SirWere:
Just finished reading "The Way of kings" by Brandon Sanderson. Can anyone tell me where to download the second book "Words of Radiance" in Stormlight Archive series Adey beg

Torrent is the way to go
mobilism.net will also work. This links to an epub copy http://forum.mobilism.org/viewtopic.php?f=1293&t=870832&hilit=words+of+radiance

alternatively send me your email address and I will send you a copy.

I've written quite a bit more but can't post since the thread automatically deletes my posts. Considering starting a new thread but that will be after I've completed at least the second arc offline. Sorry for the delays.

Just testing to see if I can post now without my posts being deleted.

Obinnau:
sorry for the late reply. I noticed that your posts are too long, do kindly shorten them appropriately and get back to me if the problem persists.

It is still giving the same problem regardless of size as even a three line reply got deleted.

Pls I need assistance. I've been trying to update my story ( Ode: A Yoruba Urban Fantasy rewrite) but d site keeps deleting it and banning me for a day. I've sent mags to d mod wit no reply, I'm not sure if its sumtyn I'm doing wrong, all help will b appreciated.

Osaze20091:
Nice one bro..hope u wont stop dis one also like u did to d previous one

Thanks, Not abandoning it. I need to take a time out to prepare for an exam. Next part should be up latest midweek.

opalk:
9ce one.

Thanks.

The sun rise is double edged. The light chases all the darkness that cloaks the forest around us, showing us we were a place of great beauty as the flowers that bloom show their colors and the trees that look imposing and frightening now look welcoming but the light also exposed the fragility of our little group.

We had entered Irunmale with great pride in our skills, it went unstated but we all felt we could handle whatever the challenges we came across in the forest. Yet in a few hours post our arrival in a completely chance encounter against beasts of the realm we were beaten so bad we had to run away. It makes one wonder about what will happen when we face the true monsters we have come to confront.

The screams of Tope has reduced to a whimper, a whimper that shows just how breakable we truly are. I look at her and see the venom slowly creeping up her arm. Pointing at it I am about to raise an alarm about it when Tolu stands up, his sole remaining axe in his hand as he heads towards where she lay.

He caresses her face and I can barely make out the word he says.

“Sorry.” And his axe comes down separating her from her venom infected hand.

This time her screams are unrestrained and he holds her close to himself, tears falling from his eyes.

I look in shock at his actions and then I remember these are people who survived this place as children far less equipped than we are.

Sade stumbles to her feet and heads to where they were, she softly pushes Tolu away,

“I can help.” He releases her slowly and she places her hand on the stump. The area around the stump becomes fuzzy. A minor application of her ase.

“There, the pain should stop. The area around her arm is frozen in time. So till you can get better healing that should help.”

“Thanks” both bush babies murmur at her as tolu moves her gently to the back of one the trees to rest.

Now we have a pair of armless people in the group.

As for the third one, Tola. The blood has stopped gushing from her mouth, she is writing some runes into the ground. She slams her hand on the ground and slowly the runes rise up and dance around her hand before flowing into her body, heading for her throat. I watch in fascination as the runes disappear in a flash of light.

“What’s that?” I ask, drawing everybody’s attention to her.

“The cost of trying to use ase through the forbidden language is very high.” She replies, her voice scratchy sounding like it had not been in use for a while

“Notice you didn’t answer the question though.” Sade pipes in, still watching her warily.

Tolu sighs in frustration “it is to help me restore my voice box, it got destroyed when I used that command. Happy.” She almost says as she stands to move towards where Tolu and Tope were resting.

“oh that’s good.” James says barely above the sound of a squeak.

Bankole eyes immediately focus on him as if noticing him for the first time. His eyes narrow in anger as he walks towards him with the inevitability of a boulder about to crush an ant in its part, his entire frame tensed up. James notices this and attempts to scramble back but Bankole’s hand grab a fistful of his shirt and raise him up before slamming him down on the ground. He raises his hammer above his head poised to turn James into a splatter.

“One reason why I shouldn’t crush you where you lie, you filthy disgusting coward.”

Then I remember, James had been completely absent from the fight almost as if he didn’t exist and my eyes screw up in anger too at the blatant cowardice.

