OJADILI The Mystery Boy Episode 3 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor

OJADILI The Mystery Boy Episode 3 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor

**The self-sacrifice at the evil forest**

As Ojadili waited to be shackled and rearrested, the entire people in the palace kept watching him with fear because the three revelations the stranger made all came to pass; the diviner he said to be alive didn’t die, after all, the rain he said that was imminent, didn’t just come but came as a heavy downpour, while the kingdom he said to be free from the purported anger of the gods wasn’t caused just as Apia affirmed. The only bone of contention was how the kingdom was going to tackle the issue of not sacrificing or sparing him as Apia, the Utali ndi muo, instructed.

The king kept watching the handwriting on the sand as he walked around it, He continued shuddering and shrugging because something like that hadn’t been witnessed before in the village. He simply went closer to Ojadili, held him by the palm, took a close at it, and said: “I don’t know who or what you are, but all I can say is that you’re a puzzle even to the gods. Can you choose how we’re to handle this situation? Your blood cannot be shed in our land, and at the same time, you shouldn’t be spared. This is a riddle, and I believe you can help us out,”

Ojadili couldn’t even offer any solution because the last time he checked, he was still the spineless jelly that always depends on her parents until their demise, so he was yet to know how to handle life, let alone being able to proffer a solution to the ravaging situation that got the entire kingdom flummoxed. It was obvious to Ojadili that he has powers but he doesn’t always have solutions to them when revealed.

After a while, Ojadili said to the king as he held his palm while others watched closely to ensure that he wasn’t enchanting him or bewitching him; even Ikenta tried to come close to interfere but noticed that his legs were stuck to the ground; therefore, couldn’t make a move to come closer; he was totally numb but no one noticed what was going. They all thought that the ever-protective chief guard simply allowed the king to have a moment with the stranger.

“I understand the language of the forest,” Ojadili mumbled as he touched the marks on the palm of the king, acting like a palmist at the same time, “Your wife and daughter have been captured in a strange land. The truth is that they’re happy where they are because they’d forgotten where they came from.

They got lost in Ajo-ofia and met someone who they believed could help them, but unfortunately, they met Oke Dibia nwayi (great female diviner) who led them to Onumajuru village. This aforementioned village is a puzzle too but it takes the wisdom of someone who we’re yet to know or meet, to discover it. I only said what I saw but can’t really explain why I see those things or how to solve the problems,”

The king was shocked at this, so he wanted to beckon Odumeje and Akilika to come and hear what he felt was mind-blowing to him but Ojadili stopped him.

“I think they need to…”

“No, they don’t, for now,” Ojadili said, “Family secrets shouldn’t be trusted with anyone, so you need to be careful with your subjects,”

The king was surprised with that good counsel and advice from the stranger, making him earn his trust.

“How do I meet this person that would help me locate my family?” The king asked with the utmost eagerness, “who is he, and what’s his name?”

“As I said before, my king,” Ojadili said solemnly, “I only say what I see but can’t locate them. I’m done here. As for the name, I didn’t see anything like it,”

“But can you think further or…”

“Can the arrest be made or should I walk away, Igwe?” he interjected respectfully with a curtsy.

The king knew he couldn’t just set the stranger free or kill him because his life is worth more than gold to him due to the information he had about what had been eating deep into him for years but there wasn’t a way for him to get him freed without angering the people and the gods because Apia never said he should be freed.

“Let’s meet my people,” The king said and went back to Ikenta who remained stuck and benumbed, touched him on the shoulder and the guard got his consciousness back.

“May you live long my king,” Ikenta said and genuflected before him with his heads bowed, “I hope he didn’t hurt you, Igwe (king),”

“What are you still doing here where you should be protecting your king? What if the stranger hurt me?” The king asked without knowing that some supernatural forces held the poor guy spellbound a couple of minutes ago.

Ikenta couldn’t explain what happened to him because, to him, there was no time lost, making him not understand why the king should be accusing him of not doing his statutory duties. He felt that nothing happened but still had to apologise for his misdemeanour.

As the king got to Akaaka whom he admires so much, he said: “Nna anyi (our father), we are saddled with confusion but I believe that if you could give a prediction about this boy just as you have always showered us with your wisdom, you can also help us solve this puzzle about what do to with this boy to avoid killing or sparing him as Apia said proverbially. Aka siri ike jide mma, odika oka nko (If the efficient hands handle the machete, it makes it look sharper). Help us if you can, and I believe you will,”

At this juncture, the Igwe’s cabinet led by Ichie Odumeje mobbed the king and the old man leaving Ojadili with the guards.

