Episode 3 - Falling Skies
Still on the rave God rerun
Omotola lay on her bed of sticks, her bum still smarting from the lashes that mum had dealt her. It was
not her fault that she was attacked and kidnapped by some crazy teenagers claiming to be gods. She
hissed. Those weird looking people were definitely playing a plank on her, probably drugged her with
agumu or something. But, crazy as they may be, she still didn’t have an explanation for the way she had
caught that lightning bolt, and how she had willed that man out of existence, and how she had stepped
through space and time to appear right in front of her house.
The weird feeling of an inexhaustible well
of power bubbling inside her felt oddly comforting, and if she focused, she could remember exactly how
she did those things she did and felt sure that she could do it again. She felt frightened. What am I
becoming? she wondered.
The harmattan mist covered the forest thickly, the cold clammy and wet. The deer nibbled on the brown
grass at the edge of a wide clearing, jerking up after every bite to scout for predators. It looks directly in
front of it as if it noticed something, its legs tense and ready for flight. Satisfied that no one was there, it
bent down to continue eating. It never saw the lightning coming. Lightning struck from the sky to the
earth, incinerating the deer instantly and an excited ‘yes!’ came from the far end of the clearing.
Dressed in a man’s clothing – Buba and Sokoto- she looked ridiculous wearing the baggy trousers almost
two times her size. She smiled gleefully and ran towards where the deer had once stood. A black spot
remained of what had once been magnificent deer. She felt sad for its abrupt demise at her hand but it
did nothing compared to the elated feeling of being able to perfect her lightning strike. Since the day of
her kidnapping, after maami whipped her, she had vowed to learn about her new mysterious powers.
And learn she did. She had learned how to fly, control water and fire to some extent and she never grew
tired, seeming to need rest less and less. Her attempt at lightning had proved disastrous at first as she
kept destroying things and couldn’t concentrate long enough to control and focus its direction. It was
almost a year since the day that lightning wielding man had tried to kill her.
‘Ewure ti di oga nsin’(the goat has become the master now), she crowed happily.
She still feared for her life and wondered if Oduduwa and his cohorts would come after her again. She
had a feeling that the reason they couldn’t find her was because of the oruka on her wrist. She was not
eager to meet them but nevertheless, they would not find her such an easy prey as at the last time. She
turned and began the journey home, wishing it was dark enough for her to patrol the skies without
being spotted. As she walked, her mind went back to Oduduwa. She had no doubt that he was powerful,
but a god? Olodumare was the one true god. How can someone who looks like a boy on the last dregs of puberty be a god? And the name, Oduduwa. She had heard it somewhere before but could not place
where. Her mind struggled to piece it together when she felt it again. The hair rose at the back of her
neck. She knew she was being watched and reached for the readily available well inside her, glorying for
a moment in the sudden rush of energy and awareness that came from being connected to that power.
She instantly knew that they were two. And male. And her friends. She released the power slowly with
just a touch of regret.
‘Mo ti ri eyin mejeji o’(I have seen the both of you), she called out into the forest.
A scuffle followed and a few muttered curses as two lanky boys came out of the forest. Sango Olukosun
and Esu Laalu, children of the reigning monarch Moremi Ajasoro ,the deliverer. The name was earned
when Moremi discovered the secret of the dreadful Igbos by allowing herself to be captured, she then
escaped back to her people and led her husband’s army against them and wiped them out. Her husband
was assassinated before she came back from captivity. She had taken his place on the throne and ruled
ife with a firm but kind hand.
‘How did you know we were there’, Sango asked, his frown playful.
She rolled her eyes and kept walking as the two of them hurried to catch up. They were sweet on her,
both always scurrying to get her attention. Sango was fair skinned with dark and slanted eyes. He was
tall and really handsome just like that Oduduwa boy. Esu on the other hand, the trickster was just a few
inches taller than she was and equally as handsome.
‘How long have you been following me’, she asked, trying to gauge if they had saw her playing with
lightning.
‘Since you left home’. Her heart jumped.
‘But we lost you a while ago and we stumbled into you when we saw that crazy lightning flash’ he
completed.
They were almost out of the woods when three of the royal guards came running.
‘My lords, the Queen has requested your presence immediately at the palace’, the lead guard panted.
The two princes looked at each other strangely and hastily said their goodbyes to Omotola before
running off with the guards following them. Omotola turned to continue her walk home when Oduduwa
appeared directly in her path, his eyes wild and disheveled. There was a cut on his forehead which bled
blue blood. Wait! BLUE BLOOD?????
Before she could say anything he whispered
‘They are here’
And simultaneously, their body moving against their will, they both turned to face the sky as the first star among hundreds fell to the earth.