Akin's Father

The Balogun settled down on one of her stools and decided to start cooking up a story to dish the Adegunju representative should they come to ask any questions. The greatest fear she has is the vengeful wrath of the Adegunju, she has heard of what the war tribe is capable of and fears a situation in which the provincial leaders are angered. The Balogun ensured that everything was kept a secret, all those involved were ordered to remain silent about the situation and should anyone ask questions they are simply to tell such a busybody that it is Ẹṣọ business. For some reason, she cannot shake the feeling that there is something that she has seriously overlooked.

"Greetings Balogun," a lone voice called from behind, the Balogun all but jumped out of her skin in fright. "I'm sorry if I startled you"

The Balogun turns around to find out who is bold enough to sneak into her hut without prior permission only to discover that the one thing she fears the most is about to become a reality, the Adegunju tribe must have found out about the attempt on Akin's life.

Only one of the representatives is present for now, but the Balogun is not easily deceived. The Adegunju are so well adapted to the situation of war that they are able to conceal their presence effectively; a warrior of Ilu-inọ has no hope of finding a member of the tribe unless the Adegunju wills it. The Balogun fanned out a small cloud of her Agbara into the surroundings with the hope of detecting an attack before it hits, a moment's warning is more than enough for her to send out a necessary counter-attack. The Adegunju member casually walked over to the table without even giving her a second thought, as he reached the table Adegunju took her palm wine and poured a cup to drink. As usual, the man remains covered in the strange substance from crown to sole.

"Sit down, Balogun, we have a lot to discuss," the mysterious stranger said casually, and this prompted the Balogun's suspicion. "Did you tighten the security of the village?" The Adegunju inquired.

"Yes," she replied, as she made herself uncomfortable on the stool opposite the Adegunju.

"I guess that's why I found it difficult to sneak into this village undetected," he said to himself then he addressed the Balogun. "By now Akin should be fourteen seasons old?"

"By my count, yes," the Balogun replied with a sigh of relief, they knew nothing about the Jama assassins but that was her mistake, the Adegunju was only killing the tension.

"I heard that some Jama's paid your village a visit?" The Balogun felt a lump in her throat

"Yes," the Balogun replied uncomfortably

"I also heard that they were here to kill someone," the Adegunju mocked.

"Yes, I can explain…" the Balogun realised that there is no hiding from the truth, better to placate this Adegunju with her heartfelt apology than to use lies to cover up for the weakness in the village's security system.

"I have not finished" the Adegunju interrupted, lifting an unseen finger of authority.

"They came here to kill Akin, Didn't they?" The Adegunju growled with suppressed anger

"Yes," the Balogun responded, falling to her knees willing to do anything to find a solution to this situation, "I can explain…"

"Did you tell anyone about Akin's true identity and the real purpose for his presence in this village?" The Adegunju demanded sternly, ignoring her offer to give an explanation.

"No," the Balogun promptly responded, "Up until the assassination attempt no one knew, after the attempt only the trusted chiefs under my authority"

"Yet, someone came to kill the child and they even knew his true name," the Adegunju growled in rage, the Agbara within his body tensing up for a battle

"Please, punish me," the Balogun pleaded, "Spare the people of this village"

"Is it also true that the assassins almost succeeded, but for the efforts of that boy, Oluṣeyi?" The Adegunju continued

"Yes," the Balogun replied, feeling the full extent of the Adegunju's killing aura. The aura completely suffocated her Agbara leaching out every ounce of strength from her limbs, now she knows exactly how powerful the Adegunju is, she has no prayer in the world of subduing him. Therefore, she reached out and grabbed a hold of his right ankle, and started to beg like a woman belittling her rank as Balogun.

The moment she touched the Adegunju's foot, all the killing aura vanished and the stranger regained his composure.

"I guess I got a little carried away," the Adegunju said in a conversational tone, and the room became calm and homely once more "Forgive me Balogun, please stand up the fault is not your own"

"What do you mean?" The Balogun inquired, without standing up from her kneeling position.

"I came here as an emissary not to Judge this village; I am here to apologise to this village." The Adegunju vowed, "The fault is not from your end but from our end. The information about Akin's importance was leaked by a traitor from our tribe and for that, we deeply regret any inconveniences our tribe has caused you,"

"You mean that those assassins were sent by members of your tribe?" The Balogun snapped, standing up to her feet in a rage "I should slap your Baṣọrun square in the face for this error" The Adegunju laughed at her last verbal assault

"No doubt, he will be excited about it," the Adegunju commented, "Our Baṣọrun does enjoy the company of hot-tempered, beautiful women," the Balogun growled at the Adegunju's sarcastic remark. "More on a serious note, I simply came here to ensure Akin's safety"

The Balogun felt a large stone drop down from her chest as soon as the Adegunju tendered an official apology for the attempt; it meant that Ilu-ina still had the absolute trust of the Adegunju tribe. Ilu-inọ will remain a provincial capital.

