AYENIRETI (**story submitted by Olusegun Shedrach**)
Ancient times before now, Ayenireti had always had one hero or the other that faithfully sacrificed their lives for the peace of its people, fought countless battles, plundered countless lands, claimed countless spoils. But it's now different, the enemies has found the only way to conquer unity: TREACHERY, and another ungodly deadly sin: GOSSIP.
Emi entered into the Kings personal chamber, and prostrated flat before him, a means of homage, a tradition that had been passed down from one generation to another and has been held in high esteem.
The only source of light in the chamber was a little window directly above the King’s bed, barely enough to allow a child pass through.
"You sent for me" Emi said still prostrated flat on the floor
The King's room, was decorated with historical ancient paintings, beads hanged on the wall and neatly arranged traditional attires and animal skins that proved more of the King’s power and authority.
Softly moving back and forth on the rocking chair, with an attractive horsetail in his hands the King smiled broadly at Emi.
"Rise my Son"
From a tender age, Emi had caught the eye of the King. The tradition was so fair to everyone in the system, every orphan were the responsibility of the King, of which Emi was one. He began exhibiting the traits of a warrior, what they call the Spirit of the Warrior God.
The Spirit is believed to be passed randomly to whom the gods saw fit and worthy, after the previous Warrior cease to exist, but something was different in Emi, even the Chief Priest when consulted found it hard to explain. His uniqueness was so complicated.
"Emi, I am getting old, and my days are near" The King said slowly
"The gods shall mercifully add more wine to you cup my King" Emi replied, even though they both knew he only said that to keep the King's heart at peace.
Emi could be described as having the perfect body structure, broad shoulders which were perfectly chiselled, ruddy face that sat well on his neck, set of eyes which went a little deep into its sockets.
"I want you, Emi, to get married to my daughter"
Emi hastily raised to his feet, unsure if he had the words right, he tried to be as calm as possible but all was vain. No one dared question the authority of the King even if it didn’t sit well with you, the King was second to the gods.
"Let's call a spade a spade my Lord, you know it's an abomination" Emi said calmly
"Until I say it's an abomination" The king said and continued "Emi I don't want to use the supremacy of the throne to force you into this, I consider you a son"
Emi gave no reply, just then the Royal messenger made his way into the Chamber, a spear on his left hand, bare chest and heavily built.
"My Lord, the outcast once more has plundered the farm borders, we need The Human God to go with us, we are unsure of what or who they are”
*****
*****
The King had more than enough alliance to make, to some reasonable extent, his daughter could deal one by getting married to the Prince of various kingdoms, Prince who were seen as gods and held more territories, even though no kingdom had the kind of power Ayenireti had.
"Emi, what's wrong? " A soldier asked, noticing his mood was very unusual
"Nothing much, I will settle things don't worry" Emi replied even though the situation at hand was out of his control.
"Just to let you know we are always there for you" The soldier said as they got nearer to the farm borders of the kingdom.
"This is where they were sighted" the guard that led them said pointing forward to the fresh fallen corn sticks.
Emi charged forward into the maize plantation, noticing some fresh cut. He slowly
retrieved his sword from the sheath
"In the name of the gods I order you to come out, to prevent bloodshed" Emi shouted
"Am not in mood to kill today "He said to himself.
A boy ran out from the right side, looking exhausted, he gasped and collapsed to the ground.
"It's a boy" Emi said as the others laid back their weapon "Who are you?”
"Oyeniyi" the boy replied faintly and stared deep into Emi's eyes.
"My Lord, we found them trying to run" A soldier said and forcefully pulled the man and a woman to the ground.
"Please have mercy, that's our son, Oyeniyi, war made us flee, please, spare our lives" the woman wailed, tears already filled in her face.
One attribute the warrior god possessed was a discerning spirit, a spirit that tells if one was walking the right path or telling the truth. But once they are disorganised, even their immortality would flee from them.
"Prepare the horses "Emi said.
"Emi, come closer" Ajanaku said, "Something is wrong with you, I am sure your discerning is far from you"
"No"
Ajanaku wasted no time in using his blade to cut Emi, his impenetrable skin immediately gave way to blood flow
"The Emi I know in full strength can't get cut even by Sango's blade, your discerning spirit is not with you, your immortality is gone, Emi you are disorganised" Ajanaku said and mounted his horse.
