Calabash of the gods (6)

Dressed in black and white respectively, they stood there, observing me with the concentrated gaze of a predator eyeing a feeble prey. Upon their heads, hands and feet were colorful beads. Upon any other being, such might have looked quite fashionable but upon them, it produced a sense of dread, all-encompassing dread, for they are spirits of the dead and the will of our ancestors, Egungun. As regal and as barbaric as any entity could be, they evoked fear even within the hearts of kings for their strange powers were that of another world, one which we mortals were never meant to tamper with. 

“Ugrghananaghra…u ghreyyyyyyy!!!” The two entities all of a sudden began to shriek, stressing and stretching the organs of speech of its unlucky vessel, just to produce those guttural sounds that sounded like they originated from the very bowels of the underworld. It shrieked and twisted, it spun about itself, creating a choir with beads and bells around its body. They suddenly came to a stop and one of them spoke. It was the one clad in black and it spoke with the voice of many men.

“The thief, Yekini, has been caught. The thief shall return that which he stole from us and submit himself to the punishment of the Gods!!!” They spoke hoping to strike fear into my heart but I was no mistress of fear. After all, I had just come in contact with literal deities, why then should I fear mere spirits?

“Such vile accusations, I did not steal anything,” I responded.

“MORE LIES!!!” The cacophony of voices screamed.

“THOU PILFERED THE GREAT TREASURE OF OUR PEOPLE, THE PRIDE OF OUR ANCESTORS AND YOU SHALL PAY, LIKE YOUR COMPANIONS BEFORE YOU!!!” I shivered as their voices caused a boom to resound in my head. I needed to distract them and escape, and I knew just how. I decided to take a gamble. I slowly and covertly put my hands in my bag to grab some items.

“Is this what you want, the Calabash of the gods?” I asked, slowly pulling out the black calabash.

There was first silence, then a flood of Agbara, came flooding in. I could feel their excitement and could hear their labored breathing. During the time I was bringing out the calabash, I also brought out three other items, The Smokescreen of Deceit and the Cloak of the Beyond, both of them being one-time use charms. The former was in the shape of a small pellet and was used to create illusions when crushed, while the latter, was a fur, fashioned in the likeness of a cloak no larger than a human finger, it was used to block against any supernatural senses and divination for up to six-hundred heart beats.  

“YES, IT IS THE ONE. QUICKLY GIVE IT TO US AND WE SHALL GIVE YOU A QUICK DEATH.”

“Well, come and get it.”

At that moment when they were concentrated on the calabash, I threw the pellet on the ground and activated the Smokescreen of Deceit. A huge smokescreen that covered the space between me and my opponents formed. I then used the charm to create an illusion of myself in the smokescreen. At that moment, I sensed danger and quickly ducked, barely dodging the ax thrown at me. Feeling that the smokescreen could not deter them for long, I activated the Cloak of the Beyond and dashed out of the smokescreen, leaving my illusion behind to distract them while I escaped.

‘With this, they should not be able to detect my presence. The ax earlier was far too close for comfort.’ I was shocked to discover the Egungun clad in white in the sky above me.

“Kreeee” It swung the ax at me, sending it flying toward me. I bent down and dodged toward the left, dodging Its’ attack.

‘How in Ogun’s blade did It escape the smokescreen so fast and how the hell did it appear above me.’

I barely had time to register what was happening when I heard the faint muttering of an incantation from inside the smokescreen. There was a screech and then a powerful gust of wind arose from the smokescreen, blowing the smokescreen away and dispelling the effects of the charm.

‘Shit!!! The second one has dispelled my illusions.’

Swoosh

‘It's’ fast!!!’ Before I could further react, the Egungun clad in black had already arrived in front of me, clothes swaying, beads clinking, scythe slashing towards my face.

I jumped back in retreat when I sensed another presence behind me. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the white-clad one behind me, ax swung at my back.

‘In the sixteen hells!? When did It get behind me? I could not sense or see him get around me. It must be an ability It has. Shit, I am stuck in a pincer attack.’

I tried dodging to the side to at least avoid the scythe when I heard a screech.

‘Spirit screech?’

 My body was immediately immobilized. I was at their mercy and there was nothing I could do about it. I could only watch as their weapons came at me. The scythe swung at my face and the ax on my back.

‘NO, NO, NO, I cannot fall here. I still have to complete my mission. I refuse to allow the sacrifices of my comrades so far to be in vain.’

In the final moments of my life, I could only shout pathetically internally. I could do nothing but await the reaper blade but it never came. I was shocked to discover I was a few feet away from my opponents.

