Green plumes of smoke filled the air, thick and poisonous, forcing Atala to hold his breath. The smoke rose from Epe’s countless eyes, now crushed, cut, or seared, their power to curse all creatures fading with every blink. Atala’s gaze fell to the blackened grass, stripped of life, and a shiver ran down his spine. Beyond the destruction, he caught sight of Esu’s eyes—familiar, unwavering—before his younger brother’s body vanished like a ghost. Epe stood amid the carnage, a broken figure. A gaping wound beneath its neck oozed spiritual energy, and its shattered leg dragged uselessly across the ground. Yet Epe’s gasping breaths betrayed no weakness, its spirit immune to the poison it had unleashed.

  Atala’s Ase reserves were on the wane. Ase was the vital force that flowed through the world and all its inhabitants, both living and dead. Two more attacks were all Atala had. For his wife Yemowo’s sake, he hoped this worked. The ground beneath his feet trembled as he leapt through the greenish smoke and appeared before Epe. The spirit tried to run but stumbled and fell. Sensing victory, Atala’s sword went for its neck as the wind blew bringing a scent of something burning. He barely glanced back as lightning fell from the clear blue sky. It struck him, locking his muscles in place as it traveled through his body, burning him from the inside out. His heart’s rhythm rose irrationally, his Ase being redirected to protect his organs. Pain flared across his flesh, but he held on to the Ase in his sword, preventing it from flowing back to him.

  Starved of Ase, his eyes grew heavy, his mind fuzzy and burning flesh ran across his nostrils. He heard Epe laugh, the spirit reaching for Atala’s chest when out of thin air a spear thrust into the spirit’s neck. All Epe’s eyes widened in shock, the wounded eyes on its chest trembled, struggling to open. Along with its back, they were a mess of welt and ruined flesh. The lightning faltered and Atala’s sword fell, dragged down by gravity onto the side of the spear. His sword pushed the spear out through the other side, severing the spirit’s head.

  Atala struck the earth, his muscles still locked like they had been when he battled Egba, the spirit with the ability to paralyze. He was cold yet hot at the same time. He tried to call Ase, but his mind could not even grasp such a thought. Darkness swelled around him until…A hand fell on him and then Ase flowed into him; it pulled out the remnants of lightning in his muscles, transforming it into Ase and using it to nourish his wounds. The heat lost its intensity replaced by gentle warmth and at long last his eyes cleared, and he tried to breathe only for a hand to cover his nose.

  “You do not know what you are doing,” Epe said, the spirit’s voice gurgling from its severed head.

  “How would you know that?” Atala asked, gripping his sword once more.

  Epe laughed, mockery in its voice. “You cannot even sense the changes in the world, the fragility of its foundations. You have opened the gates of doom, Atala.”

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  “I did not open the gates, your kind did.” Atala countered.

  Epe ignored his words adding, “One day, I will laugh again, that is my gift and my curse. Not only I, but all my brothers that you killed will laugh again. But you will not be here to hear our laughter, your kind won’t even be here-”

  Esu threw his dagger into Epe’s open throat and the spirit’s final words were choked out in a gurgle of blood. Its eyes grew dark and fell still.

  “Give me a second.” Esu said. Atala held his breath as Esu raised his hands. Suddenly, the green fumes vanished like paint being washed away. Atala waited a few seconds, then took in clean, fresh air while his Odu swallowed Ase replenishing what he had lost. He studied the white marks that decorated is body; the pathways through which Ase flowed. If Ase was stone, Odu were the skills and tools that would make a sculpture. A person’s Odu was decided at birth, some say before birth, and it was the foundation of their relationship with Ase. Atala’s Odu depicted a calabash on his navel connected by two lines to form a necklace with two gemstones that resembled a pair of eyes. It allowed him to imbue Ase into all objects and change their form into what he desired.

  “It has been a very long year,” Atala admitted. His mind traveling back to the night it began at the gates of his kingdom, the plot of Iku. He could still see the corpses, see the blood as it fell upon those symbols and hear the cracks in space as the boundary of the world grew weaker. Atala pulled himself to his feet taking in Epe’s corpse, while Esu sat studying the yellow fur growing across his dark skin.

  “Ow.’ his brother said, his claws cutting through his forearm.

  Atala’s heart winced, this was his own fault. If he never drank that wine, then… Anger burned through him, and he picked up Epe’s corpse.

  “Esu, it is time,” he said. His brother nodded, rising to join him then taking hold of Epe’s head. They placed the two together and Atala placed bright purple beads around the spirit’s neck. Esu cut into his palm and with his blood began to write, inscribing symbols on the ground. As he did, he chanted and Atala felt the Ase in the air tremble. Each tremor grew in ferocity till it felt like a storm raged around them. As if in response, Esu’s voice grew in volume and his body began to glow as did the symbols he inscribed. The light spread to the beads and then to Epe’s corpse. Esu’s hand sunk into the spirit’s chest, pulled out its heart, then crushed it.

  All sound ceased. The wind came to a sudden stop and the day darkened as noon became evening. Then he heard it, the sound of water rushing forward without mercy, splashing upward until finally, a crack spread across the boundary of the river. The world flickered back to normalcy, but everything had changed. Atala could sense it, though he could not put his finger on what it was.

  Esu sat back then said, “It is done.”

  “Now, we head to the center of the world; to the cradle of life; Ile-Aye.” Atala said. “That is where the fruits will appear.” Ile-Aye was the birthplace of humanity and according to legend, the birthplace of all sentient creatures. Geographically, it formed roots in the center of the world, but it was far to the north away from where the human kingdoms now lie. Before the spirits, it had been a thriving city; a symbol of human power and strength.

  The two brothers turned and left without another glance at Epe, not seeing as its body scattered into the wind leaving behind a muddy puddle.