Later that night, Emi found it difficult to sleep, if this continues, the lives of almost 1,000,000 people will be at stake. Finding it hard to sleep, he grabbed the oil lamp that illuminated the room and went out, he sat on a low stool and looked into the empty vast sky.
"I wish I was free" Emi said to himself.
He noticed someone approached him from behind, he knew who it was. It was Ajanaku, both had grown up together been orphans, and had always stood together side by side. Ajanaku was next in command of the armies after Emi.
"Ajanaku, what brings you out this ungodly hour?"
"Same as what is keeping you awake" Ajanaku replied and sat down next to Emi, and placed his sword near him
"Which is? "
"Emi, the cap fits me but it's too beautiful even for the royalty"
"What do you mean? "
"I am in love with Adeshewa, but I wish to tell her before the day of the maiden contest"
Emi became dumb, he couldn't believe his ears, and his friend Ajanaku was having feelings who the King wants him to marry by all cost.
A strange world indeed, Emi tried within himself to consult his spirit, but the connection was lost, now all he had to depend on was, his fragile thinking.
"You are a great warrior any girl would kill to have, I am sure she is interested in you, just tell her" Emi said
"I knew I could always trust you my friend and hope you won't be contest on that day for the princess hand" Ajanaku said jokingly and left for his hut
Emi became dumbfounded, no hard thinking at this time would prove fertile, a rough day was ahead, regaining his consciousness into the spirit realm should be the priority. He manage to wave the thought and went into meditation.
BREAKING HELLEmi rounded up the training and after receiving the message that The King urgently summoned him. He knew what the King wanted to say and he strongly prepared his mind, over night during meditation, he had found the right answer to pull himself out of this love war he found himself.Emi entered into the King's Palace, the King gracefully positioned himself on his throne, on the right was the Princess, sitting on a well decorated stool, Emi found it difficult to ignore her presence, although he made himself as calm as possible. Standing at the entrance was Ajanaku. Emi slowly stood next to him and tried avoiding the King's gaze that was fixed on him."What's wrong? " He said in a low tone, which was still audible to Ajanaku"Emi, welcome, guards excuse us" The King ordered."Your highness, Princess" Emi greeted respectfully.Ajanaku immediately knew something was odd, reading the reactions on every one, from the King down to the
After the ritual of breaking the marriage seal, the King felt happy and relieved, apart from his daughter having a normal life, now nothing could threaten to take her away from him. Although he had great doubt they could defeat a god from the second circle, only if he had known that a greater danger was lurking around the Kingdom, a danger that knows the Kingdom so well, a danger that was born and breaded in the Kingdom.Emi found it hard to knock on Ajanaku’s door, nevertheless he summoned the courage of doing that, some seconds after the third knock, Ajanaku came out to meet him.“Can we at least go inside?”Ajanaku only nodded his head sideways, signifying to Emi that it wasn’t possible“I know how upset you are with me, but trust me, I have no interest in marring thePrincess” Emi said, trying to be as open as possible, the maiden contest was the next day, how would he try to make the King understand him.
