The Scapegoat
Agbako was shocked by the sudden disappearance of Adekunle and by the fact that a stranger easily broke one of his most potent chants.
"After them!" He ordered without thinking, "Kill the both of them!"
His two apprentices obeyed immediately jumping into action, they followed Ṣeyi and Adekunle into the tree, leaving Agbako with Iba-ile and the rest.
Almost immediately, Iba-ile wittingly took command "Quickly," He called, snapping everyone out of their ecstatic state. "Ṣeyi has given us the perfect distraction, Bọlaji, Akin follow the man with the broken arm, Iba-ayọ follow the other one and leave me to Agbako
"But" Akin protested
"Go!" Iba-ile shouted
Without any further arguments, they followed his orders, worrying about Iba-ile will achieve nothing the best way to help him is to reduce the number of their enemies. His decision was crucial, Ṣeyi and Adekunle cannot survive alone in the enchanted forest and if Agbako is not slowed down or distracted the mission will lack any possibility of success. Therefore, they needed a sacrifice, someone who would slow Agbako down while the others assisted Ṣeyi in safeguarding Adekunle, Iba-ile choose himself as that sacrifice.
Bọlaji followed the first of Agbako's servants and next to him, Akin, who was far more concerned about the food he had left at the camp. The hunchback was following in Bọlaji's tracks trying his very best not to distract the older more experienced warrior, knowing fully well that Bọlaji was plotting a strategy on how to defeat this opponent. Iba-ayọ moved close by, he had a serious look in his eye. "Be careful," he told them, and then he launched his attack on his chosen foe, and struck a deadly blow, which got the attention and the curses from the one he chose to attack. The 2 men exchanged blows before the branch on which they stood gave in beneath their weight causing them both to fall towards the forest floor.
Akin and Bọlaji still followed the last of Agbako's subordinates failed to realise that he was being followed, they found it difficult to catch up to him being a more experienced tree jumper to their dismay, Akin panicked the moment he noticed that their quarry was almost out of reach.
"How do we stop him?" Akin inquired.
"Leave it to me" Bọlaji replied, then he carefully drew out one of the calabashes from his sack and chanted:
"The bats of the night sky have eyes,
But see not,
Neither can the fishes see the sun
And the birds are blind to the depths
Only fools are blind.
Olumi O blind him both in his mind,
Heart and soul"
Bọlaji threw his calabash at the man the same moment Ṣeyi made the big jump, it caused the man to fall all the way down to the forest floor. Akin tried to stop Ṣeyi's jump, but he was too late and too far off for Ṣeyi to hear him he had already made the jump. Akin remained for a while to make sure Ṣeyi made it safely to the other side before he followed Bọlaji down to the forest floor to challenge Agbako's apprentice.
****************
Iba-ayọ and his chosen opponent landed on the forest floor in a tangled heap with jungle vines wrapped about them, taking no chances with the smaller opponent Iba-ayọ drew out one of his knives to stab him to death. To his astonishment, he received a burning sensation to his chest, the pain blinded him momentarily causing him to flinch. Then he felt the monstrous strength of his opponent force them apart, he felt the vines that tied them together give way to the assassin's imcredible strength. In an instant he was tossed across the clearing, while Iba-ayo tried to recollect his thoughts his opponent freed himself form the rest of the vines that held him ristrained.
"You dare to challenge me Akani the right hand of Agbako,
The stone of the ilaro forest
He that eats uncooked yams and drink palm wine with the gods
You have stepped on the tail of the cobra
Now you will receive the gift of venom" Akani stood boldly
"I will present you with the gift of death"
"I am Iba-ayo the soul of Ede village
As swift as the hawk and sharp as the scorpion sting
It is you who would face death
For the sun and the moon have agreed
to end the days of your life" Iba-ayo retorted.
"Iba, only a fool would challenge a bear to a wrestling
Match but you have proved yourself less than a fool
As the sky moves, so shall you decend to the depths of no return.
Akani shot, unknowing to Iba-ayọ his opponent has begun chanting. Chanting is a traditional form of warfare practised among the ancient Yoruba warriors. It is almost the same as a duel between two wizards, and Agbara was considered to be magical energy used to vanquish enemies, though the theory seems to be the same the method of application is different. The spirit energy of all men can be drawn out and used as a weapon depending on the covenant medium used, which is why men of power in Yoruba land surrender to one divine entity or another.
