32 - Fall of the obelisk

Chapter 32 (Fall of the Obelisk)

She took one last glance back at the Olko hill, a place that’s been his home for the past few years. She looked down at her flesh and the plague was fading. She felt new. Clean and fresh. The Basha dog raced through the night following the fog across the Yudok Marshes, past the caves of the hyena people, along the dark lake’s shores and faster North East. 

She smiled slightly as the Basha dog entered the Lekosha jungle. Basha dogs sprinted out of her way. She held her arm out to the sides and the river in ahead solidified making the water to rise into flying birds made of water splashes and sand. They became many and started out through the fog with her. She however did not ride outside the winding fog route.

The fog stretched across the land like a great ancient snake with clouds hanging low above it. She started through a gorge of rocks and waterfalls pouring down into the gorge for about seven yards. The water and fog birds swooped out before her and faded into the waterfall. Freezing it for a few seconds as they passed under them in a zigzag.

She wore a legendary armor unlike any other. Her hair dreads turned reddish at the tips when she wore the beads around her neck. Power surged through him like a full volt of the night sky rumbling with lightning flashes…

Night was falling when she came to the M’jeda keep. The M’jeda keep was a very ancient place set at most distant end edge of the forest facing the great sea. Fog seemed to conceal much of the space here. However, a number of pillar-like block statues marked with glowing runes rose for about eighteen feet out of the bare rock. They glowed from the last light of the moon but also in a unique pattern. The glow receded the further it stretched towards the sea. 

The place was circular from an aerial view and the huge block shaped statue formed circular rings towards an indistinguishable central spot. The statues on the left were black and those on the right white. The splitting point was the shape of letter S.

At the very center, a triangular obelisk rose double the height of the block statues. Its top was sharp edged and it glowed like hot ember around its tip. The burning glow fading into runes downwards. The runes written on these rocks were the writings taken from the backs of all the Shorango children from the past generations. It was believed the messages comprised of the last -will of the ancient gods.

For that case, the runes were very powerful in the control and protection of the ancient Kurota’s eyes. The keepers themselves renewed their strength from the Obelisk’s glow.

Nothing passed the blocked statues to the center unless they possessed Olko beads. And even to find this place, one had to possess one of the twenty one master Olko beads. The keeper used their Olko beads to control the runes and statues in times of danger. And each of the keepers was responsible for a ring within the rings till the center which Naruba was responsible for.

Unfortunately, Naruba was late! It was evident that the keeper of the first ring was down and on to the second and the third. Why? Most of the first ring’s statue blocks were broken to pieces! Each of the ring possessed a unique sort of challenge if one desired to pass.

The keepers were undefeatable but today, unlike any other day, the whole place smelt of death. There was damage on the first ring and its rocks were crushed into and smeared with blood. The glowing of the runes on every damaged rock was faded. Naruba’s heart raced! She waved her hand and the fog parted from the first ring. She rode the Basha dog through while searching. 

The scatter of black feathers was very evident across the parent rock. This was nothing else but the sign of the presence of a dark force he knew so well. She felt poisoning the air and in the rocks. This is when she spots the first of the keepers lying down and struggling to breathe. Naruba jumped off her Basha dog once she got near the man. 

“You are late…”

The keeper of the first of the rings uttered in a deep groan with blood on the side of his face and in his eyes. His robe was torn and a few of his bones broken evident from the deformity of his limbs. The poisonous dark feathers made a sharp trail pierced into the rock on the ground to the man’s limbs. They suck out from his flesh like porcupine hairs. The man was in great pain! 

When he saw Naruba, his eyes widened as if he was struggling from failing sight. Darkness was consuming him. And he was still fighting it! Naruba reached out of touch him but he stopped him. Naruba hurried and tore a piece of cloth from her robes to tie around the man’s bleeding parts. She threw the torn cloth towards the man. With several signs from her waving hand, the cloth multiplied into other pieces of cloths. They floated towards the wounded man quickly knotting themselves around his wounded parts. The woman saw Naruba getting even closer to him...

“Enough…,” The man saw Naruba and stopped her from approaching using the last force of his Olko magic drawn from the only untouched white pillar behind him.

“You will bleed out…!” Naruba spoke to him in confusion.

“It’s over for me…” the man responded weakly. 

“No. Not yet. We can still….” Coming forwards again but the man used the last of his strength to push her back without touching her. 

“Not we.” The man responded with fear. “You… you need stop him before he gets to the heart of the keep. At the moment Oladiya must have reached the thirteenth ring…”

“He’s taking the bead this time and I do not know why… but he has got another Halfling’s eyes and these have made him as powerful as we are…” the wounded keeper spoke coughing blood.

