CHAPTER 16

Phillip watched with confusion as Ogadi vehemently denied something. It still boggled his mind that she was talking to a demon. He peered at where she faced while talking to the demon, hoping to catch a glimpse.

He gave up when his eyes began to hurt and instead stared at Ogadi, noting how beautiful she looked despite the leaves and other unknowns that were tangled in her hair.

Okay, Phillip, there's no time for that, he admonished himself, remember what you're here for.

When Ogadi turned to look at him, he asked, “What did the demon say?”

An embarrassed look crossed Ogadi's face. She looked away as she replied, “Nothing important.”

Phillip chose not to pursue the topic and instead asked, “So what do we do next?”

Ogadi brought out her phone from her pocket, cleaning the wet screen on her still wet jersey, “I call my grandmother, tell her what Adammiri told me and then wait for her orders.”

“You make her sound like a drill marshal.” Phillip observed.

“Not really,” Ogadi replied as she dialed a number and waited for the person she was calling to answer.

“Could you put it on speaker?” Phillip asked.

Ogadi got that look she always got when something Phillip said pissed her off, which was almost always.

“Why would I do that?” She asked.

“Because we're in this together.” Phillip said.

“No way,” Ogadi said, just before the person on the other end answered.

“Good day, Grandmother. How have you been?” Ogadi said in a happy voice which told Phillip how much she loved her grandmother.

“You got to the seer, right? Have you found Ekere?” Ogadi asked.

Phillip tried to make sense of the conversation from the little he could hear and failed woefully. Who the hell was Ekere? He wondered.

“Yes, I found the priestess. She was younger than I expected. She's just seventeen,” Ogadi paused for a moment before she added, “I'm not lying. She said the ritual was completed by a man with a painted face.”

“Don't forget the limp,” Phillip added helpfully.

“Yes,” Ogadi nodded, “He also had a limp too.”

Her grandmother said something that caused Ogadi to wince. She gave him a glare as she replied, “Yes, there's someone here with me. It's Phillip, the man who broke into our house.”

Whatever her grandmother told Ogadi this time caused her to groan long-sufferingly as she replied, “No. I'm not cavorting with a burglar.”

Phillip chuckled at that description and that earned him another glare from Ogadi. He waved his apologies at her and kept mute.

“So what did the seer say?” Ogadi asked in what Phillip was a ploy to change the subject.

She listened attentively and when her grandmother was through, she asked, “Why must the gods speak in ways hard for us to decipher? What do they mean by "where the water meets the clouds"?”

Phillip's eyes widened as he heard the words. He knew what they meant. He tapped Ogadi's shoulder and gestured for her to hand over the phone to him.

Ogadi eyed him angrily as she advised her grandmother, “Have you tried Google?”

Phillip said to Ogadi, “Please, give me your phone. I know what the words mean.”

“Are you sure?” Ogadi asked him disbelievingly.

Phillip nodded earnestly and Ogadi sighed.

“Grandmother, Phillip would like to talk to you,” Ogadi said as she finally put her phone on speaker.

“Top of the day to you Ma'am.” Phillip said nervously.

“Wow! This is my first time talking to a burglar,” Ezinne's sarcasm was bitingly clear even over the phone. Ogadi chuckled and it was Phillip's turn to shoot her a glare.

“I'm sorry I took such a measure ma'am, but you know what they say about desperate times.” Phillip replied smoothly.

“You know how to talk smoothly, don't you? That's by the way. Why did you want to speak to me?” Ezinne asked.

“I heard you talk about "Where the water meets the clouds".” Phillip said.

“Yes? What do you know about it?” Ezinne asked impatiently.

“There's a place called Okoagu. I don't know if you're familiar with it because it's quite remote.” Phillip asked.

Ezinne replied, “I can't say that I am, but please carry on.”

“Okoagu is very famous for a hill. This hill is called Ugwu Lyi primarily because at the top of the hill, there's a little body of water, call it a brook if you will. If you take an aerial view of the hill, it looks like the water on the top of the hill is in contact with the clouds.” Phillip explained.

His words were greeted with a long silence.

After a while, Ezinne replied, grudging respect evident in her voice, “And how did you know this?”

“I'm an enthusiast of the Igbo tradition and culture. Places like these are my bread and butter.” Phillip replied readily.

“Ogadi, keep this man handy,” Ezinne advised, “This is the second time he's offering us what seems like legitimate information.”

Phillip turned and grinned at Ogadi who rolled her eyes and asked Ezinne, “Second time?”

“Yes. The second time. What Phillip said earlier about a Gate Keeper betraying the earth by siding with Dike Aru is apparently true. Zimuzo, that is the seer, confirmed it.”

Phillip was shocked as Ezinne's words filtered into his brain. Yes, he'd received that prophecy from a two-bit diviner but he'd thought the man was crapping him, he didn't think it was real. He'd just used the prophecy as a means to insinuate himself into Ogadi's life.

He wiped the shocked look off his face and donned a gloating smirk, “I don't play with such things.”