Looking up and seeing the faces of the men clustered around him, Akaaka smiled in his sheepish way; revealing his scanty dentition and weak lips, and then said: “Bring the boy here, let me touch him for the first time,”

Without delay, Ichie Akilika beckoned the guards that surrounded Ojadili and said: “the boy, please. We need him,”

Ojadili didn’t want anyone to hold him like a prisoner since the opportunity he gave them to rearrest him had passed, so he came forward without being touched or led. Getting to the Akaaka, he knelt before him and said: “May you live long, my father. Bless your son, and let him depart into the forest to seek his destiny,”

The people were surprised to hear Ojadili talking about being taken to the forest, making it hard for them to understand what he meant by that but their tongues got stuck to the roof of their mouths; therefore, none asked questions to ascertain why he requested for such venture.

“You’re blessed, my son,” Akaaka said and placed his hand on Ojadili’s head, “There is a reason why you were born. Even though you and I are still confused about your true purpose in life, I believe that the purpose would be meaningful and soon be made manifest. Ekene nze, ekene ofor (if the titled man is greeted, his staff of office should be greeted too).

As I pay homage to you, even though you’re still a boy, so am I paying homage to the gods that sent you to this land of Amirioma because, ka arusi ahana, aka abuo ka eji ebu ya (no matter the size of the deity, it must be carried with two hands). You’re a force, even though you’re a child,”

The King, in particular, felt so proud of Ojadili because of the shower of praises that just rained down on him from the mouth of the wisdom-laden oldest man in the village.

After the prayer, Ojadili stood and began to leave without saying any word, even though he felt so elated by the blessings from Akaaka. As he left, the guards rushed at him and stopped him but were even afraid to touch him even though they wouldn’t admit being cowed by his presence because it’s not easy to deny a man his self-worth.

“Where do you think you’re going to?” one of the guards hollered and held Ojadili as he tried to conjure that lost self-confidence, even though his hands quivered as he expected his counterparts to come to his aid in case strange things start happening to him as an eventuality.

The king was confused because he expected Akaaka to give a suggestion and not to bless the boy, making him remain numb to words as he looked confusingly at Akaaka and Ojadili.

“I think we’re missing something, and about to make a grave mistake,” Odumeje said and came closer to Akaaka who kept his eyes fixed to the handwriting of the hooded dwarf on the sand. “How can you allow this boy to go without the consent of the king. Even though we respect you, why would you take it for granted by blessing someone who we don’t even know if he’s meant to be blessed or cursed?”

The king looked at Ojadili the second time, then turned to Akaaka and said: “What is this and why granting the boy journey mercy into the forest where he could be killed by wild animals?”

“Or where he could escape too?” Ichie Akilika added, “Remember he shouldn’t be spared too, so he may escape,”

“And he shouldn’t be killed too,” The old man reminded him, “Whatever I did, is the solution to the riddle,” he added.

The king tried to comprehend what the aged face said but still couldn’t fathom the entire wordings. “You may wish to explain this, Akaaka” he said holding firm to his staff of office girded by his manly hand.

“At my age,” Akaaka said frowningly and snorted, “I’m like a child who has outgrown being shifted by the corner while the stranger sleeps with his mother,”

“We understand this,” Ichie Odumeje cut in apologetically, “and we do not doubt your prowess as the wise…”

“The boy is to be taken to Obiakpo forest but no one is meant to hurt him,” Akaaka continued rejoined, “this is the fight of the gods, and they are always wise. Taking Ojadili to the forest where black thunder strikes in all seasons mean that you’re handing him over to the gods. The initial plan was for him to be sacrificed but this wouldn’t be done.

Taking him there means we’re not sparing his life since he’s been handed to the god that judges those who err during the nsacha ala ritual, but not killing him means you’re at the same time adhering to the rules of not shedding his blood. If the gods kill him, then it’s of their decision, and if he’s spared, there is a reason for it. So, I guess the riddle is solved,”

The king was so impressed and felt like applauding the old man with lots of wisdom but had to control his glee and hold tenaciously to his royal pride. He simply smiled and nodded in agreement, looked at Ojadili, and nodded in approval of his journey.

“The boy is to be taken to Obiakpo forest,” The king promulgated as rains of smiles and fears watered Ojadili’s face.

Ojadili felt both happy and frightened to find his way into the same forest he’d always dreamt about in those nightmares that always reoccur since he’d been a child. He knew that the forest either holds his life success or failure, but most of all, his destiny had something to do with the woods.

“What will become of the boy is no more our business,” Odumeje said summarily and led the sad king to his throne to have some rest since nightfall was becoming evident as its presence was being announced in the firmament.

“Go well, and may your god protect you, my son,” The king said feeling as if a part of him was being dragged away into the forest. He had unfinished business with Ojadili but taking him to the forest means that he wouldn’t have access to him anymore even if the boy survives the thick forest of Obiakpo which isn’t likely because Obikapo is an evil forest where thunder strikes down the victim without delay.

