Labyrinths

The Yehwe Zogbanu looked at Suki with tender eyes as a mother would look at her dear child. Suki sat up and tried to back away from the beast with his hands. Perplexed and scared, the forest suddenly felt eerie and terribly cold. He was also scared to his heart from merely looking at the giant ogress. “If he decides to run now, the creature will surely catch him.” he thought. Lucy’s description of the beast’s power still rang fresh in his memory. That was not a risk he could afford but he desperately needed to get away from this giant, whose feminine face resembled somebody very familiar from his past. He has seen this face before only now he cannot just place his mind on who or where. The giant ogress rose to her full length and the sight of it almost killed him.

Maybe he should scream but who will hear his cry in this forsaken forest. “But why has the beast not attacked him?” He wondered within him.
“Master” the Yehwe Zogbanu said again. Yes the creature can actually talk. So he had heard the right thing the first time. Her Delphic utterance was always accompanied with thick pillars of smoke from her mouth. Her voice sounded like the fusion of many cymbals. If the creature was not going to kill him, then he might as well summon all the little courage he has left and ask some questions he thought within him.
“Who are you?” he asked in a quivering voice.
“I am family” came the smoke-filled reply.
“Family? You murdered my friends” Suki thundered.
The Yehwe Zogbanu laughed. It was a strange laugh—the kind that almost quake the ground that you stand and leave you dreadfully traumatized.
“Everything that happened this night came because of you.”
“I was not the one who chunked off Mumbling boy’s and Darius’ heads! And Lucy…” Their deaths and the mere thought of it sent fresh streams of shivers down his spine.
“Darius was stupid. Mumbling boy was the real deal. Lucy was just another of the many series of unfortunate events that happen round the world.” The beast looked at him steadily. “You asked me who I was and I said I am family. You’re Suki Donatus. You were born three blood moons after the last of the greatest witch of our clan died. Your grandfather was one of the fiercest warriors of the kingdom of Gbaguza. You studied philosophy in the university and your 21st birthday was seven nights ago. That’s why I am here. To save you.”
“Save me? From what?”
“Yourself.”
“How did you know so much about me?”
“You are asking the wrong questions” the Yehwe Zogbanu replied him. “Millions of people live their entire miserable lives asking a bunch of wrong questions. One right question and the door to unlimited power is opened, son.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Call you what?”
“You said my son. I am not your son. I just want to go home and see my mother.”
“Had your mother known the true story of your birth she would have told you about this night of strange stars. When you look at me what you see is probably a beast. But look closely and you will know who is standing before you.”
Suki looked up at the ogress before him. She was three times bigger and mightier than three men combined. This humanoid monster was strongly built and serenaded with hirsute hair. Her gigantic horns and sharp claws gave her a dangerous presence. She was strong beyond strong. Suki could only stare for a split second.
“Who are you?”
“Wrong question. Who are you, Suki? Now that’s a right question. Do you know who you really are?”

Who is Suki?  What is his connection with this beast?  Find out next week

WRITTEN BY UMUKORO ISAAC