Ogboni

Chapter 1: The Birth of a Star

Note:

This is not a book I will be updating very often as of now. I would mainly be using this as a break from writing my other story. 

Enjoy :)

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On a grim night, a fierce thunder storm was brewing and with it, one could feel the humid moisture in the air. An old man walked out of a hut in the middle of a forest. The hut looked like it was haphazardly made, and could breakdown at any moment. The hut was surrounded by trees and an assortment of dried up leafs that were scattered all over the area. He looked at the sky with a shocked expression. From his wrist, the old man broke his bracelet which was made of beads, animal tooth, and cowry shells. The old man quietly sat on the bare ground and threw the various pieces of his bracelet to the floor in a ceremonious fashion.

The old man's expression changed, as he involuntarily jerked his head backward. The old man picked up the pieces and this time whispered a couple of words to the hand that held those objects that made his bracelet. The words he whispered were faint and unintelligible. He threw the pieces of his bracelet in the same fashion and quietly stared at them with a pondering expression.

"A new star is coming to these lands. And a powerful one at that." The old man said as his eyes flashed with a bright gleam.

"Would this be a good star or a bad one?" He continued, waving his hand in front of the objects on the floor.

The scattered beads, animal tooth, and cowry shell began to silently float upwards, almost as if they had been submerged in water and had finally been free of their restraint. One by one, the pieces of his bracelet moved to connect themselves with a string that was also floating silently in the air. As all of the pieces were attached to the string, the bracelet soundlessly flew to the left arm of the old man and gently connected itself to the old man's arms.

The old man quietly got up and moved his gaze towards the east. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking off at the moment. The old man moved his left hand to his left eye, slow plucking of the eyes from its socket, like a farmer plucking off a fruit from its tree. The scene wasn't gory as there was no blood. In the empty socket, a strange kind of darkness could be seen. It was a kind of darkness that gave an out of the world kind of feeling. Something that was so dark it was visible at night. The old man gently dropped to his knees, and placed the eyeball he held on the ground. Slowly, the eyeball of his transformed into a small green snake with one eye in the middle of its head. The snake immediately slithered away, moving towards an unknown area with great speed.

It was at this point that the first drop of rain came falling. The old man stared at the sky, before uttering the words, "Iyayi [Meaning faith]" and walking towards his small hut. 

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In a village located eastward of the old man's location, a woman was in labor. She was attended to by three mid wives who gave their all in assisting the woman, who was in labor, to safely give birth to her child. Outside of the room, a middle aged man was pacing back and forth rapidly. He was soon to be a father, a most joyous occasion for him, he was currently nervous praying they would be no complications. It wasn't rare for pregnant women to die while in labor in villages like this, so the man prayed for good health and safe delivery. 

A thunder storm was furiously raging. Sounds of trees being uprooted and flung around could be heard. In the peak of the thunder storm, loud cries came from the room where the woman was in labor. As the man heard those cries, a huge smile erupted on his face. He did not even pay attention to the fact the storm had suddenly stopped. He patiently waited outside the door. Moments later, the three mid wives walked out of the room smiling. 

"Congratulations your highness," the mid wives said before walking away.

The middle aged man rushed into the room, he was so happy that he was at a lost for words. His wife was safe laying on the bed with their twin children. "Ayo mi [Meaning my love]," The man said as he gently caressed the face of his wife. He looked at the crying children laying on the bed beside their mother. He quickly checked the sex of the children, and placed both kids on his arm and gently swayed them back and forth. 

" My love, we have a boy and girl." He said as he looked towards his wife, who smiled back at him.

"Who is older?" 

"She is Taiwo [older twin] and he is Kehinde [yonger twin]" the wife responded.

The man sat beside his wife and savored in the moment. Right now, his world was complete. He had all he could ask for, a loving wife and beautiful children. Silently, a snake, which had been silently observing the entire child birth, slithered out of the room through a window. This was the snake the old man had formed with his left eyeball. The movement of the snake was succinct and quiet, like the waters of a lake, making it virtually impossible for anyone to notice its presence and departure.

The next morning, the couple carried their children to the village's priestess's shrine. This was a tradition of the people of the village, one in which the priestess would check the destiny of children and pray to the gods for their well being. The abode of the shrine was covered with several animal bones and feathers. Strange liquids of varying colors littered the area in what seemed like human skulls. At a far end corner of the shrine, a wooden sculpture of a strange bird could be seen. Laying in front of the sculpture was a headless chicken and a host of strange animal parts.

The king and his queen sat and watched as the priestess started the ritual. The priestess said a couple of words before taking a hand full of dried bones and tooth of various animals, and tossing it to the floor. The priestess stared strangely at the bones before picking them up and throwing them to the floor again. 

The look on the priestess' face, was one of confusion as she reached into a bag that was securely placed around her waist.  She brought out what seemed like a tiny piece of dry wood, and crushed it with one hand. Holding the crushed wood like substance in one hand, she reached for a bowl that was half filled with a strange purple liquid. She poured a little bit of that liquid, probably four to five drops at most, on the hand that held the crushed dried wood like substance. A sizzling sound was heard as the priestess mixed the substances in her palm.

She smeared a line of that strange mixture on her forehead and proceeded to smear a line each on the heads of the babies. Afterward, she placed both of her hands on the individual children. The king and the queen watched as the priestess pupils turned gray and foggy. It seemed like the priestess had entered a strange sort of trance, where her body rocked in weird motions. When suddenly, the priestess screamed and backed away from the children. "So much death," The priestess said as she gasped for air. She stared at the king and queen and then shook her head.

"These children have an ominous destiny."

"I know this would be hard to hear, but you have to kill them immediately."

The king frowned and immediately got up. "There must be a mistake." He said vehemently disagreeing with the priestess. Staring at the priestess, he could tell she was completely convinced of what she was saying.

"We would do no such thing." He continued, urging his wife to get up and leave with the children. The priestess was quiet, contemplating what she had seen. Her duty to the village was to guide and seek guidance from the gods. 

In a remote corner of the shrine, the one eyed green snake was observing everything that was happening.