The igbo sorceress episode 14 – finale

THE IGBO SORCERESS – Episode 14
 
At the clash between opete and nturukpa-possessed Amaefule, the ground shook and all opete plants, including the giant opete tree vanished. Amaefule looked around proudly and asked disdainfully, “Is this all that opete has to offer? Where is the mighty opete?! Show your face now!” “He who is greater than a man, is also greater than his god! Amaefule march on. There is no time left for your daughter!” nturukpa barked. Amaefule bolted off. A few yards into the farmlands of Lokp-nta the giant opete tree exploded onto the scene from underground towering high into the sky Amaefule of Lokp-nta, the giant opete tree exploded onto the scene from underground, towering high into the sky. Amaefule stopped in his stride and wondered in shock at the spectacular resurgence of opete. Across the endless stretch of farmland, all other plants vanished and opete took over the land, shooting up from every little space on the ground. “What is this?” Amaefule asked. “Fear not Amaefule. A child who fights and gets separated before the fight gears up, often wants to fight again. I am on your side, attack and destroy opete. I have beaten it once and will do it again!” nturukpa said. Spurred on by the words of his master, Amaefule waved his magic wand over the field of golden opete plants. “Catch re and burn forever!” he shouted. Fire erupted from his wand and spread like a wave over the farmlands. As the re burnt opete plants, Amaefule gyrated in excitement. He was in the act of doing so when his eyes caught something very strange. Though his magic re burnt opete, yet not a single opete plant on all the farmlands wilted.
“My re cannot hurt it anymore! Nturukpa, do you see what I see?” he asked in astonishment. “I see it too. What magic or sorcery is this? How is this possible?” nturukpa asked in amazement. “What do I do next?” asked Amaefule. “Command the ground to swallow the plants!” replied nturukpa. “Oh ye farmlands of Lokp-nta, open up thine mouth and swallow these opete plants. A deafening sound rose from the ground as the ground began to crack wide open. As the earth on which those opete plants stood caved into the underworld, all the opete plants on the farmlands, stood in the air, dancing gently to the evening wind which swayed them. Something was definitely wrong. Both Amaefule and his lord could tell that much. “This is not the opete I know! Step back Amaefule!” nturukpa instructed. As soon as Amaefule took his first step backward, the collapsed ground rose from under and filled the gaping void over the destroyed farmlands of Lokp-nta, restoring it as it once was. Amaefule was afraid by now and so was nturukpa. From the restored ground, two opete plants sprang up and wrapped themselves around the feet of Amaefule, giving him no chance to run away. “Help! Help nturukpa!” Amaefule cried. From where they crouched watching the fight between opete and nturukpa, Ifeoma and mama Daniel wondered why opete would not finish Amaefule off. “Kill him!” they both whispered to themselves. Their impatience was assuaged when the thick, dark forest beyond the neighbouring land of Umuchieze, began to tremble. “I see it! I see what opete is up to!” Ifeoma said smiling. “What do you see child?” “Mama, opete has taken the fight to the evil forest of nturukpa trees!” “Oh my God! Is opete capable of such a feat?” “As you can see, mama, opete is much more powerful than we had scribed to it.” “There is so much we don’t know, child.” “You are right. I can see that opete has left Amaefule for us to play with. Mama, let’s go and show him that a cow is too big to be roasted wh0le in a re,” Ifeoma said, darting from the place where they crouched. Mama Daniel wondered how a child as little as Ifeoma could make use of words she used; words clearly beyond her age. “I will not fail to find out who this child really is,” she said to herself and rose to her feet to join her in the charge against Amaefule. At the evil forest of nturukpa trees, all hell broke loose as opete gave nturukpa a taste of what stuff it was made off. The nturukpa trees in the evil forest were not just burning from ground up, they were exploding to dust as they burnt. Nturukpa and the evil spirits in it were being bound up and dragged away into dark caverns of the underworld. From the look of things, it didn’t look like a fight between two powerful forces, it was an invasion. Opete was taking over the evil forest which for endless ages had belonged to nturukpa and the evil spirits which sought refuge in it, and was turning it into a forest of opete plants. The once serene atmosphere in the forest was rent with wails of evil spirits and nturukpa trees crying out for help. Every effort made by nturukpa to stage a fight back was met with brute force from opete. As the giant trees of