The next morning, Nneka and Obi were already outside, standing at the large compound of the Town Hall. Nneka stared at the spot where she had defeated Adighije yesterday. There was nothing there. His body was gone.
However, the remnants of his undead clones were still there, burned and exorcised.
"Where is his body?" Obi asked, a frown on his face.
Nneka shook her head, walking over to the spot. She paused, placing her hand on the floor.
"They took him."
Obi went quiet. Those people wanted him, he had better be even more careful."
However, before they could say anything other thing, the gates flung open and the elders started trooping in. Nneka stared at the floor for a while, her brows furrowed, then she stood up, changing her attention to the elders.
"What of the warriors?" Nneka asked, staring at the crowd. "We've informed them, the town crier has passed the news around. As expected, the village is unsettled."
Nneka paused, then she spoke. "They attacked again."
The elders raised their heads in unison, surprise etched on their faces as they stared at her.
"They are not waiting anymore?"
Nneka shrugged. "We can't say for sure what their main plan is, but they caused a distraction and tried to abduct Obi in the process."
Jusr then, the elders seemed to notice the bodies around them.
"They were this many?"
Nneka shook her head. "No, just one came. These are his clones. He was really powerful, but I still managed to kill him. By dawn, his body was gone."
The elders fell into deep silence, pondering. It seemed the matter was even more dire than they thought it to be.
Nneka continued, "It seems this time, we might have to seek help from the Ndi-Nche, our clan guardians."
Obi stared at the floor beside her. "The Ndi-Nche... If they got involved, then that meant the situation was becoming bad."
It was only a speculation though, and no one had notified them yet. It was just Nneka speculating on how much the matter could get out of hand.
The Ndi-Nche were the supreme head of every clan, bound to the original totem of their clan. They wielded ancestral powers and were respected as half-spirit, half-man. They didn't take part in the administration of the land, and only ever came out when the fate of the kingdowm was direly threatened.
An owl suddenly flew into their midst, and Nnaoma raised his hand to receive it. The owl perched on his hand, and dropped a scroll, then it flew off.
Nnaoma passed the scroll to the Umu-mmiri priestess. Nneka opened it, after a while of reading, she frowned.
They had only reached out to their nearest neighbor first, the Ndiume village.
Nneka looked up at the elders, then she read out the contents of the letter.
"To the elders and people of Ohandu,
From the Council of Stone in Ndiume.
We have received your message. It is with heavy hearts that we send this reply. Know that the Ncheta-Oji you speak of has not spared us either. They attacked the Ndiume village the same time the Ohandu village was attacked. And reports has already reached us from the other villages that they experienced the same thing. We have already began forging war crafts and this will be ready in the nearest future,Our warriors have already been dispatched across the land, And the age-grade scouts has been sent out to scour for the enemy.
The six villages shall stand together, as we have always done.
Until the last drum is silenced, until the ancestors call us home."
Signed,
From the Council of Stone
****
Nneka looked up at the elders as she finished reading. closing the scroll, the elders nodded their understanding.
"Their final goal is the tenth totem, right?" Ichie Emeka asked, staring at the priestess.
Nneka nodded. "That's right. We just have to stop them from getting it."
Okoye frowned. "If we have the tenth totem, then why can't we just destroy it? No one will get to have it then."
Ichie Ikedi turned to him. "The tenth totem is the most powerful military weapon any village can have, once its full power has been harnessed. How can we just destroy it?"
Ichie Amadi, the Umu-Ife clan representative, supported Okoye's stance. "This matter concerns the survival of our race, military power is irrelevant here."
The elders started murmuring amongst themselves, until Ichie Nnamdi spoke, causing them to quieten. "The tenth totem doesn't have a form, unlike the other nine. This totem requires a vessel."
Ichie Okoye cut in immediately, "Then let's destroy the vessel!"
Nnaoma stared at Okoye in disbelief. "Ichie Okoye! The vessel is a person. A member of the Umu-Oka clan at that! You can't just kill a person."
Ichie Okoye turned to stare at him. "Sure we can...or do you have a better idea?" His voice was cold.
"Ichie Okoye!" Nnamdi shouted, his celestial python totem glowed faintly, the sky darkening instantly.
"Obi is still a member of the Umu-Oka clan, have you lost all respect for us?!"
Okoye snorted in reply, but before it could escalate, Nneka intervened. "That's enough!"
Nnamdi glared at Okoye for a while, then he turned to Nneka. Nneka spared him a glance, before she continued, "Great elders of our land, this is no time to be fighting amongst each other."
Nneka paused, looking at their faces, then she continued, "Besides, it is very improper to have this discussion, not when the subject of our discussion is right here, in our midst."
Okoye glanced at Obi who was staring at the floor awkwardly. Nneka continued, "Just as our elder has said, the tenth totem is a very powerful military tool, even though it is aa equally dangerous for now."
She paused, looking them over, then she declared, "For now, I would personally teach the Umu-Oka clan member, Obi, to wield the powers which come with the Tenth Totem."
The elders murmured, but there was a general acceptance of her choice. "The age-grades should intensify their trainings. Once we have rallied our powers, we would go in search for the enemy. That is if they haven't attacked already, but it's better if we strike first. Unlike the other villages, we are the main targets of the Ncheta-Oji, we have to be very careful."
The elders nodded their approval, The meeting ended, and the elders trooped out. Nneka stared into space for a while, then she turned to face Obi.
"What would happen to me?" Obi asked, his voice low.
Nneka smiled. "You decide what happens to you."
Obi shook his head, a bitter smile spreading on his face. "No, I don't. The Council of elders do."
Nneka shrugged. "You are the vessel of the tenth totem, you hold the potential to become way more powerful than me or any of the elders. You can become an Nche(a guardian)."
Obi was silent. Nneka stepped closer to him. "Shall we begin your training now?"
Obi nodded, then he spoke. "What powers would I wield exactly?"
Nneka thought for a moment. "You belong to the clan of the stargazers... so you already have those qualities in you... but the totem itself would grant you... the power of all nine totems."
Obi's eyes widened. "The power of all nine totems?" He had sufficient knowledge on all nine totems of the kingdom, but there was not much information on the tenth totem. So he didn't know exactly what it could do.
Nneka nodded. "You would be able to sync with any other totem, drawing out their powers. So you would be able to use elemental powers, commune with nature, man and beast, among many others."
Obi gasped. "How long would it take me to master all that?" Nneka shook her head. "You don't master it all. Only the necessary ones. And we're starting with the water element."
Obi exhaled. It was okay with him.
This totem...blessing or curse, whichever one it was, it had given him a chance. A chance to fight, to prove himself to the world.
With this newfound power, he was going to protect the Igbo kingdom from these villains.
He wasn't going to let anyone abduct him before that time, maybe others saw the totem as a curse, he saw it as a gift.
He saw it as a chance to rise to the top.
Nneka saw the look of determination in his eyes and she smiled, gesturing at him with her hand. "Come, let's go."