The Undisputed Writer

REBIRTH OF AN ÒRÌSÀ 3

"For one who has been born, dēath is certain and for one who has díed, birth is certain."

"No no no no no!!" His wife cried, dragging her heavy body towards her husband. "My husband must not díe. Please help me." She pleaded to Dúrójayé.

"He won't díe." Dúrójayé reassured her while feeling his pulse and heartbeat. "He'll live. Òmò ogun ni Àgbède ti ogun kò lè pa. He's a child of war that can't be kílled in a war. I'll be back in a few minutes." He placed his hands on her shoulder before leaving and five minutes later, he was back with firewood.

He gathered the woods, made a fire and placed a dagger in it.

"We have to be quick because the hunters aren't very far behind. They'll soon come and check on their fellow men. They waited until the knife became a fiery orange-red.

" Keep him awake." Dúrójayé said to Olufunke, Àgbède's wife.

She tapped his cheek gently. "Oko mi dákun la ojú e. Don't diē on me please. You daughter and unborn child needs you. Your wife needs you.". She wept.

The echoes of her voice seemed to have gone into his unconsciousness and jolted him back to reality.

"Such a bad time to tell me my wife needs me. She's always been a strong woman and that's why I love her."

Àgbède's contagious smile spread in the room rapidly like a disease.

"Such a bad time to remember that you two are two love birds that can never be separated no matter the chaos." Dúrójayé said as he took the knife from the fire.

He placed Àgbède's back on the ground.

"I need you to bite on to this small piece of wood. We don't want to attract attention." He said, putting a small piece of wood in Àgbède's mouth.

Then he took the knife and without warning, he placed it on the deep wound. Àgbède's voice traveled as far as it could but couldn't break the barrier in his mouth.

"I love you bãstãrd!!"

"That's a good compliment and a good way to say thank you."

Dúrójayé put out the fire, checked the surroundings and rallied them up to get on the move. He lifted his friend and helped him walk while his wife and daughter, Omolabake, followed them behind.

Dúrójayé picked up two cutlasses and swords from the dēad hunters, gave one cutlass and sword to Àgbède and kept the other two for himself. He used his cutlass to clear bush paths as they forged ahead to avoid being tracked on the footpaths.

"Where are we going?" Olufunke asked after they've walked for about an hour.

"There's a temple towards the west. That's the closest refuge and it's a week walk from ifè if we had taken the footpath but since we're taking the bush paths, we should be there in maybe three to five days." He answered, still pushing forward.

"Can we rest for a while?"

Tiredness was clearly written in her voice. He looked back for the first time since they began their journey and saw weak she had become.

"My wife and child aren't supposed to go through this. We should go back and..... "

Dúrójayé interrupted him

"Go back and do what? fight a fourteen feet giant? You must be crazy. The best thing to do now is to get as far away as possible and that's what we're going to do but for now, there's a stream up ahead. We'll fill our jugs, drink and rest for a while."

He led the way to the stream. They had their fill of water, filled their jugs and rested. Dúrójayé placed his friend carefully at the foot of a baobab tree and his wife sat beside him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Oko mi!!" she called gently. "My husband."

"Yes my love!!" He answered almost in a whisper.

"Thank you very much for everything you've done for us." She said, smiling and rubbing his hands gently. "I see all your efforts and I appreciate all of it without excluding anyone. I also want you to know that I love you so much from now till eternity."

He looked at her curiously.

"Why are you saying this now? This feels like a goodbye to me. Are you planning to diē?"

She sighed.

"Every yèyé is an Àjé, a very powerful one. Every mother is a baobab tree that protects everyone under it's shade from the blistering sun. The protective shade of a mother as large as a baobab tree but no matter how powerful she is, one day, her powers will begin to wean because she's human and when that happens, she'll begin to lose her power and protective spirit until one day, her body takes over."

She raised her head and looked at her husband.

"My powers are weaning as this baby in my womb grows daily. It's like it's sucking up all my energy to come to the world and I may not last long after he's born. I've got maybe a few days left to be with you. So I need you to..... "

He interrupted her.

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do because you're going to be alive and we'll take care of...... "

"Please listen to me." She interrupted, her voice fading slowly into her unconsciousness. "My spirit tells me that this child in me is not an ordinary child. He is Èlà, the spirit of light and manifestation and he's coming to save the world through me. My spirit tells me that everyday but now, it's telling me everytime it gets the opportunity to speak to me and.... "

Her pupils began to go up, leaving only the white part of her eyes.

"Olufunke!!" Àgbède shouted, jolting her back to reality.

"Let's go. We have to get to that temple. That's where the birth of the saviour of the world will take place."

Just then, Dúrójayé saw the hunters they tried to avoid from afar. The hunters had accidentally found their tracks and were following them carefully.

"We have to get out now." He said, rallying them up quickly.

How was he able to safely get a seriously injured husband, a heavily pregnant wife and a three years old daughter safely to the temple of God?

The Undisputed Writer

REBIRTH OF AN ÒRÌSÀ 1

"For one who has been born, dēath is certain and for one who has díed, birth is certain"

He was in the middle of a wilderness in the darkest hours of the night, lost and alone with no direction or clarity. He looked around, there was no one and nothing in sight except the vast darkness that had engulfed the entire world. Just then, there was a great thunder and lightning that split the entire heaven open for a split second and within that greatness was a command.

