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Chapter 10
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2021-09-30 16:45:45I stood against Ramatu, studying her stance. Rage filled every ounce of my body—rage against Kudaisi who had taken to ignoring me—surprisingly giving me a kind of clarity and strength as I focused it in my spars against others. Chike who I had beaten some minutes ago sat by the sides, laughing and gisting with the four nighthawks who recently joined us, Bashir, Kola, Irene, and Biola, Oniko’s son.
“Start already,” Damola who had taken up our training since Oniko and Iditan had not been around for the past two nights declared. The duo had been leading the battle against the cursed ones which I heard was more intense recently.
“Fight!” Irene added in her shrill voice.
Ramatu would make no move if I didn’t make the first, that was her way of fighting, to hold her defense tight while others attacked and wait for her opportunity when she would strike a quick killing blow. Let’s get this done with. I threw everything to the wind and rushed her fast, letting my rage
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“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IDITAN?” Oniko asked. Everyone else had left the mountains save the two of us. I didn’t have to think much to give him an answer. “She is evil, and I think she hates me.” Oniko smiled. “Why do you think so?” “It’s glaring.” I shrugged. “Everybody around here knows this for a fact.” “Oh?” Oniko raised an eyebrow. There is a quirk of amusement on his lips. “So she loves every other person asides you? Or she is being cold to just you alone?” Love? Does Iditan even know what that is? But thinking on Oniko’s questions, Iditan was cold to everybody, making them take the extra effort to steer clear of her. But I still felt like she was always seeking me out. Oniko’s quirk of amusement widened seeing as I took time to respond. “She relates with you just the same as with others, and from what I’ve seen of her Iditan seem to like you although she might not know that yet.” I scoffed at the absurdity of
Last Updated : 2021-09-30CRIMSON SKY Chapter 12
Before the end of the week, the whole school had known there was something wrong between Kudaisi and I. Ours had been a wild wind romance, fast, burning—a envy for all. Whispers and talks abounded as I walked through the corridor to the schoolyard for the compulsory Friday afternoon devotion, with students openly pointing at me. For most time I was dead towards them, walking without really seeing or hearing any of them, but for a reason I felt curious, drawing magic to heighten my hearing and listen in on a group of girls to my far left. “She has no shame. First Stephen and now Kudaisi, and they both dumped her after a few weeks,” one of the girls said. “I’ve never seen a girl so lucky and unlucky at the same time,” another added. “I heard she lied to Kudaisi that she was a virgin, and when he finally got down with her, he saw her for what she truly was.” “What? She is a real definition of a whore!” I nearly lost control hearing that.
Last Updated : 2021-09-30CRIMSON SKY Chapter 13
I MOVED LIKE THE WIND, running so fast I was at the foot of the mountains and back to the starting point in a matter of seconds."Faster," Damola barked.I was not sure if she was talking to me or to the others who seemed to me to be moving like bicycle in a car race—the nighthawks in our team especially—but I put more effort, throwing all my frustration and negative emotions into my legs. I was in a race not only physically, but also a mental race to empty my mind.Damola had brought us for training away from the pressure of the mountains on the kilometers long field between the castle and the mountains, to test our speed for real life action against the cursed ones. The castle was still shut, as silent and as dreary as ever, but I have no time to throw questions about it and feed my curiosity like I would have done on a normal day.I reached the foot of the mountains yet again, still brimming with energy, and was returning back when a sharp
Last Updated : 2021-10-05CRIMSON SKY Chapter 14
“So you are a witch,” Kudaisi murmured softly. “I always felt something about you was magical, I never knew how close to the mark I was.” He chuckled softly to himself.“So you are one of the cursed ones?” I fired back, my voice coming out flat and without the steel I hoped it would have.Kudaisi chuckled again. “They chose to call themselves chosens.”Ibrahim appeared before us like the wind, making me bite back my sharp retort. “Take.” I instinctively raised my hands and caught the bottle of water he threw to me. It was then I sensed the great pangs of thirst from my throat which had become parched from all the screaming.“Thanks.” I smiled at him.“Is there any other thing you need?”I shook my head. “I’m okay.”Ibrahim nodded, shifting a glance at Kudaisi. He turned back to me, holding my gaze. “If you would take my
