Chapter 21⃣⃣
Continuation from the last episode:
Cheta: (remained silent until her mother was done) So you are truly from the bird Kingdom?
Queen Amaka: (Elated) Yes my daughter. I can’t wait for you to see my mother, your grandmother.
Cheta: Me too. I would love to see her.
Queen Amaka: Speaking of love, who is the young man you have grown to love?
Cheta: (With a surprised look) How did you know that?
Queen Amaka: (Smiling) I have always watch over you, though not every time. So who is he?
Cheta: His name is Ikenga and he loves me the way I am mother. He doesn’t feel disgusted with my face, he loves me for my inner beauty. He didn’t even fall for Adapuruche when he saw her.
Queen Amaka: (Touching Cheta’s cheeks and slowly caress it) If only you know how beautiful you are my daughter you wouldn’t feel so belittled whenever you see Adapuruche..
Cheta: I know I am not ugly mother, he told me that himself. He even said that someone did this to me and he will find a solution to remove the magic.
Queen Amaka: (Surprised) He did?
Cheta: Yes mother, did I forget to tell you he is god?
Queen Amaka: (Recognition) Hold on, you mean he is Ikenga, the warrior god?
Cheta: Yes mother, the same one who has brothers.
Queen Amaka: I will be back tomorrow to take you with me to see your grandmother. I need to speak to my mother, I will tell you everything when I come tomorrow night. (She disappeared without waiting for Cheta response.)
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Ikenga noticed how tall the beast is, almost reaching his height.
The beast roared again showing its sharp razor teeth at Ikenga and rushed towards him, it’s first meal has arrived quicker than it thought. The beast pounce on Ikenga.
Ikenga who has been expecting such an attack from the beast was fast with his feet and shifted to the left side of beast and sent a punch towards the beast side of overgrow dirty hairy. The impact of the blow sent the beast to the ground a few paces from where Ikenga stood.
Ikenga: (Taunting the beast) Is that all you’ve got?
The beast was up to its feet in an instant and ran towards it’s target, but Ikenga was ready.
Grabbing hold of both the beast hands with his, he lifted up the beast with great ease and hit him on the ground very hard. The beast fell down with a loud thud. Ikenga didn’t waste time in breaking the beast two hands and legs.
Ikenga raised his right leg and use it to match the beast on the chest, pinning the beast to the floor. The beast tried to dislodge Ikenga’s leg but couldn’t. To the beast it was as if a heavy mountain was on his chest.
Ikenga raised his other free leg to send a final kick to the beast head that will end it’s life when something unexpected happened.
The Beast: (In a voice that one couldn’t differentiate if it’s a male or female) Please don’t kill me.
Ikenga: (Stop midway as his whole body went ridge in shock. He couldn’t believe his ears) Did you just talk to me?
The Beast: Yes, have mercy on me, if you let me go I won’t ever return to this village again.
Ikenga: I will only free you if you tell who sent you. Before you think of lying to me I know someone who is living in this village summoned you.
The Beast: You are right. I was sent here to kill the villagers.
Ikenga: Who sent you? Tell me the name of the one that sent you and I will release you.
The Beast: I can’t tell you the name of the person but I can only say it is a woman who had summoned me.
Ikenga: Thanks for that piece of information but I can’t release you. (Ikenga didn’t waste any time and sent his free leg to its final destination. The crack of broken bones from the neck echoed around Ikenga. He bends down and twist the neck of the beast to be very sure he killed it before removing his other leg from the hairy chest and straightened to his full height. Started talking to himself.) A woman in this Village had sent the beast, who can she be? (He stayed with the dead beast all through the night and by the first cock crows, he carried the beast on his shoulders and began walking towards the direction of the palace.)
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Queen Amara who had been sleeping suddenly opened her eyes when she felt the death of the beast.
