Urenma (The River Goddess) - Episode 20

 

The entire land of Ukeh knew that someday the two children would achieve greater things than their parents. But in the meantime they were awed by the thunderstorm which removed Urenma’s bones from her grave.

On a certain eke market day, the sound of music was heard heading toward Ukeh and a large crowd followed a man. Ukeh did not know what the celebration was for . Obinze had drawn a crowd to himself as he passed through villages on his way to Ukeh. The legend who saved their lands when Ogidi came and had gone to the lands of the spirit to bring back his wife was on his back home. When Obinze and the entoutage which followed him drew near to the eke market, people came out to see what the sound of music was for; and there in the midst of overly excited men and women was Obinze. The effect of Obinze’s return was beyond words. In Ukeh and the lands around it, a big celebration began. To impress Obinze young men came to wrestle at the village square. Foods and drinks were made available by the rich men of Ukeh and the villages around them.

When Obinze had peeled himself away from the people who swarmed around him, he blocked off time for his children and Urenma’s parents. They were the only ones he told the details of his journey to the river world; however he did not tell them about the beast from the sky and the small wooden ring

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/urenma-the-river-goddess

. “In a few days Urenma shall return. In battles I won her hand in marriage”. Ngbankwo and Okeke were filled with joy. They didn’t mind her being a goddess; she was their daughter for all they cared. Obiakor and Olachi cried in excitement that their mother was coming back. When Ngbankwo and Okeke left to attend to their increasing guest, Obiakor and Olachi jumped on Obinze and wouldn’t let go of him. In between some hunter with his father. Obiakor would pinch him to know if he was still human. “Papa you mean you fought against spirits and beat them” quizzed Obiakor “Yes I fought them and many for that matter. I also beheld the gods, my eyes saw them. I have some friends there now”. “You do?” asked Olachi “Yes Ola, a plant and a fish. They helped me in my most challenging time. And when your mother was imprisoned in a cage, the fish helped her”. “What! They put my mother in a cage! Which of the spirits did that?” asked Obiakor “The gods”, “I see; someday I shall go there to take a wife and the gods shall tell me why they put my mother in a cage”, boasted Obiakor “Obiakor, the river world is not a place you want to go. If not for love, I wouldn’t have gone there” “Papa you have just returned, soon you will hear of me. I am ome ka nna ya(a son who behaves like his father). Everything you have done so far I shall do and much more”. “I see your grandmother has been feeding you stories”. “Even me papa, a prince shall come from the river world to marry me” said Olachi. “So Ola, you will go to live in the river world?” “No, the prince shall live here in Ukeh with me”.

“I can see that you two have planned your future already. I have to leave now to go and speak with the elders, in a few days your mother shall return”. Obinze’s children grudgingly let him go.

Read " S.I.R.E.N (The Journey of Love) " by the same author ( Ifeoma Isabella Okeke )

. When he sat with the elders, Obinze told them the much he could and explained the thunderstorm, “That was the gods preparing to return my wife Urenma. In a few days she shall be with us”. “When she returns, we shall give her a great feast. And also the post you left as the chief of all the lands around us is still waiting for you” responded the elders “I have no desire for that position now; I have missed my family for long, maybe when my wife returns, we will discuss if I should take it again”. And so the preparations were made in readiness to welcome her.

Days and weeks passed and there was no sign of Urenma, Obinze began to wonder if the gods had beguiled him and locked his wife in a cage again. To make matters worse, Akputa, the medince man who helped him cross into the river world was dead. To say the least, Obinze was worried; however when people asked him about Urenma’s return, he would answer cheerfully that she would soon be with them.
Sick and tried of waiting for their mother to return, one early morning, Obiakor and Olachi set to Nwangele River to demand that the gods return their mother to them. When they reached the river, Obiakor was the first to speak “Hear me ye spirits under this river, your sin of refusing to release my mother to her family and that of putting her in a cage, are amongst many sins whose consequences you shall bear. I shall find a way into the river world in this life or in another, and when I leave, there shall be no river world. I am OBIAKOR OBINZE, the son of a goddess and a warrior who fought spirits and prevailed. I am not like my father! I am half human and a half spirit and this you know well! I demand that this day you release Urenma my mother or wait for my wrath!” Obiakor cast some local currency into the river and stepped aside for his sister to address the gods in Nwangele...