based on readers comments on Cyber Lover, i decided to post the first part of tenth generation. Now if you loved cyber lover, trust me this is much better, i will update based on people's comments. thanks.

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THE TENTH GENERATION
PART 1: THE COVENANT (1918)


PART 2: THE BIRTH (1980)


PART 3: THE BLACK BEAD (1999)







People say the world is a small place; I’d rather say the world is a round place; after all what goes around comes around.


PART ONE: THE COVENANT (1918)

CHAPTER ONE

It was past midnight, the quietness of the night was disrupted by the squeaky sounds coming from nocturnal animals. Duruji village was as still as the dead and darkness ruled the air. Huge trees stood like giant monsters, contributing to the intensity of the darkness that made Duruji village look like a huge forest from a distance.

With his eyes looking up at the dark trees that weren’t visible to his sight, Chika Obi wasn’t even aware of how scary the night looked. After three hours of trying to get some sleep, he finally decided to come outside and do some thinking.

Three days ago, the messenger of the chief priest of the shrine of Alaogbaga, the great god of destruction and vengeance, paid him a sudden visit. The information he brought was that Chika must come to the shrine on the next market day.

Funny how time flies, he had actually taken time for granted, how could fifteen years be gone so quickly just like that?
Chika was very much aware of why he had been asked to come to the shrine. The great god of destruction who had been so faithful to him for the past fifteen years wants his life, he wants his blood.

The thought of possible escape was his reason for staying awake up till this hour of the night. This had been the situation for the past three nights, bearing in mind that it was almost impossible for anyone to escape from the wrought of the great god; no one can escape the great god! The thought of death was really unpleasant to him, especially at this point of his life that he had everything a man could ask for in life. How could he leave all that he had acquired and summit to death just like that? The thought of death was even scarier knowing that it was just by the corner under the ruthless hand of the unforgiving god.

“No” he thought aloud, “there must be a way out. I will make him a much more attractive offer, oh! I hope what I have in mind will work.”
He knew that his chance of survival was very small but there was no other option but to do what he has to do, it might be his only way out.

His thoughts were disrupted by the sound of the bamboo door of his large and beautifully designed mud house. Chika’s house was the best among all the houses in Duruji village. Even the house of the king could not be compared to it, leaving Durujians filled with envy whenever they beheld it. It had a very large compound and the building was so large that there were enough rooms to accommodate his family and their large amount of belongings.
“Nnanyi (our father)” his wife called from the door “what is the problem? How could you be outside at this time of the night all by yourself?” She inquired. She was standing at his back by now. Nkechi was an average heighten woman, at thirty-six and with four children, she still looked as young as she was when Chika married her sixteen years ago.

“Nnanyi” she continued, “you didn’t even eat your dinner before going to bed and you haven’t been yourself lately, is there any problem that I should know of?”

Chika slowly looked up at his wife and asked her to sit down. She sat down very close to him looking inquiringly at her husband, worry displaying on her face.

“I was just wondering why the chief priest sent the messenger three days ago” he lied “I am trying to figure out what was so important that I had to be summoned to the shrine knowing that I am a constant visitor at the shrine. You know how unpredictable Alaogbaga can be? What does he want from me this time around?”

“I don’t think that that is enough reason for you to worry yourself like this. You can’t think yourself to death; all you have to do is to wait until the market day, and whatever he says will then determine your next move. Staying up so late like this and refusing your food will not help matters”
“I know, I know. It’s just that I feel uneasy about the whole thing”

She gently touched him on his shoulder and said “why don’t you come to bed, we just have three days to the market day, I don’t think there is much need for you to worry.”

He looked into her face and faked a smile. If only she knew what the real situation was all about, she would worry herself to death, he thought. “Alright,” he said “I will be with you in a short while.”

Nkechi quietly stood up and entered the house. He watched her as she closed the door, and then thought to himself, I can’t just die like that, I must find a way out.

Ha! U must finish what u've started oh! I really enjoyed 'Cyber Lover'. I can't wait for another update.

Frank, frankly speaking, u're too much.

hi @avicky
thanks for being there. let me know if u like this, all the same, i will update, while hoping to hear what u think

Before his death, Mazi Obi, Chika’s father, was a true worshipper of Alaogbaga. He took his time in teaching Chika the ways of the great god. This has always been the family tradition. As a kid, Chika learnt everything he must do to please the god of destruction. According to his father, this god was the solution to all life’s problem. The god has been the provider and guardian to their ancestors and had never failed them as long as its worshipers gave to him what he wanted.

A worshipper must always be faithful to this god. He must always offer blood of animals as sacrifice to the god every fortnight. Human blood was also sometimes offered as sacrifice but this was usually done only upon request by the god on rear and important occasions. Important information and messages are always conveyed to the worshippers through the chief priest who was chosen and possessed by Alaogbaga. He only could speak to the god, and he only understood the ways of the god. The life of the chief priest was dedicated to the shrine. There he was always in communion with Alaogbaga.

All worshippers were made aware of the potentials of Alaogbaga, its rules and regulations, and all that it does and does not do. No female worshipper dared come close to the shrine of the great god; all female worshippers must convey their messages and wants through their male partners who must be worshippers themselves. No one dared disobey the commands of Alaogbaga for the consequences were detrimental.

The symbol of Alaogbaga was destruction; it destroys anyone against its worshippers together with their households and belongings. This it does with all pleasure. Whenever two worshippers are in disagreement, their sacrifice would determine who would face the wrought of the god. The great god also punishes those who disobey it.

Whenever the god strikes; it leaves trademark behind- destruction.

Everybody was afraid of incurring the wrought of Alaogbaga, the devastating effect of its wrought leaves long lasting scares on the life of the people, and the last one was always fresh in their memory.

It happened when Chika was still very young but the story was still being told till this day. A faithful worshipper, Onu, was having a land dispute with one of his relative who was so scared of having anything to do with the great god. Malaki, Onu’s rival was very sure that the so-called land belonged to his father and did not understand why his fellow man would want to claim it. It was obvious that the land belonged to Malaki, but Onu wanted it and would do anything to make sure that the land became his.

The village king tried his best to solve the problem and Onu seeing that he might loose the case sought for the help of Alaogbaga his god.

The god did not hesitate to destroy everything Malaki owned; his house was leveled to the ground after the sound of thunder, all his cattle were killed by an unknown force. The animals weren’t just found dead, but they were ripped into parts. Every part of their bodies was forcefully pulled out of their joints, leaving a sight that was too disgusting to behold. Malaki himself was not spared, his body was also ripped apart, every joint in his body was loosened, all inner structures were exposed and his blood was spread all over his compound, and everybody knew that the god had struck.

Everyone who supported Malaki went to Onu begging for forgiveness. Although his family was speared, they were left homeless, fatherless and confused; they couldn’t seek for justice, for nobody dared question the action of the great god.

There were other gods in the land of Duruji, but each god served different purposes. There was the god of wealth, whose duty is to increase the harvest of its worshippers. There was also the god of war; this god was responsible for victory during wars. Then there was the god of health and the god of rain. But it took great courage to be a worshipper of Alaogbaga the great god of destruction.

CHAPTER TWO

People who served and worshiped the god of destruction were the most feared and respected in Duruji community, they were well avoided by others who were not worshippers. Most of them were the greedy men who love the intimidation they exerted on others. Some worshippers like Chika were born into the tradition so that being a worshipper becomes inevitable especially if some sacrifices had been made to the god to initiate such a child.
The worshippers also sought superiority among themselves, making them vulnerable to each other. This situation served as a reminder to them that they are after all not totally protected by the god.

Chika’s father took great pain in socializing Chika who was his first son on how to be a true worshipper of Alaogbaga. His father, who knew the right sacrifice to make so as to get any favor from the god, initiated Chika at birth.

Like his father, Chika grew up to become very greedy for power and respect. He wanted to acquire all that his eyes could behold. He wanted to be the greatest in his community. He wouldn’t like the fear and respect people had for his father to end with the death of the old man, he wanted it to continue with him, besides, his father had already made so many enemies; those he claimed their plots of land and animals, and Chika knew that he must do all he could to get the full protection of the god.

His father was a very wealthy man. He had enough to help every extended member of his family and even others who live in the community, but he chose to be mean and unapproachable. He made people work for him on his farm or yam barn, but ended up paying very little or nothing at all. The old man used all means available to him to oppress his victims. He could pretend to be kind and lend some money to those who asked him for it, but will turn very cruel whenever he needed the money back. He also made it inevitable for people to seek his help; this he did by putting them in conditions that would leave them with no choice but to come running to him for help.

He enjoyed the authority he exerted on people; the fear in their eyes and the comfort he had at the expense of people’s pains. He believed he deserved better than others since he, among a few others had the courage to be worshippers of the great god, whatever they enjoy must be seen as the fruit of their labour.

Among his fellow worshippers, Chika’s father made the highest and best sacrifices. This therefore allowed him to get more favors from the god. He sometimes had to make human blood sacrifice to the god, this he knew the god loved, and it made him the most feared and respected amongst them all, no one dared step on his toes.

This was why he made sure that at least one out of his two sons became a worshipper of Alaogbaga. He taught Chika everything he needed to know about the god for his enemies would not spear them if given the slightest opportunity.

Chika lost his father when he was twenty-eight years old, just a year after he got married to his beautiful wife, Nkechi. Nkechi’s parents were very happy to give out their daughter to the young handsome son of the wealthy Mazi Obi. Chika was tall, with a set of deep eyes; he could be very charming whenever he was desperate. A look into his face will tell you that he would get whatever he wanted. Nkechi loved and respected her husband for he was a very brave man, no one could challenge him and this was the desire of every woman. She was heavy with pregnancy at the time of Mazi Obi’s death.

The death of Mazi Obi was a very mysterious one. Chika believed that it was the handwork of his enemies and he vowed to get answers from the Chief Priest. During the burial, as people filled the compound and watched the Duruji masquerades dance their magical dance and entertained the people, Chika was lost in thought as he watched the happy faces of the villagers and for the first time in his life, he was afraid of what might happen to him and his family. He was the eldest son of Mazi Obi, his younger brother Chima didn’t seem to have the blood of the Obi’s running through him; he was weak and didn’t know how to get what he needed in life. His two younger sisters were already married and his mother was late.

Chika knew that he wasn’t safe in Duruji village especially with the absence of his father. His father’s death had been the people’s desire and Chika was not about to let them take away from him all that his father had acquired. He was confused knowing that it was his responsibility to protect all that his father had left behind. He was now the target of all their enemies and he still got his own family to protect.

Nkechi also enjoyed the respect and fear people had for her husband. She believed so much that her husband was capable of taking care of her and every situation that arose. She was also glad that her husband had the protection of Alaogbaga. She was already becoming great in the community; her opinion was never debated during any of the women’s village meeting. This position she was determined never to let go. The death of her father in-law was making the future look impossible, she was curious to know what her husband was planning to do about their present state.

