Oyi ga'aje (son of the soil)

They said the gods were silent.

But silence was never peace.

Not when the ground shook beneath burning hamlets. Not when the bloodlines - descendants of the wielders, that had stood for centuries were vanishing like footprints in the harmattan dust.The Idoma Kingdom was shaking.

And at the center of it all stood Chief Eponu, the fourth generation descendant of Igoche, the wielder of martial techniques - once celebrated as the “Iron shield of Otukpo”, now whispered about in corners like a shadow in the dark.

It began quietly.

The Ijaha bloodline - descendants of the wielder of water, Ijaha Enegolinu - was the first to go. Their village, situated around the banks of the River Benue was found drenched in the blood of it inhabitants. Human corpses scattered around, each looking gruesome, like the angel of death just walked past the village, the entire lineage were wiped out by something unknown.

A week later, the Edache clans - masters of the wind, descendants of Oyihoma Edache - were hunted and murdered by unknown forces. Their houses burned even with infants inside.

Though the attack was done in the middle of the night, the stench of burning human flesh remained even unto the afternoon of the next day.

Then the Agile bloodline - the walkers of realms and the cross line of human divinity, descendants of Agile Ochoche - lost their souls to the unknown force of darkness. Their spirits no longer returned to the land of the living, as there is no more living vessels to possess.

And with each new massacre, one thing became clear: these were no accidents or coincidence. A force is cleansing the bloodlines.

Chief Eponu had returned in a state of deep despair from the south western frontier - from an inspection of what remained of the Agile clan.

At the end, there was no clue, nor evidence to give him a lead in his investigation of the ongoing bloodline cleansing.

He rode back through the gates of Otukpo. His armor still shone, but his face was darker than the dust that clung to his horse. Not from defeat, no, but from the unbearable truth; he could not find the enemy.

He summoned a council meeting in the military fortress. The meeting was attended by only the elect, the Elders of the Idoma kingdom, who are answerable to no one but the Ochi’doma - the supreme ruler of the Idoma people.They were tasked with solving the mystery of the recent cleansing before it gets out of hand.

Among them was Chief. Eponu, the highest ranked military Officer in the kingdom.

“these attacks are done by someone who knows our blood and secrets, maybe even better than we do”, Eponu told them, his voice low but steady.

“then we retaliate”, said Elder Alechenu. “Mobilize. Strike the Tivs, this may be a retaliation after your son raided their villages”.

“quiet, Elder Alechenu”, Said Elder Ochoche. “We sent delegates, and they accepted our term for peace, besides, no man outside of the walls knows very well about the coordination of the Idoma people”

“we cannot fight shadows,” Eponu added. “Every false move risks a tribal war with our neighbors”

“So?, we have the advantage against any force on Earth, the remnant of the Eight wielders are still with us, we can’t keep still as our people are being burnt and hunted like wild animals”, Elder. Alechenu yelled.

The room fell into argument, out of the 20 attending elders, 12 were in support of Elder Alechenu, they called Chief Eponu a coward for being too cautious.

“we’re losing faith”, murmured Elder Adakole. “the people want a leader who acts, not one who waits. If these cleansing continues, we will not hold back in calling the attention of the Ochi’doma in resolving the issue”

Eponu said nothing.

But deep inside, he felt the ground shifting beneath him - not from tremor, but betrayal.

Outside, the whispers began.

“He’s too old. Too careful for our safety…”

“The great iron shield have rusted behind the words of peace…”

“He’s too feeble to raise a sword, before he does, the entire tribe will be wiped out…”.

Even his most loyal soldiers started questioning his stance.

But, watching from the shadows… was his own son - Agaba.