Last Updated : 2021-10-05CRIMSON SKY Chapter 15
“KUDAISI AND I ARE BACK TOGETHER.”“What?”“How could you ever accept that fool back?”“You must be kidding right?”My siblings exclaimed as we rode to school Monday morning. I had taken courage to tell them so they wouldn’t hear from others later on when people saw us together.“But we spoke about you getting over him just two days ago,” Taiwo added.I smiled at their reactions. “It’s alright—” I began.“It is not alright!” Shola fired back. “You had us really scared when you broke up, moping around like a vengeful spirit. I think it’s unhealthy you continue staying with him.”“I don’t know sis,” Kenny added, frowning as he shook his head.Their heated responses made me surprised and emotional at the same time, knowing it was out of their love for me. “We didn&rsqu
Last Updated : 2021-10-06CRIMSON SKY Chapter 16
We all trooped to Kudaisi’s car. He brought a convertible today, opening up the roof during the ride. The rush of the wind felt incredible, making me close my eyes and bask in it. The beach was sparse as it usually was during weekdays, and so we had fewer eyes on us. “Let’s go into the water,” Kudaisi said as soon as we got down from the car, stripping off his shirt to reveal his lean muscled abs. “I don’t think so.” I shook my head. Lara and I did not prepare to swim today and so did not bring any swimwear. “How do you propose we go inside the water? With our clothes?” “You could go in your—” Kudaisi eyed me and then Lara. I was sure he was looking through our clothes to the lines formed below. A blush creeped unto my cheek. “You wish.” At the end of the day we simply sat on the sand and watched the boys take a dip in the water wearing their boxers shorts, as loud music blasted from the car. They soon returned thirty min
Last Updated : 2021-10-06CRIMSON SKY chapter 17
THE ANCIENT TRAINNING GROUNDS was cast in darkness, making the whole atmosphere which was always bright to look different. A large bonfire burnt in the middle of the clearing not far from the castle, and smaller fires with roast meat on them littered the around filling the air with scent of burning meat, pepper and spice. People gathered in groups around the smaller fires, while the matrons and the council sat the center, a few feet away from the larger bonfire.We sat before one of the smaller fires at the fore front of the gathering; I, Iditan, Chike, Ramatu, Biola, Kola, Irene and Bashir, and a wild pig sat roasting on our fire as we faced the council directly. Oniko was absent, out following a lead on the cursed ones, and Damola who had been monitoring the arrangements of the whole setup with the help of some of the older nighthawks finally returned to join us.“What is this all about?” I asked Damola as soon as she came back. We had arrived at the trai
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Only Iditan remained by our spot when I returned, staring at the merry makers.The larger bonfire was blazing hard, and almost every other person was there, dancing around it. I sat down stiffly, also watching them go at it. I caught sight of Damola dancing energetically with a younger man and smiled, seeing the light in her eyes. Hers was a mood I liked—she could let lose when need be and so also be all bossy and demanding as the occasion demanded, and let loose she did right now, trying out some crazy moves.Ramatu returned a minute later to join us and watch the proceedings, and then Chike who came to cajole me to the dance, staying back after I rejected his insistent urgings. Dancing was never one of my strong suits, and I always felt conscious doing so outside.With each face I beheld making merry before the fire, I began to wonder what they were like in the real world, their dreams, their aspiration, what made them tick. I shifted my gaze to our grou
Last Updated : 2021-10-08
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CRIMSON SKY Chapter 49
I was yanked out of Kudaisi’s body as he came to. He was still in the dungeons, and the red matron stood before him with two of her apprentices.“He is not going to make it” the red matron says, looking him over wistfully. My heart skips a beat hearing her. “Someone has tampered with him or something,” she looks around, frowning.“What do we do no?” one of the apprentices asked.The red matron frowned. “Get me blood. We can’t allow him die like this. We will feed him blood to make him heal and continue.”“Okay,” the girl turned around and left the dungeon.I came awake slowly, taking a moment to get my eyes used to the dim lightning of the room. The thick pungent smell of drug and pills hit me hard, and as I tried to move my right hand a strong warm hand gently, but firmly, stopped me.“Finally you're awake.” It was Mama. She was seated on the bed by my side.
