The Secred Mission

ded to a faint murmur, as if Ọhịa Eke (forest) was holding its breath. Adanna moved continuously, her gaze scouring the thick foliag

ver, something about it seemed intentional, as if it had been left alone for a pu

of what must have been a village. Broken houses, with thatched roofs long gone, looked lik

ing. The air here seemed charged, as if the histor

their voices low and melancholy. Adanna stra

.. los

dian betr

ts bur

how the forest (Ọhịa Eke) remembered, how its trees testified to t

hed it, an image sprang in her mind: a busy village full of joy and brightness. Children played under the trees, their laught

disappeared, leaving her wit

here?" she sa

k was black and damaged, and its roots seemed to claw at the earth with frantic fingers.

and as soon as her fingertips made

woman's features were startlingly similar to Adanna's, and her skin glowed in the moon

. "You were selected, kid. Your lineage bears the power of the

c as she held a little bundle in her arms. Flames engulfed the vi

to make sense of what she had seen. The young woman-her ancestor-had

d, creating a chorus around her. "B

mother had told her as a young girl, which s

solemn. "We are connected to the Iroko in ways that others are not. However, t

t today, standing among the remains of a bygone v

couldn't force herself to leave the clearing just yet. There were too

rbed her, but they had also sparked something inside her-a ne

tree might hear her. "What do you wa

faint whisper: "Seek the sha

t the answers she sought would not come easy. The forest (Ọhịa E

r. She saw the young woman-her ancestor-standing before the Iroko onc

ous. "The strength of the Iroko is waning, and so is

ing question: what had caused the Iroko's pow

eping through the trees. She didn't know all the answers yet, but she was convinced

ce again, leaving the shattered village behind. The murmurs of

an a memory; it was