MEETING WITH THE GODS(story submitted by Ayomide Shedrach)The atmosphere is familiar, have heard these sounds before, these tormented souls. Ajanaku jumped to his feet, sweating profusely, he noticed his legs were healed, something felt strange yet he felt better, he observed the room where he was. On all fourcorners were oil lamp, illuminating the room"You are awake" A voice said from one of the dark corners.Ajanaku slowly moved closer, out of the darkness came Darkness, solid darkness taking the form of human figure."Who are you? ""Okunkun (Darkness)" It revealed itself, from head to toe was pure thick darkness, the eyes glowed red, moving closer to Ajanaku, and suddenly within an instance he was already behind Ajanaku."I see why Esu is interested in you" Okunkun said and entered through Ajanaku and came out from the back.Ajanaku stechted his hand towards Okunkun and was surprised his hand came out from the back, he moved it
FALL OF EMI, IRETI IS DEADEmi felt his hands tightly bounded. Too weak to move, his hands we chained which made him float in mid-air, he tried for a little but every attempt only drained more of his strength. It was a spell bound chain that sucked every strength one gathered.Someone splashed water on his face, and threw the bucket on the floor.HAAAHHIIII!Emi groaned feeling exhausted, he looked down at Ajanaku, with heavy eyes."Wake up""You should have killed me when you had the chance" Emi said and spat to the ground."Killing you will be too much of mercy, I want to break you" Ajanaku said walking round the guard room"Why, why does it have to come to this?"Ajanaku felt remorseful, his spirit weakened by the question, he knew there was a better a way resolve, but what can they do about the deadly sin called Envy."Rest, I will need you to hear the wailin
EVERYONE IS A WARRIOR.Far from Ayenireti, those the evacuated before its downfall, looked at the plains they had left behind, as it went up in smoke, thick black smoke. They had no shelter, barely enough food to go round.The Chief Priest led them to a cave he had discovered on one of his expenditure looking for medicinal herbs. It was large enough to contain the whole of Ayenireti."We shall settle here for the meantime, before dusk, we shall all gather around and have a meeting" The Priest said, holding tight to his staff.Three days of trekking almost non stop, they had to eat and regain their strength, was it now down to starting from the scratch, their farms, savings, foods, would all be gone just with the blink of an eye.Evening approached fast, as they all gathered round the Priest, to them he was their King, he practically knows and sees than them."Our people are not dead, in fact a new hope has risen, the gods now lives among the
RISE OF A GRAND GODAfter 9months living in NIRETI cave, they decided to go back to their land and begin a new life. But it was only calculated for Adeshewa to put to bed before noon the next day.Emi made sure every concoction the Chief priest gave him was used the right way, so as to make her birth easy. The King made sure the mistake he did during his own time won't be repeated, taking and pointing Emi through safety measures and preventing him from panicking over little issues, like when Adeshewa would suddenly cry in pain, holding tight to her stomach."The water line is broken" Adeshewa said and clinched her hands on Emi's hand.He wasted no time in lifting her on his hands and headed straight to where the mid wives were"Leave her and go" They said pushing him out of the cave where they dwelled"I thought it was supposed to be tomorrow evening" Emi said feeling worried.The midwives said no further words as the expression on t
THE SPIRIT WITHIN USAjanaku found it hard to summon his beast soul without having serious side effect of unbearable pains. After the heavy defeat, the evil gods have persuaded Esu against his will to ban Ajanaku from their midst.Ajanaku saw his destination ahead, a smaller village compared to Ayenireti, he rode his horse into the city, with the money he had with him, he purchased a hut to live in and begin a new life, although not a life free of evil.******Emi held Adeshewa by the arm, and carried his child with the other hand, and before the crowd, with the King standing near him.It was a tradition in Ayenireti to name a child on the 8th day after birth."She shall be called IRETI" Emi said joyfully. And went in leaving everyone to the main celebration, with enough food to go round.******Ajanaku finally found his place among top ranked assassins in his new settlement."You new comer,
40Years AgoThe mantle of kingship fell solely on the family of Ajagunmasa, history has it, they had taken the brave step of leading a revolt during their time in slavery, so as a reward for bravery, they became leaders, and started a new life. Down the line many generations came and went, now it was the era of Iretiade, the father of King Iretilana (Present King).Iretiade ruled the land with an iron fist, he made them work to the bone. The one that took after him was Iretiola (Son of Iretiade's brother) he always like the fierce way, trampled on the lower class, times were really hard for Ayenireti. Then something tragic happened. Iretilana put an end to his father's reign. He stabbed the King in his sleep, nobody knew how it happened. Only Iretiola was a living witness, but he said nothing, it was not his father, He thought the King in line was him, then the gods chooses a murderer, this event forced him to leave the town and swore to come back when he knows the cas
Ba...dta " IRETI spoke with all keen eyes on her."She spoke her first words" Emi said and threw her in the sky, as his wife giggled, softly not to disturb sleeping Eri. The Human God
The King paused for a while, smiled and continued."Let's dine, tonight". The Human God
