** EMEKA **
I opened my eyes and the bright sun almost blinded me. I shut my eyes again. When the realization hit me that it was a new day, and the final day of my quest, I quickly stood up and looked around for my leather bag and thankfully, it was still there. I brought out my phone and checked for any missed call, but there wasn't any. I tried calling Chioma but her phone was switched off and I prayed she was alright.
I stood up and brushed off the dust from my tattered clothes and hung the leather bag across my shoulder. After a few minutes of walking, I was finally outside the forest and I let out a huge sigh of relief. But I suddenly noticed that the people around were staring at me in shock and disbelief. Some of them had their mouths wide open and I feared for them that flies may fly in their mouths. I also checked myself properly to see if I had mistakenly slept in a pile of shit or something.
One of the men walked up to me and asked if I was okay and if I was hurt anywhere. He spoke in broken English and I told him I was perfectly fine. But I wished I could say the same for my clothes. I asked him why everyone was making a fuss about me coming out of the forest.
"Na Sambisa forest be that oh, we wey be people of this place no dey even near that place or make mistake enter there." the man said and spat on the ground.
"So na the famous Sambisa forest be this? Mad oh!" I said surprisedly because it wasn't quite what I had expected it to be or maybe if I hung around a little bit, I might find what I was looking for. But I decided against it.
I asked around for where the nearest town was and the man told me that the only way to get there was to hitch a ride on a trailer which was such a ridiculous idea but there wasn't much of a choice to be made. I reluctantly boarded the next trailer that was packed with goods that I almost got crushed when the trailer hit a bump on the road and the goods almost collapsed on me.
When we got to the town, I alighted the trailer and thanked the driver as he continued on his journey. Everywhere was rowdy and I didn't even know where to continue from there. I felt so lost and alone but I knew I had to continue the quest, no matter how tough it got.
Suddenly, I felt a cold sensation on my leg as something tightened around it. I looked down and saw a snake coiling itself around my leg. I screamed and kicked it off far away.
"That's no way to treat your helper is it? Why do you people always kick the snake away?" A voice said behind me and I jumped away.
"What the..." I said and saw a man standing there and glaring at me. He hissed just like a snake then he spoke in a stern tone.
"Why did you kick the snake away?"
"Well if you didn't go around wrapping snakes around people's legs, they might probably treat you better. Who are you anyway?" I said feeling creeped out and jumpy.
He just sighed and shook his head. "Kids these days don't know their gods anymore."
"Umm… you are a god?" I asked as I stared at him from head to toe.
He hissed. "The girl had a better attitude than you do." he said and I suddenly blinked.
"What girl?"
"Your companion. The one you are on a quest with. She was here a day earlier than you." He explained.
I let out a sigh of relief and almost collapsed from the relaxation and the worry that was lifted off my shoulder. She was alive and I was thankful for that. I even forgot about asking the god who he was.
"Ehem!" he coughed and brought me back to my senses.
"I'm sorry, you were about to introduce yourself."
"My name is Osumare, the god of direct movement, rainbow-serpent guardian of children, lord of elongated things and controller of the umbilical cord."
I stifled a laugh. "Lord of elongated things?"
He sneered at me and continued. "Well I'm here to help out in your quest."
"Help out? How do you mean?" I asked suddenly gaining interest.
"I'm to send you where you need to go", he said.
"The Biu Plateaux?" I asked and he scoffed.
"No, why do you guys always ask me that? I will send you to Chibok where you will transport yourself to Biu."
My shoulders slumped. "Oh and how long is the journey from Chibok to Biu?"
"Approximately two hours. It's not that much. I'm sure you can manage." He said as he started waving his hands as the air around began to shimmer. "I'm sending you to a place you can emerge without people having to wonder about you appearing out of thin air."
"Umm… okay? So when do I go?" I asked.
"Right now." He said and suddenly the whole space around me warped and I found myself behind a plantain tree by the roadside.
I peered out from behind the tree to see if anyone noticed my entrance, but thankfully no one did. The road was busy and getting a ride to a bus station wouldn't be a difficult task. I stood on the road for close to ten minutes, but no motorcycle, taxi or tricycle would stop to pick me. I couldn't blame them. With my tattered clothes and rugged hair, I looked like a mad person that rolled himself in a dumpster. This in itself was a new personal low for me.