Queen Amara: (Sitting upright on her bamboo bed) No, it is impossible no one can be able to kill the beast except I. (Getting up from her bed she bend down and brought out her calabash and opened the empty calabash. Whispering some magic words to see her beast but nothing showed, placing back the calabash back to its place as she slowly stood up to her feet. Talking to herself) What is happening? I hope it is not what I am thinking.
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Igwe Ofordili was surprised when he heard a knock on his hut door.
Igwe Ofordili: Who is it?
Ebuka: Good morning Igwe.
Igwe Ofordili: I did not ask for your greetings I asked who is it?
Ebuka: It is ebuka your majesty.
Igwe Ofordili: (Surprised and get out of his bamboo bed going towards the door and opened it. Stepping outside he faced ebuka) What is it Ebuka?
Ebuka: The elders are here your Highness and demands for your presence.
Igwe Ofordili: (Surprised) My elders? They are here early this morning?
Ebuka: Yes Igwe, they are all waiting for you at the throne room. (Igwe Ofordili without wasting much time hurried to his throne room and saw his elders.)
Igwe Ofordili: My elders what is wrong what brings you to my palace early this morning?
Onowu: Igwe we all greet you (Igwe Ofordili nods his head) We are just coming back from Ogugu Shrine.
Igwe Ofordili: (Very shocked) Wait a minute you all are just coming back from Ogugu Shrine that takes two hours to go and two hours to return?
Elder Udo: It was really a surprise Igwe, we took the same road we had taken when we were going to the shrine and it was as if it became longer. We even thought we had followed another road but thank the gods who lead us straight to here.
Igwe Ofordili: This is unbelievable.
Elder Okeke: Igwe it might sound unbelievable to you but to us who had experience it is not.
Onowu: We should leave that aside for now after all we are back home. The priestess of Ogugu gave us an answer.
Igwe Ofordili: (With knee interest) What did she say?
Onowu: When we got there, she didn’t even allow us to talk and she went straight to the point. She said we should tell you that the solution to the beast is already in our village and that we should go back home.
Igwe Ofordili: A solution already In our village? Did she tell you who it is?
Elder Okeke: She didn’t say anything else again Igwe.
(Igwe Ofordili wanted to speak when he saw Ikenga carrying a scary beast on his shoulders who seem to be dead. He briskly walked into their presence and drops the dead beast on the floor. The elders and the Igwe had shifted back immediately they saw what it is. The guards were not left out.)
Ikenga: The killings will be no more Igwe.
Igwe Ofordili: (Shocked and surprised) How were you able to kill the beast?
Ikenga: Very simple, I used my fist on the beast.
Now the village is safe again.
Igwe Ofordili: Ikenga, this act of yours shows you have the backing of the gods.
Ikenga: Thank you Igwe.
Onowu: I think he was the solution the priestess of Ogugu told us about.
Elder Udo: Right Onowu.
Igwe Ofordili: What can I repay you for this ikenga?
Ikenga: You know what I want your majesty. I want Cheta as my wife. (He ignored the loud gasp coming from the elders). If you want to repay me allow me to get married to your second daughter Cheta.
Igwe Ofordili: (Smiled) No problem, you’ve told me you will come in ten days time to seek for Cheta hands in marriage. I shall give you my daughter.
Ikenga: The days has started counting Igwe, it remains nine more days. (He turned to leave but stop as if he remembered something. He face Igwe Ofordili again.) And please do tell your wife and your daughter not to harm Cheta. I am only telling you because you are Cheta father even though
you’ve never been there for her. I don’t want to see any scratch or mark on her body because if I see any unwanted marks on her body, my fist would do the talking (He laughs at their shocking faces). I killed a beast who has been terrorizing the whole village, don’t think I killed the beast to stop the killings, no, I killed the beast so it won’t harm Cheta. If I can go through this length to protect my maiden then you should know I mean every word when I say you should warn your wife and your daughter, Adapuruche. (He turned and left the Palace leaving behind a bewilderment Igwe, shocked elders and surprise guards.)
Tbc
C.H.E.T.A ( I Am Not Ugly)