Age of Sango(Naija Demigods Chronicles #1)

Yoruba Goddesses Don't Play Fair in Splash Fights.

"My name is Yemisi." She introduced herself as they sat on their respective ijoko, Kola keeping his gaze on her. Seeing no way of getting out of the conversation, he replied subconsciously in Yoruba "Orukọ mi ni Kola."

Yemisi smiled. The smile seemed suspicious to Kola.

He asked "Kini?"

"You are speaking Yoruba."

"I don't speak Yoruba but I understand it well enough." He replied consciously in English. He had spent the first nine years of his life in London.

“But you were.”

Kola shook his head disbelieving "I think I would know if I was speaking a different language."

They sat without speaking for a time.

“You said your name is Yemisi but the babalawo called you Oya.”

She nodded.

"How much has Omítọ̀nàdé told you?" Yemisi inquired.

"She said that I am an Orisha. But I’m really not sure of what that means."

"It means you are a god."

"You are not serious. There must be a mistake!" Kola exclaimed.

"You seem to be taking it a lot better than I did. After they informed me of my godly status I thought they were all crazy, I was so scared I tried to run away.”

“Believe me I tried.” Kola muttered under his breath.

“I noticed,” Yemisi said with a smile, “You look like you almost believe me."

"You appeared out of nowhere covered in fire," he shrugged, "You are an Orisha?"

In response, she extended her right arm and flames erupted on her forearm and hand.

Kola fell off his ijoko reflexively.

"OLORUN MI!!!" he exclaimed subliminally in Yoruba. My God.

After she put out the fire he got to his feet. Kola thought to escape once again but he figured he would not make it past ten steps before he was recaptured easily.

"What other powers do you have? And please don't reply with a demonstration." He said feigning interest.

"I can control the winds and lightning amongst other things." she said.

"That is so amazing." Kola declared.

"Wait, Do I have powers?" he asked truly interested in the response.

"You are the incarnation of the 4th Alaafin, Sango; Orisha of thunder and lightning." She replied nodding.

"I don’t believe you."

"It's true. I felt it."

Kola shook his head in doubt.

"Let’s say I agree and it’s true then I am sort of like a Yoruba Thor?"

"Yes, you are." She said smiling at his analogy.

Without saying another word, Kola looked up to the sky, lifted his hands and foolishly said "lightning strike!”

Nothing happened.

He did it again; this time his face was scrunched up in concentration, still nothing happened.

Yemisi laughed.

He couldn't help but notice what a lovely sound it was.

"It doesn't work like that silly," she informed him. "Sango uses oshe his double headed battle axe to generate lightning bolts."

"Really sounds like Thor but instead of a hammer I've got an axe."

"Yes."

"Where can I get a battle axe?" Kola inquired thinking to use the weapon to fight his way out of here if she was foolish enough to arm him.

"We'll see if Ogun can forge oshe for you. Though sometimes to direct were the lightening would strike Sango would use edun ara; thunder-stones."

"Where can I get these edun ara? " Kola inquired pronouncing the words perfectly like he'd been speaking the dialect all his life.

"Any stone you choose will become a thunder-stone."

Without any delay, Kola picked up a stone from the ground. Inhaling deep and long, he thought of what he wanted to happen. A strange sensation began to buzz beneath his surface, alien yet so familiar. A feeling like being shocked only it started from his core then the tingling travelled to the tip of his fingers as he hurled the little piece of rock very hard at an isolated tree whilst yelling "AIRA!!! ". Immediately the atmosphere felt electric and the fine hair on his arm stood like mini antennas. Thunder roared like an angry leopard and lightning lit up the skies like fireworks on the first of January.

Lightning struck deep into the trunk of the ancient iroko in the middle of the compound. The entire tree blew apart and charred pieces of wood and embers flew all over the place, most falling on distant bushes causing flames to erupt on them.
Kola stood as still as a statue. He hadn't truly believed or expected it to work. The word had just come to him and he had felt a stirring within him.

Ogun and the ifa priest came rushing out of the shrine whilst  Omítọ̀nàdé appeared from its side to see what had caused the ruckus. They all looked from Kola to the remains of the once glorious tree and back again.