“Nnanyi, most of my fellow women are happy at the news of papa’s death. They believe that his wealth and authority will go along with him to the grave, they think that there is nothing else we can do.”

Chika smiled wickedly, “they are in for a big surprise. So they think that I will be stupid enough to allow my fathers property to be taken away from me?” the smile was still on his face “I will show them that I am the true son of Obi.”

“Nnanyi, what is it that you plan to do about this situation that has befallen us?” She pushed on.

“You just don’t worry about that. Just leave it to me; all you need to know is that I will not let anything happen to us. No matter what it takes, no matter what Alaogbaga demands, I Chika, will make sure that I do not let my father down” This he concluded by beating himself slightly on the chest.
Nkechi gave out a short laugh. She was filled with pride, she knew what her husband was capable of, “I know that my dear husband is not weak, and I pray that my father’s god will continue to protect you, let me get you something to eat,” with that, she left him alone as he occupied himself with thoughts of what he should do.

The event that took place four days after the burial exposed Chika to the fact he will face more challenges than he had anticipated.

On that faithful day, Chika was on one of his father’s plot of land. He could visualize his father giving him instructions on how he must be careful, brave and strong if he must keep these assets.

“These are the things that make a man, without your plots of land, palm trees, iroko trees and cattle, people will look down on you. They will tell you anything they want to and even attempt to take away the little you have.”

Chika would always keep his face down, following in detail everything his father said.

“This is jungle justice where only the strong and the brave survive” the old man would continue “You mustn’t be weak; never expect to get justice from the decisions of the elders and the rulers. They all are intimidated and influenced by the rich, fearless and brave. Only the god of our ancestors is capable of giving you the protection you desire.”

He believed in all his father had told him and he wasn’t ready to do otherwise.

While he was lost in the thought, he was suddenly brought back to the present by the sound of shuffling leaves. He looked up and saw Mazi Kelechi Madu, one of his father’s victims.

Mazi Madu was the rightful owner of the plot of land that Chika was standing on. He was one of the weaklings according to his father. The land was a fertile land and Obi could not imagine himself not having it for himself. Madu’s harvest was more than his that season, Obi desired the land, and he felt that he deserved it more than Madu. He cooked up a story of how Madu’s father gave the land to his father after helping him with a favour and denied that he had given the land to him. Now, Obi was back to get what belonged to his father. Unfortunately for Madu, he was no match for Obi so he lost the land.

“Chika” Madu called, “You know that this land is mine, please I want it back, and I won’t like a repetition of the unpleasant experience I had with your father. You just …”

“Its okay” Chika cut in “I don’t want any of this, you know where his grave is, go there and lay your complaints to him, in fact he is looking for someone to talk to now, and you will be doing him a great favor if you go over and keep him company with your complaints. You can’t just bulge into my piece of land and tell me anything you want to. Not even a salutation or are you not yet aware that I lost my father?”

“I don’t care if your father is dead or not. That man you call your father had been very unfair to me. Look son, I might have been a fool to let your father take this land from me, but I am here to get my land back, do you hear me? So you better not step on this land again!” He was really angered by the way Chika, a little boy, had spoken to him. With the last statement, he stormed out of the farmland.

Chika thought to himself; so this is what I am going to face; well, they are in for a big surprise. He must go to the shrine in the morning; He was going to continue from where his father had stopped.

CHAPTER THREE

The worshippers of Alaogbaga were also excited at the news of Obi’s death. Everybody had been very scared of him; he had really terrorized them all to the extent that freedom of speech among them was limited whenever he came around. Obi had chosen to oppress everybody around him even his friends. He knew how to get whatever he wanted from the god, they couldn’t really understand. But now he was gone and gone forever. Even though they still felt vulnerable to each other, now they can handle that especially with the absence of the almighty Obi.

They didn’t see his son as a threat; they believed they could handle him. They felt that he did not know much about the great god like his father knew; he will have to come to them for advice on how to please the god and get his favour. They knew that Obi had always wanted his son to be a strong member and did his best to ensure this, but what they really didn’t know was the extent Obi had gone in imbibing the ways of Alaogbaga.

But they intended to make him inferior, they will get back at Obi through his son, the boy might think that he was just going to take over from where his father had stopped, or that they will just give him his way, just as they had done to his father. Well, it was their strength against his. The first step, they decided, was to make him feel very threatened so that fear will come over him. He will see that he is ‘a nobody’. He was going to pay back all that his father had taken from them.

Chika had been very much eager for the morning to come. When it finally came, he woke up very early, got himself ready psychologically and went into his poultry to pick the healthiest white cock. He was going to offer it as sacrifice to the great god.

Chika was very optimistic that the outcome of his mission was going to going to be good. He was bent on not letting his father down; he’d rather die than be a failure. If his father did it, he could therefore do it, he thought, after all, wasn’t the same blood running through their veins?

The shrine was situated about two kilometers from the village’s habitable area. Although Durujians know its location, they still seldom go anywhere near the shrine, they chose to avoid farming on lands close the shrine thereby leaving the shrine environment looking more like a forest. The children had already been conditioned not to even go towards that area because of the horrible stories that was told to them concerning the shrine. The only road that led to the shrine was a track road that was almost being covered by bushes due to few foots threading on it. The quietness of the track that led to the shrine made it even scarier for anyone who was not a worshipper to walk alone.

Chika was not even aware of how lonely the road was, of course he had never been, all he cared about at that moment, was how he was going to succeed in his mission. He got to the shrine that was built with raffia and bamboo sticks. The two guards who usually stood at the entrance of the shrine were not there and Chika began to wonder if he had not come earlier than he should. He wondered why the shrine looked so quiet and deserted and thought: maybe the priest and his servants had gone into the forest to get some shrubs for ritual or even to perform some rituals there.

While he was still standing there in thought, one of the chief priest’s messengers came out of the shrine. He was a young man of about twenty years old. Chika was familiar with him; he was the younger of the priest’s messenger. He wore a piece of animal skin around his genitals, there was white chalk painted all over his naked upper body.

He didn’t look surprised seeing Chika at such an early hour. He took his normal position and said “Good morning Mazi Chika, please sit down here, the chief priest will see you after his morning prayers.” His chalk stained face was expressionless as he pointed towards a thick log of wood very close to him.

Chika was about to sit down after thanking him when the chief priest spoke from inside the shrine in his husky voice. “Let him come inside, I will see him now”

Chika quickly entered the shrine. It was a small room with an inner chamber. On the wall opposite him hung a black clay pot with palm fronds and other leaves shooting from the inside, these leaves were always fresh and Chika could not tell if they were changed every morning or are kept fresh through some magical means. The wall behind the pot was painted black, on the floor stood animal bones, and strange materials lying carelessly. There were also smaller pots that were filled with some liquid substance and shrubs.

“Greetings, oh great one! The only one who has the power to see and hear from the great Alaogbaga, the god of our ancestors”

“What is it that brings you out so early at this hour son, of Obi? The toad does not come out in the day time for nothing” the chief priest calmly asked him. He was a small man in his late forties. His eyes were wild, with white substance thickly painted around them. It was believed that the white substance made it possible for him to behold the great god of destruction. Since the day he became the servant of the great god at the age of nineteen, the priest had never cut his hair, making him look wild and fearful. On his hair were three strange looking feathers; rumor has it that they were the feathers of a scared eagle which once hovered around the shrine. He was always on bare foot and bare chest, with a piece of animal skin on his waist. His body was painted with white chalky substance with beads of different sizes flowing down from his neck. The calling of the chief priest and his servants was a divine one.

“Oh great one,” Chika chanted, “You alone can speak with the great god of destruction! You are blessed by the god to behold his mighty presence! I come that I may be blessed by the great Alaogbaga.” Encouraged by the silence of the chief priest, he continued, “I come that I may receive the protection of my father from the great god. I pray that the blessing and honor that my father once received from the great god may also be granted to me.”

There was silence for some minutes, which seemed like an hour to Chika. His head was bowed toward the black pot on the wall. The chief priest picked up some cowries on the floor, and began to communicate with something invincible. This seemed to be taking more time than Chika could bear. He wondered what was happening. Was the god rejecting his request? Had his father had done anything that might have incurred the wrought of the great god, causing it to reject his son?

At last, the priest looked up at him; he starred at Chika sternly in the eyes and called him by his name.

“Chika, the son of Obi”

“The great one” Chika answered immediately.

The chief priest repeated his name twice and asked him to come with him, the repetition of his name signified some sought of warning, Chika was aware. Chika followed him to the back of the shrine and he had the opportunity to see how it looked like for the first time.

Surrounding the shrine were clay pots similar to the ones inside and some wooden sculpture similar to the ones the village masquerade dances with. There was a small tent like a resting place for the priest and his servants just near the shrine building.

They walked into the tent and sat on a big log in the tent. There were other burnt wood indicating that the chief priest and his servants did their cooking here.

“There are lots of sacrifices you have to make, before you can become as great as your father. He probably did not tell you some of the important ones he made to Alaogbaga.” The chief priest said.

“Great one” Chika began, “You know the challenges that I have to face out there in the village now that my father is dead. It is a thug of war for me. Everybody thinks this is their opportunity to get back at my father through me. I am not willing to let either my father or myself down.
“You must be careful for what you desire son of Obi, Alaogbaga is ready to give you whatever you desire, but I doubt if you are capable of reciprocating his gestures,”

“I am!” Chika almost shouted. What was the chief priest thinking? Did he leave his house so early only to be doubted?

The chief priest starred at him for a long time then said, “Your father gave his life to Alaogbaga. Nobody in Duruji village had ever made the god such a promise and that is the reason he made him so great even…”

“His life?” What do you mean by giving his…”

“Be quiet and listen young one, you must listen to me. Your father’s death was as a result of the covenant he had with the great god. Twelve years ago, Obi asked the god to make him greater than all his peers in Duruji village. Your father wanted to acquire everything; he asked that his life be taken from him after fifteen years in exchange for a wealthy and powerful life.” He kept silent for sometime allowing Chika to absorb the little he had said, then he continued, “the god refused to grant him his wishes, for the reason that fifteen years was too long, but he was later granted twelve years by the great god, and after that he must die. This was accepted by your father and so a covenant was held.”

“But my father was always making sacrifices to the god; I thought his faithfulness bought the favor of the great god.”

“No, no” the chief priest shook his head “those were the sacrifice he had to do as a true worshipper, he was made great above all because of the life sacrifice he made. You see, nobody understood the story behind his greatness and even the story behind his death, and he went to the grave with his secret.”

Chika was short of words, he sat quietly obviously confused, he was thoroughly amazed. So this was the reason why his father died such a strange death? This was beyond his expectation, he had never expected this. What was he to do now? Despite the fact that he desired such greatness as his father’s, even more, he didn’t think he was able to make such a life sacrifice.