“He can’t do the mistake of leaving them to us again. I know.”

“He is intelligent this time.” The keeper interrupted Naruba. “With an element of surprise!” 

The different rings comprised of different challenges and so their magic never bonded. When a danger like this happened, the keeper of the outer ring needed to get rid of it before. When the first keeper fail, he had to pass his Olko beads down to their next of kin keeper. The second keeper would in turn use the bond of the magic from the first and the second ring to warn the rest of the keepers for a unification.

 “I’m so sorry then…” Came Naruba returning to his Basha dog. “-right now I’ve to get to the heart of the keep to get everyone together.”

“Whatever took you so long?” The other keeper spoke to her mentally because his jaw was no longer moveable due to the pain. Naruba needed to the heart of the keep to warn the rest before Oladiya got there.

It was now up to her to stop this! She was late and had no idea how many beads the Kurota had by now. Without any doubt, the Kurota was twice or thrice stronger with the possession of the Halfling’s beads and the first of the keepers.

The more beads he attained of the twenty-one, the stronger and undefeatable he became! Naruba started the Basha dog forwards again. They went past another of the keepers lying dead. She came up to him but he did not have his beads neither. The lower part of his body was split from his limbs. His upper body tried crawling towards a glowing magic stuff fallen from his grip during the struggle! Unfortunately, he lost his life inches away from his stuff.

The keeper’s limbs were stuck under one of the big statues fallen across his lower body. It is as if he tore himself apart from the lower limbs in attempt to get back his stuff. However, he bleed to total weakness before he could get to his stuff.

Naruba did not stop long. She went straight for the third ring. The third keeper too was down with a sharp rock driven through his back pinning him to the ground. This was so sad because none of the three had their Olko beads. Naruba rides past towards the fourth, fifth and sixth ring but none of the Keepers were alive. She had to move faster!

The statue of the different rings possessed the images of the different Kuoka species Olko guardian faces on three fronts. Every Olko keeper’s beads comprised of the face of an ancient Olko master of his watch.

Naruba passed seventh to eighth rings finding all the keepers close to death and none in possession of their beads. When she thought everything was over, an impulse of power exploded lifting the fog from the base of the rock. There was a pause in the air. The runes of the different damaged statues started collecting into the forms of the different Kuoka Olko masters. 

This showed one of the keeper was able to pass their beads down to their next of kin. However, how many were dead. The eighth of the keepers did not wait for his beads to be taken from him. Nevertheless, when he passed them on to Shogibo, of the twentieth ring, Shogibo whose power grew to twice the seventh keeper’s. On the other hand, he had no one to side with him when the eighth ring lost its keeper and runes of power.

Oladiya stepped into the ninth ring while bracing himself with the eighth Olko beads around his neck. He was using them because he knew Olko magic could not work against Olko magic unless! Hundreds of pillars were ruined and crushed to pieces. The more he added a dead keeper’s Olko bead to his collection; his Kurota gained shape even though his human form forever died.

Shogibo tried to defend the way to the inner ring but the simplest of Oladiya’s moves over powered his attempts. He was faster and knew exactly what the magician was about to do even before he could. The warning would have worked had there been more than two keepers still alive. The keeper withstood a few of the dark Kurota’s attacks because his strength was double the usual but it would not last long. 

Oladiya could not use the Olko beads without his eyes. Nevertheless, he could prevail against the keepers’ attacks. Olko magic could not work against Olko Magic. The keeper knew he could use all Olko magic left in the rocks still standing. This power could help in forming an impenetrable shield around the Obelisk. The moment he summoned for this power, the ancient Olko guardian’s magic would come together for his use. He had to try even though Oladiya’s Kurota wore the beads around his neck.

He cotched the Olko signs to summon for this power but with the bead around Oladiya’s neck blocked him. However the power in the beads around his neck worked.

His Olko beads belonged to the reptile kingdom and that’s what much of his body looked like when Oladiya attacked and the scales glowed with magical runes. The moon kindled its visibility as it raged forwards to shield him from the force of its spiritual companions. The Olko runes rubbed against each other causing a magnetic ripple in the air all around them. The second beads belonged to the Insect Kingdom. He sent them at him and the runes in these seemed to awaken the others in the beads Oladiya wore around his neck. 

Before that, Oladiya was getting closer, attacking and not willing to get the burning beads off his body. The moment the other beads responded to the keeper’s control, a strange force awoke around Oladiya’s neck. And when he jumped, something heavy crushed him back down by force, then aside into the rocky pillars!

