Dami rode ten miles east of Ota until he reached the outskirts of Ikorodu. Down the cliff where his horse stood was a dark and gloomy forest. It was one of many forests under the control of Elegua, one of Okunkun's henchmen. Beyond the thick trees at the entrance was nothing but darkness. The light of Olodumare's eyes could not penetrate the large canopy formed by large trees embracing each other. Fear crept into his heart for once. He considered the logic of his actions. One thing was clear to him: He could not remain as he was. He left his horse at the top of the cliff as a safety precaution, tying it to a shrub. He looked down towards the dark forest. The entrance was unusually quiet and calm. The sun was at its peak, so he didn't expect much activity from the darklings beyond the dark forest. However, lower-level darklings did wander out every now and then due to a lack of intellect and get incinerated by the sun. Something looked amiss to him. He firmed his resolve and slid down the side of the cliff, jumping over and evading stone obstacles along his way.
He crossed a shallow stream and stood before the forest, staring into its infinite darkness. Something was different about it. The paths into the forest were unusually quiet. Then he remembered that this was the only forest without posts mounted by the Hand of Olodumare.
For centuries, darklings from the dark forests scattered across the divine kingdoms and overwhelmed villages at night. The forests created them endlessly. The ancient Ifa priests bound the atmosphere around the forests to ensure that the darklings could no longer escape. They were burned the moment they exited the forest. However, a few still escaped. Thus, messengers of the Hand of Olodumare were stationed outside the forests to eradicate them. This was the one forest on record that did not have posts because the forest had been quiet for a couple of years.
It happened to be the forest where Ifaseyi was last sighted. He knew it was him, and not Elegua, as described. Elegua would never have been cordial with the Awori soldiers, and the village would probably have been wiped out. He was confident more than ever in his actions. He walked into the darkness.
Dami tapped the emblem of the Hand of Olodumare on his shoulder twice. A former divine messenger of the Hand of Olodumare would sense him if he was truly in the forest. He kept walking slowly into the darkness, with one hand on his sword and the other hand reaching out to feel obstacles in his way. Suddenly, he heard movements all around him. He was nothing but a sacrificial lamb as he was. He broke one of his beaded bracelets, scattering them in the air. The beads traveled around him within a ten-yard radius, using him as the center point. They levitated in the air and glowed, illuminating the forest thirty feet around him. The darkness slowly formed irregular figures that had surrounded him. They wailed terrifyingly, reacting aggressively to the light. Dami unsheathed his sword. He crouched slightly, with one arm placed in a guarding position level with his neck and the other arm protruding his sword atop his guard arm. It was his lethal battle stance.
He couldn't count the number of darklings surrounding him. There was no end to them. Their wails sent shivers down his spine. They became quiet suddenly. In the blink of an eye, they rushed at him. "Tona! (Light up!)" Dami yelled. The floating beads became linked by light beams, forming a bright web around him. The web of light sliced the darklings as they ran through it. However, it wasn't enough to stop them completely; it only prevented him from being overrun.
A darkling was right in front of him in no time. Its shape was irregular, but it visibly had four limbs distinguishable from other parts of its body. Its hand formed a sharp edge and shot at Dami's heart. He turned his body, stepping aside to evade its attack; however, he was stunned by its speed. The darkling retracted its hand, but it fell off. Dami had cut it with an even faster strike as it shot across his body. Sharp tentacles shot out of its body. He executed multiple swinging slashes to sever them before they hit him. The darkling wailed in pain. Dami's sword was crafted by Ogun himself. It was the ideal weapon against dark foes, and each cut dealt painful damage. However, to kill it, Dami had to strike the point in its body where the darkness converged; otherwise, its severed body parts would grow back. It wasn't easy to find. Normally, it took him a few cuts and keen eyes to locate it, but not this time. He had too much to worry about.
Two more were within a step of him in a second. Their tentacles shot at him simultaneously. He darted around acrobatically to evade their attacks, escaping with a few cuts and bruises. The darklings were faster and stronger than he was used to. It had to be the dark forest. He was on their turf, he thought. Luckily for him, the light beams cut some of their convergence points as they squeezed through, but it was only a matter of time before he was overrun. His battle wit kicked in. The light web used him as a center point, so they moved as he moved. Therefore, he could dictate the direction in which they cut with precise movements. He had not used them this way before because circumstances never called for it. However, it was a tool every messenger of the Hand of Olodumare had to have. At that moment, he needed all the tricks he could muster to keep himself alive. He had six of them upon him now. They all flapped their sharp tentacles at him from different angles. He focused on evading them, but he was aware of the positions of his light beams. Every move he made had to be calculated.
He dodged their swinging tentacles by jumping and spinning in the air. The light beams rotated rapidly as he spun, severing the darklings' body parts. He stopped spinning for a moment. He could locate their convergence points and, in a second, he did. His awareness was elite level. He spun again as he dropped, but this time swinging his sword to execute a rotational slash that cut six convergence points in one move. The darklings withered and died.
The rest stopped in their tracks and wailed angrily. "Seems like I angered them," Dami said to himself. He held his sword tightly with both hands, bracing himself for the storm he was about to face. They rushed at him more aggressively this time, not minding the light web. Dami darted around as quickly as he could, evading several blows and slashing divergent points as they were exposed. He kept at it for an hour, darting around, swerving, leaning, flipping to dodge attacks. He made sure to cut at least two convergence points with every swing of his sword. But he was beginning to get tired. His dodges were not as clean and efficient as a couple of minutes ago. He was beginning to sustain injuries. There were cuts and bruises all over his body from near misses. He was panting heavily.
There was no end to them. There was no surviving this. He couldn't tell the way out of the forest, either. That was one of the scariest things about the dark forests: once you get in, you can't find your way out. What was he thinking? He thought while dodging attacks and swinging sloppily. His mind began to doubt Kola's story. What if it was a lie? He was throwing his life away for an overreaction to events where he couldn't have made a difference if he had been present. His calf was cut while he darted around to save himself. His knees were weak, and his sword had never been heavier. The darklings slowed down a bit. They could tell their prey was at his limit. They wailed in excitement as they closed the circle around him slowly, not minding the cuts from his light web.
Dami's panting was heavy. His sword dropped from his hands, and he fell to his knees. That was it for him. To be continued...
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