Itanife: The Book Of Ifa (Orisha Chronicles) #NaNo2015Winner

THE PRINCE - Part 4

                                                          When the music changes, so does the dance.

                                                                                                   African proverb.

THE PRINCE

The Jengu spread her hands out and flung back her head in abandon as the music took over control of her body. The drum beat rose to a steady escalating height that would have ignited his soul if he had had one to tempt. He watched as she danced to the music. Hips swaying, chest thrust out with a wild look in her eyes.

There was no doubt she was beautiful as was testament to the number of males that gathered in a tight circle around her. Careful to keep a safe distance from her deadly long hair which fell like thick white ropes to her toes. As she spurn around, heavy strands fanned out, slicing through the air like the sharpest blades.

"Now that's taking the element of danger a bit too far if you ask me". A loud voice boomed in his ear. Stirring at the sound he narrowly missed the swipe of a foot long talon against his cheek.

"Good reflects my man. Good! Good! Jolly good!". A massive wing landed on his back and thumping him cheerfully. Once. Twice. In an attempt at camaraderie.

Looking up he came face to face with his own personal cross to bare. The christians thought their saviour had had it bad. He sighed. If only they had met Archibald Cobham. Ex governor of a human slave colony in the 1700s.

Sitting on the bar with his feet crossed was a rather large Phoenix. Handsome and regal in stature. At least that's what Phoenixes were supposed to be. Archie with his large bulging eyes always managed to give the impression of suffering a permanent hang over, which if he were to be believed was a condition he was well familiar with while a human. He wore tiny wired glasses which perched on his long beak. Sighing again he wondered how it was that Archie, even reincarnated as a Phoenix could still have so many mannerisms of his former life.

"What brings you here Archie? Have you come to see what you've been missing in this den of sin? Perhaps ready to finally say goodbye...last words?". He half teased. Hoping Archie was finally ready to move on.

"Don't be ridiculous!". Archie exclaimed. Managing to look as offended as a bird could look. "Your mother sent me to bring you back my Lord...you have been away too long and she requires your attendance". He replied brightly, not making eye contact as he began removing a twig in his right feather which he suddenly found very fascinating.

The prince hid a smile. Archie was a terrible liar. He wondered how on earth he had managed to rule a whole colony when he could not master simple lies. But then again, he had ruled over humans. One only needed to be adequate as was evident with the rulers the human world exhibited .

"And what does my dear Mother want this time? Another pretend raid of the topside? A sneak retrieval of wayward demons and their cohorts?". He asks calmly. The tightening of his hand around the glass of his palm wine the only sign he is anything but.

He has become rather wary of his duties of late. Chasing demons and the ancestor spirits that escaped the underworld had lost its appeal. Not to say it had ever really held any. But lately he had not even wanted to go after the demons. Something very strange had begun happening. The demons he had found in recent months had all been caught still in the shadow world.

This was strange because demons always escaped to go to the mortal realm. They were drawn to humans the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Humans with their excess of emotions were a source of constant feeding from errant demons. Their feeding in turn influenced the humans and infected them with dark emotions. Every terrible evil in the world was a direct result of the stains the demons left behind in their wake.

However these demons in the last three moons, especially the four from last night had triggered something in him. Something about what he had been told about them did not match with how they had behaved.

For one, they were far away from any humans. They had claimed to be in danger and on their way to plead for refuge with the trickster Ellegua. He had not believed them of course. It was unheard of. Demons seeking shelter with Orishas. He had sent them back to the underworld to get their comeuppance but something still bothered him about the whole situation.

His mother had been even more erratic if that were possible. There were stirrings of unease every where he went. Truth be told he was already planning to return home before Arhcie made his entrance. But the wily bird was not to know that. Better to let him believe he was simply responding to his mother's summons.

"Shhh!....Do you want to get us in trouble?". Archie huffs agitatedly. Head spinning left and right. "You know the walls have ears. It isn't safe to talk here." He admonishes.

"It isn't safe to talk anywhere my friend". The prince says as he stands and stretches his arms wide in a false pretence at casual. With the slow deliberate movement of his head, he makes a quick scan of the smoke filled room.

There are a few humanoid demons lurking in the corner whispering urgently with one another as they pay no attention to their female attendees. He ignores them since he did not catch a scent of any hostility towards himself. Across the room, in the darker recesses are demons who look more like the monsters humans fear. They are large with odd shaped appendages growing out of their bodies in a haphazardly manner. The room stunk with the stench of their pus covered bodies.

They are also of no consequence. Of course none would really attempt to attack him. He was feared by all. Not only for being the son of the great Oya, he had also earned their terror with his duties as the avenger of the underworld. Demons, spirits and evil humans everywhere prayed to never meet him. For they knew it never ended well when he appeared. He could only visit places like this by cloaking himself. Everyone saw a non-threatening uninteresting being when they saw him. A being they promptly forgot about once he was no longer in sight. This was the only way he could pretend to lead a semblance of a life.

He tossed some gold pieces on the bar as he moved away. He could hear Archie flapping about behind him with a chorus of "I'm sorry my good sir!... Pardon me!... Excuse me!...I say...! to various unfortunates who came in contact with his talons as he tried to keep up with his master. The prince shook his head. Even after living as a bird for the last three hundred years, Archie had still never learnt how to move in a crowd of bodies.

It was just his luck that Archie had been assigned to him in the last century. The bird was an unlimited source of useless information and quite possibly a spy for his mother.

He had never been interested to wonder why she would put a spy on him considering he had always obeyed her without question. However with the growing unease he felt stirring in him, and the strange behaviour of those escaped demons, he had finally decided that maybe it was time he paid more attention to what was happening around him.

After all, retrieving and despatching of demons was his sole purpose. If there were any reasons why he could not fulfil his duty, he needed to find out what they were, understand them and eradicate them.