I could sense power welling up in me. I could vaguely sense a bunch of new information within the corner of my mind. It was something very complex but it instructed me on how to utilize my newfound strength. When I realized this, I was filled with renewed confidence.

I turned to look at my opponents. I could vaguely discern a look of shock on their masked faces. They started circling me cautiously, giving me enough time to prepare my counterattack. I had already made up my mind to defeat them here and now.

“SO, THE THIEF HAS TRICKS. NO WORRIES, WE SHALL CRUSH EVERY ONE OF YOUR TRICKS, THE TOOLS YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE IN, AND FINALLY YOUR SPIRIT. WHEN WE ARE DONE WITH YOU, YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD DIED EARLIER, FOR WE SHALL FEAST ON YOU WHILE YOU WATCH.” The two Egungun cried in unison.

I brought out my trusty machete, spun it in my hands, took my battle stance, and said with a smirk on my face.

“I would like to see you try.”

“INSOLENT MORTAL!!!” They cried and dashed towards me, the fury of a thousand spirits, resonating through the clinking of the beads on them. 

The black-clad Egungun threw his ax at me, this time faster than before. I managed to dodge by simply swerving my head to the side.

‘That ax is the key to this one’s abilities. It can probably travel from any point to where Its’ ax is located. Thereby, giving him the ability of instantaneous movement.’

I dashed towards the one clad in black. My machete held a strong grip with both hands. I swung at him, fully expecting him to shift to his ax, which he did. It fell for my trap. I threw a dagger at where I knew he would appear then turned to face the one with the scythe who had rushed towards me, his scythe ready to claim my head. 

    Stab! My dagger accurately hit the black one when it shifted to the ax. I had no time to inspect the damage it had done as I turned to face my opponent in front of me. I raised my machete to block and deflect the oncoming scythe attack to my left.

‘It’s heavy, such monstrous strength It has’

I barely managed to deflect the attack but it left my hand feeling strained. The momentum from deflection was enough to throw It a bit off balance but that didn’t stop it. It spun around with the swiftness of the wind and the elegance of a dancer. This allowed it to easily utilize the momentum and direct the deflected scythe toward my right. 

This time around, I did not block it. Rather, I riled up my Agbara and moved according to the technique inscribed in a corner of my mind. The scythe screeched and slashed towards me only to meet air.

I used my newly attained movement technique to appear behind It and slashed Its back with my machete. I drew blood but its various wards managed to soften the blow and reduce the damage. Before I could press forward with another attack, I sensed danger. I spun around and swiped the machete upwards like a bat just in time to deflect an Ax thrown at me.

Activating my movement technique, I dashed toward the black Egungun and aimed my blade at Its’ neck. But before my blade touched Its’ neck, It shifted to the ax I just deflected.

‘Shit, I missed it. I was so close

“DIE, MORTAL!!!”

I turned around to see the white Egungun, using the power of the wind to propel It. Its’ scythe was raised to bring it down with an overhead motion. Reaching into my bag, I brought out some black powder, cupped some, and placed it in front of my mouth. I muttered a quick incantation and blew into my hand like it was a horn.

Flames erupted from my hands and bloomed towards my two opponents coming after me. I controlled the flame towards the ground, using it to raise a smokescreen.

     Swish Swish Swish

Without warning, three invisible wind blades came flying toward me. I could only dodge them because of the distortion they produced in the smoke.

‘GRID’

A majestic voice boomed and a net of wind blades came flying toward me.

‘Shit, I can't dodge that.’ 

I raised my machete, applied my Agbara to it, and swung it at the oncoming attack. I managed to deflect and dispel some of it but the rest of the blades wrapped around me, cutting my arm, legs, shoulders, chest, and cheeks.

I jumped back, to inspect my injuries. I was badly injured and bleeding in various places.

‘GRID’

The voice said again. This time, I could see it was the white Egungun bizarrely slashing Its’ scythe. I dodged to the right just in time.

Bzzt. Before I could rest, I suddenly felt a shock run through me, stunning me for a second. I turned back to see the black one standing behind me, lightning coiled like a snake around Its ax. It swung at my neck in a single motion. The ax cut through my neck and beheaded me.

My head fell to the ground with a thump and my headless body fell on the ground lifeless.

   “KARAKA. I killed you, I finally killed you mortal.” The black Egungun laughed at my headless body.

“BESIDE YOU!!!” The white one screamed, alerting the black one just in time to save him from my blade which was barely an inch away from Its’ neck.

