"Iye, Laho! Iye,laho!"( mother please! mother please !) Ehogsa pleaded, her voice trembling as she followed Eshan, whose anger burned hotter than any forge. Eshan moved with a speed and purpose that belied her years, her face a mask of fury.As they reached Esse's room, Eshan stopped, her chest heaving. She turned to Ehogsa, her eyes blazing. "Gbasa ẹnu!" she commanded in Edo, the words ringing with power. The door, as if obeying a force beyond the physical, burst open, splintering against the wall.Eshan didn't hesitate. She kicked off her footwear, the leather striking the air with a sharp crack, and hurled it across the room at Esse."So it's you," Eshan hissed, her voice low and dangerous. "You did this. To your own brother."Esse stood, her own anger flaring to meet Eshan's. "He is not my brother," she spat, her voice filled with venom. "I don't have a brother. Take that half-caste back to where he belongs. He should have never been born in the first place. He is an abomination."The words were like a physical blow. Eshan's control snapped. She crossed the room in a single stride and, with a force born of centuries of pain and betrayal, landed a thunderous slap across Esse's face.
---
"How dare you!" Eshan shouted and stepped forward, her voice thunderous with rage.
"You cursed your own brother. Why would you do such a thing?"
Esse's voice was cold and sharp. "He was an abomination when he came into this world. You should have discarded him while you had the chance."
"If he was really my brother," she continued bitterly, "why didn't you show him off to your sisters? And as for his father—after what he did to my father—I'll make sure the journey you took becomes his last."
Eshan cursed in Ẹdo:
"Orí ẹrhọ́n vbe emwin ékha mẹn wẹ, Ọsánmwen gbee rẹn vbe ukpẹmwen."
("The spirit that binds you to wickedness, may Osanobua strike you in your pride.")
She stormed off into her secret room.
Ehogsa stood frozen, staring at Esse in shock. Then she spoke in Ẹdo:
"Emwin mẹn mẹre mẹ, ẹrhọ́n gbẹ rẹ. I gbee ẹkpẹre mẹn."
("Whatever Mother does to you, you deserve it. You brought it upon yourself.")
In her secret chamber, Eshan opened an old wooden chest. From it, she took two cloth dolls, one for Esse, one for Christopher. She wrapped them tightly in red cloth and began her spell:
> Ẹkpẹ mẹn nẹ uyiẹn, emwin mẹn ọdẹ,
Uyiẹn Esse na Christopher nẹ yoma n'oghian,
Vbe ọyẹ, vbe arọ, ẹta mẹn kan,
Ẹrhọ́n mẹn se ogie, ẹmwin mẹn no yan.
Ẹrhọ́n mẹn no vbe ukhuẹ, ẹdẹmwan mẹn no vbe erha,
Ẹrha mẹn vbe Ẹrhọ́n ọkhẹ, ẹrhọ́n mẹn zọ nọmwẹn."
(By sibling bond, we intertwine,
Esse and Christopher, bound by fate divine.
In joy, in sorrow, your lives as one,
A sacred tie, never to be undone.
When one is hurt, the other shall feel,
Linked by blood, the bond is real.)
Esse felt it—the bond. Her life was now tied to Christopher's. If he died, she would follow.
She didn't want to risk it. She had no choice.
She went to him.
Slowly, she knelt beside Christopher and placed her hand on his chest—right where the evil arrow lay buried deep within him.
Ẹkpẹ ọria ẹrhọ́n—that's what the elders called it. A cursed arrow.
As her fingers touched his skin, something shifted.
Her eyes turned black—not green like they usually did when she performed magic. This was different. Darker.
The very curse she had cast upon Christopher began to pull away from him. Strand by strand, it flowed back into her like smoke retreating into a bottle.
And just like that—he breathed.
Christopher woke up.
"Mummy!" he gasped, and his mother immediately embraced him, sobbing with relief and joy.
Christopher turned his head, his eyes scanning the room—then stopping on his sister, Ehosa.
She was his favorite. His best friend.
But now, the look on her face said everything.
She knew. She knew what Ese had done to him.
Their mother, Eshan, turned to Ese with cold fury in her voice.
"Ugho rẹ na gha gbee rẹ ẹkhuẹ ọ."
(Your pride will kill you one day.)
"You think your brother is not an Igbinedion … because he is not immortal, you think he is not of this blood. But you forget—" she paused, her tone dropping—"I will make him immortal."
Gasps echoed in the room.
Eyes widened. Fear and shock swept across the family.
To transfer immortality was a sacred taboo—a forbidden act among the Igbinedion bloodline. Something never done. Never even spoken of.
But the love Eshan had for her son—Christopher—was stronger than fear, stronger than tradition.
She would break a law for him.
Even if it meant consequences she could never undo.
In the quiet, candlelit chamber beneath the house, Eshan stood before her son. Her hands trembled, yet her voice was steady as she began the forbidden chant in Edo:
"Ọkhẹmwen vbe emi, vbe arọ,
Ẹrhọ́n ọmwan vbe ẹrhọ́n ọmwan,
Vbe ẹdẹmwan, no ya gbe emi nọ,
Ọrhọmwan ghẹre emi nọmọwan.
Ebo ọmwan vbe ogie –
Gha ya vbe ọmwan oghian,
Vbe uyiẹn, vbe ẹrhọ́n,
Ọmọ nọmwan gha gbee emi ghẹ,
Ẹmwin ighẹ ẹkhuẹ –
Ọmọ nọmwan gha di ọkhian."
( "Through my breath, through my pain,
Life to life, blood to blood,
In sacrifice, let my breath become yours,
Let my days become your days.
A curse to kings—
Yet I give it to my child.
In bond, in soul,
My child shall take my immortality.
Let death sleep—
My child shall never die.")
As the last words left her lips, the room dimmed. Power shimmered in the air.
"Mummy, please..." Christopher whispered, stepping back, eyes wide with fear. "You don't have to do this. I don't want it—I don't need it."
Tears ran freely down Eshan's cheeks. "I know, my son. But I do."
She cupped his face, brushing his hair gently—just as she had done when he was little and stubborn. The soft gesture calmed him, just as it always did.
"You're everything I hoped you'd be," she whispered, voice cracking. "Strong, kind… still good, even after all this."
He opened his mouth to protest, but she gently placed her hand on his forehead.
"Gha hun," she murmured in Edo—
("Sleep.")
His eyes closed instantly, breath slowing. She caught him in her arms and smiled through her tears.
She laid Christopher down softly, then turned toward the dark stone passage where Ehosa stood, watching from the shadows with wide, broken eyes.
"Tell Onome and Ese that I love them," she said quietly. "I love Ese… regardless of what she did. Sometimes, love means doing what must be done."
Ehosa nodded slowly, face streaked with tears.
Eshan turned back to her son. With her final breath, she whispered:
"Ọmọmi… oghian rẹ no gha vbe emi."
("My child… your future now walks with mine.")
And then—
She vanished.
Into thin air.
A faint wind stirred the room, but she was gone.
Ehogsa stepped in, walking slowly toward Christopher. She knelt beside him, unable to hold back the sobs that rocked her body.
Her hand clutched his.
And in that moment, she remembered what her mother had told her once—words she never believed until now:
"If Ese ever causes Christopher to leave this house…
She, you, and Onome will be trapped inside it forever if you join her -
Unless Christopher breaks the spell."