opete which led the assault advanced deeper into the evil forest, small golden opete plants covered the barren expanse of land they left behind. There was no escape for nturukpa and the evil spirits who took sides with it. Back at the farmlands of Lokp-nta, Amaefule did all he could to extract his feet from the grip of the two golden opete plants, but nothing he did yielded the desired result. His heart sunk into his stomach when he saw running toward him the little girl who had killed his colleagues and put him and Emenike to fight. “No! Don’t let this happen nturukpa! The little devil of Lokp-nta is on her way to me! Help nturukpa! Help me please!” Amaefule cried out. Sadly, he got no reply from nturukpa. If only Amaefule knew what nturukpa was being subjected to, he would not have sought help from him. With no choice left to him, Amaefule decided to use his magic wand against Ifeoma. The first round of attack he unleashed against the little girl was swiftly returned to him, and if wasn’t even done by Ifeoma. It came from mama Daniel who had decided to attack Amaefule from the blind side. When Amaefule realized he had much more than the little girl to contend with, he dropped his magic wand on the ground and began to plead for mercy. “How do you want me to kill you? Make your choice wizard!” Ifeoma said from where she stood. It was hærd to see her clearly as some of the opete plants were above her height. Amaefule stammered some gibberish in utter fear. “Answer the little girl!” mama Daniel barked “I am sorry lady of Lokp-nta! Show me mercy I plead with you!” “There is no more the little girl! mama Daniel barked. I…I…am sorry lady of Lokp-nta! Show me mercy, I plead with you! There is no more mercy left in Lokp-nta, wizard of Umueke!” “Mama wait! This is wonderful! This is awesome! Lokp-nta will love this!” “What do you see child?” “The blood which runs in Adaku also runs in this wizard!” “I see,” mama Daniel said circling Amaefule. “So you are the cursed fountain from which that evil seed called Adaku came from?” “He is the father of the sorceress!” Ifeoma shouted in excitement. “You are right child! I can see that too! Opete destroy his magic wand which lies on your soil!” mama Daniel demanded. Immediately the magic wand caught re and exploded to dust. Plucking long blades of opete leaves, mama Daniel used them to give Amaefule a thorough beating. Each touch of those blades of opete leaves felt on Amaefule as though he was being cut open with a sharp blade. When she was done beating him, she tied him up and they led him bound back to Lokp-nta. Mama Daniel made sure Ifeoma was in the lead, dragging the wizard home. When they drew nearer to the town hall of Lokp-nta, they heard the sound of drum beats and singing. Immediately mama Daniel and Ifeoma figured out that Adaku the sorceress had also been captured. “I asked you how you would like me to kill you and you didn’t answer me. Now try to answer this one, ‘how will you like your daughter to be killed?’” Ifeoma asked Amaefule. Amaefule tottered on his feet. The drum beats from the town hall gave a certain sound, and meant death was on the horizon. “I don’t know child! Please have mercy on me! It was the devil who put me up to this! No! It was Emenike! Yes, the devil used him! Spare my daughter and I! Okay, make us your slaves!” “Shut up wizard! Lokp-nta does not keep slaves. You will die and so will your daughter! Are you aware of how many souls have died in Lokp-nta today?” mama Daniel asked. “Mercy is all I ask for.” “Wizard, we will show you mercy, and death will be that mercy!” Ifeoma shrilled as she drew him closer to the town hall. At the sight of the little seer, whose bravery in battle had been told over and over by Daniel, silence fell over the town hall. Ngozika placed her hands over her l-ips in sheer shock as she watched her daughter drag a full grown man into the square in front of the town hall. Though they had suffered much that day, however, the manner the bloody battle ended, gave them much reason to celebrate. There was no one present who did not rush forward to hug Ifeoma and also mama Daniel. Ngozika was the last to step forward. When she lifted her daughter to hug her, she whispered, “For disobeying me and giving me this much heart attack, you will get fifteen strokes of cane this night!” Ifeoma buried her face into her mother’s br-ast and began to plead for mercy. Well, we don’t know if she got those strokes of cane or not. What we do know was that Amaefule was beheaded while Adaku was made to watch his execution. Amaefule’s headless body was tied to Adaku and both of them were set ablaze. The youth of Lokp-nta made sure to remove Adaku’s head from her roasted body much later. As for nturukpa, opete cleared his dreaded evil forest and turned it into a golden field of opete plants till this day.
 
THE END