Finally, a tricycle stopped and I got in. I noticed how the lady sitting close to me slowly edged away and I just smiled at her. It then occurred to me that I might not have the money to pay for the transport fare and I dug around my pockets to see if I would find anything as though I had actually stashed some money in them. Surprisingly, I found a wallet in my back pocket and how the wallet came to be there, I had no idea. I quickly opened it and found wads of cash inside, mostly one thousand naira notes. I giggled and the lady stared at me in a combination of shock, disbelief, confusion and disgust. I couldn't distinguish them.
I alighted at the park and luckily for me, there was a boutique at the opposite side of the road. I crossed over and went in. At first the attendants wanted to send me out thinking I was a mad man that wandered into their place of work until I flashed them the cash and told them I was looking for a change of clothes, and then their faces brighten up as though I was a mad man that had just regained his sanity.
I bought identical clothes to the ones I had on : black canvas, a black jacket, a black turtle neck sleeveless and black jeans. How the money in the wallet was enough to buy all of these things was a mystery to me, but who was I to question my luck. All I then needed was a good bath, but it seemed impossible at the time. I decided to take a walk to the residential areas to see if anything would fall in place.
On reaching a public compound, I saw a guy with a bucket of water and a towel around his neck walking into the bathroom. He placed the water on the floor and hung his towel on the door. I didn't know what message he received on his phone, but he quickly rushed out of the bathroom and I took his place and hurriedly bathed with his water. I was not the type that used other people's towels. It seemed to me like a very unhygienic act and I loathed the very idea of it. But I didn't have much of a choice. The towel was neat so I used it and quickly dressed up in the new clothes. I took my leather bag and left, leaving him to solve the mystery of the disappearing water and used wet towel.
I got back to the park and thankfully, the last bus still had two more passengers left before it got filled. So I entered and waited till the last passenger came and we set out for Biu. Normally, I would have fallen asleep in the bus but with the way my life was going then, I couldn't even dare. I kept my eyes open as the trip progressed without any hitch.
After two hours, we got to Biu and I noticed people entered another bus that was traveling to another destination. I enquired from the driver what was going on and he told me that Biu was like a ghost town and that the locals went missing overnight so people no longer travelled to the place. He pointed to a dark spot in the sky and told me that smoke had been rising at that part and was polluting the sky making the place unsafe. He concluded by saying if I knew what was good for me, I would leave too and then he ignited his engine and drove off.
When I walked into the town, I found out that he was right. The whole place was a ghost town. No single soul was alive; no cats, no dogs. It was a void. A certain uneasiness crept into my nerves but I knew I had to keep going. Chioma was already far up ahead and I had to catch up with her, whatever it took.
By then it was already close to evening and I was tired. As much I would have loved to charge into Aganju's territory, I was in no condition to fight. I needed to rest. I went into one of the houses and laid down on one of the make shift beds and drifted off to sleep. There was no subconscious travel and I was grateful for that. I needed every part of me in one piece for the battle I was about to fight.
________
I woke up at 6:00 am and jumped to my feet. I grabbed the leather bag, mind slapping myself for sleeping too much. I peered out through the window to make sure the coast was clear. I came out of the house and surveyed the area and found tyre tracks on the outskirts of the town and I followed them. It took me a lot of time, with a lot of climbing and cussing till I got to a fenced area that had guards on the outside. Looking closely, they were normal human beings and not monsters. They were putting on red camouflage. I needed to get past them without alerting the people on the inside and I wondered how I would do so.
An idea suddenly struck me but I felt it would be very risky. It was worth a shot so I decided to go with it. I stepped out of my hiding place and started walking towards them with a smile on my face. They were both confused as they looked at each other and back at me.
"Who are you?" The first one spoke and I ignored him and kept walking closer.
"Stop right there", the second one said and pointed his gun at me and I did.
Both of them started walking towards me and that was just what I wanted. On getting close to me, the first one asked what happened to my hands. And that was because I hid them in my shirt to make me look like someone without hands.
