revelation. Eric looked at Sango, his face
was blank. Everybody waited for
Orunmila to continue. He did not. Eric
turned around and walked away from the
group. He wondered what he would have
felt if he was in Sango’s shoes. He
shrugged, it was no big deal. He did not
even know who he was until a few
months. But there was something bigger
at risk – the fate of the world. It had
been an unspoken understanding
amongst them all that Sango would be
the one to end Sarkin Aljan’s reign of
terror. But now, it seemed the world was
doomed to its end, except help came
from somewhere else.
“What happens with Sarkin Aljan?” It was
Sango who finally spoke first.
“You cannot face him the way you are
now. Even if by some stroke of fortune
you put an end to him, the world is still
in danger because you cannot go near
the portal.”
“There has to be another way, right?
Damage to one person –no matter how
important shouldn’t be the end of us.”
Eric said as he walked back to join the
others.
Orunmila looked at him and smiled. He
shook his head and walked away.
“You can do something, right?” Eric said
to Ogun. “Orunmila would not have
brought you if you couldn’t.”
“I saved you, I saved him.” Ogun replied,
pointed to Sango. “That is not enough
for you?”
“You are one grumpy old guy, aren’t
you?” Oya said.
“I already told you, this is not a battle for
us. Humans are doomed to death, if they
do not die now, they will eventually.”
“Wait, did you get a different deal when
you landed here? If the earth perishes,
we die with it!” Eric said.
“No, we are immortal gods, we cannot
die.” Ogun said, a little less aggressively.
“My friend, if I shoot you now or throw
you inside a river, you will die!”
That seemed to shut the belligerent man
up. Surely there had to be a way to stop
the portal.
“There is a way to stop this madness.”
Orunmila said as he walked back towards
them.
“What is it? I can only speak for myself
but nothing is too much at this point!”
“Only one of you can put an end to this.
But it is dangerous, there is no coming
back from this.”
“There is no coming back for the whole
world if Sarkin Aljan succeeds. Don’t
mince words, what do we have to do?”
Eric asked, starting to get agitated.
“The person who does this will die, or
worse.”
Eric paused and kept quiet. He was not
ready to die. He had a lot to do; he had
not yet made his mark on the earth. But
he could not be the one to save them all.
He could perform tricks, he could get
invisible and that was all. Destroying the
portal required a lot more.
“Esu’s invisibility is very complicated,
most don’t understand it.” Orunmila
started. “He doesn’t leave the
environment but he is wrapped up by a
covering so that nobody can see him
through it.”
“What has this got to do with destroying
the portal?” Eric asked, hoping the man
will not ask him to be the one to die.
“Esu, you are the only one who can stop
this!”
Eric felt lightheaded. “How am I
supposed to do that? And you say I have
to die?”
“Yes, die or even worse.”
“What on earth could be worse than
death?” Eric said, his voice barely
audible.
“Well, there is one thing – deportation to
Hades!”
“That could happen?” Now, he really
wished he had remained in jail.
“It is likely but Esu if the world is to be
saved, it is a risk you must take.”
Oh my God!
***
Lange stifled a scream as another blow
landed on his jaw. The blows had been
coming for what looked like a whole day
to him. He, the president of the federal
republic was being tortured inside the
state house and nobody knew about it. It
was his fault. He did not tell anyone of
his whereabouts and no cameras were
allowed in the part of the house where he
was. He was completely helpless. But his
mind was made up; he would die before
he would tell the terrorists the code.
“He is definitely tougher than he looks.”
The Masked Terrorist said, patting Lange
on his head. “We need to upgrade now
because I need these codes immediately.”
Lange looked around at the men that
surrounded him. What did he mean by
‘upgrade’? Two of the men walked away
and came back with a tool box. The box
was opened and Lange swallowed.
“Mr President, I think you are a little too
strong even for these tools here. What’s
the worst we can do with these? Cut off
your fingers? Bore holes in different parts
of your body? Well, I think you can still
survive that. I guess I will just handle
this myself.”
Lange shuddered at the thought of
having his fingers cut and holes bored
into his body. But still he could not give
them the code, it would be the end of the
world.
“Okay, here we go.” The masked terrorist
said and placed his hands on both sides
of Lange’s face.
Lange closed his eyes and felt his head
start to get hot. Then the heat started to
spread through his body. No, it was not
heat; it was more like an electric shock.
His body began to vibrate and the pain
began. He felt like the organs inside him
were being fried. He opened his mouth to
scream but it was too dry.
“As soon as you are ready to talk, just
tap your chair.” The masked terrorist
said and chuckled.
Lange tapped his chair immediately. The
terrorist held on to him for five more
seconds then released him.
“Alright, speak!”
Lange looked up at him and as
vehemently as he could, said. “Go to
hell!”
“That was not very smart Mr President.”
The terrorist said and started to bring his
hands back to Lange’s head.
“Wait!” A voice called from behind, it was
Adigwe’s.
Lange looked up and sighed, finally
Adigwe was coming to his senses. They
had been friends for decades, surely it
had to count for something.
“I think torturing the President will not
get you what you want.” Adigwe said.
“It won’t? What now, you are growing a
conscience?”
“Well, sort of, yes.” Adigwe said and
smiled.
Finally!
“I just have a faster way of getting the
code without touching the President
anymore.”
“Okay, care to share, Professor?”
“My men are almost here with his wife.
Torture her for just five seconds and he
will sing like a canary.”
“What?!” Lange screamed! “You crazy
devil! You are dead! As soon as I’m out
of here, you are dead!”
Lange swore on top of his voice. He had
resigned to death before but not
anymore. He had to live. He had to kill
Adigwe himself – with his bare hands!
***
It had taken a few hours but finally he
had accepted what he had to do.
Everybody in the group looked at him
with pity and he knew they were more
than glad not to be in his shoes. It was a
lose – lose situation for him. He did not
want to die, not now and he definitely
had no interest in being ported to Hades.
But he had to choose the lesser evil; die!
“So how does this work?” Eric asked.
Everybody in the room was interested in
how it would work but he was more
interested in the point where he made a
choice between death and Hades.
“The portal is heavily guarded especially
since Sango’s attempt to destroy it so
you will have to fight off the guards. The
metallic barricade still guards the portal
but I guess Ogun can handle that easily.
Now once you are in, it is left to Esu.”
Eric nodded. It was not too late to pull
out and the thought occupied his mind.
He could still say he was not up for it.
“What do I do once I’m in?”
“This is the simple but tricky part. You
will jump into the portal and become
invisible as you touch it. Your invisibility
cover touches the portal and it is
destroyed. But here is the challenge; you
cannot touch the portal with your bare
body and you cannot touch the portal
with your invisibility even one second
old. It has to simultaneous.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
“Where does death or Hades come in
then?” Oya was the first to speak up.
“If you are able to do it simultaneously,
you die. If you don’t, then it’s Hades.
You still have a chance to say no but
that will be writing off the earth and
yourself.”
“So what do you say?” Oya asked.
All eyes were on him but all he saw was
Hades!
.
.
.
Does Eric take the chance? Does he die
or worse – go to Hades? Does Lange
reveal the code or does he die with it?
Who wins this epic battle for earth; The
Bad or The Good? Find out on the Final
Episode of Before The Darkness!
.
.
.
.
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To be continued