The chief priest heard the sound of someone greeting and excused himself. Before he entered the shrine he said, “you can now see, the ball is in your court and for your information there are men who are ready to do whatever it takes to be in your father’s position, they might not be as great as he was, but you will have to fight very hard to be able to contend with them.” With that he left Chika in a state of even more confusion.

Will he be able to take such a decision? Will he be bold enough to emulate his father? It was just obvious that he wouldn’t be able to do it. He was still a young man for god’s sake! He had not even seen his first child yet. No, he will not allow his greed to make him give his life to Alaogbaga. But the problem still remained, and his mission still remained unaccomplished, will he be able to face the intimidation, oppression and humiliation that will be coming his way? “What should I do”, he kept on asking himself.

By the time he looked up into the sky, he realized that it was almost mid-day; he didn’t know that he had spent almost the whole of the morning pondering over his problem. He decided that he should go home and think of another solution to the problem. He stood up and slowly walked back to the front of the shrine. The chief priest was attending to somebody or people in the shrine. He asked the messenger to keep the cock for the chief priest and was about to call out to the priest that he was taking his leave when he noticed that they were already coming out of the shrine, so he waited.

The chief priest was with one of the prominent worshippers, Mazi Nduka. Nduka was one of the worshippers who desired by all means to take Obi’s place. He was in the same age grade with Mazi Obi, a very large man with a strong sense of importance. He had always wanted to be like the Obi’s, with his family going untouchable like Obi’s. Now that Obi was dead, he saw it as an opportunity to take his place and not even Obi’s son can stand on his way.

“Ah, Mazi Nduka, Good morning” Chika greeted him. Then looking at the chief priest he said, “great one, I will have to go, I will be back to see you in two days time, please I pray that the god accept my small gift. It is just a token to thank him for listening to me.” He was pointing to the white cock in the hands of the young messenger.

“I am also about to leave maybe we should walk together. You know how close I was with your father; there are some issues I will like to discuss with you.”

“Alright, the two of you can walk together. I will have to go back to my shrine, may the god of our ancestors go with you.” The priest said and hurriedly walked back into his shrine.

Enjoying the story, good job frank.

Weldone Frank. I'm with u on dis one.
But there are some errors here which i think are not intentional. U can look into them.
'rear' instead of 'rare, 'scares' to 'scars, 'speared' instead of 'spared', 'faithful day' to 'fateful day', 'bulge' to 'barge', 'scared eagle' to 'sacred eagle', 'invincble' instead of 'invisible', 'wrought' to 'wrath', 'he starred' as against 'stared' , 'sought' instead of 'sort'.
Weldone Frank. Just fire on.

avicky: Weldone Frank. I'm with u on dis one.
But there are some errors here which i think are not intentional. U can look into them.
'rear' instead of 'rare, 'scares' to 'scars, 'speared' instead of 'spared', 'faithful day' to 'fateful day', 'bulge' to 'barge', 'scared eagle' to 'sacred eagle', 'invincble' instead of 'invisible', 'wrought' to 'wrath', 'he starred' as against 'stared' , 'sought' instead of 'sort'.
Weldone Frank. Just fire on.

thanks vicky for pointing these errors out, i really didnt notice them even after reading the story twice. i will sure effect the corrections. meanwhile, do not hesitate to point out errors and criticize while i hope my editor will do a better job than me.

Nkechi never anticipated that her husband was going to stay so long at the shrine. He had left so early without even taking his breakfast. She could not understand why he had to go so early; after all, during papa’s days he never visited the shrine at such early hours of the morning even though she wasn’t always aware of his every visit to the shrine. She had taken her time to do her house chores, had even prepared his breakfast which must have gotten cold by now.

She loved her husband and she was very glad that she would soon be having a baby for him. Nkechi wished that she would be able bear for him a son; this will go a long way in increasing her status in the Obi’s family. Now she was sitting in front of her house on a wooden stool, while she waited for her husband.

Then she once again allowed herself to ponder over the problem at hand. It will be a big let down if the name of the family suddenly goes down the drain, she will be the laughing stock of all the women in the village. What was her husband up to? Can he really save this situation? Will the god accept him like his father was accepted? And now that he had stayed so long, she couldn’t wait to be made aware of what will become of the family’s new status. She hoped that the news won’t be negative, ‘cos that will be too bad for them all.

She looked up and saw her husband’s younger brother coming from the narrow street that led to the house. He was holding a short thick stick on his right hand and a big bush rat on his left hand. Chima was not really bothered about power and riches, nor was he interested in safeguarding his father’s ill gotten wealth. He preferred living a simple and easy going life, oppressing others was not his style. He was just nineteen and wasn’t prepared to make enemies like his father and brother. He had tried so many times to beg his greedy brother to forget all about this whole power tussle and lead a more honorable life now that their father was dead, explaining to him that the fact that he was a worshipper was enough, instead of going further to take away from people the little they’ve got.

“You mustn’t take other people’s belongings and instigate fear in them before you get respect from them; respect is earned and not enforced.” He would tell his elder brother, Chika.

“Are you asking me to close my eyes and fold my hands and allow our enemies take all that father had acquired for us? Are you not happy with all the land trees and properties that father had acquired for us? Now tell me, how do you want to earn respect, by being a weakling and a coward like Mazi Madu and the others? Look, boy if you don‘t like respect and power, I don’t know what else you are living for, as for me, they are the whole essence of living and I must have them.”

The look in Chika’s eyes told Chima that he was not ready to listen to him or change his mind, so he gave up and allowed him to do what he liked.
Now, as he approached the house, and seeing his brother’s wife sitting all alone, he guessed that his brother was not yet back from the shrine.

“You are welcome.” she greeted him.

“Is my brother not yet back from the shrine?”

“No, in fact that is what I have been wondering, don’t you think that it will be alright if you go and look for him?”

“What for? I don’t see any reason for that, Chika knows his way back home and he can take care of himself very well. You know that.” He was just about to leave her and enter the house when he thought of something, perhaps he could persuade Nkechi to talk to her husband concerning his greedy desires.

“Please, Nkechi, I beg you to ask your husband to forget about this whole desire for power, we won’t die if the whole villagers come and take all that is theirs from us. Look at everything papa had acquired, they are all still lying here while he is rotting away in the grave. Just where are we going with all these things and making enemies across the whole village?”

“But your father left all these things for you” she sharply replied. “Just look at you, are you not supposed to join force with your brother and be the greatest men in Duruji? What legacy do you want to leave for your children when you die?”

“A good name is what I want to leave behind for them and that is better than land, trees and cattle, that will end up leaving my children vulnerable to the enemies I make while acquiring them, just like papa had done. All that I am trying to say is that my brother already has the protection of the great god, and with that he is okay, going extra mile to be like papa will require extra sacrifice, have you really given a thought on what the extra mile will be?”

“I don’t think that there is anything my husband is not capable of handling. If your father did it my husband will. He is the true son of Obi, some times I wonder if you are truly his son. Well, it is my duty as a wife to help my husband be what he’s been destined to become, I won’t let him put the family name to shame.” She firmly replied.

“Alright, I think I have said enough, the two of you should do whatever you think is right, as for me, I am not interested in such greedy venture.” He quickly left her to prepare his meat before she could say another word.

Nduka and Chika were moving at a snail’s pace. This was what Nduka wanted; he wanted to use this opportunity to sow seeds of fear and doubt in the younger man’s mind through words of intimidation from him. The narrow and quite road provided a suitable atmosphere for him to relay his information effectively.

“Eh... I am really sorry that I have not been able to see you since after your father’s burial so that I could have a one on one chat with you. There were some problems at home that had really kept me very busy. In fact that is the reason why I suggested that we should walk back home together.” Nduka started.

Chika did not respond to the older man’s apology, he didn’t think that the apology was necessary.

Nduka continued, “I want you to be strong. As you know, your father was a very strong man; he was a very brave man and was well respected in Duruji. I know that what he expects from you, wherever he is, is that you should continue from where he stopped. May his humble soul rest in peace.”

Chika was beginning to get angry; he could detect a trace of sarcasm, in Nduka’s voice. The man was mocking his dead father, but he tried to contain his anger and still remained silent and listened to him.

“I won’t be fair to your late father if I fail to guide you, especially in anything that has to do with Alaogbaga. You know that the great god can be very unpredictable, you must be very careful not to step on the wrong toes, follow our footsteps and learn from us, I promise to put you through anything that might be confusing to you. We, your elders will lead you.”

Chika was by now really provoked, what is all this? He thought. What is this old fool telling him?

“I am sorry Mazi Nduka, I don‘t think I will be in need your advice or guidance in this struggle for power, everybody is on his own, I am sure you have children that you can guide and advice. My father did his home work before he died. I will do whatever I want, I can get whatever advice I need from the chief priest, I am sure he will put me through,”

This boy won’t be easy to handle, Nduka thought, he is just like his father, but he won’t stand the young man talking to him like that.

“Young man, you mustn’t think that I am here to struggle for power with you, it’s a pity that your father left you thinking that Duruji is a war zone. However, you must realize that he is no more around to protect you and you are all alone, you are no more what you used to be.”

“Are you trying to intimidate me or what? You want to make me scared and vulnerable so that you can pounce on me” he smiled “Well for your information that won’t work out for you; I am the true son of my father.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about” Nduka defended himself, but continued his threat “You must be loyal to us, I want you to realize that before you were born, we have been worshippers of Alaogbaga and we have seen it destroy and kill people and properties. We know what it is capable of doing, we know it much better than you do. Don’t go thinking that you are just going to inherit your father’s position, which will be a big mistake for you.
You will have to earn its favor, and that is the reason why you must follow our lead.” Nduka was getting frustrated, the young man was pushing him further than he wanted, trying to make him come out openly with his threat.

Chika didn’t even display a sign that he was feeling intimidated “Well, thank you for your concern, you just don’t worry about how I fare even without my father, I can take care of myself. But one thing you should know is that I can never let my father down, my fathers position will never slip me by, I know what I am doing. I am not weak; you will see my strength, just watch out for it.” He concluded confidently.

Nduka was surprised at how Chika was talking. This boy is surely not weak, he thought, he had underestimated him. Then he must open up to him if that is what he wants.

“Well, that is by the way, there is something important that I will like to discuss with you. Emm…the big plot of land, I mean the one close to Maduka’s big iroko tree, your father claimed to be his is not really his. Actually, my grand father gave it to your grand father to use for sometime and it is time I take it back.”

“What piece of land? I don’t understand; my father did not mention anything like that to me.” Chika wasn’t expecting this sudden change of topic.
“
Well I am letting you know now. I intend to farm on that piece of land on the next farming season, I just thought I should let you know.”

Chika felt a sense of fear; he felt a bitter taste in his mouth. How was he going to handle this man? “Mazi Nduka, you should have discussed this with my father when he was alive, you don’t just expect me to hand over our land to you just like that, by the way, what proof do you have to back up your claim?” Chika said, trying to sound more courageous than he felt inside.