"Why don't you come find out?" I said and they actually came closer. I wondered what planet they came from because usually when someone says something like that and in the manner that I did, it's always a trap.
As soon as they got within my calculated range, my hands peeked out from under my clothes and unleashed a small amount of lightning that wasn't big enough to kill them but shock them stupid and unconscious. I dragged their bodies behind a boulder and hid them there. I went to the gate and found out it operated on a fingerprint system and I sighed.
"Great!"
I thought about going back to drag one of the unconscious men to open it with their fingerprint. I even thought about cutting the finger I needed and I mentally slapped myself for thinking like a villain. But then I thought to myself that frying the entire thing wouldn't be much of a bad idea.
I placed my palm on the fingerprint sensor and unleashed a tiny bolt of lightning that fried the device and the gate slid open, wide enough for me to quickly go in before anyone noticed. While inside, I could see the volcanic mountain up close and the smoke that was rising from the top. Whatever Aganju was doing, it was working and I needed to stop him.
I looked around for any sign of Chioma, but couldn't see her. The only conclusion was that she had gone ahead and I planned to do the same. I saw tall grasses by the side and jumped in just in time as I looked up to see vulture creatures, the same kind that attacked us on the jet circling the top of the mountain. If they sighted me, they would warn the others before I even made it to the entrance of the volcano. I slowly and quietly started making my way to the entrance of the volcano.
I was almost halfway through the entrance when some guards started running past me towards the gates where I had come in from. They had found out that someone broke in and were now searching frantically for me. I had to hurry because if they caught me at that point, it meant I had to bulldoze my way through. I saw an area that had a huge hole as though there had been an earth slide and I wondered what had happened there. I continued on my way to the entrance.
Suddenly, the sky raged with thunder and lightning as it struck a particular place on the volcano creating discord and chaos among the guards and they forgot about finding me and started running to the entrance of the volcano. Even the monsters guarding the entrance were caught off guard by the lightning strike. I looked up to see who or what was responsible for the lightning attack but there was no sign of activity above. Whatever it was created an opportunity for me and I took it.
I quickly jumped out of the grass. One of the monster which was in a state of confusion and shock jumped at me and I skewered it immediately with my quadent. I tossed it aside and it exploded into dust. Before the second monster could react, I threw my quadent and impaled it, pinning it to the wall. It exploded too. I retrieved my weapon and made my way to the entrance. The first guard that noticed me started shooting and I jumped out of the way quickly enough before a bullet could find its way to my brain. I released a shockwave that sent the guard flying and he slammed against a wall and passed out cold. They might be working for Aganju, but they were still humans and I didn't want to hurt them much in as much as they tried to take me out.
More guards started descending the stairs and running outside. I hid under the stairs. They thought I was outside the volcano causing mayhem. I made my way up the stairs while dodging magma that was dripping all over the place. I got to a level of the volcano and found people that were in cages as they looked at me with hopeless eyes. I thought about freeing them, but against the guards and monsters, they wouldn't stand a chance. They only choice I had was to come back for them after we had completed the quest.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" A guard said from behind me and I quickly turned. I had been so deep in thought I didn't notice him approaching. I couldn't have him shooting here with all the people around. I had to do something.
"Don't shoot, there are people here." I said, raising my hands up.
"If you don't want me to shoot, then come quietly with me." He said, gesturing at me to come over to his side. I started charging my body with electricity to a certain level. I wasn't too big on physics, but I knew lightning could be used to create magnets and if I could charge my body to a certain voltage, then I could turn into a temporal magnet. His gun suddenly started vibrating in his hands. It flew off then and came flying towards me and I caught it with my hand. He looked at me in shock and fear and started begging for his life.
"Please don't kill me", he pleaded
I walked towards him, pointing the gun at him. "Get on your knees"
He quickly did and it struck me at how people like him would act all high and mighty when the power was in their hands and then suddenly turn to grovelling dogs when they were in a tight spot. It was disturbing to look at so I knocked him out with his own gun. I told the people that I would come back for them and left to look for Chioma.
