11th June 2024 3:37 p.m.
The wind howled around Christopher like a whispering omen. The sky above had grown dark—unnaturally so. A strange cloud trailed him from the hills, low and menacing, as if the storm had chosen only him.
He clutched the small leather charm Kevwe had handed him earlier, its bead warm in his palm. The protective charm—his only link to magic now. His only shield.
There was no turning back.
Not after Ehogsa's message.
Not after what he'd seen in that dream-realm.
He had to do this. For her.
EDO STATE
In the dim room, the floor was etched with old chalk sigils. Candles burned low, casting trembling shadows on the walls. A foul mixture bubbled in a copper basin nearby, remnants of yet another failed spell. And at the center of it all, stood Esse, obsidian-eyed and seething with power.
Ehogsa, bruised and shackled, looked up from the floor where she knelt. Her lips were dry, but her voice cut through the thick silence.
"So you're really going to use the Obsidian Codex… just to track your own brother? To what—kill him? You truly are wicked."
"Ise ne ghi ogie, wé do ma ra gua owie ghe wogbé re."
(You truly are wicked, to go so far just to harm your own blood.)
Esse's nostrils flared, her fingers twitching as the ancient book pulsed in her hands. Dark veins lit up under her skin like tree roots drinking thunder.
"For over a century," she hissed, "I was trapped in this house like a dog in a cage… because of him."
She stepped closer, voice low and venomous.
"I vowed I would never be caged again."
She opened the Obsidian Codex.
It responded like it had been waiting for her.
The air vibrated. A deep hum rose from the book as arcane energy licked her fingertips. Her eyes glowed a dull green at first—then flared to black flame as the magic coursed through her.
The Obsidian Codex flipped open violently, pages fluttering in a blur until it stopped — not by chance, but by will. The dark parchment shimmered with old blood and silver ink.
Esse leaned forward, eyes gleaming.
"If it's protected by our bloodline's magic… then what if no one in the bloodline had magic anymore?"
Ehogsa's breath caught.
"You're insane," she spat. "You want to drain every witch in our family?! Including your own sisters? You do know that means all our magic?"
Esse smirked, tracing the text with her fingers.
"This spell—'Oburun Ovia N'Iye'—shuts down all inherited magic within a bloodline for a full cycle. Long enough to snuff out protective charms… long enough to find him."
She walked slowly to the center of the chalk-drawn circle and began. She pulled out a knife and cut her self and let the blood drop into the circle .
Then she whispered:
"Orhue vbe omwan no ghe vbe ẹkhuẹ, vbe uromwen no da gbe,
Ovia no ru gha a gbe — ghe ogho re, ghe oha re, ghe owo re."
("White is the blood that flows in the root, let the fire in our veins go still. Let the sacred line be silenced — in light, in shadow, in all who share it.")
The candles flickered. The sigils flared. A shriek echoed deep within the house. Onome staggered, clutching her chest. Even Ehogsa felt her power wane like a flame pulled from the wick.
Esse's voice dropped lower, more dangerous.
"And now… to bring him here."
She turned the page again.
"This one… was made for traitors who ran from the family," she whispered, as she dropped a lock of Christopher's hair into the bowl, taken weeks ago.
She raised her hand. The room vibrated again. She chanted:
"Ere omo no so vbe egbe,
Gha ghe oto re,
Vbe afokpe, vbe iyase, vbe orhionmwon.
Irhe gha vbi. Irhe gha vbi!"
("The child who runs in fear shall return to his ground—in pain, in chains, in reckoning. Return. Return!")
Christopher moved with purpose, the charm clutched in his fist, his eyes sharp despite the weight of fear and anger in his chest. Ehogsa needed him. That was all that mattered.
But then… the wind shifted.
Not just a breeze — this was something old, something hungry.
Suddenly the cloud that had been following him twisted into a spiral directly above his head. His chest tightened. Something tugged at the inside of his ribs, like invisible hands pulling at his bones.
He stumbled. Then stopped.
The fuck?" he muttered under his breath, glancing around.
" No way that bitch used it."
A pulse of heat ran through the protective charm — and died.
He gasped. The world around him rippled, like heat off tar. Then— darkness.
