Urenma episode 31 – 34
urenma
Chapter 31
THE CHALLENGE
In Ukeh the emissaries of the gods had begun to sound out men who would support their cause. The rumour mill was rife with a man coming from afar with the help of strange gods to challenge Obinze in a wrestling match for the right to take back Urenma to the gods. To Obinze and his household, the man was no other than Ojadili. Ukeh land would not hear that Ojadili was back to life. Such a claim would make them choke to death while laughing. Ojadili for all they knew was dead centuries ago. With the match drawing near, the wrestling square in Ukeh found its glamour yet again. Young men began to wrestle in the evening to entertain the elders and damsels tropped out of their numbers to watch the broad-chested wrestlers. Every Evening the Ikoro would be sounded briefly and in farms, old women would try out their Igede dance steps. Ukeh in every way was filled fanfare, but beneath all that, death was coming to the land, and it was coming with hell at its heel.
Daily the army of the river world and the damned spirits filled out into the evil forest to Ukeh land and their neighbours. Obinze and his family were certainly the only family in Ukeh who were not happy, they knew Ojadili was coming and the gods were with him. Urenma had for weeks waited to hear from Ntani to know if she had convinced some elder gods to shift to their side. With no word from Ntani Urenma grew restless and threatened to match on the river world; however, Obinze prevailed upon her and asked for her patience.
Obiakor and Olachi sharpened their machetes possibly ten times each day in readiness for battle. The two children held no fear for anyone or thing. Their stars will shine brightly in the battle. They will taste blood and will forever not be the same again. The gods must have something to fear at least.
Day after day the spirits which had made it to Ukeh land began to corrupt some of the chiefs and the elders of the land and turned a good number of them against Obinze. Instead of the help which he was to get from them, they began to project charms against him and buried amulets in his farms. They wanted him weak and confused before the wrestler from after was to arrive. There were also some young men whom the spirits overtook to desecrate the sacred shrines of the gods on the day of the wrestling match between Ojadili and Obinze. On account of the desecration, Nshaa planned to order for the destruction of Ukeh and every life in it. In every way, Nshaa was steps ahead of Obinze and the people of Ukeh and sadly, Obinze and his god-wife remained in the dark. Some days before Ojadili was to arrive the chief priest of the land announced that the date of the wrestling match had been shifted. This got Obinze and Urenma wondering what might have been going on in the river world. On many occasions in the night, Urenma had secretly sought to slip into the river world, but was forced back by Nshaa and some elder gods. She knew something was going on which they did not want her to know about.
While they wondered what to do, one night, long after the people of Ukeh had retired to their huts, Urenma heard the call of OBOJORO, the big-eyed fish who helped her break of out of incarceration when Obinze came to fight in the river world for her return. Without delay she bloted out of her hut and ran down to Nwangele River. Behind her Obinze and her two children followed…….
Chapter 32
WAR OF THE RIVER WORLD
Though everything was planned to work against her and the princesses of the gods, there was however one detail Nshaa and the elder gods missed. They made not plans on how to tame Ntani’s wide rage and fighting prowess. Ntani was a beast a ravenous wolf, a raging bull. Legend has it that she was the first daughter of Amadioha and Ala; hence her anger. She did not just fight well; she worked her charm on her fellow spirits and made a call which aroused all the spirits in the river world who loved to dwell in Ukeh to rise and fight for the ‘Land of love’. Her speech wipped them into frenzy and they rose to fight. However all who heard her did not fight as she wanted, there were those who in the fury turned on the river world and began to destroy its beauty. That day there were many of them who freely committed acts which the gods considered sacrilegious. But, war was war; Nshaa had to live with the consequences of his treachery against the children of the gods and the land of Ukeh. Within days the beauty of the river world was marred. Spirits good and bad got high on the allure of battles and went berserk. The children of the gods and the princesses of the gods had thrown their weight around and pull off stunned victories against the dreaded damned spirits and the army of the river world. To see through his plans, Nshaa and the elder gods came to battle. Ntani was happy that they finally came to fight, she was wondering at some points if they would not. Rallying the battle drunk army at her command, Ntani and the children of the gods locked horns with the elder gods, all twnety of them, in rounds of epic battle spiritual bodies were torn and flung into the air like rags. The battle ground was filled with m0-ns and gr0-ns of death and destruction.