Guards were rushing towards me but I was emitting shockwaves and sending them flying. One of them fired his bullet but the shockwave swatted it away and sent him flying through an open door into what looked like a cell. I looked into the cell and found Chioma bound to a chair. I was so relieved to see her and I rushed to unbind her hands and feet. I extended my hand to her.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She nodded and took my hand as I helped her up. She broke into tears and quickly hugged me and almost crushed my windpipe in the process. She said she was so relieved to see me and had been worried sick.
My body suddenly moved on its own and I kissed her. She was rendered speechless. Her eyes were wide open and she stared at me. I told her not to worry, that it would take more than falling off a jet to kill me.
"Now let's go finish this quest or die trying." I said trying to look confident even though my knees were knocking together but not loud enough for her to hear.
I led her by the hand outside the cell as we made our way up the stairs and I turned to her.
"Do you know where Aganju is keeping Sango prisoner?" I asked and she pointed to the floor above us.
I nodded. "What about Aganju? Where is he?"
"He was talking to me in my cell when lightning blasted him through the window and out of the door and I haven't seen him since then. Wait weren't you the one who blasted him?" She asked.
I shook my head. "I saw the lightning too, but I'm not responsible for it. Anyway we have to keep moving."
We made our way to the next level of the volcano and I peered through a hole and saw Sango. It was exactly how I had seen him in my subconscious. But he was almost disappearing and his essence was fading. I told Chioma to stand back as I charged my fist with lightning. I punched the wall, shattering it and created a hole big enough for us to walk through.
After entering the prison, I got a good look at him; the chains and cables that were binding him were humming with power.
"How are we supposed to get him out of that?" I asked Chioma.
"I wonder." said a voice from the shadows.
Chioma and I turned in the direction it came from.
"So you finally made it here nephew." Aganju said in a dry tone.
"Aganju, I am here to stop whatever evil you are planning." I said trying to be confident.
He just laughed out so loudly that the entire volcano shook. "Stop me? You? How do you even propose to do that? You are not even a proper god yet."
"What do you mean I'm not a proper god yet?" I asked. But deep down, I knew what he meant.
He shook his head.
"Back in ancient times, people used to be smarter than this. It takes the essences of two gods to create another god. When a male and female god combine their essences, they birth another god. In your case, it was two male gods and powerful ones at that. Although, you can say you were born by mistake."
"I don't fully get what you are saying but my powers are no mistake. It was given to me for the purpose of stopping you." I said as I brandished my quadent which was humming with power.
"Admit it, you've already started noticing the changes. Your blood now has a little golden touch to it doesn't it? That's called transitioning. You are leaving your mortal soul behind and becoming immortal."
"Shut up!" I screamed and blasted him with lightning but he swatted it away easily.
"Don't fool yourself nephew, you are not strong enough to defeat me yet." Aganju said and with a flicker of his hand, he sent me flying a distance away that I slammed against the wall and all the air in my lungs got forced out at once.
"Emeka!" Chioma screamed and ran to me.
I tried getting up but my whole body screamed in pain as I coughed up golden blood. It still had a little bit of red in it showing that I was still mortal but only a bit of my mortality was left. I managed to get up as my quadent appeared back in my hand. I charged at Aganju. He sent a hot wave of air at me and I quickly unleashed my own shockwave that nullified it.
"I can do this!" I told myself. "I can stop him."
Chioma placed her hands on my shoulder as she came from behind me. "You are not in this alone, we can do this together." she said.
Aganju was forming a fireball on his hand while he yawned. "Are you guys finished? I would love to kill you now if you don't mind."
"Get behind me", Chioma said in a stern tone and I did as she asked. As soon as Aganju blasted us, Chioma slammed her hand on the ground and created a wall between us and the blast and I chuckled.
"I feel like I'm in Avatar The Last Airbender", I said
"I'm glad you still have your sense of humour but now is not the time. I'll hold him off, figure out a way to break Sango free." Chioma said.
I ran out of the wall Chioma made and threw my quadent at Aganju and it exploded in front of him and sent him back a few steps. He shook his head and prepared for another assault as he fired another blast. I released a shockwave and changed the trajectory of the blast to another place.
"You are starting to annoy me. I think it's time I showed you the difference between you and I." Aganju said as his form began to shimmer making him grow seven meters to loom over me.
