Folktails✔️

5•

F O L K T A I L S
•Temptation•
Have you ever caught the sound of something–a person or instrument–that made you drive yourself to a halt? If no, then you are not alone. Until today, Ikenna had never experienced anything of the sort and neither had anyone he knew. So it came as a surprise to the hunter when he found it excruciatingly difficult to take any more steps forward.

It was a rising urge in him, like a tempo steady and slow but hard moving. It drowned all his senses but those of curiosity. The whole of his body tingled with senses he never knew existed, pushing him towards the source of the painfully compelling voice.

Calling it a voice was a bit insulting as what Ikenna heard was far beyond what the human pipes could create. It was a sweet twangle of instruments that seemed to weave strings that wrapped around him, tugging and softly impelling.

Ikenna found the sweet melody to be terribly irresistible. As much as he wanted to turn away, he also wanted to know the source of a thing so soothing and still so captivating. It was impulsive, encapsulating him in an electric sphere that he couldn't break away from.

He tried. And he did try. He tried harder than it seemed. Yet it bewildered him that his body seemed to betray him when he tried to turn away. The pain he felt was a twang like that of a sharp blade scraping flesh bits off and creeping slowly into his chest where the agony was so unbearable and agonising to the point that he couldn't breathe.

Ikenna was almost sure his heart was going to shatter into pieces bit by bit with every step he took forward. He gave up on it finally and headed towards the mystery voice.

After all, it wasn't like his whole being was against the idea of finding out what it was. The sound was alive and pulsing, thrumming under his veins and pulling him towards it. If anything, he had already fallen to its temptation. Only his will seemed to be against the expected, but even that had yielded in after a brave fight.

"Who goes there?" The not totally intoxicated part of Ikenna spoke up. He waited for quite a time but no answer came. Instead, the mysterious tone raised higher and shriller. It sent waves–high and low–shivering down Ikenna's spine and back up, settling in every spaced corner in his head.

"Speak now." He said when he had recovered himself from what he wasn't even sure of.

If it could hear him and couldn't speak or whether it had chosen to ignore him eluded Ikenna. One thing he however was blessed with the surety of, was the fact that he had to find out. He needed to. He had to fill the yearning and aching inside him to know what it was that had such a strong hold on him.

With each step he took toward it, the urge to know what it was deepened, but surprisingly he took note of the fact that the sound had paled in comparison to the first time he heard it.

"Who is there?" He inquired again as he pushed back the tall overgrown weed on the banks of the river.

A disgruntled gasp escaped from Ikenna's lips as he caught sight of a woman. And it wasn't just any woman. A cough echoed and vibrated through all of Ikenna's being when he noticed she was also naked. At least from the top half of her body that he could see.

She–as he concluded from the feminity of the back of her body and long hair that hung low past her back in thick braids–was in front of a rock that hid the bottom half of her body.

Despite Ikenna's discipline as a serious minded and solemn man, he couldn't help but let his thoughts go wild with imaginations of how her body in full would be and even more her on his bed.

He however had to stop himself from going any further as he knew better than to dishonour any woman(bound or celibate) by having a sexual congress even through thrillings of the mind.

The progress towards her was slow and deliberate as Ikenna took his time, making sure he was careful in case it was an encounter with a spirit of the waters. He couldn't risk getting into trouble with the supernatural side of life again.

By the time, Ikenna could reach and touch her over the rock she hid in front of, she had stopped singing. However before he could say anything more, heavy footsteps approached him from behind.

"Ikenna!" A man he recognised to be one of the guards of Chief Nwakaozo called out to him. They had both crossed paths which mostly ended in almost fights the many times Ikenna had tried to discreetly reach Asuka while she was still living. The thought of her sent a tender ripple through his heart.

It brought joy to him that she was resting in peace unlike some worn out ghosts still wandering on the earth and trying to ensnare innocent people.

Spirits more than often tried to make use of humans or bring unknowing ones into their worlds or by calling them by their names. If one answered in the affirmative, then they were to be doomed. This was the reason why when a name was called, the owner was expected to indirectly respond no matter who it was without giving the spirits a chance to hurl the one living into the afterlife.

"It is I." Ikenna answered not because he wasn't sure who had called him but only to sound crass and show he wasn't accommodating any intimidations.

"The great King of our beautiful land, Zoro summons you to his palace and orders your presence immediately."

"By his order I am bound. But what is the issue if it be in my place to ask?"

"Chief Nwakaozo makes the request as a matter of his choice towards an issue that bothers him."

"What does the sly fox want this time?" Ikenna muttered under his breath as he pondered on the decision of the chief to convince the Eze to summon him. Everyone knew how tricky Chief Nwakaozo was and even worse was his ability to twist things to his advantage.

"What is that behind you?" The guard asked and Ikenna turned in return. He had almost forgotten about the maiden whose face he yearned to see.

"It is her." Ikenna murmured softly as the creature with long, dark hair turned to him with a smile on her face.

He felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs as he longed after her. She was indeed an epitome of beauty. It was just a glimpse of her yet he hungered for more. It however dampened his spirits that he was deprived of his wish as the beautiful one turned around and with a splash of water was gone.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Ikenna managed to say. But it was something. Indeed it was more than something.
•
A/N: Hey loves. I made a mistake in the last chapter by calling the river a stream. I have changed it though. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Cheers!