Sunday's consciousness faded completely. Then a surge of power swept through his entire body, forcefully jerking him back to reality. Upon being conscious, various emotions of pain, regret, defeat and the rest began flooding his head so much that his head hurt. He staggered, holding onto his head with one hand while the other hand supported his waist.
He felt like strangling whoever had struck out so much damage to the Kpelekpe. No, not just strangling. He was going to destroy that person.
Kpelekpe? What was that? It sounded very alien and foreign to him.
And that wasn't because he was a blockhead. After all, he had scored so high in genesis 101 when he was still in school but had not come across any word or terminology as Kpelekpe or even Emere.
What was an Emere? And a Kpelekpe? Sunday mused. Even though he seemed to know just what they were but as he was now, there was no link to the concept from anywhere.
Rather, it was because the Kpelekpe had been considered as a plague, a disease the Emeres had to wipe out for some justified reason.
That was the height of it.
Wait! Sunday cautioned himself, taking mental notes of his surroundings. No, that wasn't his memory so why?
He shook his head, vehemently, trying to forget what he had seen. Those memories or whatever they were was not his in any way. And by logic, there was no reason why he should get himself worked over them. A deep sigh escaped his throat now as he reflected deeply on the memory he had seen.
"No, E bota ninu ori mi (1)" Sunday g.r.o.a.n.e.d, forced to move under the oppressive reins of gravity a the region. HE held that pose, looking at my far end of the realm he found himself in.
In a few metres from him was the Prickled Bane Winged Wolf observing him as calmly as it could, completely unnerving Sunday. He was supposed to be dead but this, wolf. He found that hard to believe as he shuddered.
Or rather, did what the equivalent of a soul could do in respect to shuddering.
'Why?' He asked, dumbfounded.
He actually had a lot more questions to roll out. Like why was it staring at him with that look?
Pity? Yes, why was it, suddenly pitying him? Why did it not escape his mind but still stayed, serving as a subsidiary soul instead?
But at that the moment, the only thing that skidded off his tongue was why? Why? The wolf snorted in reply, looking away as if it had been caught staring inappropriately. It flapped it wings, an inescapable look of exhaustion flickering briefly on its face.
Seeing that, Sunday's stomach doubled. He felt a longing of warmness towards this wolf. But how could he be surprised? It was only natural seeing that this wolf was the reason he was still in existence. It had been sustaining its self and sustaining Sunday alongside.
Glancing to his benefactor, a sense of gratitude filled him. One that forced him to mouth out the words "Thank You."
Meanwhile, ibiyemi lay on a bed with soft clothing. Her head was bruised with red botches here and there, the aftermath of the knockout she had received.
With a sigh and a heave, she pulled herself to seat up, silently noting her surroundings. Ibiyemi's eyes flickered here and there, picking out the resemblance of the people about her.
Beside her was her father, General Folarin with creases of worry on his forehead. Immediately, she sat up, he bolted forward, patting her back in small assuring taps. At the opposite end was Olukoni Mayowa, her mentor and tutor. How she knew about this, Ibiyemi did not understand but she was really glad that her mentor was right beside her.
"You did well, you did well, daughter, you did well." Folarin spoke erratically, drowning out her observation of the room. Her eyes began focusing on the frantic look on her father's face. After a while, she raised her hand which General Folarin grabbed and squeezed softly.
"Did I do well? Did I meet up your expecta--"
"Shush, shush, shush. You did well. I am proud of you, I am very proud of you." Folarin kissed the hand he held up tenderly.
At that very moment, two figures walked in from the door. Or rather, from the curtain. With their arrival, her pupils dilated, losing focus on her father as she strained to see the new arrivals. She heard Mayowa speaking softly to her father about something that seemed like composure. Smiling briefly, Ibiyemi let her eyelids flutter as recognition of the two irunmoles who walked in.
It was Elisa and Elias, her father's personal aides.
This time, they seemed to be putting on more clothing than usual with more glitter too. They both had long jackets with collar that sparkled occasionally. On their heads too were the Alliance House branded hats, made of soft gold fur and brown leather. To cap it all, both had gold sprinkled black boots, each having the pop-musician look.