The gods were besides themselves and so were the children of the gods. As the battle raged, Nshaa secertly sent Ojadili out of the river world to go slaughter Obinze and make certain that Ukeh was destroyed. He also sent two emissaries out, one to Urenma and the other to Ntani. Each emissary bore a secret which the gods above and the river world had hoped would be kept hidden for eternity, Nshaa in his bid to destory Obinze and Ukeh will go against the council of the gods and would bring untold misery to a land that had known peace for centuries.
URENMA AND OBOJORO
Urenma rushed into Nwangele River and stood in it, seeing her; Obojoro came to the surface of the water and began to speak breathlessly, “War! Urenma there is war! The damned spirits Nshaa has woken up; great war they wage against the pricesses. Ojadili has been given a body, Atari inhabits him. Nshaa hopes to march his army upon Ukeh. Even as I speak, many damned spirits has he settled on your land. Ntani fights bravely, but she and the princesses are too few to stop Nshaa and the damned spirits. You must join the battle in the river world. You must not let it come to Ukeh land. I have heard rumour, Nshaa wants to destroy the land of Ukeh”. “Then I must go now to wake UTEBE and the rouge spirits”. “Oh! I forget to mention it, Utebe has woken and fights on the side of the princesses”. “You must return now and inform all who are on our side that I come and that I come to battle! Raise their spirits with the news of my coming. Let the princesses stand their ground beside Ntani. Tell the river world her princess returns, and that she is coming with war and death! Now be on your way!”
Obojoro swerved and made a dive into the belly of the river and vanished. Turning, Urenma saw Obinze and her two children all battle ready. “No you are not going with me to the river world. Yes I can cross everyone of you to that world in an instant, but Ukeh must be protected. Nshaa schemes to destroy it. Leave the gods to me, I shall return in time to join you in battle here in Ukeh”. “No! Ure, I will go with you”, said Obinze. “If you go with me, my love, who then shall protect your land. According to Obojoro there are warriors and damned spirits from the river world already in Ukeh land. Let me go alone, I shall return in time I promise”.
Grudgingly Obinze agreed. While Obinze and Urenma exchanged hugs and k××ses, Obiakor and his sister, Olachi sneaked away. They had heard from their mother that there were spirits from the river world already in Ukeh land; their intention was to engage them in battle.
urenma
Chapter 33
When Urenma turned to charge her children to be strong and did not see them, she knew they were up to something stupid. They were her children after all. Alerting her husband to the sudden disappearance of their children, the two of them left in search of them. So instead of heading to the river world to fight, Urenma went in search of her brave children, who had no fear for mortals or spirits. Because it would take time to find them, Urenma made use of her spiritual power and peered through the length and breadth of Ukeh; then she saw them running towards the evil forest of Ukeh land. Peering further into the forest Urenma saw a swarm of spirits ready to attack Ukeh at Nshaa’s command. Her heart froze; her children were running towards death, she thought. She had no time to tell Obinze what she saw. Stirring herself for battle she vanished out of sight. Just before she could reach them, three spirits rushed out to engage her children. In front was Olachi; as the spirits rushed out, Obiakor literally leapt on his sister while she ran and t—-t himself into the air, descending with his blade firmly held with both hands, he carved the closet spirit into two halves. Urenma shouted in shock; what she saw wasn’t meant to happen. A hybrid mortal like her son wasn’t even meant to achieve that kind of feat; there must be some unusual power in him. Meanwhile Olachi kept running towards the other two spirits as though she had not momentarily borne the full weight of her brother’s body. Reaching them she easily carved them open and continued running toward the evil forest. At her heels, Obiakor followed. Just in time, Urenma descended on the scene and stopped her children from pressing into the evil forest. In disbelief she pondered over what she had seen her children do. They were not meant to achieve what she saw, yes they were hybrid mortals, but even at that, they were not meant to subdue spirits with ease she saw. In that moment she wished she was in the river world to demand an answer from some gods. When the spirits in the forest saw Urenma they retreated further into the forest.
While she studied her two teenage children wondering if they were still the very one she gave birth to, Obinze arrived, bouncing like in his hay days, when he broke bones for fun at the wrestling ground. When Urenma told him she wasn’t responsible for the three spirits who lay helplessly on the ground, Obinze remembered what the messenger from the sky told him. However, Olachi was a mystery which had not been unraveled to either him or Urenma. Urenma siezed their weapons and handed them to her husband; feeling she had stoop up the river world longer than she planned, she vanished out of sight and headed for Nwangele River.