The moment Iba-ayo noticed that his enemy Akani was chanting, he tried to strengthen his defences but his response was too late, he felt a flush of dizziness wash through out his entire body. He would have lost his life if he had not encountered this chant before, and it's a good thing that his experience had shown him how to counter a chant of this nature.
"It gives peace in a slow death
Once one's back touch the ground,
it never raises again death without pain and
Pain without strength sleep and never wake" Akani chanted.
"Iro ni (It's a lie)" Iba-ayo countered.
The scorpion can never drown in a bucket of blood
The scorpion can never be poisoned by it's venom
I am above all weakness and sorrow,
I command you, impotent chant
Leave me alone!!" Iba-ayo chanted desperately.
Akani smiled, though he is still learning under Agbako's skilled tutelage. He had finally met someone who is equally as fortified as he is, now he must use his stronger charms if he hopes to defeat this interesting opponent. He took out a small shell from his pocket and emptied the content on the palm of his left hand. It contained a special kind of white powder, the ritual necessary to create such a powerful charm had already been performed so there was nothing else needed to be done but to use the chant.
"The covenant of the earth is my heritage and my ancestral inheritance,
It joins me to the air and the trees,
That joins the trees to the winds,
And the winds to the waters,
And the waters to the sky,
And the sky to the gods,
Upon these elements, I combine,
Awaken a curse against, he that has spoken against you. Iku O!" Then he blew the powder towards Iba-ayo.
Iba-ayo was more than prepared for this attack, even though the chant held him spellbound naturally he had mentally prepared a more potent counter curse.
"Akani" he chanted, and then he directed his attention to the two knives he said:
"Tools of Ogun god of iron fire and war,
How long have I kept you away from war?
And left you thirsty for the blood of your enemies
Now is your time, feed well,
Quench your thirst with their blood
This is your meal"
The dust drifted towards Iba-ayo, who broke the chant that held him spellbound, raised his knife and stroke the potency of the charm, thereby nullifying its effects with his enchanted blade. Akani seeing the failure quickly resulted in another chant.
"The people of…"
"Gbẹnu dakẹ," (Silence) Iba-ayọ shouted, and rendering Akani mute and spellbound at the same time "tool of Ogun, feed, this is your meal!!"
Iba-ayo rushed and struck a great blow using the blade that he had just enchanted, the poison of Ogun rushed quickly through Akani's body draining his blood and shortening his life. Akani grasped at the pain and the revelation struck him, "I'm going to die". How could he be so careless, Agbako had told him that Ẹṣọs were weak, yet he is the one going to die by the hand of one of these so-called weak Ẹṣọs. In a last desperate effort to preserve his dignity, Akani raised his left hand and shouted 'Ọwọ-ebu' Ọwọ -Iku, Ọwọ -Ẹjẹ" which means the hand of a curse, the hand of death, hand of blood, his left hand began to radiate in a bloody aura with curses emitting from his fading life-force, then he forced it down towards Iba-ayo's chest.
To save dear life Iba-ayo stopped him by grabbing ahold of Akani's arm, if that hand should even touch him, he would be dead in a matter of seconds. This is the nature of the Yorubas poison, it is unforgiving, unrelenting and does not discriminate. The struggle between Iba-ayọ and the dying Akani lasted for quite a while. Akani already knew that he cannot survive with a wound of that nature, hence, his determination to die with his opponent had led to him opening the gates of madness presenting him with enough strength to kill his last victim. It was obvious that they both would die and Iba-ayọ felt helpless using up the last reserves of his strength.
"I will not die alone Ẹṣọ, we will die together" Akani roared in hatred
Iba-ayọ closed his eyes and waited for the cursed hand to make contact with his skin when all of a sudden something hard hit Akani's head, causing him to fall unconscious. Thanks to that Akani would bleed out and die in a matter of minutes, Iba-ayo was so surprised by the sudden stroke of good luck that he recoiled, who had helped him to survive his close death encounter? He wondered
"Where are the others?" Ṣeyi asked as he walked out of his hiding place behind a tall grass
"Ṣeyi!" Iba-ayọ exclaimed. The watcher's words were true, he taught. Not only had this boy saved his life, but he had also fulfilled his purpose.
"The moment I made sure of Adekunle's safety I came back for the rest of you," Ṣeyi explained.