“Hey now slow down.” Makinde says as he tries to run up to Bankole. “Let’s not be too hasty now.” I notice the stump where his hand was beaten off was sprouting a gnarled reddish growth.

“Hasty, he ran!” Bankole exclaims. “The quick death I offer is a mercy he doesn’t deserve.”

“You are no longer in the army, this is a thieving crew. Cowardice isn’t punishable by death here.” Makinde replies moving to stand in between the two men.

He points at the rest of us “You guys understand right?”

“Booo! Off with his head.” Sade shouts, her hands cupped against her mouth, a fiendish glint in her eyes as she looks at the tree just behind where James was lying down.

“An extra body could have made a lot of difference out there, maybe my sister won’t be in this state if he had pitched in.” Tolu says, his eyes showing his contemplation of whether to join Bankole with his axe or remain at Tope’s side.

“But there was nothing I could do to help.” James all but shouts out.

I shrug “Then kill him, he is useless and would only slow us down.” A feel the direction of the wind shift a little as I complete that statement.

“No.” Makinde shouts back at the rest of us. “I’m still the leader of this crew. So my word still goes. We are not committing executions.

Bankole takes a deep breath, his hammer still poised to strike. “So you expect me to work with someone I can’t trust to have my back, who runs at the first hint of trouble? That is not possible.”

“it isn’t?” Makinde’s face turn red as he raises his stump that is growing at a surprising pace to point at Bankole. “What makes you think you have a choice in this matter? Remember what you are getting out of it or would you betray your honor.” He spits out the last word with disgust.
There is a tense standoff between the two men before Bankole lowers his hammer.

“Very well. I understand. If that is how you want to play it, we’ll play it like that.” He points towards James “You have a reprieve now but when I catch you after this is over and done with. I will kill you.” He says, a finality in his voice.

“Well you’ll have to get in line.” James says, his face in a state of shock as if he didn’t expect to say that out loud.

“That I can believe.” Tolu guffaws from where he sits.

Bankole sniffs and moves away from the group, sitting beside his war hammer in a meditative pose.

Makinde all but drags James away to a corner. His hand still growing at a ridiculous rate, it looks like the root of a tree now.

Sade settles to sit beside me.

“Wonder what that is about.” She says.

“Wonder what what is about?” I reply in mild confusion.

“The whole hidden threat Makinde gave Bankole.” She replies.

“Eh, not really. So Makinde has a hold on Bankole. So what? He is a criminal, this is in his wheelhouse.”

“Not really, Bankole is not just anybody. Remember the guy is a burning skull.”

“Again so what? He used to be a tough soldier. Right now though he is nothing more than a mercenary. So should be surprising.” I answer.

“You might be right.” She replies, her mind still ruminating over what everything meant.

We lapse into silence.

“What do you think of Makinde’s hand?” I ask her.

“Oh that, I got a look at the runes covering his armor, it is a twisted version of the Aramada Okunrin formula. It will regenerate his hand completely for him.”

I look in surprise. “Really? But isn’t that a classified government weapon.”

She does her hand in a so-so motion. “Not as much as you would think, besides we both know how well connected he is with the military."

I acknowledge her point and we sit in companionable silence where words aren’t necessary to fill the air. My mind goes over everything we’ve been through since this job started and it finally lands at the broken stump of Tope’s hand.

“Can’t it apply it there?” I say pointing at her.

“Not possible, it is usually engineered specifically. It would kill her if he tried.”

I sigh. “That is a nice thing you did for her.”

“What can I say, I’m awesome.” She replies with a tired smile on her face.

“Yes that you are.” I reply and pause taking my time to really look at her. She had applied her authority for a long time during the fight and using your authority on time was not the easiest thing to do in even the most ideal situations.

“Are you okay?” I ask

“It’s me-“she begins to reply in her usual casual tone before seeing the look on my face. “I will be fine.” She finishes.

I continue pondering everything that had happened and something clicks.

I look at Sade with a new found light.

“Sade, why are you really here?”

She gives a wry smile and is about to answer before she notices the look on my face and changes her mind.

She looks away and my heart drops.

“Can you let this one go?” Then she turns to face me taking my hand in hers. “Please drop it, it won’t do you any good.”