"Okay, that's not good." I said and quickly jumped out of the way as he smashed his fist on the ground right where I was standing.
I rushed back to where Chioma was standing as she threw barrages of rock at him.
"Any luck?" She asked and I shook my head.
"He is too strong, both of us alone can't attack and defend against him while freeing Sango at the same time. But I think I know how to free Sango. If he was imprisoned by a god, maybe only a god can free him, so I have to do it and it also means I have to let go of my mortal side."
Chioma gasped. "Isn't there any other way?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so and something has been bothering me."
"What Is it?" She asked while keeping a look out for Aganju's attack.
"All these gadgets and equipment used in holding Sango doesn't seem like what Aganju can come up with all by himself. Somebody must be helping him, somebody smart." I explained.
"That's right!" a familiar voice boomed from where Aganju was standing as another god shimmered into existence. My jaw dropped and my eyes almost popped from their sockets.
Chioma staggered back and almost fell down. "It can't be."
"Orunmila! You? How could you? We trusted you!" I screamed out.
He smiled. "I am the god of wisdom, I can't say no when my fellow god asks for guidance and help."
My quadent hummed louder. "Even if what he is doing is wrong and bad?"
"Good and evil doesn't matter to me. One cannot exist without the other. When you came to me for help, I didn't turn you down did I? So you see how it works." Orunmila said.
I threw my quadent at him and Aganju swatted it away with his hand. The quadent struck the wall and caused an explosion.
Orunmila turned to Aganju. "Your plan is almost complete. You know what to do. I have exam questions to prepare and this place is so stuffy I'm suffocating. See you later."
He vanished afterwards.
"Orunmila!" I screamed out as my eyes sparked with lightning. My quadent reappeared in my hand. Before Aganju could react, I was already in close range and I blasted him on the chest with lightning at point blank which sent him staggering backwards.
My quadent was still humming with power as I charged toward Sango and with all my strength, I raised my quadent and brought it down. But in that split second, I caught a glimpse of Aganju. He wasn't trying to stop me, he was just looking at me with a twisted smile on his face. I turned to Sango and although his head was down, he was shaking it as though he was telling me not to do it. But it was already too late. My weapon came down on the chain and there was a massive power outburst. I tried to pull the weapon free but it wouldn't come loose neither would my hand let go of the weapon and I felt my powers being zapped.
Sango screamed out in pain as his remaining essence finally disappeared and its shockwave sent me crashing into a wall. Sango's axe in the other room got super charged with the powers it had just received and it broke free of its chain and fell into the magma below it. Suddenly the earth began to quake and break while Aganju laughed maniacally.
"Finally! At long last." he said as he formed a golden crown from the magma and placed it on his head. "Aganju the god of volcanoes and deserts is officially back in business."
I managed to get up. I picked up my quadent and looked at Aganju. "What have you done?"
"No, it's not a matter of what I have done. It's what you have done. Congrats! You just killed your father." Aganju said and with a flick of his finger, he sent a heat wave which was mixed with magma in my direction. Chioma jumped in the way quick enough and created an earth shield but it wasn't going to last long as the magma was more powerful than before.
"Emeka you have to get out of here, I'll hold the magma!" she said.
"Don't be stupid, I'm not leaving you here!" I shouted at her.
She shook her head. "This is not the time to be stubborn, you have to go. Assemble the gods and together you might have a chance of stopping Aganju. This quest has gone beyond what you and I can handle."
"I'm not leaving you!" I screamed but she just smiled and kissed me on the cheek as the wall behind me shattered and she sent me flying through it with an earth wave.
The fall to the ground was a bit life threatening, but I managed to manoeuvre myself mid-air to land safely without any injuries. I stood up quickly and tried running to the volcano entrance but it exploded and magma gushed out. The top of the volcano also exploded, spewing magma in all directions.
"Chioma!" I screamed out as tears filled my eyes. I took my quadent and out of anger, I slammed it into the ground and it sent lightning in to the sky. Thunder and lightning tore through the sky as I heard Aganju laugh.
"It's all over nephew. Nothing you do now is going to work!"