“May you mirror the wishes of the gods and be a reflection of their presence to mankind. Go in peace, nwam (my son),”

Ojadili felt like staying but he had to answer to the call of destiny. Looking at the king and the old man, he smiled and said to the guards: “Let’s go,”

The people watched as the boy left for the evil forest to decide his fate.

The king wasn’t comfortable leaving Ojadili to go but being that the mediator between the mortals and the supernatural gave him a task which the Akaaka made easy for him, he had to allow the poor boy to go. As one of his kingly duties, it was pertinent he finds a way to get an explanation about the handwriting on the sand but the dwarf that wrote it was nowhere to be found, even the sorcerer that took his family to the strange kingdom couldn’t be found too.

King Obiajulu felt that his life just got jinxed and knotted in a fiasco that left him bemused and daunted. Looking up as tears of excruciating pains wanted to be evident in his eyes, he hissed loud enough, making the entire people interested in knowing what was going on with their king.

As the people tried to inquire into the cause of the perturbation being displayed by the body language of the king, the information-starved traditional ruler simply entered his chamber and locked himself up to reminisce on the way forward about his family. In that helplessness, he languished in dispiritedness and wept bitterly like a child deserted by his parents and left lonely under a scary udala tree.

**

Getting to the threshold leading to Obiakpo evil forest, Ojadili looked at the guards and said: “I think it’s okay here. You guys have tried already. The rest is my fate and I’ll tackle it alone, but what I will tell you, Ikenta, is this,” he added looking at the chief guard with pity, “The death of your twin brother wasn’t caused by your wife who was wrongly accused and made to drink the water used to wash the decaying corpse,”

Ikenta was so surprised to hear that. He couldn’t believe what he heard because it was obvious that his wife committed such abomination, even to have confessed to it.

He became so weak and dazed because he couldn’t figure out how the stranger knew about his family and what transpired some years back.

“Wait, please,” Ikenta said and held Ojadili by the wrist, “sorry if my hand hurts. It’s my nature,” he apologised still looking stormed by the incredible revelation that threw him into malady. “How did you know about this?” He asked in total perturbation as he remained appalled, “But she confessed to the crime even when she wasn’t forced into…”

“Make peace with your wife and ask her some questions,” Ojadili added without divulging further information because he just exhausted the entire revelation he had about him, “If the dove tries to outwit me, I’ll simply use the grains of corn to lure it into my bedroom and get it captured without delay. Let your actions lure the truth to you even when you don’t need to exert any energy hunting in the shadows for it,”

After the proverbial speech, he sealed his lips to further utterances.

As Ojadili was about to leave the four guards waiting to bid him adieu into the evil forest, Ikenta opened his bag and brought out four pieces of kola, pulled him into a hug, and slid them into his pocket so that others wouldn’t know what he did.

“The hooded dwarf dropped this on his way out and I picked it without anyone seeing me,” He whispered into Ojadili’s ears, “I never knew what it was or why he dropped it but I believed it should be yours; even though I insisted on torturing you by hiding it or discarding it. The revelation you just gave me now made me realise that you may not be as bad as I was opinionated about you. Fare thee well, stranger,”

“Ojadili remains my name,” The young Umuabani man replied and tapped the chief guard gently on the nape and disappeared into the thick forest to embrace his fate.

Getting into the forest, he dug his hand into his pocket to check what the chief guard dropped there. He was wowed to see the same four pieces of kola he dropped into Ubommiri River in Umuabani when he was about to commit suicide. Amid that surprise, he kept the kolas so secure in his pocket and continued his movement into the forest; even though he was so afraid because of the strange sounds that droned both far and near, sounding ominous and making his heart pulsate in fear.

Not more than two hours into the forest, he saw the Obiakpo shrine where he was supposed to be sacrificed. At this point, he was bereft of ideas, suggestions, or even thoughts of what to do. As fears and deep thoughts flourished inside of him, he looked around and saw a lengthened Ukazi (Gnetum Africanum or wild spinach) lying casually on the ground as it sprouts. He plucked the Ukazi, used it to tie his hands and legs, and slowly lay on the lonely altar that had many strange and scary images sculptured around it.

Even though Ojadili was so frightened to death, he had to accept whatever comes to him. So he lay on his back; facing the moonlight and the constellation that beautified the sky, cuddled himself and whispered: “The all-knowing Obiakpo god, here I am according to your directives.

Receive my spirit as an offering to you for whatever reason why you sent me here. My life is worthless without Abiama (God), so I give you back myself as the sacrificial lamb and pray that you take my soul. But if you do not wish to kill me which is my desire, allow me to discover my destiny and the purpose of my creation. Here I am, accept this gift of my mortal being into your immortal realm,”

After saying this, Ojadili closed his eyes and blacked out.

#OpraDre

To be continued…