Let it go? How is that going to be possible? Just who is she representing here? Is she turned against me? These and more are the questions swirling inside my head as I feel my Ase rousing inside of me ready to respond to my command.

“Just like that, I should drop it? That is going to be hard.” My voice sharp taking on a hard edge.

“Yeah, I know.” Her voice quiet in a way it never is.

She continues “I know how much you want to save your little brother.” She replies and stands up before kissing me on my head then looking me in the eye. “Know that I’m being a good friend.” She says as she leaves my side and goes to sit on her own.

It is like the ground has given way below me. One of the few constants I could trust was gone, and not for the first time I wonder just what have I gotten myself involved in.

Before I can continue that train of thought I hear it.

“Hmm, this doesn’t bode well for you.”

At this everyone is immediately at alert. My Ada is already out, Tolu already has his remaining axe out as he slides in front of Tope with Tola following as she brings out her Ada, Bankole has his super-sized hammer hefted on his shoulder waiting to swing, even Makinde already has the red goo or whatever covering his body, James…well almost everybody was on alert. James looks excited or at least a close approximation to it. It was strange as it was the first time that kind of expression has crossed his face since we entered the forest.

The figure that spoke resembled a small child but its bearing marked it definitely as not. The first thing I note about its presence was the folded mat it was carrying. It was wearing a red agbada that should have looked ridiculous on it but instead it suited it. A lot of beads of varying colors and thickness covered its neck, head, hands and legs. Its head was shaved clean but for a single strand of hair that ran down its face. The face itself was filled with several tribal marks that I could not decipher. I could feel the power that rolled off it as the forest seemed to bend to accommodate its nature

“Well what are you waiting for, the elders are expecting you.” It says an impatient looks crosses it face.

It dawns on me that I’m looking at an Imale. One of the mystical creatures that came to inhabit our world with us when we chased the gods away.

“Expecting us?” James loses his excitement at this. Even the bush babies look scared at its statement.

The Imale voice has a musical quality to it as his reply carries round the forest.

“Why yes. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” It says with a smile and yet somehow it sounds like the most ominous thing I’ve heard.os

A.N: For those skimming, with this part I've reached reached the point I stopped with the last story.

A.N: Thanks osaze20091 although compared to the rest of the story this is almost like a warm up.
Also I'd like to ask for any one with tips on how to improve writing battle scenes.





The shadows start becoming distinct, separate shapes emerging from it. Taking a look around, we were surrounded by at least twelve of the creatures, if not more as I couldn’t see beyond the ones in our immediate perimeter.

One of the Aja-Oro detached itself from the crowd, stalking forward with the confidence of predator cornering its prey. Eyes like burning coals, it barely made a sound as walked closer.

“Everyone draw closer together.” Makinde says barely above a whisper and yet it carries across the clearing. “Towards where I am.” Tola adds, she locks eyes with Makinde who nods in acquiescence. Everyone starts shuffling towards where we were standing, backs facing us as nobody wants to turn their back on the monsters that surround us.

“Slowly” Makinde adds looking especially at James who is almost tripping on his feet to get to us. Soon we form a circle, Tola and Tolu being the ones standing beside me.

The Aja-Oros watch this with complete disinterest.

It begins to speak, its voice a slow grind against the sounds of the forest. Like a bass drum being played to the songs of nature.

“E ti koja aye *^%$#!@“that is as far as I got in understanding the high language before my head splits in a massive headache. To understand the high language is to possess an ase of unimaginable potency, only the Kankanfo and some of the High Esos are rumored to be able to speak it fluently.

Tola steps forward raising her hands to show the creatures she is not armed and answers “ A be &%$#@””)*”. Uh apparently she can also speak it.

The beast looks a bit surprised before it moves even closer to her and growls out. I have to give it to her she doesn’t flinch.

She then mutters something else and this time the flames in the eyes of the Aja-Oro start smoking even more. It takes a step forward towards her and falls limp.

I’m the first to notice it, an Ada that was definitely not there before is in Tola’s hands and is sticking out of the Aja-Oro. I immediately shoot my arrow at the one closest to me causing it to explode.

“Wha-“the cry of surprise dies on Tolu’s lip as he notices what his sister had done. He draws out two axes inscribed in a strange yet familiar pattern.