“I don’t have to prove anything to you boy; you don’t expect an old man like me to lie to you. I really wanted to discuss it with your father, but I never knew he was going to die such a sudden death.” Mazi Nduka noticed that the discussion was really getting at Chika, he smiled and continued,

“Don’t let this cause a quarrel between the two of us; I am just collecting what is simply mine, so I expect you to be matured in this matter.”

Chika was shocked; he was short of words and before he could recover, Nduka gently said. “There are things you don’t know young man, don’t let your ignorance cause you to want to fight this land with me, just simply and peacefully let go of it, it is not yours, it is mine.”

“I won’t do that! I will never allow you to have that land, it is my father’s. Mazi Nduka you seem to forget whose ground you are threading on, you really surprise me, how do you expect that I will let you come into the Obi’s family and take anything you want, you better forget that for your own good.” He started walking faster; he didn’t feel like talking to the old man again.

Mazi Nduka couldn’t walk fast enough, to meet up with him, so he allowed him to go ahead. But before Chika could double the distance, he said loud enough for him to hear, “I will like you to go and think about this discussion and do what you are supposed to do. But don’t force me to coerce you into giving me the land, you won’t like the scene, I tell you.”

This was too much for Chika, but he remained silent. He was now sure that life was going to be miserable for him if he continued like this; all he wanted to do right now was to get home and do some thinking while he rests.


Nkechi was just coming out of the house when she looked up and saw her husband coming. She waited for him to get to the house before welcoming him home. The look on his face wasn’t encouraging; this made her heart skip a little. But she knew that that was not a good time to inquire anything from her husband, she hurriedly made his food available for him.

Chika didn’t want to tell his wife what the chief priest had disclosed to him about his father. He wasn’t going to let anybody know about it, not even his brother. After taking his lunch he lay down on his raffia bed, and allowed himself to go through the day’s event. The scene he just had with Mazi Nduka had made him make up his mind. He will go back to the shrine and do the same thing his father did twelve years ago. He prayed that he will be able to have the courage to do it. But he thought that it was better that he dies than be alive and face the humiliation that awaited him.

Later in the evening, after Chika had rested well enough, Nkechi gently walked up to him pulled a little stool closer, sat on it and in a cool feminine voice asked, “My dear husband, you don’t look like you had a nice outing today, may I please know what it is that is bothering you?”
Although Chika didn’t intend telling his wife the outcome of his meeting with the chief priest, he was surely going to tell her about the confrontation he had with Mazi Nduka., he quickly told her what happened between the two of them and his reaction.

“I wonder who is going to come next and what next they are going to demand from us?” Nkechi asked, not understanding why her husband chose to avoid telling her of his meeting with the chief priest, but she felt he was saving that for the last. She began to sob, “Oh! I feel like just running and running, until I get out of this environment. They want to kill us, just like they killed papa, they want to take away from us all that papa had suffered for, my husband…”

“It is alright, I don’t want you to get yourself upset. Its okay, you know you are pregnant, and the baby doesn’t need you getting upset.”
“I am going to bring a child into this cruel world to face all these oppressions, how will it survive? All the women in this village are ready to pounce on me and devour me, they feel am not worthy of voicing out my opinion any longer.”

“I really will like to relax right now; I have a lot to think. I promise you that I will take care of everything, I have another appointment with the chief priest, then we will settle it all with the great god of my father. My father’s god will not let me down.”

“But what was the outcome of your meeting with him today?”

“The chief priest said that I should come back in two days time, he said that I should give him time to talk things over with Alaogbaga on my behalf, he promised me that all will be fine.”

“I pray that the god will favor you as it did to papa.” Then she remembered her discussion with Chima. “Chima was trying to convince me that we should allow our enemies take all they want from us.”

“You know that he is still a very young man, he doesn’t understand what it means for a fellow man to take all you have from you, by the time he gets married and starts having kids, he will realize how important all these things are”

“Don’t you think that it is better that you convince him to join you in the struggle? You will be a stronger force if the two of you are into this together.”

“No, let him be, I don’t think he is capable of or will ever be strong enough to face those cruel men out there. Moreover I don’t intend to share to share papa’s properties equally with him, I don’t want him telling me that we fought for it all together. We will soon be having our kids you know? Just let him be.”

After some time Nkechi asked her husband for permission to take her leave, and while Chika was once again left alone, he started to think again. He will ask the chief priest to tell the god to give him more years than it gave his father, maybe three more years, but what will happen to his children if he dies, he thought. No, there is no need for that now, when the time comes he will take care of that.

frank3.16:


thanks vicky for pointing these errors out, i really didnt notice them even after reading the story twice. i will sure effect the corrections. meanwhile, do not hesitate to point out errors and criticize while i hope my editor will do a better job than me.

Ok. I'm not a critic though, but will always point out minor mistakes that i knw are merely 'typos'. U've givn me express permission to do so now.
So when are we getting d next update?

CHAPTER FOUR

The market days was usually held on seven days interval. After two successive market days, Mazi Nduka thought it was the right time to go for the land he desired. He didn’t want to let the words that came out of his mouth to go in vain. He also didn’t want Chika to think that he was a coward and feel that they are all still afraid of him like they had feared his father.

The farming season was drawing nearer he really wanted to secure the land before it was too late. So he decided that he will pay Chika a visit and discuss the issue the second time; this will make the younger man know how he serious he was.

Chika was just bringing in his cattle from the field when he heard the sound of somebody’s footstep behind him, he quickly turned around and behold it was Mazi Nduka. It was getting late into the evening and he didn’t like the old man’s visit, in fact it made him more uncomfortable than he thought, knowing what the outcome of his confrontation with Nduka might lead him to do.

“What do you want here Mazi Nduka, I don’t remember inviting you to my home. And I don’t think I have any business with you.”

“Is this how your father thought you to welcome visitors in your home? No salutation? Invite me in and offer me cola I came here to discuss with you.”
“I think you should leave.” He wasn’t ready to allow the old fool into his house.

“Well, I will leave if that is what you want, I just wanted to tell you that come next market day, I and my family are going to clear the land we talked about the last time we chatted, we want to prepare it before the farming season comes. I won’t want us to talk about it again.”

Chika gave out a short laugh, “Is that all? I will wait for you and your family and I will show you your doom. Now leave my house, and I don’t want to see you around my home again!”

Nduka left the compound with a funny and confused smile on his face. What was this boy up to? Well, he was going to make a sacrifice of human blood to the great god. And that was the greatest sacrifice anyone could offer to the god, Chika doesn’t know about that yet, even if he does, he would not have the courage to do it. But what has the boy got in mind, he had expected the young man to go on his knees and beg him. Maybe he was just trying to be brave, he must go ahead with his plans, and he must get that land.


Chika was just sorry for the old fool; a big surprise awaits him if he continues with his threats. He had already heard the rumor that Mazi Madu was treating that he must get back his land from him no matter what it was going to take him. Three days ago the village king had summoned him; he was asked by the king to let go of all the properties that his father had taken away from people. He had told the king that he should be given some time so that he could sort things out; he had already told himself that that will be the last time that he would answer such call. Now he was just waiting for the right time to show all Durujians that they have more to fear than what they had experienced from his father.

A few days ago Chika had summoned up courage and had gone back to the shrine of Alaogbaga; he hadn’t been able to go on the appointed day he had thought he would go; it had taken him three extra days to make up his mind. The chief priest had immediately smiled when Chika showed up and told him what he wanted. Just like his father, he thought.

Sacrificing one’s life to Alaogbaga was just like one selling his soul to it; it possesses such an individual and uses him to carry out its evil intents. The chief priest could not even understand why the god really appreciated this kind of sacrifice since there was no blood involved, knowing Alaogbaga as a blood loving god. Maybe the fact that it allows it to possess the individual has some important significance that he was yet to understand.

“I am here so that I may make a life sacrifice to the great god of my father, great one. But great one, you alone can speak to it, I beg you to let him give me more time, you know my father was much older than I am when he made the sacrifice to the god of destruction. Tell him to make my life reach fifteen years instead of twelve like he gave my father, for I have not yet seen my children.”

“I will have to speak to the great god about that. You must wait; I will be with you soonest.” The chief priest entered the inner chamber of the shrine. Only he and his messengers enter there, no worshipper had ever been invited inside there. Chika could hear some strange sounds coming from the priest, he could not really understand what he was saying, and the tongue he spoke was very alien to Chika. He was so tensed; he couldn’t wait for the whole ritual to be over so that he could forget about it.

After what seemed like a decade to Chika, the chief priest came out; he looked at Chika for some time and said. “The great one has accepted your plea. It is going to give you fifteen years, are you ready now? If you are, we better begin for we have a long day ahead of us.”

Chika sighed loudly and said, “I am ready.”

“Alright, let me get the necessary item that will be used for the ritual.”

Chika started to think again. This time he was trying it console himself that fifteen years was still a long time, he will make sure that he makes good use of it. Villagers will see another side of Chika the son of Obi, he cheered himself.

The chief priest came out with a black bowl that was made of clay. It contained a dark colored liquid that didn’t have a pleasant smell. “Take off your cloths” the priest ordered, and Chika immediately obeyed. He was washed with it, and a sharp object was used to make some marks on the upper part of his body, another thick liquid was used to rub on his body and the chief priest made some incantation as he rubbed all over Chika’s body concentrating more on the parts that had been cut. A small amount of his blood was collected before he was asked to put on his cloths.

“You have just been washed with the water from a dead man’s body, and Alaogbaga will be at your service hence fourth, he will give you maximum protection and answer your call faster than all the other worshippers. You will enjoy so many more other advantages than others. And through its fierce nature, your desires shall be granted unto you. Your enemies will be crushed whenever you call on your god and all shall fear you. But have this at the back of your mind; you will deliver your life to Alaogbaga after fifteen years. Do not allow yourself to be persuaded; do not run so that the wrought of the god shall not be passed to your family. I will be there to remind you when the time draws near. Keep these rules and your life will be taken peacefully. Disobey them; you and your whole family shall meet the most miserable death. The god expects you to make a sacrifice of thanks giving tomorrow. Go in peace.”

For the next three days, Chika suffered from a feeling of ambivalence on the new turn of his life. He became quieter than he used to, not sure if he had made the right decision by making the life sacrifice. Well, he thought, the deed had been done, from now on; he won’t spear any fool who comes to tempt him and anyone who tries to stop him from getting what he wanted.

Chima enjoyed hanging out with his friends at the village hall. There they would always meet in the mornings and evenings to make plan concerning the next day. Most of their time was spent on hunting bush animals. When they get enough, they would sell some to those who run bush bars, and take the rest home for themselves. Chima was well loved and respected among his peers even though he does nothing to instigate them with fear like his father and brother. Earlier, in his childhood days, the villagers used to be afraid of him due to the information they had about his father. But in the process of socializing with him, they found out that he was a very different person from his father. He could be ambitious and tough, but didn’t oppress them in any way. He could be very motivating, most times proving to be a very good leader, with an atmosphere of tenderness in every thing he did.

