Chapter 8 - Slain

Every of the villagers as fast as their legs would carry them jumped into their separate houses; quickly banged their doors shut and the village even in the day which was before radiating with total noise was now forced and banqueted with silence.

Even so, they peeped their eyes from their looped windows for the need to satisfy their curiosity seeing what was going to happen to the pregnant woman who was carried against her will to the palace even in the broad daylight.

As the royal guards will leave a street to the other street in their walk straight down to the palace, the villagers in the street to which they left trooped out at once and as a few followed secretly behind the royal guards, others braced their hands on their heads and a continuous exclamation they emitted.

Her husband in his position has not stopped thundering with distance wailing if only time could be reversed, he definitely would have stopped his wife from visiting the birth attender which now caused him his doom.

The more he would want to bounce on the old woman and punched her to her death, he cannot for his thought hindered him of his intentions that even the birth attender had no idea of this event.

Osabiegun as the King was seen by the villagers as an errand dog for the witches who will for every reason succumb to the wishes of the witches. Even so, it was well understood that if the desires of the witches will not be carried out, great tribulation would be caused to befall their land.

It was well understood that an infant baby boy born at dusk was the meat of their sacrifice but to have come to pick a whole pregnant woman was something the villagers haven't seen in their entire lives thus, caused them their confusion.

Many of those families who has other families in other villages just like it happened before had picked both small and big of their properties and migrated out of Ifa-ile lest, their wives would be the next sacrifice for the witches.

Those who were alone; who has the whole of their lives centered in Ifa-ile had no other choice than to forcefully pursue their steadfast loyalty to Ifa-ile but even those families who in their ignorance migrated to Efon had no idea what awaits them.

In the dungeon they threw the pregnant woman as the command of Osabiegun instructed the moment they entered into the palace.

Even in her bravery, she was afraid as she knew already that she hit the end of her road. No amount of tears or plead will save her from this peril was the words her mind told her as even the looks from the royal guards guarding the dungeon were of no pity or remorse.

Why her in the whole of Ifa-ile was the question her mind troubled her with that she knew not when she fell into the trap of her own tears.

The witches who in their distance and realm continued to expand their jaws in their dericious laughter as they leered at the pregnant woman. The step of dance they picked one after another into a circle as they kept jumping and spreading their arms slowly in form of a wing.

Few among the villagers who in their capacity satisfied their curiosity returned to the rest of the villagers as they almost reached the palace fed them with tales and exaggerations of the event that took place at the palace as if they saw everything and heard everything of the event.

In their words to which they backed up their claim and the reason to which they quickly returned just as they put it that a non-venomous snake glides quietly on a journey carefully hopes not to be detected. If seen, gripped quickly on a surface to which it would escape away.

The rest of the villagers who in this strength believed their words quickly fired their legs in a race back into their houses which now caused the whole of Ifa-ile again into a conquering silence and the halt of every economic activities.

In the palace, several calabashes has one of the priests demanded. For the sacrifice is huge, either they get a bigger calabash or they got quite a number of different calabashes were the words he spoke.

Osabiegun, Oranmiyan and the Chiefs and Elders seated in the palace started with another discussion since what troubled their mind had been sorted. To them, Osabiegun had given the command to the eldest priest to organize the preparation of the sacrifice and to which the eldest priest and the rest of the priest have gotten unto with immediate action.

The Eldest priest in his own right quickly summoned the young priest sending the royal guards under the command of Osabiegun which in that way propelled the legs of the young priests at the shrine to march straight down to the palace.

Even before the night will slap the face of the Earth as the night should not pass and the sacrifice for the witches should not be ready, the pregnant woman had been brought out of the dungeon and watched by three of the young priests as the command of the eldest priest noted.

Her hair both on her head and that of her virginal was scrapped in the same way and simultaneously as she had been washed. To them, she must be cleansed of all unholiness before she would be prepared for the witches, so she can be accepted.

In this same way was her finger nails trimmed. If only she had not gone to the birth attender were words she continued to vormit in her sober voices as tears continued to stream down her eyes.

The instant she was naked she swallowed her tears and in that same way frowned her face the more. She looked at the young priests who were given the order to prepare her as the sacrifice and placed her both hands on her belly.

She stared at them for a moment as she continued to breath heavily and as she spoke she made her voice become louder than how she had been wailing in tears before.

For these young priests shall not be favoured in all the days of their lives, if the sun still shines in the day and the moon still rule at night. They shall clamour their teeth each and every day for what they shall know is sorrow and tribulation and the instant they shall be helped, they shall die. For a fish cannot be smart enough and suddenly get tired of its habitat lest it perishes away in it desires.

As quickly as she rested for a minute, she began again. She looked at the four corners of the chamber to which she was been prepared and in her words which represents the whole of Ifa-ile to the four corners of the chamber.

That, Ifa-ile would drain in tribulation and its people shall not be united. That, ifa-ile would continue to be a servant in the hands of the witches until they have all been killed and tattered of every good thing.

That Osabiegun and his children, and his children and his children children will perish one after another just has she had been made to perish. That, the chiefs and Elders will always see themselves as enemies until they wield their swords to kill one another. That these will not happen if only she was not pregnant and was not a meat for their sacrifice.

If she still had more words to say, she was cut short of the words as she was now slained by the neck and her blood was mad to gush into a different calabash.

Until she was completely drained of blood, all her blood was collected into different calabashes which now gave them the go ahead to chop her meat into pieces.

In this way, her head was the first to be completely chopped off from her neck as they plucked out her eyes and rested both the head and the eyes into a different calabash. Her belly was cut off which in that vein caused them to bring out her intestine as they placed it into a different calabash from the calabash they placed the head and the eyes.

Her virginal wasn't left out in these process as one of the young priests carefully cut it off and threw it into the smallest calabash and another of the young priest cut off her heart immediately and threw it into the same calabash.

The day was becoming weaker and the night getting stronger to conquer the day as Osabiegun and his members including Oranmiyan started off with palm wine again. To them, there was no need to worry as everything had gone according to plan.

The eldest priest who just walked into the chamber to check how far the preparation had gone suddenly exclaimed in total surprise as he asked in his loudest voice for what they had done.