Ikenga Episode 10

Ikenga- Episode 10
 
Theme: (The Demon I Saw)
 
By Praise Chidera Obiora
 
I stood up immediately and turned round in confusion. I heard the rumbling sound from below the
ground. It shook the ground hærd. It sounded like the hungry belly of a giant fish.
When it sounded, birds flew into the air for safety. Crawling and waking animals scampered in
different directions. It caused the grasses to lay flat like the combed hair of a child.
“What are you up to? Are you so scared? Do you now want to fight a mare blind boy? Tell me
Amara. Are you such a coward? You want to face a man who cannot see you? You have tied my
eyes and exposed me to darkness, while you tease me with your sword and knives.
“Amara, even the moon is ashamed of your actions. It covers its face and turns away from you.
You have become like a child, yet you are god. You hide in darkness and send the wind to do your
work for you. You use the power of the gods to fight a mortal man like me.
“Why don’t you show forth your face Amara. Let me see and fight you. I want to see your face and
look into your deceitful eyes. I want to see your weakness and come after it with my shield and
sword. Why do you hide from me? Are now scared?
“I want to feel feel my sword made of steel, pierce through your heart like a needle that passes
through a torn cloth. I want your blood to flow down my hands like the trickling of water from a
cracked Iguza pot. I want to beat my manly chest and boast that I avenged my grand mother’s
death.
“Amara, Is the gods now scared? Has the gods now turned into a mouse that runs into its h0le like
a thief, instead of standing to confront its fears like a lion? Have the gods now become a black
goat that eats from the farmlands of villagers only to run away when being stoned with a mare
rock.
“Has the gods become a chameleon that hides from its prey in different colours, only to secretly
come out and consume its prey when they are at sleep and off guard? Or are you trying to play
wise like the forest tortoise whose tales of its cunning ways have been told to all children during
the midnight moon.
“Show forth your face Amara. Do not fight a cowards fight. Fight like the gods. Do not hide from a mortal man like me. Come out.” I thundered.
A heavy blow lifted me up from the floor like a man carried by a set of men after winning a game of
draft. Like a piece of used tissue, I came crashing down in the distance. My wounded leg sent pain
to my head. The wound from my neck became fresh again and I started loosing blood.
My eyes opened and I saw the Demon. The demon of death and darkness. The same demon from
grandmothers story. She had told me about this demon a long time ago. She had told me the
power it carries. She said it was a demon with wh¡p in its hands. She had described it as being a
giant demon that punishes any one who had sinned against the gods. She called the demon
Emunisike the demon of death and darkness.
It was a demon I had never seen before. I saw a demon whose head carried twelve horns. It was
like a human with two giant legs but seven giant hands. It was very big- the size of an Iroko tree. It
was twelve times bigger than any other demon I had seen before.
It had seven eyes. In its eyes was a ball of burning fire. Its hands were large and wide. This
demon carried seven wh¡ps in its hands. It was a wh¡p of fire held in each hands. It burnt the
bushes where it stood.
“Ikenga you have spoken enough.” Its voice roared like thunder in my ears, causing me to
shudder.
I took two steps backwards and covered my ears from its loud voice that shook my ear drums.
“You have called out the gods like it were your own mate. You have challenged and insulted the
highest authority of this village. And made rubbish of our names why will still sit on the thrones of
our ancestors.
“You have insulted and abused my office enough. Ikenga, I have shown you my face. I have
appeared to you without the help of the Igbuala mangoes. I have broken a major rule of the gods
for your sake. A rule that says no mortal born of a man shall see the gods with it ordinary eyes.
“But you Ikenga, have provoked me with your words and challenged me with your boldness. Get
your revenge if you must. If not, I shall wh¡p you with the seven wh¡ps of fire till your bones break
and your body turn sour.”
I stood there confused and with no idea why the demon I faced was Emunisike, the demon of
death and darkness. So many questions flooded my mind like the river of Abudu.
“Where is Amara? Why do I face you? I only challenged her. It is her I want to see. I never called
you to a fight with me. Bring forth Amara.”
“You asked for the last demon Ikenga. I am Emunisike the demon of light and darkness. The
strongest of all demons. The one who walks through the waters and whose fire never quenches.
“I am the one whose strength can never be matched, not by any mortal or by any other demons. I
am the demon born of seven gods. I am the lion that fights to the death. I am the bull that have
been present since the creation of Agugu. I am he whose wh¡p has no end. I am the keeper of
peace and the punisher of offenders.”
The demon lashed its long wh¡p of fire on the floor to signal the end of his short speech.
I held firm onto my sword and shield. For some reasons I was not scared. I stood strong like a
soldier. I was like a rock, unshakable not even by the wind of fear or the thunder and lightning of
death. I was determined to avenge the death of my grand mother. I wanted to fight for her to the
death.
The seven wh¡p of the demon lifted high in the sky and lashed upon the green grass again.
“Ikenga, drop your shield and bow before me. Show me your last respect before you die.” the
demon spoke.
“Ikenga” the voice thundered loudly. “Bow to me now.”
“No. I shall do no such thing. I am Ikenga, the First son of my father and the only grandson of this
woman who you have used as a demon to fight me. I am ikenga, the one who escaped the first
demon without a knife and a shield. When it came to me with like tree and turned into a snake I
saw it and I ran away.
“I am ikenga the one who used the bitter cola of life as a weapon to fight the second demon. When
it came to me with its scorpions littered in their millions. I was unshakable and then It dropped
dead like a chopped down tree and vanished.
“I am he who slew the third and fourth demon with a shield and sword. I am Ikenga the one who
slayed the fifth demon, and the sixth demon vanished. I shall not drop my sword until I avenge my
grand mothers death. Fight me. Fight me.!!” I shouted.
A loud thunder struck and I heard grandmother call out from the ground in a whisper.
“Ikenga! Ikenga! before you fight him, give me the bitter kola of life at the back of your pockets. Let
me eat and be well again.
I limped towards Grand mother and pulled out the bitter kola at the back of my pocket. The same bitter kola I had picked hoping to give to grand mother when I get home. I limped and bent beside
her. I was about giving grand mother the bitter Kola when a voice sounded from the distant bush.
“Stop Ikenga. Stop. Do not do it.”
I listened carefully to the strange voice. It was a familiar voice. It had sounded exactly like
grandmother. I could swear that it was yet another voice of grandmother sounding from the
distance.
To be continued…