GODLINGS : ASCENSION (African Lore Book 1)

CHAPTER 18

The wind blew quietly around the mountain known as olumo rock, found in the deepest parts of the state known as Ogun. The thick ozone smell in the air that accompanied the wind that whispered of a heavy torrent that would pour down later on. It was night, and this historic tourist zone was closed off for the day, the night guard whistling to himself as he shut and locked the gate that would lead to the mountain, ready to retire for a night of drinking cold gari and sugar while listening to his favorite tunes on the radio and hoping that the woman who sold groundnuts would happen by his gate, to take shelter from the incoming storm,

The thoughts of a mortal,

Above the mountain though, it was a whole other case entirely, for out of the air a rip appeared, as if someone took a celestial knife to rip through the fabric of our reality itself. A kid came out, white haired, swaddled in spotless white cotton that was tied as his shoulder and covered his body like the toga. He surveyed the area, realizing it had been a while he had been here, centuries perhaps,

One the guardians of the primordials,

Kneeling to the ground as he mumbled to himself, watching as a white glowing sigil appeared on the top of the rock. When he had been given this mission by a primordial, he had wondered why, it was not in his position to question them, not as the way that ignorant pest known as eru had found a backdoor into summoning the primordials. His duties was to obey and obey he will, watching as the sigil expanded and he stood up,

"Rise fabled warrior of old, rise savior eternal of the third children of oromiyan, rise child of the mountain, lisabi" he finished,

Watching as a skeletal hand appeared out of the rocks, grasping for leverage while pulling itself out of the rocks. Such was the power of the guardian of the primordials, the power to raise a long dead man whose flesh had decayed, whose bones had turned to dust, who name was even a whisper in the air save for the elders who knew the tales of old.

The skeleton shook as the guardian tapped a finger to the skull, watching as the bones changed from their brown decayed self to a healthy white, then came the muscles and the organs, and finally the skin. The man who laid on the ground shook violently as he struggled to breathe, gasping for breathe as the guardian stared on with a bored look, his job was to awaken the figure and explain the evil, not pet him.

After getting his bearing, the figure spoke, but in an ancient dialect, one forgotten even by the indigenes of the land themselves. The guardian cringed, tapping the head of the figure again to impart the common tongue spoken in this age, having a bumbling muscular man with arms that could crush rocks speak a weird language would raise flags.

The figure assimilated, looking up again at the guardian,

"What sort of magic is this o strange one?, how am I alive after I entered the ground?" He asked

The guardian eyed the figure, in the ages of old he was the definition of a warrior, one who liberated his kingdom, one man who stood against a horde of warriors just to buy time for reinforcements to arrive, a man so versed in the magical arts that he literally descended into the ground after ruling his kingdom for a while, with a promise to come back for them in their greatest time of needs,

Of course that was a lie

He knew he wasn't coming back, even though his people called on him and gave offerings in their greatest time of need, cause he was dead, he was at the point of death when he descended into the ground, in a show of theatrics. The guardian stepped closer,

"Do you say you have no idea who I am?, does a sheep not recognize the presence of the lion?, lisabi?" The guardian whispered,

The figure named lisabi stared wide eyed, recognition showing in its face,

"Lord of the guardians, one of old, forgive me, my mind has been dead" he said bowing down,

"We do not have time for this, hear me well, your time has passed, your descendants are gone, even if few remain scattered like leaves in the wind, thus is a new age, and the gods are awake, so is an ancient evil, you have been brought back for reasons, the main one which is you're requested, no, ordered by obatala himself to defend Ashe," the guardian said, pausing,

"What do I need to do?" Lisabi asked as the guardian nodded in satisfaction,

"You will journey to the land of the wife of sango, you will defend two warriors who are there from whatever harm might occur to them" the guardian said,

Lisabi watched as a blue crystal appeared in the guardians hand, flicking it into the chest of lisabi as he groaned and pulsed with light,

"You have been granted the powers of Ashe, not to create, but to wield, you have been given the powers of a demi guardian, to protect, for you shall be a guardian" the guardian completed,

Tapping the head of lisabi as in a flash, every but of history resurfaced and assimilated into his head. Lisabi opened his eyes, His gaze that of a brutal predator, the guardian nodded, this was the lisabi they wanted, and he was back,

"Any question?" The guardian asked as clothes and a wallet full of money appeared on the ground, lisabi wearing it with precision,

"None guardian," he said as he winked out of existence,

The guardian huffed,

So obatala gave the runt teleportation

He shook his head, even though he should had been kinder to the warrior, there was no time for that, war was at their doorstep, and he had no idea if lisabi, the son of a guardian, his son, would survive.....

Glossary

Gari- dried cassava, soaked in water and enjoyed as a delicacy,
Olumo- a place in the state of Ogun in Nigeria
Obatala- the primordial god of human creation
Oromiyan- the first king of IFE, the original home of the Yoruba tribe