I slashed through Its’ neck, dealing a great blow to It. Its head was barely hanging on to the rest of Its body by a little piece of Its’ neck left. The voices underneath the masked screamed in pain. It quickly jumped back to avoid my attack. I kept pressing on with blow after blow but It just kept on retreating.

‘How the hell is It still alive? I almost lopped off Its head. It should be dead.’

“KARAKA. Surprised are we not? We are Egungun, we are spirit, your mortal blade cannot possibly hope to reach us. This body is but a vessel for our power. If you like, cut this body into pieces but if we will it, it will still move.”

‘That is right, they are simply vessels for spirit beings. They can simply control the dead body.’

“SPIRITS OF THE WIND, GIVE ME SPEED!!!” 

Whoosh. With the wind carrying Its feet, the other Egungun appeared behind me. It swung Its mighty scythe at me, hoping to claim my neck. I evaded the blow just in time by bending down. I swiftly jumped backward while simultaneously removing some black powder from my bag. When my feet touched the ground, my opponents had already dashed in front of me, their weapons poised to claim my life. But it was already too late for them, I said a quick incantation and blew into the black powder while spinning about. Flames erupted all around me, halting the advances of my opponents. They jumped back to avoid the swirling flames. At that moment, I quickly sprinkled some black powder on my machete and applied all my Agbara to my arm, and threw it at the white Egungun with all my might. The machete flew like lightning toward the white Egungun, the tip of the blade striking Its head before it could land on the ground. 

The machete pierced through Its head like a watermelon. It landed on the ground with its feet as if nothing had happened. It was stiff without moving at all, when all of a sudden, It started to crackle menacingly.

“Foolish mortals, have you not learned your lesson, we are Egungun, spirits of the ancestors, no mortal weapon can harm u…” Before the white Egungun could complete Its sentence, I dodged an axe attack and snapped my fingers.

“Eh?”

At that moment, the white Egungun spontaneously combusted. It took a moment to relieve what was happening but when it came to its senses, It began to scream in horror.

“NO, NO, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? IT BURNS!!!” It screamed at me in agony.

I jumped out of the circle of flames and prepared to face the enemy that dashed towards me, Its ax raised in fury. I dodged Its blind furious attacks while it questioned me.

“What have you done, mortal?”

“We will flail your bones when we are done with you!!!”

The Egungun’s furious attacks came to a standstill when Its partner’s screams turned to wail.

“PLEASE STOP, IT BURNS. I BEG OF YOU, PLEASE STOP!!!”

The flames continued to burn, the black Egungun rushed to Its aid. But it was futile. By the time It reached its comrade, It wailed no more for It was dead.

“One dead, one to go,” I said with a devilish grin.

“How did you know?” The black Egungun asked. It stared at the flaming remains of Its’ companion, Its’ body quivering.

“Know what, that flames are your weakness, particularly soul flames. You always avoided the flames. If you were truly invincible, you would have ignored the flames and attacked me. The regular flame burns your clothing and apparel while the soul flames attack your soul. I used both in conjunction, regular flames to burn your connection to the mortal plane and soul flames to weaken the ancestral spirit. Your friend is not coming back anytime soon.” I boldly taunted my opponent, while using this opportunity to regain my expended strength. 

“You shameless mortal. I will kill YOU!!!”

The black Egungun screamed with fury, Its body began to bulge and tear in different places. My mouth was wide open with shock. Before my eyes, the Egungun grew in size until it was three times my size. Its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, its back sported large bone spurs. The cloth could no longer contain its body and had turned to rags at this point. Its ax also grew with its size. Seeing its size, my experience kicked in and I smirked.

‘The larger you are, the slower you will become and the greater a target you will become. Come at me, monster.’

But I was mistaken, It growled, heaved, and huffed. It then lifted its giant ax and struck an odd pose before bringing down Its ax to the ground. Without warning, there was a sudden flash of light.

Crackle Boom. Lightning struck, thunder roared, my body was stunned and I started convulsing as lightning rampaged through my body. Using the opportunity while I was paralyzed, the Egungun ran up to me with speed unbecoming of Its size.

It lifted the ax, poised to take a strike at my head but I was not to be easily defeated. Before he approached me, I had already circulated my Agbara throughout my body. I was able to use this to alleviate the paralysis and just in time to dodge Its attack.

I managed to barely swerve to the side but I was still unable to avoid my arm—the blade of the single-head ax connected with my shoulder. The blade, cut through flesh, through muscle, through bone, and lop off my left arm from my shoulder cleanly. The momentum from my roll and the strike were enough to send me flying away but despite keeping my life, I lost an arm.