ANCIENT SECRETS
As soon as she crossed the divide between the world of men and the river world, damned spirits accosted her. They had been waiting for her along with the messenger Nshaa sent to her; the messenger who bore an ancient secret which the gods swore not to reveal. Urenma was minded to battle them immediately, but when they laid down their arms and bowed, hailing her as their queen, she was surprised. “What trick is this? Who put you up to it? Nshaa right? Now go tell him that I am no queen. I am a princess of the gods. I have come to stop his madness”. “But you are, your highness. My king says you are. And that which you call his madness, he does according to that which you desire”, said the messenger. “So Nshaa now fancies himself a god king. I see his madness will stop at nothing. Now go tell him that I will bring his world down upon his head. I swear I will”. “If I may, my queen, the king wishes to see you”. “Good! Gladly, I will see him”. And so they led Urenma to go and see Nshaa.
On the other hand, Ntani had also been lead away from the battle ground when the battle broke up for a while, by the messenger sent by Nshaa in the guise of an invitation to discuss a truce. Ntani also had heard that Urenma was coming to the river world, but was not happy about it; she felt she should have stayed back in Ukeh to fight beside Obinze. Nshaa had manged to send Ojadili to Ukeh and she knew without Urenma, Obinze and Ukeh stood no chance against an army led by Ojadili. Their decoy was to start a wrestling match between Obinze and Ojadili, and after Ojadili must have killed Obinze, the army from the river world would run through Ukeh killing everything that had breath. After that there shall be no land which the children of the gods shall aspire to go and live as mortals.
Chapter 34
ANCIENT SECRETS CONTINUES……
With some measure of pomp and grandeur, Urenma was ushered in to see Nshaa. She could tell Nshaa had worked out a scheme to win her to his side and she was glad to let him try, knowing that won’t budge her. She laughed them to scorn when the court of the elder gods welcomed her as a queen and hundreds servants bowed in honour to her. Ntani who was in the court was shocked to behold that sort of uncouth attempt to win Urenma to their side. Urenma scoffed at them and dismissed their scheme instantly. For as long as she was concerned, she was no queen and certainly not to Nshaa, a god whose evil side she had come to see clearly. When Nshaa came out to meet her, the court hailed him as a god king. Urenma was turned off and riled up at the sight of that, she thought that whatever had taken hold of Nshaa meant business. To get his attention and that of those in the court, she destroyed the beauty of the court, but as quickly as she destroyed it, Nshaa restored it. However, that worked to get Nshaa to give her attention; like a thunder bolt Urenma’s voiced resonated, “Nshaa you are no god king! The river world is for the twenty gods to rule and administer. The lands and people on earth were given to you as trust territories by the council of gods; you don’t get to make decisions alone. Quit deceiving yourself and your followers!” Urenma was brave and feared nothing. She stood her ground and dared whoever might challenge her in combat. Beside her Ntani stood, saying no word. Urenma was higher than her in rank, so she let her do the speaking, and more so, Ntani did not trust herself. She knew if she was to speak, she would immediately begin to fight because she had a fiery temper. Poised for battle, her eyes darted about the court for any movement against Urenma and herself.
Nshaa knew Urenma was in a fiey mood, so he allowed her to burn her anger with words. When she was done Nshaa stepped down from where he sat and shouted with great authority, “The river world! Behold your queen! I give her back to you after she was taken from me and demoted to a princess of the gods! Many centuries have passed, but I have not forgotten. Urenma, I give you back the memories of your old life”. Urenma shouted and fell to the ground. With their hearts in their mouths, all who were in the courst, waited for her to wake up.
Urenma was a ruthless and fearsome god queen who ruled beside Nshaa over three thousand years earlier. To bring the memory of her old life back could have in calculable consequences on both the river world, the world of mortal and the kingdoms in the sky.
The council of gods had decided to take the memory of her old life to save her from the evil which sought to swallon her; and demoted her to a princess of the gods. Over many centuries she proved to the gods that she had changed for good. However the gods were not confident to give her back the memory of her old life. They all gathered to swear that her memory shall be kept away from her, for all of eternity. But Nshaa who ruled with her as her husband then had broken the oath of the gods and he knew a war was coming; the sort of war even gods spoke of in hushed tones. Nshaa was evil and ruled with an evil queen Urenma. To end their wickedness, the council of the gods demoted them and stripped Nshaa’s position from him and took him to a lower world. Where he served as a mere servant. But with time he was restored to the position of an elder god. However because the council of gods did not trust him, they put him in charge of the river world with other nineteen gods. But somehow, Nshaa subdued them all and made himself the head god. His intention was to return to his lost glory.
To Be Continued….