Tola jumps backward towards were the rest of us were arranged in a rough circle but she is almost too late as one Aja Oro closes in on her.
It is about to bite when she disappears from view and reappears with Sade holding her hand inside the circle.

She appears a bit surprised before taking in her surroundings. Before anyone could ask for her explanation she slams her hands into the ground and screams.

“Dide” her cry infused with ase that almost causes me to stumble. I feel reality quiver and warp as out of the earth bursts forth a golem statue, black of skin and red of eyes. Its presence a foul thing to my senses.

The earth around us tears apart as the sounds of thunder rents the sky and lightning starts striking oat the Aja Oro, the smell of burning flesh fills the air.

Sade looks absolutely shocked as she takes in the rising golem, her gun dangling uselessly from her hand.

“What are you?” She asks Tola in horror.

Tola looks at her in silence from the floor where she landed as blood gushes forth from her mouth. It is Tope that answers for her.
“What she needed to be” She says with regret and a tinge of bitterness. Everyone looks at her with a new found wariness in our eyes.
An Aja Oro outside the circle looks at the rising statue killing its mates and screams, the sound of which echoes on several planes of reality. The golem shatters and the lightning stops.

The Aja-Oros cry out in triumph and bound forward for us.

“Well nobody would want it to be too easy.” Bankole says with the first smile I see on his face. He uses his oversized hammer to hit the first one to get to close into another one. Both land against an Iroko tree and stop moving.

I kneel and start shooting arrows faster than I have ever managed. The arrows tear into the incom9ing beasts, some fall and stop moving both most simply allow the arrows pass through their body as they turn intangible. I drop the bow that hasn’t been effective and draw out an ato throwing it in front of me as the monsters draw close. It explodes in a brilliant white light blinding the beasts as they pass through the light. The disorientation allows me to easily cut off their heads and Tolu joins me as he picks off the rest that pass through, giving me a thumbs up before charging to meet them heads on.

“Cover me” Tolu shouts and immediately I drift to his side while he shifts back and I start to dance with the next Aja-Oro. He mutters some weird phrases and suddenly the ground in front of me turns into a sinkhole taking the Aja-Oro I was fighting and the one behind it with it.

I spy Sade who for her on part seems to be taking her time. An Aja Oro draws close to her and it slows down completely, its speed not faster than a baby crawling, she turns to regard it with a smile on her face before shooting it and it withers on the spot.

Makinde shouts at Tope “what is your plan for getting us out of here?” As he throws a calabash into the midst of the incoming Aja Oros. The calabash explodes in red smoke and clears unnaturally with everything where it landed vanished.

‘Working on it but I need time.” She replies her voice shaky as she avoids a near brush with an Aja Oro using a chain to hit the Aja Oro who cries out in pain from her sister who is still lying on the floor.

I dodge a swipe from one Aja Oro before stabbing it, it turns intangible allowing my ada to pass through, this pushes me off balance but it is as planned, I use my momentum to bring my second hand through its intangible body. Dropping another ato in it as I stumble. The Aja Oro turns to pounce on me but suddenly can’t move. The purpose of the ato was to lock it in space.

At this I smile and run my ada through it. A chain snaps behind me and I dodge instinctively letting it pass over my head as it carries the head of another Aja Oro.

Sade suddenly appears beside Tola.

“I can help with the time you need.” As the both of them disappears along with Tola.

Bankole continues using his hammer for golf practice, slamming any monster that gets too close but they are slowly driving him back, even Tolu reckless attack is being pushed back as we all give ground to the monsters who are slowly overpowering us.

Makinde who is a little further from the group, continues to throw his calabash that he keeps plucking from the wind itself but the monsters have gotten smarter and are avoiding it. One monster gets close but he punches it causing it to pause in its tracks before turning into the color of his suit and start disintegrating into dust. This however blocks him from seeing another of the Aja-Oro that jumps at him and takes a huge chunk of his hand with it.

“huh” is all Makinde can say as he looks at the stump that remains in his left hand. The Aja Oro that bit off his hand starts to convulse as red spots start appearing across its body. The Aja Oro keels over and dies, its body quickly drying up. Makinde draws back as Bankole covers his retreat using his hammer as a deterrent for any of the monsters.