"It is all set, My General." Elisa commanding yet alluring voice swept across the room. Upon hearing her voice, Folarin turned before face palming.
"That is why you both are dressed like wah? What's with the bling?" He asked with narrow eyes, obviously unimpressed.
"Yes, although most of it is simply for effect." Elias spoke, his heavily built frame heaving after he finished.
"Tobias has picked trail. The renegades mercenaries are somewhere in the realm of Ilu Obatala. Once we arrive, we should be able to pick up a clearer reading and proceed to capture them. After which, the mission from the council house would be completed without further ado." Elisa smacked her luscious red lips dreamily.
Quite frankly, if Elisa had been a human, she would have definitely being considered the hottest woman alive with all of her curvy frame large but yet firm holding bust and a complimenting behind. Despite the large build of her feminine features, it seemed to seat well with her athletic frame, and from the look of it, She was quite an expert at using her beauty to bamboozle enemies.
Folarin appeared to be thinking for a while. He straightened up when Ibiyemi coughed, a look of concern washed over his face immediately.
"Are you alright? Do you want some space? Air? Alriight , everybody clear the room, now. Quickly." Folarin clapped his hands rapidly. Immediately, shuffling of his feets rang out through the room as people began to leave.
"Wait, Dad? What is this mission from the council house?"
The whole room froze. Seconds later, heads turned towards Ibiyemi. She cringed, a certain dread began filling her up as the eyes around bore into her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." She muttered quickly, turning to face the wall.
Folarin simply smirked. He looked around the room before settling his eyes on Mayowa. Their eyes jammed, kickstarting a visual wordless communication between them.
"Um… Ibiyemi, I should be going now. Have some matters at Ijinle Orun to attend to." Mayowa muttered, tapping her lightly on the shoulders. Just then, she turned over, watching her tutor walk out of the room rather gracefully.
Seeing that, Sunday put a finger to his mouth, stopping the tears from ever materializing. His smirk turned to one of sadness as he began beckoning to her. "Come, Come find me. I need you."
Suddenly her throat dried and she began thirsting. The whole room blurred now, making her blink her eyes. As she did, the scene was back except that Sunday had vanished and in his place was a rather slender figure with a lazy smile on.
He was much taller than Sunday with eyes that seemed to contain so much, giving some old vibes of sort despite the fact that he looked considerably young. He had a tattoo on his face that curved around his left eyes, a fur coat at his neck, connected by a string of cowries. At his wrists too were brown beads, even on his neck also while he donned a black-grey trousers.
"The Abefele Iruju is an illusionary blade tactic. Trust its power to confuse and strike down your enemies. However, keep your sanity, understanding that Illusions never last. You would find warmth and love where you least expect. You can't follow your head and your heart"
She gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief. The air seemed to grow denser around her.
"Why surprised? I shouldn't be here by the way. There's some decisions happening in higher Orun and as result, we, must not relate with you all. For now, your friend needs you. Your presence will give him a reason to push on. "
"An-and who are you?" Ibiyemi asked, trembling.
A whirlwind suddenly materialized, wrapping around the figure. The lazy smile becoming even larger than before, as if he found amus.e.m.e.nt in her.
"Why? Who is your patron?"
"Esu!" She gasped again.
Esu nodded in amus.e.m.e.nt as he began to grow taller than he was, the whirlpool too, enlarging itself to cover him fully. Light flashed and Esu vanished, Ibiyemi blinked and the room returned to normal.
She heard her father talking in hushed tones with his personal aides about something about one Niniola. Then she realized that her mind had shut down itself earlier and her father and the others had assumed it to be the backlash of the attack.
"Father, I want to see Sunday." She asked, mustering energy to spill out the word.
Folarin turned back, a pleasing look on. "Youre back. Thank Eledumare. I was just putting word in for you that I wanted you to join in this mission so you can master the principles of the Law quickly and ascend. But which Sunday do you speak of?"
"Sunday from Ilu Obatala, son of The Elder."
"Why? He's your bounty you are going after."
"Nothing. When do we begin?"
(T/N)
1. Come out of my head.