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 48
The sound of hooting precedes Iya Agba’s arrival as she enters as a bird before morphing back into human.“I am sorry for keeping you waiting,” Iya Agba says, etching a low bow. “Let’s get this done quickly, I have somewhere else I must be.” Busari stands to his feet. “Where are the goat and the pigeons?”“They are out at the backyard, let me get them.” Yeye Omo stands to her feet and totters wildly. She is saved by the wall behind her which she leans heavily on. Giving her witch’s bead to Busari for the sacrifice had weakened her a lot.“Yeye Omo!” Iya Agba hurries to her side.“I’m okay.” Yeye Omo wards Iya Agba away with her hand.Busari sighs and points his staff to the floor before him. A midnight black goat and seven pigeons appear out of thin air. “No need, I’ve gotten them.”Kudaisi gawked at Busari, surpris
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 47
Our wait continued until late into the night when Iya Agba came back. Yeye omo collected the materials and began to the sacrifice and invocation immediately, chanting incantations. “Why have you called me?” strong pressure descends suddenly in the room as a thick baritone voice asks gruffly, jolting them with its unexpectedness.Yeye Omo quickly comes to her feet, followed by Iya Agba who first founders on the stool nearly falling on the floor before standing.“Welcome my lord.” Yeye Omo etches a bow as a man materializes before them.Iya Agba echoes Yeye Omo’s greetings, also bowing, while Kudaisi stand there and study him.Busari Egiri, the man who has lived centuries. He wears a white top, buba, and short, Sokoto, and he looks middle aged despite the full white hairs on his head and beards. A heavy white shawl lay on his left shoulder, with a small white sack by his hip with its strap across his body
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 46
Kudaisi growled, fighting against the invisible shackles that bound him to no avail.Yeye Omo chortled softly as she eased herself away from him and stood to her feet, using her left hand to wipe the blood trailing down her lips.Kudaisi continued his struggles against the invisible shackle to no effect.“To say I had to use this before I could stop you. You should be proud.” There was a horn in Yeye Omo’s right hand which she raised us. The horn was long with spirals like a bull’s horn. It was wrapped in black and red cloth with cowries and dry leaves around it, and it shined dimly even under the soft yellow glow of the lamps, oozing smoke from its top.“Do you know what I had to do to get this five hundred years Áse?” Yeye Omo inquired, looking grim. “It took years and years of service to get something this powerful. Long years of service, and I doubt there are many charms of its caliber around.&
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 45
SHE IS AN OLD HAG—Yeye Omo, Iya Agba called her.She was so old, withered, and bent that Kudaisi feared she would drop dead anytime soon. The faded brown and red flower patterned blouse and wrapper she wore did nothing to hide her skeleton frame. She tottered on a worn-out wooden cane held tight in her right hand, leading Kudaisi and Iya Agba into her decrepit mud hut with lots of wide yawning cracks in its walls. A lantern hung on the left side of the door casting an iridescent glow about, with its wick fluttering under the soft night breeze.Kudaisi nearly found himself rushing to assist Yeye Omo as she weaves hard by the door, taking a moment to steady herself and enter into the hut.“Go in,” Iya Agba commanded as he paused by the entrance.Kudaisi eyed the walls for a moment, praying it holds still and doesn’t collapse and seal them to their deaths.“Sit.” Yeye Omo waved a hand t
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 44
In Kudaisi's headIT’S TWO DAYS since he got back home with Iya Agba. The police come around to take statements the very day they return. He forces himself to look blank all through the meeting as if lost, but it is only to suppress the restlessness from the hunger and scalding thirst ravaging me—no easy feat that.Iya Agba attends to them, simply telling them I lost his memory and cannot remember much, and that a Good Samaritan found him by the roadside with his wallet which contained her number, helping him find his way back home.The policemen only direct looks of pity his way before leaving, promising to come again for more information. THey know they wouldn’t be back and only said they would for effect. The bus he boarded at the park in Lagos has still not been found, and according to the police I might just be the only survivor of a ritualist kidnapping which is not so unusual in this part of the world, and
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 43
There was no more me, only Kudaisi. I felt what he felt, saw what he saw. I had become him.As a little boy, after spending the better parts of the day playing and running around the whole neighborhood with friends, I would end up on Iya Agba’s bed after dinner with his head on her bony thighs as she either tell me a story or sing a song while her fingers softly caress his head. She will only stop when I’m drowsing to take me to his room, or after I doze off and I will wake up the next day to find himself in his own room, on his bed.One thing about those times is, I am always secure in the warmth of her bosom, like the kind of feeling a chick has staying under the wings of its mother. I was immovable, untouchable, I was free—unrestrained.The same feeling encompass me now as Iya Agba’s scent invades his senses—the scent of home, of love, of the feeling that nothing can ever go wrong.“Kudaisi.”I groan, re
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 42
PAIN. ANGER. REGRET.I felt his emotions, every single part of it, as the Red matron who personally oversaw his interrogation tortures him again and again, taking him just to the brink of oblivion only to drag him back from falling into the darkness. Green vines bound his hands and legs, splaying him wide in the air in nothing but his boxer shorts, and his body shivered as pain racked through him with each slightest movement. His screams resounded loud as the red matron did something to him for some long minutes before stopping.I watched everything from the shadows, unable to move, speak, or even let loose of the floodgate of tears locked behind my eyes and vent the thick stifling pain which smothered me. He refused to speak despite whatever they did to him, refused to betray his friends.An image flashed through my mind—his mind. It was his late grandmother, Iya Agba. I looked at her with familiarity like I have known her for years, feeling from
CRIMSON SKY Chapter 41
“YOU ARE LATE,” Kudaisi said as soon as I arrived at our rendezvous point. “What’s the problem?” he asked, seeing the worried look on my face.“Kenny…” my voice broke and I stopped.“What about him?”“I found him. He is already a cursed one.”“No,” Kudaisi hissed in shock. I nodded, turning my eyes down as he stared intently at me—barely holding myself together. “Where is he?”“With the witches at Olofi. They practically sent him to them with a note stating it was a gift for me.”“The bastards!” Kudaisi cursed. “How about Shola and Taiwo?”“I don’t know yet. I- I- I hope they are fine.” I nearly broke there, until I felt the white matron determining my location with her spell. “I need your help,” I said, raising my head.“You know I would—”&nbs