It is soon four of us back to back, fighting a desperate battle, every second a frantic struggle. I hack, slice and dice at anything that comes too close. Tolu continues his reckless fight but he is already showing signs of weariness. Bankole continues his steady defence but covering for Makinde is taking its toll on him.

I am on my last breaths as the girls reappear in our midst, T clutching a small doll in her hand.

“Join hands” She screams.

Tolu grabs my hand as I grab Makinde’s. I start to feel a certain change in the space surrounding us similar to what I feel when I pass through a Gate. The Aja Oro as if sensing the change attack frantically, one rushing towards Tope. Her chain smacks its head driving it down but it lands close to her feet and digs into her left leg. Tolu immediately throws one of its axe at its head, killing it instantly but the damage is already done.
Her screams follow us we disappear into a void.

We reappear a few seconds later in another part of the forest. I collapse to the ground out of exhaustion. I take stock of our group, Tope whimpering in pain as the venom of the Aja Oro courses through her veins, her sister no better as she looks on tears mingled with blood falling from her eyes. Makinde holding the stump where his hand used to be was sitting on the floor muttering to himself. Sade tittering on the edge of exhaustion, she had pushed her ase a lot in that brief fight. James, who I didn’t even notice in the fight, stands to one side looking even more scared. Even the unflappable Bankole is breathing heavily.

We haven’t spent up to two hours in the forest and we are already exhausted, tired, injured and some of us broken. Our journey has just started.

ARC 2



Irunmale

A Thousand Daemons.

An apt name for the closest realm to our world. It borders West Africa in the Realmatic sense like The Fae realm borders most of Europe and the Dragon-Haven borders South America. It was the pathway to the realm of the Orishas. Overflown with life it is home to every vicious breed of animal imaginable. Worst of all, it was home to the Ghommids.

Ghommids were a cross between humans and some freakish representation of animals. The various species that existed were innumerable and the total population was as the sands on the beach. Entrance into Irunmale was only possible by realmatic apertures. There are five major apertures that could be used to safely enter Irunmale but The Ode were tasked with guarding these breaches to prevent the Ghommids from getting out without permission and to prevent explorers and opportunistic people who liked to raid Irunmale for the various precious materials unique only to Irunmale.

One of the biggest breach is located in Ijebu – Ode . About 2 square miles in total. It is the most stable of all the realmatic apertures with several other smaller unstable apertures around the city. It also has the biggest legally accepted trading market between humans and Ghommid called the Ever-market and with that it also has the biggest smuggling rings and crews who find ways to either bribe or trick the guards to get into Irunmale or take their chances with the smaller apertures.

Apparently we will be taking the latter.

So two days later we were all gathered on the outskirts of the city near one completely unknown aperture. Five of us watching the fairly stable aperture with varying degrees of surprise, Sade was all but poking at it while Bankole regarded it with the same stoicism he regards everything. The faces bush babies shined with smug satisfaction.

I was dressed in my mesh shirt with a black jacket on top of it. The black jacket had a lot of pockets filled all sorts of useful Ato and charms. I wore the standard ode goggles that covered half my face in the process. It allowed me to filter out what I didn’t want to see and increased visibility, it also broke several passive illusions and amplifying my spiritual sense by a magnitude. Now I could sense even the passive Ase the trees around me exert on the physical world in order to exist in it. My Ada was across my back. All in all I was prepared for a small war.
Over preparation never killed anybody was one of my father’s favorite saying.

Sade wore her own mesh shirt openly. It was different from mine as it covered every single inch of her body beneath her face and was form fitting too. It did interesting things to her body. The color of it was also blue as opposed to the rusty red that was the standard. Strange runes covered the entire armor. It was all she wore, not carrying anything else with her. Her mastery with space allowed her to store all her necessary equipment in a pocket dimension.

Bankole was dressed in the popular Burning Skull armor and holding a huge War-hammer. Like Sade he didn’t bother carrying anything else. Apparently he could also command the world the store his stuff. James interestingly wore what I’ll bet was a ghommid-make. A medieval looking dress filled with all manner of obi and ato with a hunting rifle slung across his back. Both men were talking in low voices near the back of the group.

The three bush babies moved closer to the aperture and start chanting together. Ase begins to suffuse the air around us as the aperture resolves itself growing steadily larger. It goes on for a few seconds then it stops.