A low hum filled the air. A circle of chalk and blood flared beneath his feet. It hadn't been there a second ago. He tried to run, but it was too late.
He screamed — not in fear, but rage — as the world sucked him inward, his body vanishing into thin air with a blinding flash of green flame.
He landed hard.
Stone. Walls. Shadows.
The smell of burnt herbs and blood thick in the air.
Christopher looked up — and there was Esse, already standing in the middle of the spell. She didn't even flinch.
The circle lit up in full now, symbols glowing as his limbs locked in place — not by ropes, but by will. The magic ran up his veins like poison.
Esse's eyes were wide, her breathing fast.
"I told you,"Esse said. "Nature doesn't like unfinished business."
Christopher tried to move. Couldn't. His fists clenched.
"Esse," he hissed. " Not a pleasure to meet you as always."
Christopher smirked .
"Over a century stuck in this house, and this is what you've got? A dusty book, and your desperate need to end me?"
Christopher laughed darkly, voice dripping with sarcasm
"Really? That's your big plan, Esse?"
Esse's voice trembled with frustration
"Desperate? You think I'm desperate?"
She stepped forward, narrowing her eyes
"You have no idea what I've been through because of you."
"Please, spare me the sob story. You've been so focused on me, so obsessed, that you couldn't see past your own anger. All that time, all that effort… You've turned yourself into a shadow of what you could have been, all because you couldn't let go." Christopher said. His tone mocking.
"You want to talk about letting go? You don't know the meaning of loss. You don't know what it's like to have your life torn.
" Esse said . Her voice dripping with venom.
"You're the reason my father is dead. Your father's lies took him away from me. And what does our mother do? She says nothing, protects you—her precious son. She chose you over the family."
"You think I had a choice? I didn't choose his actions, his mistakes. And I sure as hell didn't ask for any of this." Christopher said .
Esse eyes flashed with rage
"You didn't have to. You are his son. And that's enough. He destroyed my family, and I was left here, trapped, while you got to live your life. You think I've just been sitting here for nothing?"
She stepped closer, voice growing low and dangerous
"I've been preparing. Waiting. For this moment."
Christopher eyes narrowed, voice biting
"Now I get it. It's not about justice. It's about revenge, isn't it? You're so consumed by hatred for something I never did that you've let it define you."
He shook his head slightly
"Pathetic."
Esse voice trembled, though filled with fury
"You have no idea what it's like to have everything taken from you. My father was an honorable man, but your father killed him. You are the reason for all this. The reason I was trapped. The reason I couldn't move on."
Her voice cracked, showing vulnerability for a brief moment before it hardened again
"I'm going to make you pay for all of it, Christopher."
Christopher tone softened, but still defiant
"You want to punish me for my father's mistakes, don't you? If that's your only reason, then do it. Kill me. But let Ehogsa go. She has nothing to do with this. She only tried to protect her brother as a sister should."
For a moment, Esse just stared at him, her face a mask of conflicted emotions, but her anger outweighed everything else. She raises her hand, dark energy surging around her.
"Very well, Christopher. Any last words?."
Esse said grinning.
Suddenly, the air grew thick with magic. Her eyes flickered with power as she started to chant, and dark tendrils of energy wrapped around Christopher, causing him to stagger slightly as the magical restraints tightened.
Christopher laughed.
"Really? Is this all you've got?"
He gasped slightly, feeling the pressure build up but refuses to show fear
"If you knew the first thing about the Obsidian Codex, you'd know it doesn't work like that."
His voice cracked with amusement despite the pain
"You can't force it to obey. The book chooses. And you've been too reckless to even realize it doesn't want you anymore."
Esse knew this , she knew the book had rejected her even though she'd used it before . but she quickly sneered in anger
"You think I don't know? You really think you can mock me when I've got all this power?"
Christopher grinned despite the magic coursing through him
"You've been using it wrong. You're so desperate, you forgot how to listen.
He laughed, even as blood trickled from his nose
"Maybe you should have paid more attention to the warnings.
Esse didn't say a word she just smiled. A smile of satisfaction, after all these years one torn in her flesh will be removed .