"Iba-ile's challenging Agbako he needs help" Iba-ayo answered "and by now Bọlaji and your ugly friend is taking care of Agbako's other goon"
"Well, let's go," Ṣeyi said, "they'll need help"
"Ṣeyi!" Iba-ayọ called, awkwardly
"Yes!" Ṣeyi replied, confused
"I'm sorry I doubted you"
"No problem, I once doubted in myself too," he smiled, "now let's go help the others, gba!"
**************
Before Akin could reach the forest floor, he found Bọlaji hanging upside down observing their would-be opponent recover from his drop, which temporarily stunned him.
"Well let's go," Akin said
"If we're to beat him we must fight as one" Bọlaji replied
"How?" Akin asked
"You face him physically, it seems your strength is beyond that of a normal person and you stand a chance of winning through brute force, while I will shadow the trees"
"Good idea," Akin replied foolishly, then taught better of it. Is Bọlaji just handing him like a scapegoat to the slaughterhouse to save himself? He wandered. Then just shoved the thought aside knowing fully well that he's not bright enough to think that deeply, Ṣeyi's the one who always does his thinking for him. Without any question, he just jumped down to challenge the hand of Agbako
The moment the wounded member of Agbako's hunting party laid his eyes on the hunch back he scowled,
"I am Ikude the right hand of Agbako
The face of death and the anger of Ṣọpọnna god of smallpox and sickness
Who dares attempt to stab a semi-divine in his back?
For my curse will follow you to your grave".
Ikude's broken arm might have cut down his fighting ability but he's still a formidable opponent, he still boasted and had full confidence in his strength. Akin came down suddenly and with all his strength and delivered a vicious blow hoping to end Ikude for the last time, but Ikude expected it and quickly stepped aside. Akin missed and struck a stone instead which crumbled against the pressure of the blow. Akin looked down at his own hands, surprised by the strength that he did not know he possessed and shocked that his hand wasn't damaged from the impact of such a vicious blow.
"So it's you, the ugly one you might have strength enough to break the bones in my arm, but today you will know the difference between the gorilla and the monkey.
"Yes!" Akin replied, "The gorilla (pointing to himself) and the monkey (pointing to Ikude) gorillas are ugly (to prove his point)".
With pure rage Ikude attacked, no one enjoys being insulted. Ikude considers this an unforgivable offence, an offence punishable by death. Akin had never been in a life and death struggle before, but considering the way his body was responding it seems like fighting is second nature. His senses respond to the slightest changes in the tide of the battle, he was fast in evading the attack and was even quicker to land a counterattack. Each time he landed a blow he was closer to rendering Ikude unconscious. Ikude was quick in avoiding the deadly blow which in his own opinion was inhuman had he not seen this boy with other men he would assume him an evil spirit, even his strength proved him dangerous and inhuman. Akin picked Ikude up easily and threw him towards the branch of a nearby tree.
"As I said I am the big ugly gorilla," Akin mocked as he watched Ikude struggle to get back to his feet "Monkey!"
"May my blade cut you into a million pieces?" Ikude growled, then he drew out an enchanted blade from his pocket and threw it savagely at Akin.
When it comes to physical strength Akin is worthy of the challenge, but when it comes to the use of chants and incantations, he is lacking. The blade that Ikude used was chanted, therefore the blade should hit its mark would kill the hunchback in a matter of seconds. Akin felt his heart freeze in terror at his impending doom when a stone from nowhere stroke the blade breaking its trajectory and knocking it away from its path and saving Akin's life by a hair's length. Akin smiled both in relief and in confidence, he didn't need to know where the stone came from, "Bọlaji!" Bọlaji was protecting him from the shadows and with this newfound confidence and his perception became clearer. Akin is the physical attacker and Bọlaji the chant breaker. Akin didn't waste any time dwelling on mind-numbing explanations he did the only thing that he knows how to do, he attacked the surprised Ikude and scored another blow. Ikude managed to slow down Akin's follow-up assault by using a powerful force of concentrated Agbara to push Akin away "duro bẹ" (Stop there), but that could not slow down the hunchback gorilla. Akin stood up immediately and attached again, to Ikude's frustration. He was having a hard time trying to avoid the insane strength of his little gorilla-like opponent, while a coward hid within the trees protecting him. Bọlaji started throwing tiny things at Ikude, intended to distract the assassin and to cause him great discomfort and pain. Ikude ignored this because he believed in his spiritual strength and the enchanted fortification that Agbako his mentor had placed in him, he believed he was strong enough to defend himself against any attacks the hidden opponent can think of. He needs to focus on Akin the hunchback and he's not willing to allow anything to deviate his mind away from his chosen prey. Ikude chanted into the air and formed two small spirits from dust to torment Akin to death, but to his frustration, a calabash thrown from a nearby tree broke the chant before it could do any damage. If he threw a curse, there would be a counter curse and to make things worse the little hunchback had dislocated his right shoulder, Ikude found it difficult to contain his building frustration, in the fullness of his rage he shouted.
