Village chants and the Eagle team's meeting
The voice of the Akọgun, the most formidable elder of the village, bellowed throughout the area; his personality commanded absolute respect from all the trainees. The Akọgun was the one said to possess the unique covenant, the covenant of the ancestors and he is one of the irreplaceable pillars that symbolizes the strength of the village. His voice is the symbol of law within the village, and he's the only one the Balogun would never dare to cross; he is as rigid as a stone and as bold as a wild lion.
The Ẹṣọ's stood at attention without breaking rank, several trembling with nervousness. Not one of the young warriors would dare to incur the Akọgun's wrath; he always found it easy to explode should one of the warriors try to do something appropriate.
"As I was saying Ẹyin ọmọ kekere (You small children)", the Akọgun began, "The moment you make your decision, it is either life or death" he walked slowly amongst the warriors, looking at all of them in the eye, even though most of them avoided eye contact. "Shall we begin…" he said with a note of amusement in his voice.
"We shall begin with…" Akọgun said but then he was cut short by the voice of someone he didn't expect.
"Agba Akọgun…" Prince Ọpadotun yelled; in response, Akọkun exploded into his tantrum, roaring like a wild lion and made a swift turn to punish the unfortunate soul brave enough to challenge his authority. To his shock, he found the young prince, and despite the fierce look on his face, the prince stood his ground without any sign of fear in his eyes. He wasn't defiant, and he wasn't fearful. The boy had grown mentally, and this development surprised him 'Who could have achieved this?' he wondered. He forced down his sudden rage and focused on the prince with a forced smile.
"What do you want? Young prince" he inquired patiently,
"Agba." Ọpadọtun began, "Please forgive me for my rudeness yesterday," he pleaded as he fell to his knees in his heartfelt apology, "I promise it will not happen again. I am the prince ọmọ ọba ni mi (I am the child of the king)"
"I have already forgiven you twice today," Akọgun said in suppressed rage, "go away, I'm busy"
Ọpadọtun immediately turned away, but not before flashing Ṣeyi a big smile and a wink, and then he ran off; he didn't notice the Akọgun's cold gaze at the back of his head or the fact that the Akọgun was impressed with his sudden change.
"Oluṣeyi," Akọgun said with a slight smile, "Good job correcting that boy, your cunning will one day be useful to this village" Ṣeyi smiled in response to the Akọgun's comment.
All the other Ẹṣọs were wide-eyed and slacked-jawed with shock. To get a positive complement from the Akọgun was next to impossible, yet here is a boy cursed by birth but outshining all of them through pure mischief. The Akọgun had never acknowledged anyone before but things are different in Ṣeyi's case.
"Now we will begin"
The Akogun was the teacher of some of the basic and advanced chanting techniques of the village, he also trained the Ẹṣọs in some combat tactics. Through the course of a few weeks, the younger warriors learnt a lot; he classified chants into several domains.
The general attack chants- major chants known by all Ẹṣọs, including the death chant, sleep chant and Agbara-powered punches.
The general defence chants- Incisions for fortification, the nullification chant etcetera
The transportation chants- chants that allow Ẹṣọs to survive in the forest also known as the survival chants examples are the chants of the leopard shadowing the trees, the water path, tree jumping, earth swimming and others
The legacy chant- chants passed down from one generation to the other e.g. the light of the warrior,
All these chants represent a few of the things Akọgun taught as one of the oldest and the most established warrior of the village, to Ṣeyi the Akọgun seemed to be an embodiment of knowledge which flows like a river where all the animals of the forest can drink freely of the abundance.
"The stronger your body, the more potent the Agbara your body produces", he continued, "first, we start with the Agbara formation exercise. Everyone into your defence stance"
In response, all the trainees took to their defence position; they were all set to defend themselves against unknown attackers, concentrating on the amount of power they could harness within their bodies.