"The peace pact between our two villages will remain, so there is no need for you to panic, our Baṣọrun has no intention of ending the agreement any time soon," the Stranger said as though he had read her thought

"Good to hear, thank you" the Balogun commented

"No, it is I who should offer you my thanks," the Adegunju countered "After all it is my son that was saved, and you are the one who raised him"

"He is your son!" The Balogun exclaimed, remembering the night that the child's mother handed Akin to her "Then you were there that night"

"I was," he responded, "but there have been some changes in our decisions," the Adegunju said in a business tone.

"Akin is also like a son to me," the Balogun said, then snapped back into a business-like manner "What are these changes you speak of?"

"Those assassins will be handed over for a start," he said

"But," the Balogun exclaimed in surprise

"Those are the orders of the Baṣọrun," he said, "We dare not question him"

"They will be handed over" she voiced in a tone of surrender

"We have already taken them, I just informed you so you will not worry about their escape," the Adegunju said in a dominant tone to the Balogun's irritation.

"Next, someone will be sent from our village to begin the official training for Akin, that way we are assured of his safety"

"That is accepted" the Balogun replied, knowing that some special cases undergo special training and Akin is a living example "But he is your son, why don't you handle his training?"

"I have official duties to attend to" Akin's father responded

"I see," the Balogun replied in a sad tone. The Adegunju member stood up to leave the hut counting his steps as he walked, then he stopped directly in front of the Balogun.

"Good!" The Adegunju whispered, the Balogun sensed that some sinister idea was being cooked within the confines of his mind "You have done well in giving him the morals of a warrior"

The Adegunju then turned to face her, his unseen face inches away from her own. A strange sensation washed through her entire body, forcing a comforting heat into her making it difficult for her to control her passion, he reached out and touched her left cheek gently caressing it in gratitude.

"Thank you," he said in a calm tone "for caring for my son, it is a debt I will never be able to repay"

"Akin will always be my responsibility" the Balogun replied verbally, but in her mind, she said "Spend the night and we can consider the debt paid" This is a sensation she had never felt before.

Then the Adegunju member turned around and proceeded towards the open door, the Balogun staring in his wake wishing painfully that he would not leave so soon. Suddenly the Adegunju member attacked in the form by throwing an object at her, the Balogun responded with equal speed and caught the assumed throwing knife via reflex. The so-called throwing knife turned out to be a large harmless feather, and as she turned towards where Akin's father once stood he was nowhere to be found. The feather was a distraction; how could she be foolish enough to let her guard down, but then he had that effect on her.

The Jaguna's Wrath

All four Jagunas walked silently towards their respective homes with the feeling of resentment, Bọlaji might be a prodigy but he had no right to ask for the position of Jaguna without their permission. Jaguna baṣọrun was the one who felt the sting the most, it was no mystery why Bọlaji betrayed him the foolish boy always had a soft spot for those cursed brats. He couldn't control his building rage, his entire being trembled in his anger and the desire to kill festered in his mind.

"We were unfair to them and this is the result of our negligence," Segun Ooni said with a sober tone "Now I feel ashamed of my actions"

"Bọlaji saw something in them that we refused to see" Nimbẹ added, "To imagine that Akin is a descendant of the Adegunju, we were blinded by the veil of pride and now Bọlaji who was supposed to be our subordinate is now our equal. How disappointing"

"I can't believe that you are all going to accept this" Jaguna baṣọrun exploded with rage "It's obvious that Bọlaji is one of the Balogun's favourites she did this on purpose, but I will not accept this Bọlaji will not usurp my position. Never!"

"But Jaguna Basourn we were wrong in our view of the situation" Segun Mofedamijo voiced "That's why we were shamed"

"So you're just going to accept this" Jaguna Baṣọrun pronounced at the top of his voice "I will never accept the existence of the eagle group; I will make sure that one day the Balogun regrets allowing Bọlaji to form his group" he roared

"Do it without our support" Segun Ooni pronounced "I choose not to offend the Balogun"

"And the rest of you?" Jaguna Baṣọrun asked facing the other two Jagunas

"For now we'll do whatever is in our best interest" Nimbẹ announced

"Agreed" Segun Mofedamijo voiced, "We will not risk losing our position because of a young mutinous boy that you failed to train properly, thus if your plans mean annoying the Balogun then don't get us involved"

"Curse you traitors" Jaguna Baṣọrun growled, "I'll do it myself, I will destroy them with my own hands, and then I will save this village from the curse that has infected it for so many years" Then they stormed away angrily

"That's a man who has always won his battles and his arguments" Segun Ooni observed, "He's been winning all his life, this is the first time that he has lost an argument and it burns him right down to his soul"

"So the monkey that was drunk with victory is now forced to face defeat" Nimbẹ observed

"I don't even want to imagine what sinister plot he has cooked up to discredit the eagle group" Segun Mofedamijo observed "If there is anything to fear in the forest, it is a rampaging elephant"

The other Jagunas had to nod their heads in agreement, they might not have known the reason why Bọlaji chose to rebel against his former superior but they knew that his actions might result in a cold war among the elders of the village of Ilu-ina.