They came to understand that he didn’t like the way his father terrorized the life of the villagers. Left to him he would have given all that his father had forcefully taken from the people back to them, but he knew that his brother who was just like his father would not allow him to do that. But Chima felt very free among members of his community, he freely visited any home he wished and was welcomed. It was obvious that he did not support what his father and brother did.

The arrival of the rainy season reduced the frequency that Chima and his friends hung out, since every body was forced to go to the farm always. The first rain had just come and the villagers usually use that period to clear their farmland and prepare for farming. Therefore Chima remained at home using most of his time to prepare his farming tools.

Chima noticed the change in his brother’s behavior. He noticed that Chika had suddenly become quieter than before; most times, recently, he would be very lost in thought, unaware of all that was happening in his environment. And he seemed to look more evil than normal, something Chima could not explain. His eyes, one could easily tell, seemed to look like he had very evil intensions. Chima would wonder what was wrong with his brother; what might be the cause of this sudden change in him. He hopped that his brother had not involved himself into something dangerous and was not planning to hurt anybody.

Nkechi couldn’t also help noticing the change that had suddenly taken over her husband. She noticed the for the past five market days he talked less and seemed to keep to himself, lost in his own world. Another scary fact was that his appearance had suddenly changed into something strange; always looking like he could murder someone and this had made her very fearful of him.

That night after taking his dinner, in a quiet mood, he said, “Tomorrow, I and Chima will go to that big plot of land near Madu’s big iroko tree, since Nduka is planning on taking from me. I will have to start farming on it before he makes any move.” He sounded very ambitious. He then looked at his wife and his voice became tender “I will like you to have lots of rest through out this period; I will not like any thing to happen to my baby.”

“Don’t worry about that my husband; nothing will happen to your baby, I will be very careful.” Then she changed the topic. “But what if Mazi Nduka comes to fight you on that land while you are working with Chima? What are you going to do? I don’t want anything to happen to you, I don’t want to be a widow.”

“Hmm… the poor old fool is playing with his life, I wish he comes there to make trouble with me, I am well prepared for him. He will be surprised at what I will do to him.” He looked at his wife in an assuring way, “Don’t worry about that, I have everything under control, the god of my father will protect and fight for me.”

She wanted to ask him what has been bothering him in the last few days, but decided against it, maybe with time he will come back to his old self. She excused herself before going to bed.

Very early the next morning Chika and his brother set off for the big plot of land. They meant to finish clearing the land before the end of the day, so that they would be able to burn the grasses before the next rainfall.

The farmland wasn’t so much distance from their home, in no time they were already there, and without wasting any time they began working. Both Chika and Chima were very hard working; farming was the basic means of survival for Durujians and so every child was brought up in a way that they had to dedicate themselves to it. From the way the two brothers worked, it was certain that they would finish with the clearing earlier than they had even anticipated.

They had barely worked for two hours when Mazi Nduka stormed into the farmland

“Who is that? What is happening here?” Nduka demanded, “Who authorized you to come into this land and work? Oh! Is it you? Look this little boy, you are just proving to be too stubborn, it is the stubborn fly that follows the dead body to the grave. For your own sake leave this land and go home to your wife.”

Chika and Chima stopped working and stared at him. Chima looked so confused; he was wondering what this was all about. He looked at his brother to see his reaction, but could not tell much from the cold and expressionless face.

“You are just wasting your time,” Nduka continued I and my family are going to cultivate on this land this season, you better go to your wicked fathers numerous plots of land and work, leave my land for me.”

“What is the problem?” Chima asked in a low soft tune. “I believe very well that this is our land, I don’t understand what you are talking about.”
“Shut up!” Nduka shouted at him. Then facing Chika he said, “I don’t want to talk so much on this. You boys should just pack all you tools and leave here immediately; I am going straight to the king’s palace to tell him to send people that will stop you if you don’t want to listen to me. And I warn you, don’t come back here again.”

Before the old man could leave, Chika said, “You stubborn grasshopper, you can go and tell the whole villagers to come and stop us from working. You can do all you want but I must farm on this land, you can never, never stop me.”

This stopped Mazi Nduka from moving out. They continued to exchange words for a long time; making so much noise until many other villagers who heard them came around to settle them. None of them really liked Chika, so they were a little biased in their judgment; they wished Nduka could actually do something to stop him from farming on the land, so that he could get a taste of what his father used to do to others. But eventually, they took Mazi Nduka away from the scene. He was asked by his supporters to take the matter to the village king. He went straight to the king’s palace and reported the matter to him before going home.

His went straight to his animal house and brought out a matured he-goat and cut its head off. He spread the blood of the goat around his house as he recited some incantations, then took another goat and went to the shrine of Alaogbaga; he made a sacrifice to the god with the goat. He asked for protection from the god for the next few days and in whatever he was going to do.

He told the Chief priest that someone was stepping on his toes by trying to farm on his piece of land, and he told the chief priest to ask Alaogbaga to help him and fight for the land for him. The Chief priest accepted and asked him to go in peace that his request will be granted by the god of destruction.

After Nduka left, Chika told his brother not to be mindful of what had just happened and that he should to continue to work. He refused to answer Chima’s questions; Chima continued to work in confusion. After a short while, the king’s messenger came with a message from the king that they should stop working on the land until the matter was resolved. And that they should come to the palace immediately.

Chika was furious, “I am not going to answer any call, and nobody is going to stop me from working on this land, not even the king and his thugs. Just get out of here with your stupid message and leave me alone!”

Chima wanted peace. “Let us at least go and hear what the king has to say concerning the matter, since we are very sure that the land is ours.”
“You stupid boy, what reasonable thing do you think he has to say. The best thing for you is to keep quiet on this matter. Nduka wants to see what I can do and I will show it to him. He wants to die and he will surely die.”

“Please brother, I won’t like you to start talking like that, I don’t think it has gotten to that, let us just look for a way to solve this peacefully.”

“Just continue to work; I will settle this my own way. Nobody dares try to take what is mine.”

Chima kept quiet and continued to work just as his brother had instructed.

They left the farm later in the evening when Chika found out that he wasn’t in farming mood any longer. After dropping his farm tools, Chika went straight to the shrine with four white cocks. He, through the chief priest, asked the great god to strike anybody who was trying to challenge him. He asked the god to destroy Nduka if he dared step his feet on that piece of land and that Madu, his other contender, meets his doom whenever and wherever he speaks of taking back his land from him.

Wow
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Oluwafunmilayo95: Wow
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ok dear, thank for being there with me, since you are already here, let me do some updates

The next day, after clearing a little piece of land at the back of his house, Madu went to the nearest palm wine joint to his house to relax his nerves with a bottle of palm wine. He met a friend of his and they got talking while they drank their palm wine. After downing a bottle, Madu made it known to his friend that he wanted more and so more bottles were ordered.

“Yes that reminds me, what are you planning to do concerning your piece of land that is in possession of the Obi’s?” His friend asked.

“That land? I must retrieve it back. I will show that boy that I am not a coward. I will make sure that he does not get away with it this time around, especially now that his father is late. He thinks that his father had acquired so many things for him and wants to sit down and enjoy other people’s belongings. Well, even if it means fighting him, I will get back my plot of land. In fact I even intend farming on that plot of land this season.”

“But you must be careful; I don’t know what back up you’ve got, you must realize that Chika could be protected by the …” He stopped and starred at Madu. Madu was looking like he was in pains. “What is the matter with you? He asked, but Madu obviously could not answer him, he was holding his hand to his neck like something was trying to choke him. “Madu, talk to me, tell me the problem,” he suddenly became alarmed, something was happening to Madu and he was not even able to speak up. So he started to scream out for help.

Madu was gagging; he fell to the floor, with his hands clanged tightly to his neck as he was struggling with an invincible being. Then he started to bleed from his eyes, nose and ears and he struggled with the pain. He began to roll carelessly on the floor, something was beginning to tear him apart, and blood was beginning to flow from all part of his body.

His friend was astonished; he couldn’t bear the sight of what was happening. He ran out of the bar alerting every person in the vicinity with his scream. People gathered to know what was wrong with him, he took them into the bar and behold a very strange sight awaited them. The owner of the bar was already there and screaming at what he saw.

There was a horrible sight of blood everywhere in the bar. Madu’s body part had been disseminated to every corner of the bar, soon everybody started to scream with fear in their eyes. This was the hand work of the gods and that means that Madu had offended the gods, most likely the god of destruction.

Mazi Nduka’s wife was worried, her husband had insisted that morning that he must go and see if Chika will come back to work on the controversial plot of again. She had tried to no avail to stop him from going there. She didn’t like the idea that her husband was struggling over a plot of land with the Obi’s, knowing fully well how dangerous and desperate the Obi’s could be. But Nduka had proven to be impossible, even though it was obvious that he was doing the wrong thing; the land didn’t belong to him or his great grandfather.

Now it was almost mid-day and he wasn’t yet back home. Her anxiety was increasing, especially with news about Mazi Madu’s demise that morning. What was he still doing there? She thought to herself.

She called on one of her sons to go and check if he had stopped over at his best friend’s place, she told her son to tell him that she was waiting anxiously for him and wanted to go to the market. And in case he wasn’t there, the boy should check other possible places that he usually visited at his leisure.

But the boy came back twenty minutes later with the information that his father had not been at all places that he had checked for him. She began to panic, if her husband had not been to all these places, where else would he be? “Hurry,” she said to her son, “let’s go together to the big plot of land, the one that is causing problem between him and Obi’s son, he might be in trouble.”

On reaching their destination, they were faced with a very gruesome sight. The only reason that made her even think that the pieces of flesh she was seeing was her husband was the torn pieces of animal skin that was all over the land indicating that that was the same thing he wore that morning before he left the house.

Nduka was just pieces of flesh spread all over the land and his blood watered the land. While echo of his wife’s scream brought the land to life.

The whole villagers knew that the deaths and their styles were the handwork of Alaogbaga the great god of destruction, it had struck again. Two men; one a non-worshipper, the other a dedicated worshipper had lost their lives, both were in a thug of war because of land with Chika, the son of the late and Notorious Obi. This conveniently informed them that Chika still occupied the same position his father had held. Mazi Obi had not died and gone to the grave with his evil, wickedness and terrorism, he had left them with his son to continue from where he stopped.

Chima was perturbed at the events that had taken place over the last few days. He didn’t like it at all. Yes Mazi Nduka had asked for it, but to think that Chika, his brother should have gone this far, in taking both lives. He would have even felt more comfortable if Mazi Madu had gotten back his piece of land, it wasn’t just fair; his life had been taken from him just because he wanted to get back what was actually his. Now what will happen to Mazi Nduka’s family, the problem he had with Chika wasn’t beyond being resolved, but now he is dead, the problem had definitely gone beyond resolving.
He hoped that all these will not affect the relationship he had with his kinsmen; he had never been and will never want to be a part of these evil deeds.