I wiped the tears from my eyes as the magma approached me. I took out my quadent from where I struck it in the ground. It was still humming with power as I positioned the spear end towards my heart.
"Whatever it takes!" I said and drove the weapon into my chest. And as I did, lightning from the sky struck me and everything went blank.
________
I found myself floating in a dark void of emptiness and nothingness. I wanted to just stay like that forever, floating in space and darkness because I was a failure. I couldn't even succeed in my quest, neither did I save those innocent people or the person that was important to me. I kept myself in motion, floating as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Umm… this is awkward to watch. Are you just going to float there and cry like a baby?" A familiar voice said.
I turned to look at the person that just spoke and realised why the voice sounded familiar. It was mine, kind of. The person looked like me, although he looked more majestic, pure and was radiating with power. He wore a black pair of jean but he was topless except for the silver cloth that was wrapped around one side of his upper body that flowed down to his backside. He also had three big silver braids that fell down his shoulders and they were clipped all over with silver clips but the end of the braids were left free. His eyes were glowing and looked as though a storm was raging inside.
"Are you done analysing me and ready to listen to what I have to say?" He said, glaring at me.
"Oh sorry. But you do know mom will throw a fit if she saw us looking like this." I said, wiping dried tears from my face.
"Don't act as though you don't like it. This is how your wild imagination created me." He said and puffed his cheeks.
"Oh, so what is this place?" I asked looking around even though there was nothing much to look at.
"This is your soul." he replied dryly.
"You are kidding right? No way my soul is this empty and unbearably bleak." I said feeling a bit disappointed.
He blinked "Empty? What are you talking about? Your eyes must still be foggy over that excessive crying you were doing earlier. Don't tell me you didn't see that big shinning avatar over there." He pointed to an empty space.
At first I saw nothing but when I looked closer, it shimmered into view. The avatar was about ten meters and it looked just like him.
"Wow! Who are you?" I finally asked the question on my mind.
"I am your godly essence. The one born through the essence of Amadioha and Sango."
I shook my head "You look okay. I thought the two essences inside me were battling for balance. Aren't there supposed to be two of you?"
He smiled. "We found balance alright. That fight at Yemoja's place really brought out something in you."
"Well, it didn't change anything. I am a failure! I failed my quest and let down the people who believed in me. Who knows what chaos Aganju has caused across the country." I said as my shoulders slumped.
"Only in despair will the new god be born." My essence said.
"What?" I asked raising my head.
"That was the line of the prophecy wasn't it?" Don't you think now is the time to fulfil that prophecy. What if I told you there was a way to make things right?" He said and my eyes lit up.
"Tell me! What can I do?" I asked desperately.
He started walking towards the glowing avatar as he pulled out two ribbons from thin air. One was long and golden while the other was red and almost fading.
"Well, this wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't in your job description as a god. The only way to make things right is to go back in time before you failed the quest but in order to do that, you have to get rid of your mortal side completely." He said as he tossed away the red ribbon like trash.
"I am willing to do anything if it can right the wrong I did." I said with determination and he smiled.
"I knew you'd say that. Please place your hand on the avatar and take your vows."
I blinked. "Vows? It sounds as though I'm pledging to be a Nun or something."
He sighed. "Just do it!"
I shrugged and placed my hands on the avatar as it hummed.
"Now repeat after me. I Emeka, discard my mortal form and fully accept my duties as the god of the sky, time and second chances."
"Wait! I am the god of the sky, time and second chances? I thought I was going to be another god of thunder and lightning." I asked and he was gradually getting annoyed.
"We already have two thunder and lightning gods, regrettably. Adding one more to that list will not benefit anybody and besides, the lightning you've been showing off was just a fraction of your power. Now repeat the stupid vow and let's get this done with."
I took a deep breath and repeated. "I Emeka, discard my mortal form and fully accept my duties as the god of the sky, time and second chances."
As soon as I finished the vow, the avatar hummed with power and glowed brightly as it got absorbed into my body. It felt as though my body was breaking apart and rebuilding itself at the same time. I exploded with power and everything went blank. When I opened my eyes, I was hovering above the ground in the Sambisa forest.