"Let there be light."

The voice said.

"Who are you?" He asked, fearlessness written with an invisible ink on his entire body.

'You want to know me? You shall know me when I make my entry into the world of humans because the day I find my way into the womb of any woman shall be marked as the beginning of your downfall."

"Do you know who I am? I am the king of Ifè, the land of the first human race on earth, the Yoruba race. I am the greatest king in the world and no one can take that away from me, not even God himself because I am the greatest king in the world, a king that did what God himself couldn't do. Humans have fought against each other for thousands of years and for those thousands of years, I have watched God do nothing about it. I have united them all with just one war. Therefore, they shall be under my control, under my rule until eternity finds its end." He said fearlessly.

"Then await your judgement for Eledumare has sent me to do his will."

Almost immediately, the voice vanished and he was back to being alone in the wilderness.

**********

Rising from the unconsciousness of a disturbing and weary sleep, king èsù láàlú stretched his fourteen feet tall and gigantic body.

"What sort of dream is this?" He asked himself.

He walked around his palace with what you'd call a tank of water but to him, it was just a bowl of water. He got to an entrance and knocked the door gently.

"Can I come in?" He asked gently

"Yes my son!!" His mother answered, overwhelmed with joy.

He opened the door and stepped in with his right foot first, an habit he had inculcated hundreds of years ago whenever he wanted to see his mother.

"Ìyá oba, mother of the king, how are you today?" He asked, kneeling before her as he placed her feet in the bowl of water and massaged them gently.

"Do you have to do this yourself everyday? You've been doing this consistently for hundreds of years. You have a whole lot of slaves to do this for you." She rubbed his head gently.

"I do this everyday because I love my mother and I believe that as she touches my head, she releases abundant blessings from her innermost self to me, which is enough to make me stand as the greatest and mightiest king there is and will ever be until eternity finds its end."

He looked up at her while still massaging her feet. She looked at him intently and suddenly, a wave of uneasiness washed over her.

"Something is coming your way and it's really going to be bad." She said, uncertainty written on her face.

He looked at her. "Don't worry ìyá oba. As long as... "

"Don't let him come. It's going to be disastrous if you let him come." His facial expression changed immediately but still, he maintained his calm demeanor. "Take heed to my advice and it shall be well with you."

"Thank you mother."

He finished washing her feet, handed the bowl of water to the guard at the entrance.

"Get the town crier to my chamber right now." He commanded, now obviously angry and disturbed about the revelation.

"So you're really coming to be my end? You want to end me? well, I won't let you get here at all." He said to himself, pacing around his room.

Just then, the town crier emerged, prostrating immediately.

"Here I am my king!"

"Go to every nook and cranny of this kingdom, inform every single human that henceforth, no woman is allowed to be pregnant and any child under the age of five shall be slãughtered like a dog." He thundered his command.

"Yes my king." He replied, trying not to show how scared he was as he stepped out to deliver the King's message.

The Undisputed Writer

REBIRTH OF AN ÒRÌSÀ

Prologue

"For one who has been born, dēath is certain and for one who has díed, birth is certain."

My name is Àjànòkú(The elephant). I'm an òrìsà (a deity). Just like every other deities, I'm also a messenger of the supreme being, Elédùmarè. We, the deities, through our leader, Obàtálá, created the first human race according to the will of the Supreme being and the race was called ìran yorùbá (The yorùbá race).

Six thousand years ago, rebels arose in heaven against Obàtálá, causing a very tough war that lasted for a very long time and led to the dēath of so many deities but in the end, those of us in support of our leader won the war and celebrated in victory except me. Why? because I disobeyed one rule in heaven - do not kill an infant no matter whose child he is.

To me, the son of a rebel is a rebel. So, I mùrdered the last living son of the rebel leader, Erinmilókun, annihilating his entire generation. Like wild fire, the news of my deed traveled into the ears of Obàtálá and he summoned me immediately.

"What have you done Àjànòkú?" He asked, his voice resounding like thunder.

Unfazed by my disobedience and blind loyalty to him, I replied. "I kílled a rebel. That's what I did."

"No" He fired. "You kílled an innocent child and you shall be punished for it. Do you know the consequences of your deed? The portal of evíl has been opened on earth because evíl has been done by you here in heaven."

"Then kíll me right now because we all know that if that child grows up, he'll be a rebel like his father." I said vehemently.

"No, you shall not díe because dēath is your salvation. That child will be reborn in the world of man when evíl have reached its peak. His duty on earth is to bring salvation to the world and your duty is to protect the one who will be chosen to give birth to him and afterwards, guide and protect him until he fulfills his duty. Until then, you're cast out of heaven. Every injury you sustained in every war fought in heaven to overthrow me shall be reopened and you shall suffer alone on earth." He pulled my golden ring. "When this ring finds its way to you, know that it's time."

He tossed my ring out of heaven and for six thousand years, I suffered alone and watched as the consequences of my action corrupted the human world.

The Undisputed Writer