 The Kuoka spirits in the beads around his neck were repulsing his Kurota. Why? He did not have all the Olko beads around his neck. The remaining two could influence the power in those he had around his neck. They were tearing at him with a burning sensation. He crushed this and that very confusedly until he spotted the master of the Olko rings approaching from the far left. 

They met eyes with the High priestess of the M’Jeda keep who lifted his stuff high. *Tsote was seeing all this and when Oladiya looked in the sides at the high Priestess, Tsote saw his mother. Nevertheless, she was bitterly annoyed at him! Tsote looked down at himself only to see himself resembling the dark side of men. His hands were feathery and covered with blood. He thought but could not recall anything. He only felt afraid and out of control of himself. 

 Whatever the priestess was up to, Oladiya could not wait there any longer to find out because if he joined the fight, Oladiya may never get to the inner ring in time. His sight would fade because he had already destroyed much of the power in the rocks used keeping them safe and alive. He had to think fast.

He used all the strength he had to reach for a crushed rock. Then leaned aside into an untouched pillar. He chose to endure the pain to save time. Also to get the last of the twenty-one Olko beads. He started forwards against the limiting force all around him. All this while none of the two realized the fog was rising and turning to the glow of burning dust. 

The keeper’s eyes went wide with shock when he saw what the Kurota was doing! Oladiya swung the human size rock at the Keeper in control of the rest of the Olko beads. The rock was double the size of a human. Oladiya’s best chance lay in the keeper’s inability divide his defense against two forces. 

The rock scared the keeper out of the way and the beads around the Kurota stopped responding! The Kurota charges but hardly had it made its final leap when rising fog crushed down at them like a heavy punch from above. The force forced debris to rise into levitation state. Oladiya fell back due to the force only to realize he delayed a bit. 

Naruba was already in control of the beads and they were starting to tear at him all over again with such unbearable friction. He struggled across the ground like a wild demon trying to escape torturer.

“Thank you…” the keeper called out after realizing Naruba’s presence.

“-mind assisting me here?”

“I don’t think I can do this any longer!” The ninth keeper responded horrifically taking back control of the runes from Naruba. “He is already eight times stronger than the both of us. Undefeatable…”

“I know. We are limited to power and the best we can do now is eliminate his target.”

“Destroy his eyes…?” came the ninth keeper in confusion. “-but that’s forbidden until the recovery of the balance.”

“We can either let him win and unleash the Halfling’s curse against the remainder of our tribesmen or get rid of the eyes and …”

“Okay… okay. I got this…” the keeper replied wincing in pain. Naruba nodded and turned to leave.

Like the legends have it, the Kobewa rarely ran from a fight. Naruba did not run but progressed to a more reasonable level of the fight. He got to the Obeliski. The obelisk stood on top three large jade blocks made of three sides. On top these blocks, there was a black plate of rock, round but grooved with symbols cut in the stone in very knit intriguing angles such that when they glowed, their glow collected into a bright beam. The bright bean focused down at the center of the floor.

When he got under the little shelter, he walked to some little round alter at the center of the shelter where the grey beam focused but hardly had he got there when the Twentieth keeper yelled out in paid. His arms were laden by the runes. The power was starting to weigh on him heavily. His arms burned like ember. 

“I can’t hold any longer...!”

Naruba heard and glanced back but did not respond. She only reached out and did some quick signs at the rock. The strange altar which rock was black and white on the other side rose to her knee and another out from the first up to his waist. This is when she saw the two small pots. One black and the second white. Nevertheless, they seemed interchanged where they were place. The black pot stood on top the altar while the white pot on the dark end… this did not matter. 

The Kurota’s eyes were inside the pots each. She made a sign and the pots crushed into many pieces. The moment the pots crushed into pieces spilling Owl blood. However, the beams of light from the runes above did not allow the blood to spill. The moment the blood got exposed to the grey light, it collected into one floating liquid and began to boil. 

The remainders of the pots rose into a ring of burning dust and then turned to ash right above the altar. Now, Naruba lifted her arms again and his eyeballs turned to a moon grey color. They glowed! The boiling in the floating Owls blood increased.

Meanwhile, the ninth keeper was no longer as strong to keep Oladiya back. Oladiya pushed through the force slowly by slowly until he got to him. The keeper looked bewildered when the Kurota reached out for his neck. They were both straining but the Kurota was having the best of him no matter what.

It tore the beads away from his neck and infected a portion of the keeper’s shoulder with his dark feathers and this effect weakened one of the keeper’s arms. He lowered it without help! The effect was poisonous and if none of the other keepers could reverse it, then this too was done for. 