Nkechi was not sure of how she felt about the whole issue. She was having a mixed feeling of joy and fear. She was now sure that no woman in Duruji will ever dare challenge her views again or try to disrespect her and husband any longer. But the thought of the death of these men really made her uncomfortable.

Over the years Chika terrorized the land of Duruji. He continued with the legacy that his father left. Not even the king could challenge his opinion, he collected the people’s land, trees cattle no one could do anything about it. He made them do whatever he wanted and they lived in fear of him and his family. Chika really enjoyed it all, his greed increased as he acquired more, he wanted to have everything to himself. He was possessed with the spirit of greed, evil, wickedness and blood.

Chima not wanting to part of it all disassociated himself from his brother after he got married. Chika also transferred his wicked deeds to him, but he wasn’t bothered, he enjoyed his simple and easy life.

CHAPTER FIVE

Now fifteen years was gone, the time had come for Chika to pay back to the great god of destruction for all his faithfulness with his life. This was causing him sleepless night.

He woke up very late the next morning and felt very weak, so much thinking was sapping all his energy from him. The anxiety was growing because the appointed day was drawing nearer. He had only three days to go and see the chief priest. He quickly dismissed the ugly thought from his mind and allowed himself to reminisce on the events that had taken place in the last fifteen years. It had been very eventful. Everybody had respected and feared him, he had really oppressed them and whenever he had pointed at any of their belongings that he desired, they had given it to him without hesitating. He had never cared how they felt about him. It wasn’t his concern if they had despised him or not. His selfish interest had been all that mattered. He had walked through the streets of Duruji with his head up high, he had really been great, and it had really been lovely. But wasn’t that what he had wanted? Hadn’t the great god of his fathers been very faithful to him? Why was he still finding it very impossible to fulfill his own part of the deal, what more does he want in life?

No! There was still a lot to live for. Life itself was good, and at the age forty three, he was still very young to die. Besides, won’t dying at this time of his life be a sign that he had finally really lost out? Chika the son of Obi is not a loser, he is a winner.

He was yet to see the better side of the four lovely children his wife had given him, two sons and two daughters. What will be of them if he is no more? His enemies will not hesitate to pounce on them and devour them. How will they be able to cope if all these wealth suddenly goes? Wasn’t it because of them that he had gone into this deal with Alaogbaga? Then what will be the point of it all if he dies and everything he had struggled for goes to his enemies?

Now that his time was up, he didn’t want to die just like his father, given all the good reasons in his mind to stay alive. He will make another deal with the great god. Although he was still very worried, but that was the only chance he’s got. There was no other option.

Finally, the market day arrived, the day Chika was supposed to go and give his life to the god of destruction. Submitted himself to the great god without being coerced would at least give him an opportunity to choose how he was going to die.

He got himself ready, told his wife where he was going to and left for the shrine. As he walked towards the shrine, he thought to himself; this might be the last time that I would see my wife and children. The great god might strike me instantly if I tell him what was on my mind.
He tried his best to remain optimistic about the outcome of his proposal, he tried to calm himself and not even imagine that this could be his last day on earth. He had always been a winner and never a loser.

He got to the shrine and surprisingly the chief priest was standing in front of his shrine with his two messengers each by his sides. Perhaps he had through some spiritual means known that he was coming and waited to meet him at the door of the shrine, Chika thought, or had been standing there all morning waiting for him?

“I got your message great one, and I have answered your call just as you have sent it.” Chika said with his heart beating so fast and so loud that he thought that the priest and messengers could hear its sound. His head was bowed down to the ground; he didn’t want to see the chief priest’s expression. Right now his sense of hearing was enough for him.

But the priest was putting on an expressionless look on his face. “Your time is up Chika, son of Obi. You must give back to the god of your fathers all he had given to you by humbly submitting your life to him. You are to let me take a little quantity of your blood before deciding how you will like to die, and then you will go home and wait for death to come and take you home to join your fathers.”

This was insane. Chika felt like he was going to faint with fright, the sound of the priest’s voice was like being spoken to by the great god him self. He felt death standing by his side, smiling at him and telling him not to worry; it won’t be hard on him. But he courageously said what he had to say. “Great one, I pray that you thank the god of my fathers, for his faithfulness unto me and my family, and I have come to give my life to him like we have agreed, and to choose how I will die. But great one, I choose not to die at all, not yet.”

“What!” the priest was surprised, this was unexpected, “Be mindful of what you say, lest you incur the wrought of Alaogbaga.”

At this moment, Chika seemed to pick up more courage, after all he thought, he would die all the same. “I would humbly like to go into another covenant with the great god of my father.”

“You can’t go into another covenant, while you have not fulfilled your own part of the present covenant.” The chief priest said, hopping Chika would come to his senses.

“But there can’t be another covenant if I am dead?” he pushed on, “great one, speak to the god of my father, this is the only chance I have, besides, the god can only say no and go ahead and take my life. But let him listen to what I have to say, please.” He had now brought his head up, while he pleaded, “If the great god spares my life, I would into another covenant with him, this …”

“Speak up, you are delaying the great god.” The chief priest was getting impatient.

“Perhaps we should be alone,” Chika said.

The chief priest took him into the shrine, where they would be alone.

Chika spoke up. “Great one, the great Alaogbaga, could be born as a human through one of my offspring. I believe as a human, he would have the free will to act whenever he wants to. He would have a one on one interaction with its worshippers, just like a king. He will reign over the earth physically and won’t need sacrifice before doing what it likes doing most.” He saw a big look of surprise on the priest’s face. But he continued, “I am willing to go into another covenant with the great god, if he accepts that he shall be the first child in the tenth generation of my offspring, he shall be born, life and living.

Think of it great one, it will communicate with humans on its own, be able to drink blood with its own mouth and kill with physical arms.”
The priest stood there for a long time, confused, he did know what to say.

“Please great one,” Chika pleaded, “Just do this for me, I am here, if the god of my father refuses my offer, then let him take my life by striking me at this very moment,”

After what seemed like eternity, the chief priest said, “It is okay son of Obi; you will have to wait, give me time to have communion with the great god, I will be back.” The priest left him and entered his inner chamber.

Chika waited anxiously, the priest was gone for a very long time. He began to wonder what was actually keeping the old man, he was filled with fear of what might be the out come of his proposal, what if the god accepts? What will become of the world? Only loyalist like him would survive his reign, he wished it was possible that he could be alive to witness the great coming of the god. He would surely be one of his cabinets; together they would rule the world for eternity.

The old man finally came out; he sat down very close to Chika before saying. “The great god have accepted offer,” he couldn’t believe it, “he readily accepted this strange offer of yours”

Chika almost jumped with joy, “thank you, great one, you don’t know how grateful I am, I will do whatever the great god wants me to do, and all I ask is that my life and my family be put under his care.”

“But somebody must die; somebody who’s blood and your blood are one.” He stopped and came closer to Chika. “Listen carefully to me, you must kill your brother and bring his blood here for sacrifice, the quantity does not matter. It shall be used for a covenant sacrifice; this must be done before the next two market days.” He left Chika and walked into his inner chamber, before he could ask him any question.

The battle line is drawn four cocks and a life sacrifice as against 2 goats . Which is heavier?

The battle line is drawn four cocks and a life sacrifice as against 2 goats . Which is heavier?.

semid4lyfe: Nice story but Bros please put a line space between the paragraphs

Thanks

ok, i will definately take ur advice, sorry for giving u such a clumsy read.

Chima had just come back from one of his few plots of land where he went to do some weeding. He sat down heavily on the wooden chair that
always stayed under a big cashew tree in front of his house, and called on his wife to get him water, for he was weak and dehydrated. Chima had tried over the years to avoid any possible social meeting with his brother; he didn’t need to work very hard to avoid such
contact since Chika found it more comfortable to see him as a stranger as well as an enemy. They occasionally saw each other; they only
have contact whenever there was inevitable family discussion mostly elicited by Chima.

He was happily married to his wife Ngozi, and he made sure that she did not get very friendly with his brother’s wife. He was blessed with two children in his marriage and sometimes they would be found playing with Chika’s younger children, but that didn’t in anyway enhance the relationship. His brother’s wicked life style was something Chima despised so much. They had almost nothing in common.

Chima was left with almost nothing from their father’s belongings as a result of his brother’s greed. The only few plots of land that he had were those that was given to him personally by their father before he died, and it was not enough for him and his growing family to feed on. Chika had ensured that they did not share their father’s property and Chima was getting more frustrated.

He was planning on how he was going to meet his brother to beg him to give two or three pieces of land from the ones his father had before he died, although his efforts in the past had been fruitless. He hoped that he will still be able to persuade him to oblige if he continued going to him.

He really didn’t understand what was wrong with his brother; he couldn’t believe that the same blood ran through them. How could somebody be so wicked, and heartless? He didn’t understand what Chika intended to do with the whole plots of land he kept on acquiring; he was becoming more and more obsessive with the act. The more he acquired the less satisfied he seemed.

“I will have to go and see my brother tomorrow and talk to him again about giving me a plot of land.” He told his wife as she brought him a cup of water.

“Do you think it is a good idea? Don’t you think that he will see it like you are disturbing him? Maybe you should just let him be, it is no use disturbing yourself, we will continue to manage like we have been doing all these while.” Ngozi advised her husband.

“I will give another try, then after this I will let go and then decide on what next to do. Perhaps I will then have to beg one of my friends, but that is what I hate doing, that is why I am insisting.”

“I must let you know that I don’t like the idea at all, he had refused to grant you your request the first time, why do want to go back there again?”

I just don’t want to give up like that, it is not like the land is not supposed to be mine, I have a feeling that I might be able to make him see reasons with me.” He changed the discussion, “I am very hungry, please get me something to eat,”

She noticed that he didn’t want to be persuaded so she let go.

Chika was eating his lunch in front of his big house. Eight days had passed since he last visited the great shrine of Alaogbaga, yet he hadn’t figured out a way to kill his brother. But that didn’t stop him from being a very happy man at the moment. In fact he felt he was the happiest man in Duruji village, he wanted to stand up and dance. Nobody understood why he had suddenly become a happy man. His wife, children and friends would not understand that he had almost kissed death; he had faced death and escaped. He felt so proud of himself, he couldn’t stop congratulating himself. Now he accepted that he was truly a winner and never a loser.

His wife couldn’t help noticing that her husband who had, in the recent past, constantly refused to eat his food and had had sleepless nights was now all of a sudden in his happiest mood, she knew that it had to do with the great god, but she couldn’t even guess what it was all about. His joy knew no bound. Well, whatever it was, she thought, it was very nice seeing her husband in such a great mood.