Ogun noticed the start of a forest fire and muttered "Abeg off the fire Oya make e no burn the forest down."

"Oh sorry, I was..."

She waved her right hand and the flames were extinguished.

"Iroko and the Àjes go vex. Abeg try make una no destroy the area" Ogun warned as he went back into the hut taking the babalawo with him. Oya told Omítọ̀nàdé to get them dinner and a change of cloth for Kola.

                                  ***

In a silence that wasn’t uncomfortable, Kola and Yemisi strolled through a sinuous path in the forest. Before long they arrived at a crossroad and Yemisi led him left. After the stunt he had pulled earlier he was slowly becoming accepting of his fate.

The woodland was alive with sounds, like that of the chirping crickets and the occasional noise of a forest creature. It was alit with the smile of a crescent moon with the constellations seen through a lattice of leaves and the twinkling of fireflies like little stars on earth.

As they journeyed further through, the trees began to thin and before long they entered a clearing. Kola heard the sound of water flowing through rocks. They'd come across a black glass surfaced stream wounding its way through the forest, babbling and burbling, as it sprung over the limestone in its way. The scene was picturesque in the moonshine.

Yemisi suggested they have a swim in a particularly broad expanse of water. Without awaiting Kola's response, she snapped her fingers and her clothes were instantly replaced by a red coloured one-piece swimsuit.

Kola’s eyes nearly popped out of their orbits. Red happened to be his favourite colour.

Yemisi gave her sing song laughter as she leaped into the slow moving water, legs curled up, and hit the surface with a big splash. She went beneath the surface for a few seconds and then resurfaced.

Kola stripped down to his boxer short quicker than a child chasing an ice-cream man. Casting his clothes aside, he sprang into the water after her. He floated in the water a bit getting used to the temperature.

With the motive of feeling her up, Kola suggested they have a splash fight which Yemisi agreed to without hesitation.

He started to swim towards her but didn't seem to make any progress because the viscosity of the water had somehow increased several folds. When Kola tried to move through, it felt as if he was swimming in a pool of thick palm oil.

Almost immediately, the water became volatile as miniature waves came at him from every direction. He barely had time to gasp for air as the water repeatedly bombarded him.

Kola knew it was all Yemisi's doing.

"This is not fair, you are cheating" he sputtered, spewing water from his mouth.

"I'm not fair sweetheart, I'm dark" Yemisi replied playfully.

After having lots of unintended drinks of water, Kola finally admitted defeat "I give up, you win."

When they were done swimming, they settled on the strand, Kola shivering a little so Yemisi summoned some firewood —fallen branches actually floated to her from the forest floor—and lit them a campfire.

"Apart from you and I are there any other Orisha's?" Kola inquired.

"Yes, there are more. Actually a lot; Major and minor" She replied.

"Now I'm curious. Tell me about them."

Yemisi thought of how commanding his tone sounded, so very different from his previous cowardly one.

"For the major there is Ogun. He is the orisha of metals and war"

"I already guessed he was an orisha. No ordinary man can be that scary"

"There's Eshu god of trickery, chaos, death, cross roads and many more."

"Sounds like a terrifying guy also, I don't want to meet him." Kola said.

"He's not that bad. I’ve also met an Afro-Cuban man from Havana at the baba’s shrine once who is Aganju the god of fire at the centre of the earth. There's also Obatala-he's a really great guy, Osun goddess of love and Oba she's a water goddess".

"From the way you mentioned the last two names I'm guessing you don't like either of them" Kola surmised.

"I don't. I mean I do. I can't explain it. Past life grudges I guess." She explained.

"I don't understand." A deep groan escapes his stomach.

"You will, soon enough. You've already started to speak and understand Yoruba. Before long you will start having memories of another life. Let's start going back; you are hungry."

"No! Please tell me first na." Kola beseeched.

"Okay fine. I made Oba feed you her ear in a past life."

"JESUS CHRIST!!!" Kola exclaimed. The expression on his face was that of an ill-disguised disgust.

"That's a foreign God. Can we go now? "

They headed back for the babalawo's compound, Yemisi wearing a pink cashmere sweater on dark blue jeans she'd magically made appear and Kola in his off white dress shirt and almost dry boxer shorts because he'd soiled his trouser earlier, all the while chatting.