"You are behaving in a manner I don't like, these days Emi" Adeshewa said while bathing Ireti."Nothing is wrong" Emi sighed, guilt hunted him knowing he laid with another woman.A Brother's Son
Trust
***A royal feast followed the next day, everyone rejoicing, even the happiness within, made the King felt better, forgetting about his missing arm.Emi not in the same mood as others, drank himself to stupor, thinking about the good times he and Ajanaku had together. Gourd after gourd, palmwine after palmwine, he drowned himself."Here" Ayo said handing over another gourd of palmwine to Emi. "We shall keep to the end of our bargain, after the celebration, our workers will get the necessary and begin work on the wall"Emi only looked silly at him and only nodded in reply"And I will not forget about you breaking my arm" He said. "Ladies, over here, keep the Human god company make him feel good" He said and left Emi to the two girls that sat next to him."Go aw....w..ay" He said stammering,"My wife waits for me at home" He said, not in his right sense.******Emi manage to open his eyes, only to find himsel
Emi angrily threw his sword on the ground, furious at what Ayo said. Pacing around his room, his mind was not thinking right. His attention was drawn to his daughter, that yawned, cooing and staring at him."Little one, I know you have lot to say, just wait for the right time" He smiled and lifted her in his hand.He went to the backyard, there he met Adeshewa, preparing firewood. He stood still admiring her, she never did the normal Princess routine, she never wanted to live in the palace, why does she prefer the regular life."Let me help you with that" Emi said walking closer."I heard what happened at the sparing ground " She said still paying attention to what she did"Hmm""I am not condemning you, I want you to realise, this goes a better way, you can get Ajanaku unaware. If he sees Ayo return, he will assume, you can't defend them, or you are still weak" She said and blew at the smoke that roses from the firewood.Emi stood su
A soldier ran into Emi's compound, very early in the morning and banged loudly on the door. Emi was frustrated, at the first bang he refused to rise from bed, he only cuddled Adeshewa a little tighter."My Lord, your presence is needed" The soldier shouted and banged the door again."Duty calls, and I have to go see how father's health is improving" Adeshewa said and placed her palms on Emi's faceSince Emi has taken the position of king, he concluded it was a burden greater than being a warrior Lord. He sat down on a stool in the palace, and a guard stepped forward, handed over a letter to him."So other Kingdom now wishes to join alliance with us" Emi said after reading the letter. We will join alliances, if they are willing to work for us"This saying pleased the elders so well, they began seeing Emi as a better leader than Iretiade, their King.The King laid lifeless, on the bed he was laid, a boiling calabash place at a co
Iretiola blocked Emi before he could open the door that lead to his compound."What do you want?, the contest is tomorrow" Emi said, this man was really getting on his nerves, right at that moment, Emi wished he could punch him really hard with his beast soul."I told you, the King is a murderer, and you a warrior god still let him sit still on that throne""First" Emi walked head to head with Iretiola "I am no longer a warrior god, and second" he paused "I am a human god and third, we don't give a damn about other people's past, only the future we hope to be better"Iretiola was visibly shocked, it was time for his next line of action, he thought within himself"If you won't reason, others will"“Good for you”Little did he know that what he called a plan was no longer effective as he thought it would. But for someone who was so blood thirsty for power, he failed to see it.The day for the fight arrived quickly, ev
40Years AgoThe mantle of kingship fell solely on the family of Ajagunmasa, history has it, they had taken the brave step of leading a revolt during their time in slavery, so as a reward for bravery, they became leaders, and started a new life. Down the line many generations came and went, now it was the era of Iretiade, the father of King Iretilana (Present King).Iretiade ruled the land with an iron fist, he made them work to the bone. The one that took after him was Iretiola (Son of Iretiade's brother) he always like the fierce way, trampled on the lower class, times were really hard for Ayenireti. Then something tragic happened. Iretilana put an end to his father's reign. He stabbed the King in his sleep, nobody knew how it happened. Only Iretiola was a living witness, but he said nothing, it was not his father, He thought the King in line was him, then the gods chooses a murderer, this event forced him to leave the town and swore to come back when he knows the cas
THE SPIRIT WITHIN USAjanaku found it hard to summon his beast soul without having serious side effect of unbearable pains. After the heavy defeat, the evil gods have persuaded Esu against his will to ban Ajanaku from their midst.Ajanaku saw his destination ahead, a smaller village compared to Ayenireti, he rode his horse into the city, with the money he had with him, he purchased a hut to live in and begin a new life, although not a life free of evil.******Emi held Adeshewa by the arm, and carried his child with the other hand, and before the crowd, with the King standing near him.It was a tradition in Ayenireti to name a child on the 8th day after birth."She shall be called IRETI" Emi said joyfully. And went in leaving everyone to the main celebration, with enough food to go round.******Ajanaku finally found his place among top ranked assassins in his new settlement."You new comer,