"Agbara," The Akọgun continued as he inspected the progress of the Ẹṣọs in his charge ", is the manifestation of spirit power; it is usually manifested in the colour of grass (green) and feeds upon the light of the sun. The light of Oluwa-orun which is also the giver of life"
This exercise continued for several minutes, and then the Akọgun called for a halt; he allowed them to rest for a while before the next exercise. The Akọgun walked towards Ṣeyi as he usually did during the training and gave him a sign of disappointment, a sign that Ṣeyi was used to; it was the Akọgun's way of telling him that his Agbara formation was a complete fail. He punched the earth in frustration and vowed to try harder during the next training exercise, and then the second half of training resumed.
"Now, your questions," Akọgun said calmly, hoping to allow the warriors to gather enough courage to speak up.
"Is it true that Agbara is limitless?" Lakan inquired,
"Agbara (Spirit power) is not limitless; Agbara is limitless. The one thing that decides this is the warrior who wields the power," Akọgun replied, "depending on how it's trained, the body is the major limit to Agbara. The strength, the stamina and the interaction with one's incision at a given time. The stronger the body, the greater the production of the Agbara" Then he focused on Ṣeyi and had a hint of sadness in his eyes; Ṣeyi was the only exception. For some reason, the boy fails in the production of Agbara, and this is a major disadvantage in combat. "The moment your body is exhausted production of Agbara ends"
"Agba!" Ṣeyi called, "I – some Agbara comes in blue and you said it's mostly green is it strange"
Akọgun smiled at Ṣeyi's question. The boy might be lacking in the production of Agbara, but he doesn't allow it to break his spirit. The boy has the true heart of a warrior. "In rare cases, Agbara comes in different colours due to the nature of an Ẹṣọs covenant; an example of such a case is my own Agbara and… Ṣeyi!!" He fell for it; the colour of the Akọgun's Agbara was blue, and he clearly enjoyed bragging about it. Ṣeyi asked the question to bait him into bragging again a habit he was trying to correct.
All the Ẹṣọs sniggered at Ṣeyi's most recent prank; Akọgun simply nodded his approval, keeping a straight face; he didn't bully the warriors because he hated them; he bullied them because he knew that in a real-life combat situation, the enemy would use any method to win the fight. His frequent taunting is just his way of helping them cope with the pressure of battle, so Ṣeyi making that joke proved that his practical teaching was fruitful.
"Today" He continued, "we are going into a new set of nullification chants"
"But those chants are too simple and too weak" Ṣodipọ protested, "Teach us something more serious…"
"TO THE DUST!!" The Akọgun pronounced with authority and with a savage wave of pure killing intent, and every single Ẹṣọ present flinched in fear.
Ṣodipọ was the one who suffered the most from the impact of the wave of terror, the sensation broke every single mental fortitude that he had in his possession. The chant was directed at him, Ṣodipọ and he lacked the will to resist the power of the chant, but the major problem was even if he wanted to fight back, he couldn't. He didn't know how to protect himself from such an assault he fell flat on his back. The only thing that saved his life was the fact that the Akọgun wasn't serious; had the Akọgun been serious, Ṣodipọ would have already been dead.
"If I had any intention of killing your son of the Alaramide tribe you would have been dead a thousand times over," the Akọgun said as he stalked his way towards Ṣodipọ "Don't you ever use your rank on me again" He scowled, "if you had known the nullification chant you would have struggled before you fell"
It took Ṣodipọ a short while to recover from his dazed state and collect his thoughts; he looked at Akọgun with a slacked jaw and confusion. He had assumed that the Akọgun feared his uncle but now that delusion had been proved wrong. He had always been told that Akọgun was a tough chief with a short temper but he didn't expect the Akọgun to openly challenge him. Ṣodipọ then felt the cold sting of a deflated pride when he heard Ṣeyi and the rest of the eagle team snigger at his embarrassment.
"There are several ways of nullifying your opponent's chants," the Akọgun continued, "The Ewọ (Forbidden) chant permanently renders your enemy's chant useless throughout the fight, remember the nullification chant must be pronounced with authority and strength or else it is useless. Now shout Ewọ!"
