7 The reunion beneath the colossal branches of the summit Iroko was brief, marked not by words, but by the heavy, synchronized breathing of eight women who held the fate of Ife in their hands. With Derin, Aduke, and Aina joining the ranks, the perimeter was locked. Together, the vanguard moved past the twin...
The Way of Stone – 6
6 Aduke stood her ground through sheer kinetic violence. Without a weapon, her body became the conduit for her Àṣẹ. As serpents lunged at her legs, she executed a devastating sweep, the glowing runes on her armguards flaring to life. Each of her open-palm strikes hit with the concussive force of a falling boulder,...
The Way of Stone – 5
5 The air grew thinner and sharper as the terrain began to rise into the jagged teeth of the hills. Oyinju and Feyike were operating on pure survival instinct now. Their shoulders were raw and bleeding beneath the rough timber pegs, and their breaths came in shallow, ragged gasps. Then, the narrow ravine path...
The Way of Stone – 4
4 Deep into the night, several miles into the suffocating belly of the woods, the air grew thick and stagnant. The canopy overhead was so dense it choked out the starlight, leaving the path in near-absolute blackness. Through it all, Feyike could still sense it. The shhh-shhh of scales on dry earth had grown...
The Way of Stone – 3
3 Inside the deepest recess of her compound, well beyond the main living quarters, Iya Deh sat alone within her inner shrine. The air here was ancient, thick with decades of dried libations, animal bone charms, and the suffocating scent of ancestral power. On the earthen floor before her, she had constructed a small,...
The Way of Stone – 2
2 Okan was entering his sixth year on the throne. In exactly four years, he would celebrate his tenth year as king. In the sacred timeline of Ife royalty, the tenth year of a reign was not just a milestone; it was a cosmic lock. It signified that a monarch had been fully accepted...
The Way of Stone – 1
The Way of Stone by Damilola Awe Synopsis For six years, the sacred kingdom of Ife has bled under the iron fist of Okan, a cruel tyrant who commands a terrifying hive-mind horde of supernatural serpents and elite warriors. In a desperate, final bid to reclaim the throne, the Egbe Awon Iya, a secret...
The Other Queen – 16
16 The air near the Ivory Gates was thick with the copper tang of blood and the stinging smoke of burning cedar. Omhri and Zeeb pressed themselves into the deep shadows of a stone alcove, watching as the Alamagu “Obsidian-Shields” moved through the camp like a scythe through wheat. The screams of the dying...
The Other Queen – 15
15 The atmosphere in the royal dressing chambers was a frantic blur of silk, perfume, and suffocating tradition. The maids, their hands trembling with a mix of fear for the city and the thrill of palace gossip, worked with a mechanical, desperate speed. Zihir stood in the centre of the room, her arms held...
The Other Queen – 14
14 The standoff at the Ivory Gates had reached a psychological breaking point. While King Kuar sought fire in the mountains of Alamagu, the man whois trying to steal his throne was facing a cold reality of his own. Beneath the shadow of the great walls, in a command tent smelling of wet earth...