The only problem Chika was having was how he was going to kill his brother, the fact that he was going to kill his own brother had never bothered him, but how was he going to do it? It was a problem because he would really have loved to make it a secret, not that anybody could do anything to him if they found out, but he didn’t want his wife and children to see him as a murderer, that wouldn’t be good. But if his brother would be the reason why his life would be in danger and cause him not be able to enjoy his wealth then he must be killed.
Time was running short, he had no plan yet, and he was getting desperate, very desperate and being cautious was becoming less important. He must do what he has to do to win, for he was a winner and never a loser.

Surprisingly, he looked up and the source of his dilemma was just coming towards him. Chima, as if sent by his great god was walking straight into his compound, he was amazed, Chima seldom comes to his house, he now believed that his god was after all in his favour. He immediately lost his appetite; he washed his hands and called on his wife to take the dishes away. This might be a good opportunity for him to actualize his goal.

“Chima, you came to my house today; what a surprise, you have really been avoiding me.” He said, thinking very hard on how he was going to make the right move.

“Good day brother how is the family” he greeted, overlooking Chima’s sarcastic statement.

Chika called on his son to get a seat for him. “We are alright, trying to patch up with life and its entire problem.” The chair was brought and Chika allowed his brother to sit before he continued, “I don’t know what I will offer you kola with, the whole house is dried up, emm….. Let me check, Nkechi…….”

“No, no I am okay; I really don’t feel like taking any thing.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to take anything, I can ask my wife to prepare something for you.” Chika reluctantly asked him.
“No, it’s alright I’m okay. Like I asked you some time ago, I really need extra plots of land, the few plots I have is very insufficient for me and my family. Please, brother I will really like you to give me some consideration, just give me two or three plots, you can have the rest, am not asking for much.”

“Chima, I thought we have discussed this before. I don’t know why you are bothering yourself. Just forget it. All the while that I was fighting for papa’s property, you thought I was being unreasonably greedy, now tell me, if I had heeded to your stupid advices, would there have been any land for you to ask me of me? I don’t know what you really want. You should have joined me to fight for them, but you chose to be the good son.” He seemed to be getting angry, “I thought you had other reasonable things to tell discuss, you are just wasting your time, I am not giving you any land, never.” There was a strong note of firmness in his voice.

“Brother, I never meant it the way you think, I wasn’t against you fighting for papa’s assets I only thought that we could have been more diplomatic in handling issues.” Chima explained.

“I really don’t want to talk about this, if you have nothing to say, I think its best you leave my house now.” Chika was obviously angry.
“Brother, please, I really need that plot of land, and I need your help.”
“No” He wasn’t interested any longer.

Chima didn’t know what else to do or say, he wished that his brother would just consider his request. Now what was he going to do this farming season? He was really confused.

He stood up to leave his brother’s house; maybe he will try borrowing one or two plots of land from his friends since his brother was being very difficult.

Just as he was leaving, an idea came into Chika’s mind, a brilliant idea. He called his brother back. “Chima, I have decided to change my mind, you must know that this is not an easy decision for me, I hate doing any thing with weaklings. You will come with me this evening so that we will go into the bush; I have some plots of land that I might be able to release for you. Maybe before the end of the season we will talk about shearing papas land.

Chima couldn’t believe his ears; he was amazed at the sudden change in his brother. It was like a miracle. He couldn’t contain his joy, he almost hugged Chika. “Oh I thank you very much brother, you don’t know how grateful I am, I don’t know how to show you my appreciation.” Delight showed all over his face.

“It is okay, come over this evening so that I will show you the land, come early so that we can come back early, I would have described it for you but I doubt if you will be able to locate it, besides, I have nothing doing and I will like to go towards that direction this evening, so I can show you three different plots, you can select two of them.”

“I will be early brother. Thank you, thank you.” He left Chika’s house happier than he had expected.
On reaching home, Chima quickly told his wife the outcome of his meeting with his brother. “We are going to have enough this season” he joyfully concluded.

“That’s good news, but I still feel you should be very careful with Chika” Ngozi was very glad to see the delight on her husband’s face. She had always loved her husband, his easy going nature and his way of taking care of problems had been the real cause of her attraction towards him. He was a hard working man who did his best to make sure he kept her satisfied even with the little he’s got. “I am really surprised that Chika considered you this time around, I wonder what made him change his mind. All the same we should thank God; at least we won’t go hungry this season.”

“I am so happy. I will have to go back there this evening, let me go and get my self ready,” as he entered into the house Ngozi watched him with delight, she was also very happy.

Chika used the little time he had before evening to make a comprehensive plan on how he was going to carry out his deed. He rushed to the plot of land and kept a small ceramic container and another larger container with water that will be used to clean himself up after killing Chima. Nothing will stop him from killing his lazy brother, no matter how loud he screams or how hard he fights back. He sharpened his small cutlass and got it ready for his mission, then waited impatiently for Chima.

Chima came early as he promised and without delay they both set out for the plot of land, he had no reason to suspect that the cutlass his brother held in his hands was to be used to slay him. He couldn’t wait to see the land that will soon be his own.

Chika on the other hand was very excited at what he was about to do, the fact that he was going to kill his brother thrilled him, he justified what he was going to do by believing that Chima was stupid and lazy, and he wanted to eat his cake and have it. He thinks that he would just relax, allow him to fight for their father’s assets and now come over to ask for his own share, he must be very stupid. This world was all about survival of the fittest, people like Chima are not fit to face the world’s struggle, so he was doing him good by eliminating him.

Chika was possessed by the great god of destruction.

They finally reached their destination, Chika’s destination. It was a very big plot of land; Chika couldn’t imagine giving it to anybody, not even his brother.

“Here it is, just take a good look at it. Then we will go to the other two plots.”


Chima was filled with so much excitement; the plot of land was unexpectedly so big. “I love it so much; I don’t know how to show my gratitude, this is really unexpected.” He continued to stare at the large plot, making a mental picture of the large amount of harvest they would have this year. Chika had already positioned himself behind him.

Chika saw this moment as the right time to strike, so while his brother was carried away, he lifted his well sharpened cutlass and with so much force, he slashed open his brother’s back. Before Chima could realize what had hit him, Chika stroked him three times on the back, the last one very close to his neck. Then he realized what was happening, his brother was cutting him with his cutlass! He didn’t have the time to fight back, for as he turned around to get a grip of himself, Chika, used the knife to cut open his stomach after slashing his neck with the first stroke at the front.

Blood oozed from all over his body, as he fell down to the ground, Chika did not stop cutting him, he wanted to make sure that Chima dies completely, and he seemed to derive pleasure from the sight of his brother’s blood.

Chima did not get the opportunity to even shout out for help, the last thing that came to his mind before he died was the beautiful face of his lovely wife, then darkness.

Chika went straight to pick up his ceramic container and fetched enough blood from his brother’s body as it flowed out of him. Then he used the water that he had kept to wash his hand and quickly left the bloody scene.

He hurriedly went straight to the shrine were the chief priest seemed to be waiting for him as usual. He was filled with so much excitement; he couldn’t believe that it was going to be this easy, now he couldn’t wait to get over with the ritual.

Life will go on after all, he thought to himself, he was going to continue to enjoy his wealth with his family, he was filled with so much joy, he had completed the task the great god had given him, and he had proved that he was a man, the true son of his father. He didn’t even bother himself to think about the probable consequence of his action. Surely somebody must come across Chima’s body, and already his wife knew that her husband had gone into the bush to see their new plot of land, but that wasn’t his concern for now, he must hurry and get over with this ritual. He was untouchable.

“Have you got the blood?” the priest asked, seeing the excitement that was written all over Chika’s face.

“Yes great one, I have the blood from my brother, it is here with me.” He handed the container of Chima’s blood to the chief priest.

The priest’s face remained expressionless, “You are truly the son of your father, and you have given the great god of your fathers something he cannot reject. You have moved a step above your father, and that shows that you are worthy to be called his son. I must tell you that the great god is happy and pleased with your suggestion; I have never seen him so happy. Give me the blood.” He stretched out his two wrinkled hands and collected it. “You shall also cut yourself and let me have a small amount of your blood too.”

Chika quickly used the cutlass in his hands and slashed his thumb. “Let some of it drop here.” The chief priest said, putting the container that had Chima’s blood under Chika’s bleeding thumb. He entered into his inner chamber with the blood. Several minutes later he came out with a black bead in his hand.

There was an unhappy look on his face but Chika was very excited to notice.

“I am through with the rituals,” he said in a strange shaky voice. “Take this sacred bead; it is the symbol of his covenant. Put it on the neck of your first son as soon as you get home. Instruct him to put it on all the time and he must give it to his first son, this way it will be transferred from generation to generation. I must warn you, nobody should ever try to destroy this bead; it has the power of self protection and will surely destroy anyone who wants to destroy it. It also has the power to ensure that the instruction you give to your son must be obeyed by whoever receives it until the great god is born. He will be the first child of the first male child of your ninth generation whose children will be among the tenth generation of your offspring.

Today a covenant has been made between you and the great god of destruction and this covenant must surely come to pass weather you offspring become worshippers or not. The seed have been sown; your offspring will nurture it until its manifestation in the tenth generation of your linage. Don’t worry about the durability of the bead; it has the power to take care of itself. The great god have spared your life, you will live. But it shall go to rest until its birth. He will cease to exist until this covenant is fulfilled, until he is born as flesh like you and me. Right now you have no choice but to make sure that your son gets the bead, if you don’t, you shall die and the bead will still get to your son any way. Once he has the bead, the bead and not your offspring shall ensure that this covenant is fulfilled.” He stopped to take in some breath after the long speech, then he concluded, “I shall leave you, you must go now” he entered into his chamber before Chika could say a word.

Ngozi instinctively knew that something had gone wrong somewhere, she found herself feeling very restless, and panic took over her whole sense of reasoning. The only person she could think of was her husband. It was getting very late and her husband was not yet back, which was really strange. What was he doing in the bush so late with that horrible brother of his? She suddenly felt she had made a mistake by allowing her husband to go into the bush with Chika.

There was a growing apprehension within her that her husband won’t come back home to her again, no matter how hard she tried to dismiss the thought, it still lingered. And she was almost very certain that bad news awaits her tonight.

Darkness was almost setting in when Ngozi detected excitement in the air somewhere in the distance. Duruji was a very quiet village, therefore any little noise goes longer distance than one would expect. A teenage boy hurriedly came to her and informed her that some little kids found her husband in a pool of blood, somewhere in the bush, while they were fetching fire wood. Horrified by the gruesome sight, they had run straight to tell the king about their find. “Some men had been sent to bring his body from the bush where it lay.” The boy concluded.

Ngozi dropped the object she was holding with some trepidation. She began to scream, “Oh my God!! I am finished!! Chika has finally done his worst, I am finished!!” her husband was dead, her world had been torn apart, she thought. She was so shocked and confused; she didn’t know what to do. She continued to wail, falling, heavily on the floor, allowing herself to roll, attracting the attention of others who were oblivious of what had happened. They tried to stop her from harming herself, before they all left for the king’s palace.

