“It’s time!”

Frenzy shouts from the slaves filled the room as Yotifa gave an order. The next strike of his sharp sword was against the ropes that held his sister.

Four arrows from Shade’s bow stuck Itile, two chiefs, and one brother down. Afterward, Prince Awade realized that he was the only one left of his brothers. Immediately, he took out his sword to face them but, there were about five hundred slaves to three hundred of them.

With anger and revenge in his eyes, Prince Awade swung his shiny swords in the air. He was well-skilled and has fought and won over twenty battles. As the leader of warriors in Ondo, Prince Awade had never failed in a battle, except for the one at Ijebu. He wouldn’t want to fail two battles on the same day.

With one wipe, Ajoke released herself from the ropes and stabbed Prince Jade. Almost being stuck by an arrow, Oba Otunba Adesiran. The puppet king, placed thrown by the giants, was scared to death. He held his crown to his chest in fear and hid behind his royal chair. The king exhaled heavily on his breath, trying not to show his face.

Delaja, another girl skilled in martial arts, kicked both men at once and threw them against the wall. Most of the chiefs were drunk and weak, only some royals were able to get the slaves. Lanre didn’t hide like a coward. As revenge for the hot slaps he'd received previously, he punched every royal in the face with a thick log of wood.

The main hall was filled with yells of hard killing blows and screaming of efforts, wasted, gained, and lot. Prince Awade stuck his sword against an unknown girl. As a master in martial arts, he couldn’t help but wonder who they were exactly and what they wanted. Most of them were young ladies, and they were very skilled. It looked as if he daydreamed. The prince had never expected any of this.

They filled the hall with flames of the burning passion for revenge the servants had. They had planned for this far too long. There was no stopping or going back.

Prince Awade fell and stood up to his feet again. Luckily, he wasn’t drunk like the most of them in the room.

One man ran out, Prince Yotifa threw a knife. It stuck to his back, and the man dropped dead right away. His sword, mercilessly swung against two guards that gathered him. Yotifa threw up his sword and the both of them looked up at it. Too foolish of them. He took another sword and sliced their throats before they could drop down their faces. The dead heads rolled on the floor like tyres.

The terrible sight made men scream out of fear while the ladies grunted with pride as their swords and shields clattered into place.

“Agh!”

Asa grunted as her sword clanked against a huge soldier that stopped her. He struck her down with one hit, she stumbled on her feet. Throwing away his sword, he lifted her and kicked her against the wall. Asa reached out for his belt and stabbed him with a sharp dagger he made no use of. The soldier dropped down immediately to the striking pain. Swiftly, she gave him another hit with the dagger and he gave it a rest.

“Agh!!!” she continued with the fight.

None of the people from Ile Ife have killed, tortured, or humiliated any of their family members. Another warrior sliced Ajoke’s leg from her thigh to her leg. Before she could look up at the person, Asa dug her sword into the man’s chest. He dropped down dead, in the act of totally chopping off Amoke’s leg. Offering a shoulder, Asa helped Ajoke to a safe corner to sit. She had already lost a lot of blood and she still wanted to fight. To help her people. 

“You’ll have to rest now. You did well today.” Asa muttered at her friend, the princess. “Your parents would be proud of you. The whole Odo-Ara would be pr-”

An arrow whizzed towards Asa and Ajoke pushed her way and grabbed the arrow in the air. In return, she threw her knives at the person and he escaped. As it is, Ajoke was so skilled at throwing knives that she never missed. This pissed her that she forgot about her bleeding leg. She ran up to him and grabbed him from the back of his agbada. “Where are you running off to?! I recognize you, Chief Makinwa.”

She dragged the man like an old cow to her brother. Yes, the man was old, but he had slaughtered a lot of innocent people and used many of their townsmen as a meal for the giants.

“Please, who are you?” His trembling voice begged for mercy. “Don’t kill me.”

“Don’t you remember me?” Yotifa asked.

The man nodded in disapproval as tears of regret filled his eyes. He swallowed down the tears, trying to recognize the face, but more tears blurred his vision as he wept. Yotifa grabbed a jug of wine from the table and poured it over his head. The liquid washed off the white drawings on his body and what they left was blister forms of transparent scars all over his body.

“Now you remember?”

“You are the prince?... We k..killed you! W...we killed you and the little girl.” His full, chapped lips quivered. “I’m so sorry... Please, don’t kill me.”

Tired of his blabbing, Yotifa silenced his blabbing tongue. Makinwa’s headless body dropped while he bled. After Yotifa slays him and notices the emptiness of the room, eight women are conquered and two are injured alongside Ajoke, his sister. He watched them struggle through death as she finally gave up. Some had lost breath before he realized.

Looking up at Ajoke, she was trying to open the doors to one of the sacred rooms. In it were one chief, one royal, and prince Awade who had escaped with them.

“We're all going to die! These ladies won’t give up their vengeance!” One chief cried. He was a Royal in the sense that he was an indigene of Ifé.

“Shit up, idiot! I’d send a message to my father and he would save us from their clutches!” Prince Awade hissed at the trembling man. His clothes were torn off in the fight. He had nothing on except a pair of shorts.

Asa and the other girls carried the bodies to a corner.