It is then I hear it, a faint song playing in the background, I strain my senses towards it to listen more and it suddenly becomes clear. It is beautiful, haunting, celestial, an orchestra of heavenly voices that I want to reach out and touch, the melodies and harmonies, the greatest symphony I have ever heard, sounds I have never heard fills my ears with the most glorious song.

I am suddenly cut off from it by a slap across my cheek, the sheer anger at the person who dares to remove the greatest thing I’ve heard from me unconsciously makes me to draw my ada before I come back to my senses.

“Snap out of it Segun.” Sade says with concern in her voice as she looks into my eyes. “Your eyes entered a daze and you were walking towards the aperture.”

I look around and see what she says is true, I am far closer to the wall than before and all my companions are looking at me weirdly.
“I was hearing the song of the Wall.” I say, immediately I’m aware of how foolish that sounds. I look around and yes, the weird looks increase with perhaps the exception of Bankole who looks thoughtful but then again that is his default look.

“Weird.” Sade says summing up my thoughts. She frowns for a bit. “Can’t sense anything, maybe you should keep away from using that, pointing at my goggles, near the aperture. It is a very powerful bit of enchantment after all.

“True.” I answer and move back to where the bush babies.

“All set” Makinde asks. Tola nods in the affirmative.

Makinde rubs his hands together and smiles “Okay then, let’s do this. Bush babies, two of you go in first while the last one remains to ensure everyone gets safely to the other side.

The three of them shrug at his statement. Tola and Tolu then walk into the aperture disappearing from view.

I felt a flash of premonition as my mind urged me to abandon this course of action that I’ve set for myself, that it would lead to nothing but ruin and even greater pain for me. I shrugged it off and moved to enter the aperture.

Oh I wish I could go back and undo what would become one of my biggest mistakes in life to prevent making the bigger ones I would in Irunmale.






I enter the hole and I’m surrounded with white light. A figure steps out of the light and looks at me with disgust written all over his face. I recognize him, he was the grey haired man from the visions I had crossing through the gate.

“oh you great fool.” He says before the vision flickers away and I stumble into the hands of Tolu who helps me to my feet while laughing at me.
“The holes does that to some people.” Tola says as she smiles at me.

“Yeah not everyone can pass through the hole easily.” Tolu adds snidely. I ignore him and focus on what I’d seen. I had assumed it those visions were a general thing with good reason but that vision was too specific.

Sade stepping out of the hole breaks me from my musing. She is muttering to herself about the differences between this aperture and the natural apertures, going deep into the physics of it and as usual completely ignoring everyone.
She snaps out of it and looks at Tola.

“How did you guys create this?” She asks.

“Create? Why would you think we created it, we could have-“ Tolu attempts to answer before being cut off.

“Oh don’t play dumb with me, you guys created this. How did you accomplish such a feat?”

“Trade secrets.” Tola answers with a smile that appears strained.

I smile at that reply but Sade looks like she is about to tear her hair out. She is interrupted before she could continue her interrogation by the arrival of the rest who apparently decided to jump in together.

“Close the hole quickly. Someone spotted us.” Tope announces between heavy breaths. At her words Tola and Tolu immediately start chanting as the hole grows smaller before disappearing completely.

“What was it?” I ask Makinde.

“Couldn’t be sure, but it was probably just roving patrols. Won’t have been good for them to let them catch even a whiff of us.” He answers.
“Well on that note, I bet its best we immediately leave this place.” James say and nods are given.

“So” Makinde starts gesturing to Tola. “Lead on.”

The change from earth was distinct. The trees stopped conforming to nature and seemed to come alive. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was welcoming us as the branches swayed and the shrubbery parted ways before us. It was not a good feeling and it felt like we were being welcomed to our deaths.

Then initial journey into the forest was as quiet as it could be with the bush babies leading the way, their natural instincts proving far better tool than even my goggles. They spotted traps and danger zones I could not detect with it and managed to help us navigate through the beginning part of the journey with narrow misses of several Ghommid groups, pausing for us to hide as they passed us. On one occasion we hear a pack of Aja-Oro, the shrill sound of their cries filling the air as they chased some creatures across the place where we managed to hide ourselves.