"Ewọ!" the Ẹṣọs shouted
"Now infuse your words with Agbara!!" he commanded.
"Ewọ!!" the warriors shouted again
"TO THE DUST!!!" the Akọgun shot at all the Ẹṣọs at once, and this time, the death chant was fuelled with all the Agbara he could muster.
"Ewọọọọọọọọ!!!" the warriors shouted in reply, fuelled by their fear of death; the recoil forced the Akogun back three steps.
"Very good," Akọgun smiled after he recovered, the terrified young warrior realised that they had just escaped death by a hair's breadth. He had actually used the death chant on them without any regard for his teaching methods. "The next chant is called Irọ (lie). While the first chant forbids your opponent, the second chant transforms your opponent's chant into a lie, hence neutralizing the potency of the enemy's chant. The chant will not be useable for the rest of the fight"
"Now everyone, chant, Irọ ni!" (It is a lie) Akọgun said
"Irọ ni!!" the Ẹṣọs replied preparing for another chanted onslaught.
"Louder" Akoọgun boomed,
"Irọ ni!!" the Ẹṣọs screamed even louder.
"I said louder!!!"
"Irọ niiiiiiii" the young Ẹṣọs chanted,
"Now sleep," He chanted. "I Akọgun, the father of the ancestral covenant, command you by the virtue of …"
"Irọ niiii!" the Ẹṣọs chanted again. They had expected this from the Akọgun, and he did not disappoint; the Akọgun had used the sleep chant on them.
"Very good" the Akọgun smiled,
The strain of the chant and the tension built up by The Akọgun had forced most of the young Ẹṣọs into exhaustion but they could tell that the chief was not yet done with them. The Akọgun wasn't an easy man both in combat and in training, his covenant made it possible for him to face an army at once without using too much stamina. The moment he results in strict training measures, all those under his supervision are made to suffer for it, one of the reasons why most of the students consider him the most dangerous man in the whole village. He finally calmed down and began a longer lecture, obviously he decided that practical examples were no longer needed.
"The next set of chants is threefold," the Akọgun said; he told them about Duro be (Stop there), Gbẹnu dake (Silence), Odeiṣi (Endurance); all three chants work the same way. The first two work with some minor differences in the way they respond to the opponent's chants; the third one hardens the defences of the one who casts the chants.
The first one only stops your opponent from chanting, and it usually helps when you're spellbound. To break free and capture your opponent in a chant of your own, you must chant it with all your strength. The chant does not stop your opponent from using the chant again, which is why you must be vigilant.
The second chant is the same as the first with a slight difference, it seals your opponent's lips for the better part of a chicken's crow, enough time for you to begin your chant or flee. The third chant enhances your physical endurance, ensuring that any blow you eventually receive from battle would not deal any lasting damage to your body, but I will not advise the use of the third chant because some warriors tend to test their limits and, in the process underestimate the potency of their enemy's attack. Never gamble with your life or the life of a team member, I will not advise you to use the third chant except if your life depends on it.
"Is that understood" the Akogun inquired.
"Bẹ ni sir" (Yes sir) the trainees responded loudly.
"Finally, before I dismiss you," the Akọgun said in a commanding tone. "the most important chants in combat are the basics; they don't consume too much agbara, they don't place too much strain on the body, and they are easy to use. Don't you dare neglect the basics because if you do it will lead to your shame and the shame of your tribal heritage"
"A proud man boasts in his foolishness towards his downfall while the humble keeps his secrets close in his heart" Then the Akọgun walked towards Ṣodipọ and looked straight into the arrogant boy's eyes and continued, "Your uncle might have given you all that power but without the basics, you are nothing but dead meat on the battlefield"
"The strength of the youth leads to the strength of the future" Ṣodipọ replied proudly.
