The Mantis Bride of Modekun

Chapter 5

On one of such jaunts, I ask him the question I've been holding back: "Why can't I practice on humans?”

“Don’t worry. If it works on one creature, it works on all creatures."

“Why can’t I tell what you are feeling—you or your men?"

"We wear talismans to protect us from the occult. It makes us impregnable to your telepathy. Only your touch can penetrate us.”

Gingerly, I reach for his shoulder, a cyclone rising and howling about us.

"Touch me and I will break your arm," he says

I pull back my hand, and the cyclone fades.

"Why is the Afefe after an ajogun?” I ask. “You're usually concerned with bigger things."

"Ajoguns are supposed to change fortunes, not people. This one changes people. Those whom it curses become attached to it and are even ready to die for it.”

With my silence hangs a question.

"It bewitches them with the spirit of s****l unrestraint,” he says. “And s*x, my dear friend, is a powerful tool for bonding and blinding."

"Why do you keep referring to The Seed as 'it'?"

"Because we don't know if it is male or female.”

The more we speak, the clearer it becomes that the jinx isn’t a minor. It has stayed hidden for so long that it can't be a child anymore. An adult ajogun? Fascinating. I’ve never met one. Any chance of it not knowing the havoc it brings to people’s lives? I doubt it. It has to have seen one s****l frenzy too many to know it's not a coincidence. What if it thinks it's irresistible and has that effect on people?

"This is what we know," Ajasin says. "We know where it resides. We know that the chief of its village has weaponized it."

"How?"

"The chief invites the royals of other villages to secret orgies. After such gatherings, members of his court marry the visiting royals, binding their villages to his influence."

“Clever.”

"Your role will be to identify The Seed for us. Once we have him or her, we will wipe out everyone else."

I blink, startled. "Isn't that a bit... extreme?"

"It is necessary. They are too far gone. If we send The Seed to Ile-Jade, they will follow it there. Unholy alliances lead to moral compromises. If we don’t do something now, they will end up in Orun Apadi when they die. We’re giving them the chance to reincarnate, now that it’s not too late. Surely, you understand this?"

I nod to his rhetoric.

"Don't worry, we will whisk you away before we begin."

Beyond his facial expressions, his emotions are inscrutable. I can't tell if he's wrestling with what he must do. I’m sure he’s not devoid of feeling. I get the sense that the wind around us echoes his internal turmoil. I can’t read the wind. Can’t tell what emotion he’s experiencing. But I, like anyone meticulous enough to observe, have seen how the wind rises and falls with his agitations. I test my theory:

“Is g******e the only solution? The logical answer would be to kill The Seed. But of course, we know that killing an ajogun is taboo, as they are protected by the very curses they carry. Killing one would unleash an intergenerational plague on its killer’s clan. I think the gods have given us a puzzle to solve. Let’s not rush into things—”

“There is no puzzle.” The wind squalls. Tree shades convulse. “This is what needs to be done. You human oracles think you know more than those who wield the Ifa oracle given to them by Orunmila himself.”

“I’m sorry.”

The wind abates.

“I hope I have not made a mistake selecting you.”

“You couldn’t have. The one, true Ifa oracle guides you.”

Nobody questions the Afefe. Their mission is of the gods. And even when we don't understand it, we believe it serves the greater good, even when it involves carrying out g******e, an act generally perceived as evil. The truth begins to manifest: What is good or evil depends on circumstance and point of view. There are no absolutes. It’s the same with my gift, which some might call a curse.

"Tomorrow," Ajasin says, breaking the silence, "we will set out for the place where the next orgy is set to take place. You are ready."

"Thank you."

Indeed, I’m ready. Not only has their training given me some control over my gift, but it’s also given me the ability to store emotional states in my subconscious. I believe I can amass stores of varying states. I think I can transmit them to others and make one person relive another's trauma. I saved the anguish of the slaughtered pig, eager to see what I could do with it.

That night, I lie on my mat, fix my gaze on an owl perched on a branch, and focus my consciousness on its shadow, willing my mind to delve into its soul. I synchronize our consciousnesses and feel it relax as I grow more awake, my senses sharper than ever. I release the raw, pent-up emotion I have archived, flooding the small creature with the agonizing final moments of a much larger animal. The stunner ripples through it and impales it. Like a coconut, it falls from its perch, lifeless before it hits the ground.

…

My heart races, a mix of awe and dread coursing through me. It’s what I expected: I can weaponize my gift.