It made for a very tense thirty minutes as everywhere was quiet, Makinde weaving his ase into the air to keep our movements quiet. It was a very subtle piece of power and it was beyond what I could do.

I receive my first Ghommid a while later, It was a split second but I saw it from the corner of my eye. A monkey standing on its haunches, its skull laid bare for the world with its visage the shape of a twisted snarl, its thighs was as red as blood a contrast to the midnight black of its entire body. Unnatural light shines from its mouths and armpits. Its stare fixed on me. I turn to raise alarm but before I can say anything it is gone, like a trick of light. An unsettling feeling of wrongness grows and seems to seep into me from the forest.

We eventually make it to a clearing when Tope raises her hand and with a minor application of Ase disperses Makinde’s field of silence.

“We have to stop here for now.” She announces to the rest of us as she stomps her feet on the ground. I feel her ase moving into the soil causing it to obey her whims as it twists and turns.

“Wait, what, rest here? No, not possible, we have to move forward, this place is too dangerous. The Aja-Oro we heard could easily find us here.” James stammers out, the fear on his face had been increasing the deeper we entered into Irunmale.

Tolu scoffs as he answers. “If you wanted to avoid danger, you shouldn’t have entered the Forest of Irunmale.” He turns his back at James as he joins in passing his ase into the floor, strengthening whatever his sister is doing.

“The man has a point. This place is too exposed.” Makinde adds.

Tola raises her hand. “You employed us, but don’t tell us how to do our jobs. This place is going to be safe. okay?”

Makinde raises his eyebrows at this but all he says is “okay then, carry on.”

I head to where Tola is standing, muttering some phrases as she continues to twist the earth to her will. Some of the things is on par with what Bisi could do and Bisi was the best in commanding the earth back in the academy. I shake my head to clear the thoughts of Bisi away, no use depressing myself on the mission.

“What exactly are you and your brother doing?” I gesture towards Tolu, his face screwed up in concentration as he continues to pump ase into the ground.

“We are opening the door to one of our hideouts that litter the parts of the forest we dare go to, it would be a tight fit but it should serve until morning when the Aja-Oro would leave this part to go hunt.” She answers as she waves a firefly away from her face before looking at Sade with amusement “What is She doing?” She asks pointing at her.

Sade was moving around poking at the trees as she took notes on a small notepad.

I shake my head and answer. “I have long given up hope in trying to presume to know her actions.”

At this point, Makinde, James and Bankole were gathered discussing something. Bankole looking increasingly angry.

At this point Sade’s voice cuts across the clearing, silencing the girl cursing out Makinde.

“Is it just me or is the forest getting darker?’ she asks. It is then I notice it. the branches of the trees farthest from us melting into the shadows, whole trees beside where Sade is standing disappearing into the darkness, the stars in the sky blinking out one by one.

At this I open my mind to my goggles and at what I sense I let out a gasp.

It is not darkness at all, it is a whole pack of Aja-Oro nearly 20 in number, each single one bigger than the one Akanni and I took down during our initiation.

At this realization, I take out my Ada, its latent power humming in the air. I see others doing the same thing, Sade brings out her gun. Tola draws out her ada something that looks very similar to mine, Tolu his pair of axes. Bankole holding his war hammer.

Tope looks to Makinde as her chain uncoils from her hand while he simply mutters some phrase and his body is covered with a red substance that sticks to his skin.

“So is this what you call safe?” Makinde says to Tola.

The Lies of Locke Lamora - The opening chapter was extremely hilarious, seriously one the funniest scenes in fantasy and the rest of the book is interspersed with moments of hilarity.

The Last Girlfriend on Earth - The book is definitely odd but the humor in it is undeniable. It had me chuckling through out my entire read.

The Belgariad series - it intentionally mocks the fantasy genre as a whole while still being a great book. The conversations between the main characters are the best parts.

Redshirts - It is a parody of Star Trek and similar stories. It is a tribute to all the redshirts that always seem to die immediately in a mission. It is my favorite meta novel. Extremely funny.

Dresden Files - its main character has a problem of never being able to keep from insulting people even if the person is a millenia old god that could kill him with a glance. He once insulted an ancient Norse warrior so as not to offend her by excluding her from the people he insults. Series is one of the funniest urban fantasy out there.