Aiye(Earth)

Iku suddenly snapped one of the many ornaments he wore around his neck and threw it to the ground.

"Ajaka Eshin oba! (Ajaka the horse of a king) come forth now, your master awaits you!"Iku screamed as the ornament he threw to the ground metamorphosed into an enormous black horse.

"It's been a while," old friend, Iku mumbled as the horse neighed loudly.

Esan clutched his sword tightly, calling it by its name "Idajo! judgment)" and the sword began to flame brightly. Then lightning exploded in the air, followed by thunderclaps as raindrops fell from the sky as if in slow motion. Iku mounted his horse and with speed close to that of lightning they charged.

The two sides clashed. One fighting for the dark god of Akpadi(underworld) and the other side fighting for the side of the high gods of Orun(heavens).

Esan and Iku cut through the demons as they attacked them in droves, cutting them down in their hundreds within some minutes. The demons burnt into ashes when they die and even the ashes faded into the air in a second, leaving no traces at all.

It was happening in front of me but I still could not believe it. I and my friends have laughed at supernatural stories told in religious texts in the past, it never made sense to me, and I could never comprehend how people could get themselves to believe in such things. Even as it happened in front of me I still wondered if someone would wake me up from a very long dream.

"There is just no end to these things," Esan screamed.

"Let them come, brother!" Iku replied, beaming with satisfaction, as he charged the enemy on horseback.

As the battle raged on, Ika stayed aback, letting his minions perish at the hands of the two warrior spirits who showed no sign of exhaustion. Esan only complained because he would rather be saving his other brothers, and Iku's bloodlust as he was enjoyed the killing so much he had forgotten about the rescue plans.

"Ika is resting, buying time with the lower demons," Imo mumbled.

"He's buying time for what?' I asked.

"He used a lot of energy to fire that god killer bow, and he needs to regain that energy or he would be decimated by the aftereffects if he uses that weapon again."

"You need to warn your brothers, they seem to have fallen for the trick, they're just attacking the lower demons"

"Oh, Iku is so thick-headed, he wouldn't even notice until it's too late. Esan on the other hand...he knows already,"

As if Esan heard what Imo had said, he dashes forward towards Ika's position, cutting down everything that stood between him and the Anjanu.

"What are you doing, brother?" Iku screamed.

Esan decimated the lines that protected Ika. As he got closer to him, Ika made a desperate move. He quickly shot an arrow with the bow of destruction, he shot directly at Esan, and Esan caught by surprise couldn't move. He must have banked on Ika not using the bow at that moment as Imo thought too.

In a blink of an eye, a giant tree emerged out of the ground right in front of Esan, the flaming arrow meant for Esan struck the tree instead, and exploded. The energy surge sent Esan flying aback, swirling and slamming on the ground. When he stopped rolling, the whole place went quiet as Esan laid on the ground immobile. The demons immediately retreated, taking defensive stances to protect their master who had fallen to his knees because of the effect of the bow.

"Esan!" I screamed.

"He's alive," A strange female voice said.

I turned to my right where the voice came from, and there she stood, the most beautiful character I've ever seen. The sun reflected on her beautiful ebony skin as it shone like glass. Her eyes were as blue as the sea, and her full kinky black hair goes down her shoulders, touching her back.

"This is indeed an African Queen," I whispered to myself.

"Hello, sister. It's about time you graced us with your appearance," Imo said as he chuckled loudly.

"Hello, you little rascal," she replied not paying any attention to him.

"You save Esan's hyde once again. I can't wait to torture him about it."

I see you are as childish and annoying as ever, she said as she started walking towards Esan.

"I am a child, Aiye. I see you're still as cold as always. Iku would be pleased."

Aiye paid him no attention, she walked up to Iku who was already bent over Esan, screaming "wake up you oaf!"

"That is Aiye," I asked Imo.

"Yes, that's my bipolar sister, Aiye. The warrior spirit of nature. She would save you now just to kill you in the future," he chuckled.

"He's not dead, Iku, not yet."

Iku got up, stared at her for a moment, and wanted to walk away. She grabbed him by the hand drew him closer and kissed him, and Iku's scythes fell from his hands.

They kissed for a moment until they were interrupted by Esan's coughs. "You know we are in the middle of a battle, don't you? Save the smooching for later, let's kill that bastard first, Esan said.

"You do know you guys are disgusting? You're siblings for Eledumare's sake, Imo screamed."

"Ignore him," Esan referred to Iku and Aiye.

"Someone needs to shut that annoying child up before I do it myself!" Aiye's voice thundered, sending energy waves that made Imo shrieked in fear.

"Imo, you really need to stop pulling her legs! You know what happens if you do not," Esan shouted.

Ika got more desperate, he suddenly grabbed one of his minions, punched his arm into the minion's chest, and ripped out his heart. He devoured the heart and proceeded to do the same thing for nine other minions who were willing to die for him anyway.

"Fear has made him gone crazy now, that coward devoured his own followers for energy. He means to use the bow again, and this time he has enough energy to fire it multiple times," Esan explained.

"Why didn't he do that before now, he could have been more of a problem for us if he did that before now, why wait?" Iku asked.

"He is a coward, and like all cowards, he was confident in his plan to overwhelm us with numbers without getting his hand dirty, but now he knows what Aiye is capable of and the means to end this quickly."

Their conversation was cut short when the remainder of the demons charged at them. Esan and Iku met them and started hacking through them. As expected Ika fired the bow, but we never thought he would fire it at me. The spirits were caught off guard except for Imo who expected it. He quickly hits his hands on the ground and several barriers made of energy fields emerged. The arrow pierced through the barriers, there were seven, and it was the last energy field that stopped the arrow.

"He means to kill, the weapon," Aiye yelled.

"I thought he needed her alive?" Iku asked looking puzzled.

"He must have been told to destroy her if he is unable to get her. The dark god means to win this war and he does not plan to have the only person who can stop him on our side," Esan replied.

Esan grabbed his sword tightly and his body busted into flames. He gave Iku a stare and smiled at him.

"It's about time you got serious," Iku mumbled.

They both charged at the enemy one final time, leaving destruction in their wake. Ika fired the bow several times but Aiye kept blocking it with her trees, forcing him to exhaust his energy without noticing. He shot the bow one last time unaware he had existed his energy and the kickback from the weapon struck him. He screamed in pain as he started to glow.

"He's going to blow," Esan screamed.

"He's going to take the whole neighborhood if he does, we have to contain the explosion," Imo explained to Aiye.

"You're finally acting like a warrior spirit for once. Let's make sure this bastard doesn't take any innocent life with him, she replied"

They both joined hands and a stronger barrier emerged, the barrier was made of energy fields from Imo and trees from Aiye. They encircled Ika with the barrier as he started to burn. The heat started to burn things around him, trees and buildings. Esan bolted into the buildings, saving a handful of people stuck in them. Then Ika exploded, sending flares of energy that must have knocked me out.

When I woke up, we were back at the mountain. I opened my eyes and Akpena's smiling, wrinkled face greeted me.

"Welcome back your Highness," he whispered.