"Sleep! Sleep!! Sleep!!!"
At that exact moment, Akin who knew nothing about fortifying his mind fell asleep while still in a standing position, as expected, the counter chant was already in effect. Akin had already started to wake up, but Ikude had expected this, within the snap of a finger he drew out his small knife and dashed for Akin's neck, Bọlaji knowing that it will take Akin some time to gather his wits after waking up jumped out from his hiding place in order to block the finishing blow.
"Finally the tortoise has crawled out of its shell" Ikude commented landing a blow with the base handle of his blade across Bọlaji's face, causing him to fall to the ground before Bọlaji could stand up Ikude kicked him down again and continued kicking Bọlaji to his heart's content. The only thing that kept Bọlaji from losing his consciousness is his inner strength.
"I lost my arm to two small boys, how embarrassing, Agbako would punish me for this error, but at least I have you now," he said hatefully.
Akin woke up a moment later and tried to help Bọlaji, but Ikude had all the advantage now. he simply lifted his good hand and held Akin spellbound, then he chanted intending to inflict pain. The chant forced the painful sensation of fire throughout Akin's entire being, hoping to torture him to death, though he was in pain Akin refused to scream out. Bọlaji instinctively threw some sand into Ikude's, eyes, rendering him temporarily blind and prompting him to release his hold on Bọlaji and to stop tormenting Akin.
"Tell me, what stops me from killing you both?" Ikude mocked seeing that he still had the advantage
"The fact that you are already dying Ikude" Bọlaji replied, coldly
"Ha! Ha!!" He laughed, "You kill me? Impossible".
"But you are dying," Bọlaji mocked, with a hint of triumph in his voice "allow me to explain when you were concentrating on your battle with Akin. I was throwing things at you, you assumed them mere nuances, but it wasn't. I was not throwing stones at you, I was planting seeds in you, chanted seeds in your body and when I touched you just now they began to sprout, Akin was just to divert your attention from the real danger, me!"
"That's a lie, an insect like you cannot do any harm to an elephant like me" Ikude spouted with all evidence of fear within his voice.
Ikude assumed that Bọlaji was lying, but the numbing sensation that was spreading throughout his arm proved that Bọlaji was telling the truth. Ikude could feel fire moving through his veins and he can see his dislocated arm move in an abnormal proportion.
"It's already taking root," Bọlaji said "The more you fight, the more it grows, because now it's feeding on your spiritual strength"
Ikude almost wept in his despair, the seeds in his body worked their way through his innards slowly, poisoning his internal organs and stealing away his lifeforce. "calm yourself," he thought, hoping to figure out a way of escape "I can still get out of this one" realising that he could use a counter chant to stop the process if possible reverse it. "herrrr!!" He gowned, as the plant devouring him from within clawed through his rib cage, shredding his skin and leaking away his precious blood "I know a chant!" He taught, opening his mouth to speak the words he hoped would save his life, but to his despair, he choked on the words and coughed out blood, the plant had damaged his lungs! "hhhheeeaaaa!!!" He exclaimed the moment the bark beneath his skin ripped its way out into the open to sprout new branches "I must..." He could not finish that thought because he felt the claw within his skin crawl up behind his neck, it grabbed a hold of his skull-crushing it along with Ikude's life
Akin looked at the spectacle in horror "Bọlaji you are wicked" Akin said, "Hee! Look at the way you killed him"
"Well Akin better he dies than us," Bolaji replied, ignorantly "besides, you fought well Akin"
"You too," Akin said, as they observed the final process of Ikude's transformation into a tree. Its bark was stained with human blood and the base of the tree had small ripped pieces of clothing embedded in it and on the surface of the tree is the bark-like representation of Ikude's face twisted, expressing the pain he felt during the process.
The sight was quite disturbing for the feeble-minded Akin. "Bọlaji let's go," he said, hoping that Bọlaji would agree with his suggestion.
"Yes" Bọlaji agreed, understandingly "the others might need our help"