Abieyuwa

OZIEGBE the mighty warrior triumphs in yet another great battle. On his way home with his trusted officers, he encounters the elusive OBOH (diviner), who proclaim him as king with blood on his hands; a prophecy that unearths his long, deep-seated ambition of becoming the Oba of Benin Kingdom. Supported by his key ally AKPAPAVA, who resents OBA OKODUWA for taking away his beautiful fiancé, INE, and made her his last wife, Oziegbe plots a coup to murder Oba Okoduwa and ascend the throne. On the fateful day, in the wee hours of the morning, Oziegbe and his forces storm the royal home and engage the royal guards in a bloody battle. At that same hour Ine, heavy with child, goes to labour and with the help of the Queen Mother she gives birth to a set of male twins, but she passes out in the process. INEDIA, one of the palace messengers runs into the labour room asphyxiating. He announces that the palace is under attack by Oziegbe and his forces. They all become afraid. GUOBADIA, a formidable, noble warrior shows up in the labour room then and the Queen Mother pleads with him to stay and protect the new heir of the throne. ODION, the personal maid of EDOWAYE, Oziegbe’s wife, shows up with a baby boy, trembling. Odion narrates that her mistress, Oziegbe’s wife also went into labour, and she passed out after giving birth. Afraid her mistress has died, she runs down to the palace with her mistress’ baby boy, since no one else was at home. The Queen Mother takes the child Odion came with and gives it to Osamede, one of her personal maids. And she gives the second twin child of Ine to Odion, after making Odion promise never to reveal what she has done to anyone till the time is right. And then Odion exits with the second twin. The Queen Mother then commands Osalumese to rise with the first twin child, the heir to the throne, and with Inedia and Guobadia guarding them, they venture out racing towards the great forest to escape with the child to a foreign land. In the palace, Oziegbe finally defeats IDAHOSA, the chief of the royal guards. And then he murders the Oba at the foot of the throne. He storms out of the palace with his officers. Oziegbe enters the labour room; GLARES at Osamede and the Queen Mother carrying a baby boy. He forces the child out of the Queen Mother’s arms and kills it. That instant Ine comes to consciousness asking for her second twin baby. Through blurry vision Ine sees the knife in Oziegbe’s hand dripping of blood and the murdered baby on the floor, and in anguish she passes out again never to wake. Oziegbe realizes it is a set of twins; he THREATENS Osamede who REVEALS that Osalumese is fleeing with the second child into the forest, but did not mention Guobadia’s name. Oziegbe commands men to go after them, and then he orders his men left to kill the two women; the Queen mother and Osamede. Guobadia and his companion RACE through the dense forest towards the other end, where they hope to take a boat and sail across the mighty river to another land. The men Oziegbe sent after them CATCHES up with them. Guobadia strikes down two of the four men. One of the two remaining men; OSEZELE, key officer, confronts Guobadia in a fierce battle and the other; UYI, goes after the child. ABIEYUWA; seven feet tall; fearsome Amazon and the greatest archer in the empire, APPEARS from the distance RACING down with all her MIGHT. She SWIFTLY unleash lethal cuts on the man battling with Guobadia, and races ahead to save the child. The second man KILLS Inedia; CATCHES up with Osalumese and DRAGS the child out of her arms; LIFTS his dagger to kill the child but he FREEZES from an arrow that pierces his chest. He falls and passes out. Abieyuwa arrives at the spot and helps Osalumese holding on to the child to her bosom. Guobadia arrives too, and urges them to go on, for he must return in order to give the child a chance to survive. Guobadia bids them goodbye; Abieyuwa leads Osalumese and the baby, and they board a boat and sail away to a foreign land. Oziegbe is finally crowned the Oba; he puts to death all who were not in support of him. Abieyuwa and Osalumese encounters a storm that capsizes their boat. But somehow, they survive the storm and finds themselves in the land of Yenagoa. A kind man, DISEYE, sees them struggling and he helps them out of the water and takes them into his home. In Yenagoa, Abieyuwa meets and fall in love with ALEOGHENE, with whom she bears three children; OMENAI the first child, IYE who completely takes after her mother, and IGENE the last child. Osalumese also marries and bear three sons. The year rolls by in Benin with strange things BEDEVILLING the land. Harvest time turns into periods of MOURNING, which gets worse each year. Women begins to die in child birth. And if any woman survives, the child will be a female child. Their livestock are not left out. Oziegbe has fathered many children, but none is a male child and he is deeply troubled. In the land of Yenagoa, Abieyuwa and Osalumese prospers. Gradually Akenzua, the first twin and heir to the Benin throne grows into a courageous young man and warrior under the tutelage of Abieyuwa. And then it is time to return to Benin to reclaim his throne. In Yenagoa, Abieyuwa assisted by the Oba of Yenagoa, is able to assemble a huge army. They build massive boats and weapons, and eventually sets sail to Benin to confront Oziegbe and his army in a final showdown. Oziegbe learns of the presence of Abieyuwa and her forces, and he commands Akpapava to prepare their army for battle. He then employs the services of an evil diviner, who makes a mysterious bow that when shot, turns an arrow into two-head fiery serpents that eats into a body and rapidly fizzles the body down into ashes. How far will Abieyuwa and her forces go against Oziegbe’s huge army and his evil diviner?