Uremma the River Goddess

isdainfully sized up Obinze and spit in his direction before saying to him, "I will break your neck for what you did to my colleag

ned to face Obinze in anger; his lips were bleeding and the crowd was laughing at him. He felt a ringing sound in his left ear. To save face, he threw himself at Obinze hoping to grab him and break him into two pieces, Obinze swiftly avoided him and grabbed him by the waist. Lifting him very high Obinze slammed him on the ground, one, two, three times and steadied him to his feet with his left hand and then cr

o make way for other clans to f

rom crying openly; all his life he had been an object of ridicule and for once in his life his pe

and from the ground, and held it in front of Obinze. That gesture meant he was challenging Obinze to a wrestling match. The crowd was afraid; they knew Ikeagu was a dangerous wrestler, On four different occasions he had wo

e seen holding their breath in fear that Ikeagu was going to destroy Obinze. Ikeagu shouted like an animal and leaped forward like a cat, unlike how he acted in his previous fights, Obinze lunged forward, grabbed Ikeagu midair suspended him high above himself, and then slammed him on the ground with the agility of a lion sat upon him and began to

smile on his face; his eyes seemed locked on events or perhaps thoughts far removed from the happenings at the village square. It was clear to all present that a new wrestling beast had been disco

ews of their love which had transformed Obinze into a village celebrity. He had not only shown them what he could do i

er doubling over with laughter. That night they probably kissed each other a hundred times and still couldn't get enough of each other. However each time Obinze broached his fantasies about living together with a woman of his love, Urenma would wince and shed a few tears. When Obinze asked her wh

gs in praise of Obinze. Even his aged grandmother was carried out by her kinsmen to the square to watch her grandson break more bones. The people of Ukeh could not understand ho

medicine men they approached revealed to them that the source of his strength was the love of a woman and gave them charms to subdue Obinze on the w

he three of them were from different clans and Ikemefuna was the reigning champion. When Ikoro (Wooden gong) was sounded they were the first to jump into the wrestling ground and began to dance. Though

and Urenma were in a corner of the village square watching the wrestling. When Ikemefuna, Ezenwa, and Uzokwe challenged Obinze to wrestle each one of them in separate matches that evening, Obinze stood and met t

Urenma whispered "Obi m each one of them had gone to get charm to fight you, but I want you to accept their challenge. This day Ukeh will know that there is no charm stronger than a woman's l

rounds of wrestling matches to take place. When the crowd saw Obinze running the wrestling gro

rowd heard Obinze's words. They thought he had gone mad or perhaps had allowed his little success to get into his head. How could he a beginner in wrestling, challenge three ace wrestlers to fight him at the same time? Ikemefuna, Ezenwa, and Uzokwe also wondered if Obinze had gone mad, they queried "Obinze do you know what you

Obinze applied the Ife oko technique and slammed Uzokwe's back on the ground. Like a cat Uzokwe bounced back to his feet and aimed for Obinze's legs, swiftly he grabbed Obinze's left leg. Obinze didn't expect him to recover that quickly and so was caught

llapsed. Ezenwa, a very proud man then entered the fight. He had purposely allowed Ikemefuna and Uzokwe to wrestle against Obinze because he did not want to share the glory of defeating Obinze with them. Seeing Obinze had disarmed them, he saw it as his opportunity to take out Obinze and claim the glory for himself. But he was wrong, Obinze was not his ilk. No charm or voodoo could stop him, and not while Urenma watched the fight. Obinze threw himself at the oncoming Ezenwa and knocked him to the ground by c

heard Ikemefuna's neck snap. Ikemefuna began to vomit blood and went into spasm. The crowd and the elders present were in shock, Ikemefuna was dying and they didn't know what to do. Urenma ran into the wrestling ground and touched Ikemefuna. No one knew what she did when she touched Ikemefuna, as soon as her hand touched him, he stopped jerking and vomiting blood. Had Urenma not used her power to heal him, he would have died that day on the wrestling ground. Obinze was not one to boast; he went to each of his three opponents and congratulated them before they were

her lover". While everyone praised Obinze as a hero and sang his name, every night Urenma cried herself to sleep. The deep pain in her heart had made her stop her nightly visit to the river world. Her heart had become nit w

d found his wife, in the night as he lay on his mat, he would thank the gods who gave a poor, orphan, and rejected boy like him a woman like Urenma. Though there were a few riddles he could not solve about her, like how she was able to inspire him to do impossible things. Though the people saw him as a hero and a fearless man, he knew it was all d

enstance, hunters would wear amulets into the forests. Before Obinze went into the forest to hunt he went to see Urenma, who for reasons he could not make out, had become very with drawn and sullen. Urenma told him which part of the forest to hunt in and assured him the gods could watch over him and that she would also be watching over him. When Obinze stood to leave she began to cry bitterly, no one had seen her cry like that before. Even her parents came out to console her, but she would not stop crying nor would she tell anyone the reason for her cry. To make her stop crying, Obinze

d conspired to kill him in the forest so to stop him from claiming the best hunter trophy. For three days they watched him

lage. On his way six hunters whom he knew very well attacked him with razor-sharp machetes. He was not expecting no resistance, his heart was filled with joy, he knew no one would come close to matching the size of the games he had killed; they were too large to be true. From behind him, he was attacked, he had heard nothing or seen anything suspicious, all he felt

dowed Obinze. Life returned to his body and he stood to his feet healed. He took his machete and ran to meet with

ving them no chance, one after another he lumped off their heads. When he was done he cast their bodies