The Akọgun smiled, this little boy's arrogance knows no bounds. He must be put in his place before it results in dire consequences or, even worse, the loss of his life, so he said to the boy. "What an elderly man sees when he sits down a young man can never see even if he climbs upon a tree or on the shoulders of the elderly, prince of the lion tribe be warned don't let your arrogance become your undoing" then he turned away hoping for the boy to ponder his words then he announced "Pair up in twos, we are going to practise the nullification chant, begin"
The training lasted for the remainder of the evening, and by the time the day ended, all the Ẹṣọs were too weary to do anything but rest. To the shock of both Ṣeyi and Akin, the team leader for the eagle team summoned them for an urgent meeting.
***********
.The Eagle team's resolve.
They had to rush back to the secret meeting ground, which was nowhere near the confines of the village, and then they had to recite the special chant cast by Bọlaji to gain entrance to the sacred ground. Bọlaji had gone through much trouble to keep unwanted visitors out of the meeting ground, they managed to reach the rendezvous point an hour before sunset.
"Agba Bọlaji!!" Ṣeyi yelled as he laid his eyes on the Jaguna of the eagle team.
"I am here" Bọlaji responded
"Why here, why now? I just want to go home and sleep!" Ṣeyi grumbled.
"First, we wait for the other members of this team, this meeting will not begin without them, the seed of progress is planted by all hands and not just a few"
Ṣeyi grumbled but naturally had to agree. Lakan had not arrived yet, and Yewande could be seen emerging from the closest footpath. The meeting ground was nothing special; other teams had their secret meeting grounds decorated with masks, calabashes, and beads and even painted the trees in different colours. To mark that the region selected was their territory they would erect a giant mask in the image of their team, The Image of a rhino for the rhino team and so on. But the Eagle team's meeting ground was just plain: no decorations, no symbols, nothing, just the cold confines of tree branches and leaves for a canopy shielding them against the sun. Lakan and the rest finally arrived, and just like Ṣeyi, they were as ill-tempered as he was; Bọlaji gestured for them to sit down, and then he sat down on a special tree stump for the leader of the team.
"The first agenda of the meeting is the introduction of a new member" Bọlaji said,
"A new member?" Ṣeyi inquired,
"I do apologise for calling this urgent meeting but the seeds of progress must be planted on time," Bọlaji said, "we have many against us hence we must go through a lot of risks to succeed in the end"
"Who is this new member?" Lakan inquired, "I know that Jaguna Baṣọrun would only allow a new member into this team over his dead body"
"That's true Bọlaji, you might be weaker than me but he intends to kill you" Yewande commented, "he will never allow anyone to join us, if not he will absorb every new member to ensure that all the remnants will not join us"
"Very true," Bọlaji responded, "but still there will be those who are willing to join us irrespective of the will of Jaguna Baṣọrun, and he is one of them"
"So, who is he?" Akin inquired,
"You can come in now" Bọlaji beckoned,
In walked another version of Bọlaji, dressed in a different attire. All the members of the eagle team stood slacked-jawed with surprise; how did their team leader suddenly appear in two places? Ṣeyi actually squeezed his eyes, thinking that his vision deceived him; Akin stood up slightly and then sat back down, digesting the information.
"How is this possible" Lakan inquired in a bewildered tone.
"How is what possible?" Both Bọlaji's inquired at the same time.
"Bọlaji apa kini and Bọlaji apa keji (Bọlaji part one and two)" Ṣeyi said confused.
"Is this a new chant Agba?" Modupẹ asked.
"Indeed, it is" the first Bọlaji responded, "for us Ẹṣọs, a warrior must prove his worth to be acknowledged by the members of his team, so Bolu Ajayi please introduce yourself to your new team members"
The next instant, the second Bọlaji's form changed; he became shorter, less imposing and for some reason, one leg seemed to be shorter than the other. The response from the rest of the Eagle team was that of silent shock; they had expected someone buff and complete, not this broken excuse of a human being.
"Sorry," Lakan said breaking the short silence "And how is he going to be useful to us as a warrior"
"You underestimate his abilities," Bọlaji replied.