Ogadi ignored him and asked Ezinne, “So, Grandmother what do we do next?”

Ezinne replied immediately, “I'm glad you asked. Here's what we'll do. Ejike and I will go to Ugwu Lyi and find Ekere while you head back to the house and wait like the good girl that you are.”

“But Grandmother, Ekere could be very dangerous. You need all the help you can get.” Ogadi protested.

“No doubt, Ekere is a powerful demon, which is why I want you away from him. Stay at home, and when I come back we'll talk about you attending that concert.” Ezinne said.

Ogadi didn't protest this time around. She just agreed and bade her grandmother goodbye.

“So what do we do?” Phillip asked earnestly when Ogadi hung up.

Without sparing him a second glance, Ogadi walked away, “You heard her. I'm going home to sit my ass down and not go anywhere ever again.”

“What about me?” Phillip asked as he caught up with her.

“Go to wherever you came from, there's nothing for you again.” Ogadi advised, not slowing down.

That's never going to happen, Phillip thought.

* * *

Ezinne dropped her phone into her handbag and looked up to find Ejike staring at her expectantly. They were in her car which was parked at the side of a road leading out of Umuisi.

“A friend of my granddaughter's was able to decipher what Zimuzo told us.” Ezinne said, mentally noting that calling Phillip Ogadi's friend was a stretch.

“Really? That's great,” Ejike enthused, “What does it mean then?”

“A hill in Okoagu which has a brook on its top.” Ezinne said simply.

“A hill? So we'll have to climb?” Ejike asked unhappily.

“Quit whining. The hills around this part of Nigeria aren't that high.” Ezinne replied.

“It's still a hill,” Ejike said before waving away the topic and heading into another, “Was the sacrifice completed? Please, tell me it wasn't.”

Ezinne shook her head as she answered, “I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Ogadi spoke to the priestess who assured her the ritual was completed.”

“Could she be wrong?” Ejike asked, massaging his nape.

“I hope so but I don't think so.” Ezinne said.

“If the sacrifice was completed, then why isn't Dike Aru roaming the earth, raining peril and destruction upon the likes of man?” Ejike asked.

Ezinne shrugged, “I have no idea, but what I do know is that Dike Aru has his reasons for every action he takes. This one is no different.”

“I guess we'll find out what the bastard is up to when we find Ekere and make him talk. Hopefully, your granddaughter's friend gave us the right address.” Ejike said resignedly.

As Ezinne gunned the car engine, she thought getting Ekere to tell them what it had done, and how to reverse it was easier said than done.

* * *

Dike Aru snapped his fingers and the disappointing demons who knelt before were engulfed in flames.

“Spare us, Master!” one sobbed, “Our voyage back to you was most unpleasant!”

Dike Aru singled out the audacious demon who had spoken and cast him in a burning vortex of flames he conjured up. The demon screamed as it spiraled down the vortex.

Dike Aru made sure the flames wouldn't kill it, just torture it till he was satisfied. He couldn't afford to lose a soldier at that point in time.

The remaining demons kept their mouths shut and huddled together, seeking strength and comfort in numbers. They were fools, nothing could spare them his wrath, should he choose to unleash it.

“I sent one hundred and five of you out to accomplish a simple task, namely to kill that pesky little priestess before she gave away any information she had, and you failed,” Dike Aru said in a booming voice.

“A hundred and five of demon soldiers who have been around for at least two hundred earth years were thwarted by mere kids.” Dike Aru hissed.

“Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?” He asked furiously, kicking the demon closest to him. The demon let out a yelp and moved away quickly.

“We are, our king, we are.” They chorused between tears.

Dike Aru grinned. His question had been rhetoric, but he loved hearing his subjects admit their failures to him.

He enjoyed their tears and their sniveling but it was nothing compared to how he loved it coming from the humans. It was simply a sublime experience.

Punishing humans and having them plead for forgiveness never got old, and he'd been denied that great pleasure for far too long.

“Well, at least the priestess knows next to nothing. The information she relayed to the Gate Keeper will be insufficient for her to act on.” Dike Aru said, twisting a deadlock of his.

Smiling, he addressed the demons who looked like they were scared for their lives, which they were, “You shall all be given six hundred lashes. To the punishment chambers with the lot of you!”

They hobbled away, bowing as they chorused, “You are far too kind, Master.”

Yes, he was. Too kind. Seeing that these demons had just made themselves useless to him as foot soldiers who would possess demons, he ought to have them killed but seeing as he was in need of demons who would protect the underworld while he would be away, he knew they had some purpose to serve.

Dike Aru chuckled as he thought of how the Gate Keepers would twist themselves into sailors' knots trying to find out why he hadn't made his entrance, and when he would.

What was it the son of one of the numerous gods they worshipped said about coming like a thief in the night?

That would apply to him, he thought with a devious chuckle. He'd surprise them and take over the earth before the humans could blink their treacherous eyes.

Then he would make them pay for biting the fingers that fed them, and no god would be there to help them.