“Shuru tikola, Ai kitani mamura vwatha…!”  The ninth Keeper spoke as he went down. He was struggling on the ground but what he just spoke aught destroy his beads before the Kurota could add it to his unworthy collection. The beads started to burn but with half his guard down the Kurota picked him up and pushed, him back against the pillar behind him arms apart. 

The keeper was suffocating but the beads were starting to burn. The Kurota did not wait to see them burn but took them too. When Oladiya tore them away, a force threw him back with his arm burning from the effect! He crushed into the pile of rocks behind him. Oladiya saw his arm burning away from the effect and quickly spilt the main bead from the rest of the collection, immediately including it to his collection just in time. 

The bead joined the others around his neck but the burning effect was not ceasing. It was starting up his back and chest to his neck. Oladiya had to move fast before it reached the Halfling’s eye! Otherwise, when he looked towards the eastern Horizon, dawn was catching him up. He had to get his eyes back when the darkness lasted to be able to undo the Halfling curse on his family line.  

And like a ghost rushed forwards with a cloud of feathers crushing them into the struggling keeper to a point of no recognition. Once this was done, he looked ahead and saw Naruba. What she was doing Oladiya never expected because he knew why they were keeping his eyes undestroyed. 

At this moment, everything around her started to turn. She was standing with her arms out. Her eyes were glowing same way they were at this moment. The king’s tent was behind her and raised off the ground in a victorious military camp. Naruba had Home Seeker hostages before her and had to pass on a punishment to the three after their failure to give King O’mondo the secret passage into their sultan’s special chambers.

She had their blood collected into calabash shaped pot mixed. With her arms raised the blood boiled same way it was under the Obelisk. As the blood boiled, the hostage’s blood vessels seemed to boil too under their flesh as if they had black carnivorous maggots popping in and out of their flesh like big sewing needles from. Wherever they passed, they twisted the flesh deforming the hostages.

Naruba did not like what she was doing even though it was for the future safety of his tribesmen. This was what the king required of her and once she started the punishment, she could not turn it back… 

She remembers she opened her eyes after setting this effect to work. And the men were fading. This time when she looked, there was her son Tsote, young, handsome and innocent. He stood at the center where the third hostage aught stand! The black moth-like maggots were eating the backed portion of his flesh and he was in great pain…!

Naruba could not believe what she was doing to her son. She was being fooled and she did not see this quickly enough. When she saw this, she tried to reverse the effect but could not.

“Tsote?”

She started towards her son trembling and stumbling. Landing at his feet, taking hold of his face in confusion. What she did not realize were his eyes that were hollow and dark. She focused only on the effect, which wasn’t ceasing. By the time she saw the difference in his eyes, she had her arms around him vulnerably and he was already reaching up for her Olko beads. 

*Tsote felt like he was trying to tear the beads away from his mother the same way he had done to the king…! This was strange!

“What are you doing my dear?” She asked him confusedly. The king too said words similar to these.

The plague only affected the Yakunko but Oladiya had the power to infect her with the Halfling plague as he wished. He summoned for it summoned for the plague and made it affect her too. *Meanwhile King O’mondo started to heal but painfully! The plague consumed Naruba and this is when the Oladiya revealed himself in Kurota form. 

Finally, they tore the beads from her neck giving leaving her as powerless as any mortal man. The moment Naruba parted with her beads; she realised she was fooled! The beads were already in Oladiya’s hands and an arm of dark feather was tearing the Olko beads away from her. She resisted as much as she could but all in vain!

The moment she parted with the beads, much of her Shorango skin complexion started to fade, and every Shorango of the Adeni and the M’jeda keep felt some loss of power and control over their Olko beads. She stumbled this and that way as the Kurota walked passed her towards the altar.

The beads were glowing unlike usual around Oladiya’s neck. He slowly placed the tenth of the bead into place. Immediately his Kurota started gaining some sort of super-natural Kurota form unlike any other Yakunko warriors!

The bead consumed his body giving him such a powerful appearance. The only difference with him was that he could not use the power of the beads like the Keepers he just murdered across the M’jeda Keep because he was a lot more Kurota than human. He was not as balanced as much as the law of nature required of him.

 “No…!” Naruba yelled out to Oladiya his feet hardly touching the ground. Thereafter, the Kurota thrust him aside and started towards the Obelisk. Oladiya looked at him no more, as he approached the Obelisk. Once there, he reached into the floating orb of blood, took out his eyes one at a time and pushed each into his dark eye sockets. The moment he did, he had the ability to communicate with all past Kurotas parted with all their past hosts and have been wondering the spirit world for generations