Ori ogled her as if it would make her any less confused. Her eyes were squinted to the maximum as she was trying to grasp her surroundings in the meagre light exuded by an oil lamp. A faint and raspy "what happened?" clawed out of her throat before Ori told her to stay calm.

'The gods are merciful. You fell and hit your head as we were escaping from the guards,' he explained.

Ori was trying to dissuade her from getting up from the mat, but she was resilient. She had a lot of questions to ask but confusion still wreaked havoc on her mind. She sat there scrutinizing the small hut illuminated by a bright orange light that glimmered in Ori's warm eyes. The surroundings were clearly foreign to her and when her mind had completely failed her, she proceeded to ask.

'Where have you taken me to?' she asked.

'An abandoned hut on the outskirts of the village. They will not find us here, for now you should rest,' Ori said, heartening her.

The morning was brought forth by the invasion of the warm African sun and the sound of birds fluttering in the trees. Ori was in the compound perched on a rock completely, engrossed by his thoughts. He came to when he realized that the young woman was standing in front of him, eager to understand what had taken place the previous night.

'Thank you for what you did. The gods have been kind to me,' she said, unleashing a smile that immediately gripped Ori's attention.

'No need to thank me, beautiful maiden. I was merely doing what's right.' Returning a stellar smile himself.

Her small feet left miniature tracks in the sand as she sauntered over to a patch of short grass. His eyes were fastened to her like looking away would make her vanish; following her slowly until she sat down.

'Noma is my name.'

'A beautiful name for a beautiful woman,' he said.

She looked down to conceal the spontaneous smile that Ori's remarks had brought about. Her triumph was short-lived as she then felt two warm fingers propelling her chin up and then fell into the trap of Ori's dark eyes. His large index finger traced her cheek before kissed her passionately.

'The chief's daughter,' she began, all the joy that the heated moment had brought waning.

'I did not have a choice,' he said, his eye quivering.

***

It had already been a few days and Ori and Noma had been hiding in the little hut, distancing themselves from those who had been hunting them and seeking their demise. The serenity of the little compound was invaded by the clanging of bells. Ori sprung up from under the tree where he lay with Noma clung against his chest. He had been caught unawares. And he desperately ransacked his mind for a rapid escape plan as he clutched the already disoriented woman's hand but came to an abrupt halt when he heard the spiritualist's voice slicing through the tranquil environment.

'The gods forbid you from running. You're surrounded.'

He lifted his staff as if the decree had emerged from the heavens directly.

Immediately, the chief's guards appeared from thickness of the forest around them, wielding their spears and ready to pounce. There was no escape, they had finally met their undoing. They reluctantly yielded and soon they were shackled. They trudged quietly through the dense forest, making no sound and not saying any words. Their fate was unbeknownst to them and they dreaded whatever torture lay ahead. Soon enough they made it through the bush and it dawned on him where they were taking them. The sound of water clashing with the rocks impeded the spiritualist's speech but with his raspy voice, he labored on.

'For betraying a daughter of the land in favor of the witch,' he croaked, trying to compete with the falling water, 'you shall suffer the same fate as her. You shall be fed to the crocodiles and the River god will be appeased for the abomination you committed.'

'May the gods spare him. He has nothing to do with this,' she shouted, her eyes brimming with tears.

'Nonsense! They accused you of witchcraft!' Ori said, fuming with anger.

The guards were directed to take Ori and drown him first. He did not flinch or move a muscle as the guards grabbed his hands and feet and knotted them up leaving him quite helpless. They fastened rocks on him to weigh him down. Ori could hear the young maiden's wailing as they dragged him to the deepest part of the river. Noma's screams were all they could hear along the bank as they watched Ori's body sink to its watery doom. Before she could even finish grieving, she felt herself being tackled and toppled over. Her legs were fastened so tightly together and they grazed each other. If her descent into the water hadn't be so violent, it would have been quick but she was pugnacious. The spiritualist had beckoned the gods and pleaded that they take their sacrifice, something highly unexpected happened.

From the depths of the water, bubbles started to form and water sprung up from the river like a fountain. Completely mortified, all the guards knelt down and gazed in disbelief at the spectacle before their very eyes. There in the midst of the mysterious fountain was an entity; in a form they could not easily comprehend. A tall figure towering above all their heads, his face shining like an ensemble of clear scales and beautiful shells. They could not see his legs and feet as they were completely submerged in water. His chest was decorated with an array of colorful scales.

'W-who are you, my lord?' the spiritualist said, quivering like a reed tangled it rushing waters.

'I am the bringer of strong harvests, master of the gushing waters. The River God,' the entity belted in a voice that was terribly unnerving.

'May you have mercy on us, for we have wronged you,' the spiritualist continued.

'It is not me you have wronged, but this humble maiden,' he said, pointing at Noma who was now floating on the water and no longer tied up.

The enigmatic god hovered over to the bank and in a moment, it had a human form. The form of Ori, the man they had just attempted to drown.

'Don't be afraid. I am only here to clear Noma's name, for she is not a witch as you claim. Come forward,' he said pointing at the spiritualist who was still to shake off his terror.

The spiritualist trudged on towards what had just been a god a few moments earlier, he closed his eyes and braced himself for the next life as Ori put his fingers on his temple but it never came. He was having an out-of-body experience. It felt like he was relieving what had happened, the day Noma's family had been killed. He saw everything, how they had been on the river bank on a hot afternoon and a beast had killed them, a demon spirit with a vengeance as fiery as ever. It harvested their souls with a burning blade. As the lifeless bodies lay scattered on the river bank, he saw the evil spirit walk towards its commander, the Village Chief himself. The vision was over in an instant and the spiritualist was still dazed. Before he could ask further questions, he saw the water ripple and Noma suddenly gained consciousness and beside her in the water was Ori, the River God.