"His abilities?" Yewande snapped, "He won't be able to land a single hit on the enemy, he's too slow and he lacks power"
"Which is why he will not be with us in the front lines" Ṣeyi observed,
"Exactly," Bọlaji said nodding at Ṣeyi in approval, "He will be a great asset to us"
Lakan scowled at Bọlaji in disappointment "You should have consulted us first" he grouched,
"That's what I'm doing now" Bọlaji replied
"Well his abilities are small," Lakan snapped again.
"Are they?" Bọlaji teased and Lakan growled in response, menacingly flexing his biceps.
"Bolu Ajayi," Ṣeyi said. "I'm going to call you 'one leg up' from now on"
"Uh! Okay," Bolu responded, "I don't think it…"
"Silence," Ṣeyi continued, "I just want to know, can you change the environment into something different?" In reply, the surroundings changed, and every member of the eagle team was standing on a floating cloud. "Agba Bọlaji you just hit a gold mind, Gbabe!"
"I know" Bọlaji replied
"His ability's a cheat" Lakan observed realising the scope of Bolu's gift, "I approve"
"One leg up, you are my new best friend," Ṣeyi said with a sinister smile on his face. "We can get people to …."
"Ṣeyi!" Bọlaji interrupted, "Now is not the time for your mischief,"
"Sorry," Ṣeyi responded,
"Does anyone still object to this new member of our team?" Bọlaji inquired, but no one replied. clearly, Bolu's ability had spoken for him. "Then we move on to the next subject of our meeting"
"So, we're not here because of the recruit?" Lakan asked,
"It seems like our Jaguna's taking great action concerning our team" Kenny observed,
"Indeed, only three of us have actual field experience and those three don't count because they are all from different teams" Then Bọlaji smashed his fist into a nearby tree stem, "And to be honest with you the seed of opposition has been planted against the eagle team, stunting our growth and progress,"
"What do you mean?" Kayọde, the albino, inquired, concerned, "Who is against us?"
"Everyone," Kenny said sarcastically, "Agba Bọlaji, you did betray your Jaguna for our sake"
"There was an attempt on my life a few days ago," Bọlaji said to the shock of every team member, "I survived…"
"Who tried to kill you?" Lakan growled, enraged at the audacity to attempt a hand on Bọlaji's life.
"That is not the point" Bọlaji pressed,
"We need to deal with them so that they will not attempt to take your life again" Kenny roared.
"I agree" Akin added,
"And get this team disbanded as a consequence?" Bọlaji said the whole team went silent. "What they want is to disband the eagle team, we will not allow this which is why I have made up my mind and come up with the next plan of action"
"And what is the next plan of action" Kenny inquired, still fuming that someone tried to kill Bọlaji.
"By growing the seeds of experience, we are all ready to explore the 'Dark Caves' so gather your weapons Our expedition begins tomorrow"
The Dark Caves were one of the biggest mysteries that Ṣeyi and Akin had yet to uncover; they had already heard of the Dark Caves from the other Ẹṣọs in service but never found one, no matter how hard they tried. The hunters refused to tell them anything about it, and if they inquired from one of the Ẹṣọs, they would be severely punished.
"Let's go now" Ṣeyi roared with delight.
"Which is why I called you here; prepare. We will leave at dawn," Bọlaji said in a far more commanding tone than he is used to, stressing the importance of the development.
"Yes!" Ṣeyi cried in exhilaration; at long last, he taught. "The ever-elusive Dark cave is within my grasp. I will finally find out all of your secrets…"
"Gong! Gong!! Gong!!!" the village alert sounded summoning all the villagers towards the village square. Ṣeyi would have continued gloating but there was a loud resounding gong alerting all the villagers that something important was about to happen. "I think it's time for us to return to the village something important is about to happen," Bọlaji declared.
The eagle team instantly left the secret meeting ground and hurried back to the village. To their shock, they found out that what was about to happen would change the present situation of the eagle team and the village and eventually change the destiny of the Yoruba empire as a whole.