“It is all over. There’s no more violence. Please stay put, so we can discuss an appropriate conclusion to what just happened. We are human beings after all.... Your slaves. You can trust us.”

Watching through the broken holes in the wooden door, the naked man let out a painful cry as he watched others packing the bodies to a corner. Prince Yotifa sat right in front of the door, awaiting a reply.

The chief who checked was frightened the same way. Prince Awade grabbed the chief by the top of his agbada and rumpled it with all his might.

“I thought Yotifa was a trusted slave here? What do these women want?”

“I have no idea, my prince.” The chief answered respectfully as sweat beads hung on the temple of his wrinkled face.

The prince kicked him aside and decided to say something.

“Hey, Yotifa! You’re a trusted servant among us. Why the sudden change? Why the betrayal?” Awade raised his voice to be heard.

“I’m a prince like you so, shut the hell up!” Yotifa replied to him with pride. Others smiled at Yotifa’s reply.

It was ridiculous.

“What would you have me do?” Awade asked, already frustrated.

“I’d like you to come out and speak to me.”

“I understand that he who wears the shoe knows where it hurts. I know you still grieve for your lost ones, but please. I beg you in the name of the gods. Spare me.”

“You have no idea. But your brothers were killed and you would want to take revenge? Open the door and I’d slice off your heads one after the other. I can’t promise your safety, but I can promise you that.”

“They’re going to kill us!” the naked man cried. “There’s no way out! We’re going to die here!!” Mucuses poured out of the naked man’s nostrils as he wept.

“You are a damn man! Get up and stop crying like a baby!” The chief encouraged and consoled him.

Furious, Prince Awade grabbed the naked man by his chin and pushed him against the wall, aggressively.

“If you don’t stop weeping like a loser, I’ll cut off your cock and feed it to my dog!”

Pained, he released a heavy breath and sighed.

“I am Prince Awade of Ondo. If you don’t know who I am, then you must have heard a lot about my father. He’s one of the greatest kings of Yorubaland, Babatunde Ishola. Now, your fight is with the indigenes of this land, not with me. Right?”

“Absolutely.”

“So you can agree that this isn’t easy for both of us.”

“Kill him already.” Ajoke hissed to her brother’s hearing while she treated her fresh wound.

“Right. Now that I know your real identity, let’s talk about two princes. Let’s make a negotiation that would satisfy us both.”

“And what do you have to offer?”

“I open this door and you let me out.”

The other two men in the room stared at him fearfully,j but he signaled them to be rest, assured.

“I open this door and you let me out. You can have the people you want and your job is complete. I’ll have nothing to do to or with you and you’ll have nothing to do with me as well. Deal?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“What’s the plan?” The chief asked.

“Just stick to me,” Prince Awade whispered.

“We’re coming out!” Prince Awade announced and pushed the door open. Slowly, as though he influenced trusting them completely.

Finally, wooden the door opened, and Awade stepped aside. Some slaves, who are now warriors, rushed into the room.

Asa stared at him closely in case he made any false move. One thing was clear: she didn’t trust him. She didn’t trust anyone.

The old chief threw himself to the floor like a piece of rag while the naked man had a wooden cup in his hand. He peed into it till it got full and even poured away.

Suddenly, he threw away the cup and grabbed Asa by the neck.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

“Calm down.” Prince Awade muttered.

Yotifa raised his sword to the naked man’s neck.

“Just give me a chance, please! I can take a card of it.” Awade begged,  turned to the naked man who held a knife at Asa’s neck and held her to himself with every fiber of his vein.

“You’re hurting me...”

“Shut up, you witch!” The naked man spat at her with quivering hands.

“Keep calm, brother. Remember, we all want to leave this place.” Awade reminded the naked man.

His raven-black eyes focused on Asa in curiosity. “I know Odo-Ara is a town in Ondo. So, why are you here?”

“They took our families.” She explained as he breathed thickened by the naked man’s tight grip. “Sold them as slaves and used them to satisfy their needs and gods.”

‘Clash!’

Before Asa could complete the words, Awade hit the edge of his sword against the naked man’s forehead while he flinched and dropped to the floor with his knife. With a closer look, Awade realized that he passed out. He turned back to Yotifa and the other warriors whose weapons they pointed to him.

“We promised to save our kingdom but failed. As slaves, we are here to take their lives as revenge and go back to Odo-Ara!”

“Oh, you are free to do whatever you want.” He muttered and walked up to where Yotifa stood. “We have to settle our differences. That’s two favors I’ve done for you now. I think you should let me go.” He pleaded.

“Your sword, drop it!” Asa demanded.

Prince Awade did as he was told, even though he needed his sword at that moment. It was his fault, and his father’s having joined an ally for their slavery with King Otun.

Lanre quickly grabbed his sword so he wouldn’t take advantage of the situation. Asa and two other girls followed him downstairs to the dungeon, which was also within the giant’s hall.

***

Translation

*Agbada:- An outfit in the form of gown worn by Yoruba men. See the first picture in this chapter.

I hope this story isn't confusing. I plan to make a map of the countries for better understanding. In this story, only two princes are alive, now. Prince Yotifa of Odo-Ara in Ondo and Prince Awade of Ondo. Let's not forget, Odo-Ara is just a city in Ondo.