I had a brief moment to take in what had happened before the chaos reeled out of proportion and everything became terribly wild. The deity appeared out of nowhere as if someone had summoned him, but as far as I had heard, the seer had not summoned any gods or done anything to warrant the divine’s attention. So what then could have resulted in such a revered being gracing our presence?

Another terrible quake sent me toppling over and crashing into the shrine that was setup before the villagers who were now disoriented from the sudden anger of the ground they stepped on. Confusion and terror were an awful combination, a deadly one and they had infiltrated every bone in me. Women’s screams and shrieks almost deafened me then suddenly became a blur and a buzz in the background when the terrifying being spoke and his voice beamed across the upset, windy night.

‘Sons and daughters of evil, you dare infiltrate our holy gathering?’

The river god’s voice almost brought me to tears as it cracked like thunder, sending me into an internal frenzy. The ground was finally stable enough for me to realise that I wasn’t upside-down. I collected myself and groaned as I moved away from the disintegrated shrine that had collapsed onto my back. Such a scene would not have the gods pleased. I finally crawled to my mother’s bosom out of fear.

Three women emerged from the befuddled crowd, unharmed and not shaken like the rest of us, one of them, Amai Furusa. Her hands and face were riddled with markings that I had never seen before, dark markings that coiled around her arms and slithered up to her neck and then attacked her dark wrinkled face. I had never seen her like this before, so dark and yet so alive. She had a shawl around her head, making her identity obscure in the dark, but I’d know her anywhere. She held out her hands as if to show us something.

‘Your witch blood was reeking all over the firmament, the clouds were stained by your heavy scent and the skies are angry as you can see,’ Ori said pointing at the sky just before lightning sparkled across it.

‘Our days of laying low are over, gone with the wind. It is time for the eagle to spread its wings and let its true colours shine,’ Amai Furusa said before her little face quivered with laughter.

‘Fall back, lady, before you hurt yourself,’ the river god commanded.

His colossal feet finally touched the ground and the wave that was covering them dissipated into a mere puddle in front of him. Amai Furusa’s sharp voice crackled in the night as murmurs among the village onlookers who were beyond perplexed by what was happening increased. Amai Furusa shoved her hands forward again like someone who was to be shackled would, then she raised them high up to sky, defying her aging posture. A cloud of smoke emerged from nowhere and in no time, it became so thick that you couldn’t see anything or anyone, then as sudden as it came, it disappeared. I expected my eyes to itch, or to feel dizzy, but nothing happened, it seemed to only be a distraction, for when is dissipated, more people had appeared behind Amai Furusa and her two counterparts. I scanned their faces quickly until my eyes met Takunda’s. I felt my heart lurch and leap inside its holding chamber.He was grinning right at me and I knew I was in trouble.

‘You’re outnumbered tonight, god of the waters. You have no advantage here.’

She let out another devious laugh as Ori stomped forward; vibrating the ground like it was a footstool for him.

‘Our army has grown far much bigger than it was when you overpowered us and sent us into hiding.’

With that, she held out her arms once more and then the other witches huddled up with her as if to shield her from the cold.

‘The mighty eagle flies tonight; its majestic wings are careless and free.’

With those few words, all the other witches disappeared, almost as if she had absorbed them all and she came hovering up in the air straight for the unsuspecting river god. She raised her arms mid-air to the heavens and lightning sparked, directly hitting Ori. He toppled over and hit the ground with a heavy thud and a whimper. He quickly tried to get up and redeem himself, but an large eagle talon met his face first, then his scaled body before he was pinned to the ground and finished off by another incredible bolt of lightning. I almost soiled myself. How could the witches have defeated a god? With all the abilities he had, at least from the stories my father had told me about him. The cruel witch looked back at us as we were glued to the floor then another wave of smoke rendered everyone unconscious.

I came to with a start. The darkness was thick and the fire that had burnt vigorously at the shrine earlier on was dead. From the little that I could gather, the others were beginning to also wake up but my mother was still lifeless. My knees felt rubbery and it took me a few tries to finally get up from the ground. What was I going to do? Everything that had happened rushed back to me, from the witches ambushing the river god and possibly ending his existence to the terrifying showcase of power. While I waited and shook my mother incessantly in efforts to get her to come back to life, I noticed that someone had stayed behind even when his partners in evil had gone away. Takunda was here to fulfil his promise.