Everybody wondered what or who might have done this to such an innocent young man. Chima was loved and admired by all in Duruji. He had been courageous enough to resent from joining his brother and father in their wicked act of oppression and covetousness.

His mutilated body lay lifeless at the king’s palace leaving rushes of goose flesh on everybody’s skin. Ngozi could no longer contain her emotions; the sight of her husband didn’t make it easy for her. In no time the king instructed that the body be instantly covered.
“Does anybody have any idea of who might have done this?” The king asked.

In tears Ngozi answered, “My husband left the house strong and healthy this evening, Chika promised to give him some plots of papa’s land to farm on for this rainy season. How was I to know that Chika was planning to kill my poor husband? Can somebody tell me what Chika wants from my husband that made him feel that murdering him was the best option?” Her two hands were wide open apart, signifying her helplessness as tears flowed down her eyes.

The young men were grieved, the old men were dumbfounded, and the women’s hearts were broken. Everybody cried along with her.
One of the young men who helped in bringing back his corps said, “He was found on one of Chika’s plot of land.”

The villagers continued to mourn loudly, as they showed signs of disgust and shock. It took a while for the king to silence them so that his voice could be heard. “I think Chika has taken this too far. And we won’t bear this any longer.” He tried to make them feel his pain. “Just take a look at this young woman; she has suddenly been made a widow by her own brother in-law. This is repulsive, and we will not take it any longer, we must get to the bottom of it. Of course we have no doubt in our mind that Chika is responsible for this. He is the only one capable of doing such thing. What matters now is that an abomination has been committed and we must act, we can’t let him get away with it. All ye young men, I want you to go and seek him out and bring him here; we will make him pay for his sins. Then we will wait for his god to come and kill us all.”

Everybody shouted in agreement, they were all filled with anger and hatred for the wicked man. The young men began to sing war songs as they marched towards Chika’s house.

For the first time in the last fifteen years, Chika felt fear. There was a sudden feeling of vulnerability that surrounded him, the feeling of the god’s protection that he felt had suddenly eluded him, and he began to ask himself what was happening. He had not really understood what the chief priest meant when he said that the great god had gone to rest until his birth as a human. Had he sold out his security for his life? Had he unintentionally sent the great god to rest? Was he now all alone? What if he decides not to give the bead to his son? He could go and throw it away maybe in the village stream nearby; wouldn’t it be better if the great god strikes him dead, rather than being left alone at the mercy of his enemies?

But on a second thought, he felt that he would still get the protection he deserved if he obeyed the great god’s instruction, hadn’t he been thought to obey him in every situation and all will be well with him? He tried to shrug the fear within him off; maybe the guilty feeling that he had just killed his brother was getting at him.

He hurried home to do as he had been instructed by the chief priest. Even as he entered his house the feeling of vulnerability did not go away. He called on his first son, took out the bead and put it on the boy’s neck.

“Look my son, I want you to always wear this around your neck, don’t loose it, it shall be on you day and night. Make sure that you also give it to your first son and instruct him just as I have instructed you.”

The boy did not understand, “But, what does it mean papa?”

“It is a symbol of where you belong and it will give all my offspring a sense of belonging. It is our history, the symbol of a covenant; it also signifies that all your ancestors were great.” Chika listlessly replied and sent the boy away.

His wife was watching him, and she noted that her husband was not relaxed, there was panic written all over his face. “You are making me scared my husband, I don’t feel comfortable with that look on your face.” She was not yet aware of the cause of the excitement somewhere near the king’s palace. “Did your brother offend you while you were showing…”

She was disrupted by the sound of a crowd coming towards their home. They all rushed outside to see what was going on. They were really an angry mob, the faces of the youths looked so mean and unforgiving. Worst of all they were coming directly into their compound. “What is happening?” she asked her husband.

Chika did not reply, there was no need for that, she would not understand, besides there was no time for that. He was really terrified even as he boldly stepped forward in an attempt to control the crowd, hoping that his god would intervene. “What brings you all to my house like this?”

One of the youths spoke up. “Your presence is needed at the king’s palace right now.”

“Why? Is that why you all should come here? I will come to see the king when I choose, now you all should leave, you are creating an unnecessary tension in my home.”

“You don’t have to ask us why the king wants to see you and why we all are here. You have some questions to answer concerning your brother’s where about.” Another youth said.

“My brother? What should I know about him? Why don’t you go and look for him at his home instead of coming here to disturb my peace?”
“You left with him this evening into the bush, what happened?” the youth asked.

“It is not your business, where I went with my brother. You all should leave my house right now!!” he shouted at them, trying to sound bolder that he felt.

“No! We must go to the king’s palace with you.” The youths began to make more angry noises; they rushed him and started to drag him out of his compound.

Nkechi could not believe her eyes neither could she understand what this was all about. She could only scream out to them that her husband should be left alone, thinking that the villagers could no longer contain their jealousy of her husband wealth. They have finally decided to attack him physically, but his great god of destruction will fight for her.

Chika was taken to the king’s palace, where he was instantly found guilty since he could not provide any suitable explanation to what might have happened to Chima. His guilt was so obvious.

The youths weren’t patient enough to wait for the next instruction from the king. They started to beat him up; everybody wanted to get his own share of the action. They used very big sticks and cutlasses when they felt that their hands were not creating the desired effect. They cracked his skull and he began to bleed all over his body.

Right before her very eyes, Nkechi watched with horror as her husband gnashed his teeth in pain and slowly died. The great god of destruction was no where to be found.

While he was still in his inner chamber, the chief priest could sense that Chika had left the shrine. He didn’t know what else to do; he had been desolated by the great god who had called him to worship him. He had no where else to go. The god had gone to sleep. His life had suddenly become meaningless and for the first time since he started to serve the great god, he reminisced on all what he had done in the past as the god’s messenger, the evil and atrocity he and other worshippers had done in the name of the god of destruction, and the weight of the guilt he felt was too much for him to carry. Death seemed to be the only way out. And in his misery he became aware of the great danger that awaited the future.

“Oh God,” he cried out silently, “what have we done, Alaogbaga has gone to sleep to wait for his birth which will be in about hundred years from now. They had, in their wickedness, greed and quest for power and life given him the opportunity, to be born into this world as a human, an opportunity to cause havoc to the future. The world can definitely know no peace with the presence of Alaogbaga in their mist, with his bare hands he will squeeze out blood from the sons of men.” The only solution, he thought, was the destruction of the black bead he had given to Chika, which was impossible for now until the covenant was fulfilled.

Death was calling on him, but he must do what he can to give hope to the future. He called on one of his messengers. “The great god who called us to work for him has left us, we are now all alone. I must go to my ancestor for I can hear them calling on me to come home. The world beyond is the only home I know, therefore I must go.

I want to leave the faith of the very distant future in your hands.” He went ahead and told him about the covenant between Chika and the great god of destruction. “The sacred bead cannot be destroyed except this covenant is fulfilled, for it possesses the powers which no man born of woman can imagine. But this power lasts as long as the child remains unborn. Once the child is born then can the bead be destroyed and this must be done before the father passes the bead to the child. If the child gets the bead, then all hope is lost. It can only be destroyed by someone who is worthy.

“What do you mean by someone who is worthy?” Asked the confused and astonished messenger.

“It must be destroyed after the birth of the child by a descendant of either Chike or Chima, because their blood was used for the covenant. The destroyer must denounce the act of his fathers, by confessing to the land of Duruji, with one hand on the land of Duruji and the other holding the bead that he is no longer a part of the wrongful use of their blood either consciously or unconsciously by their fore fathers for the covenant. If anyone who is not worthy or who did not make this confession to the land of Duruji destroys the bead, the bead will be destroyed along with his blood and soul.

“What then must I do, since I obviously can’t live until the time you talk about reaches?”

“You must pass this information to somebody who must pass it to another until the tenth generation of Chika’s linage when the child will be born, it will be the first issue of the first son of the ninth generation of Chika’s offspring, if the right person gets the information then the world might be saved from the hands of this coming evil. You could form a secret group who would ensure that this information is kept secret and does not go in vain. Note that no one can destroy the bead for it will not hesitate to whip out anyone who attempts to do that, and that is why this information must be secret, make sure members of this group are people who are reliable and have good sense of reasoning, people who do not take things for granted.” Death was calling on him, he could sense it. “You must leave now I want to be left alone.

The messenger had a lot of questions to ask the priest, but the look on his face told him that the old man wasn’t going to talk to him any longer. He left the chamber feeling more puzzled than he had ever felt in his life. Should he go and tell this to the villagers? What a task that had been given to him. How was he going to recruit reasonable Duruji citizens who would ensure that this information is safeguarded and acted on in a hundred years time? He will take his time to get the right people for this group; they will call themselves the saviours . They will watch and make sure that the future generation is informed.

Suddenly he heard a strange noise coming from the chamber; he was perplexed by the sound. It was definitely coming form the chief priest. But what could be happening to him? He was in doubt of what he should do considering the fact that he told him that he wanted to be alone. Finally he made up his mind and opened the door that led to the chamber. The old man was lying stone cold on the floor, he was shocked, and he could not imagine what could have happened to the old man.




That night was much darker than ever, there was silence in the mist of the noises and cries coming from both families. The children all remained in their homes in the bosom of their parents. The atmosphere was filled with fear as Durujians waited for wrought of Alaogbaga but never saw it. That night was called the black night, a night that continued to remain unforgotten in the mind of all that were alive in Duruji, a night that left all with sorrow and sadness.

The reason why Chika killed his brother remained a mystery to durujians, they had known over the years that the god of destruction does not ask his worshippers to kill their offenders themselves; he’d rather do it himself. What Chima did to his brother also remained unknown, and still nobody understood why the great god of destruction refused to destroy all those who had partook in killing Chika, his anointed.

Both wives blamed their late husband for the deaths and hatred continued to reign between them. The king had to intervene and late Mazi Obi’s land and properties were shared equally between them. The plots of land, trees and other properties that Chika and his father obviously collected from the people were returned back to their owners.

The reign of Alaogbaga the great god of destruction seemed to die with the death of Chika. The worshippers of the great god lost their respect and power, and all cases of land dispute were left in the hands of the king to decide. Whatever happened to the priest nobody knew.
And from nowhere peace and love came and settled in the land of Duruji.

In the next few days, the messenger began to recruit the new group that called themselves The Saviours. With his explicit knowledge of the ways of the great god, he was able to expose them on some hidden facts about the god and the dangers that lay ahead. These were the only people who understood the event that led to the black night. They swore an oat to guard the secret and ensured that it would be passed from one generation to another even as the black bead makes its way through generations.

That marked the end of the reign of Alaogbaga and his worshippers. The Saviours took over; they saw themselves as very important and fought every form of evil that tried coming into Duruji.




THE TENTH GENERATION: Part 1(The Covenant) ends here

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