The shadows bowed before him.
Not because they feared him…
but because he created them.
In the underground sanctum beneath the old Third Mainland bridge pillars, Lord Orunmare opened his eyes. The air trembled instantly. Spirals of black mist coiled around his fingers, reacting to his breath, shaping his thoughts into form.
A single ember of blue flame hovered before him — the last dying spark of the scout he sent to Makoko.
The spark whispered:
> "The boy has awakened."
Orunmare smiled slowly.
"So… the serpent stirs."
His voice echoed like a soft drum in a cavern. Dark energy rippled outward, lighting faint runic lines carved into the stone floor. The symbols formed a serpent coiling around a twin sun, glowing faintly.
He lifted the spark closer, inspecting it.
"Show me."
The spark expanded into an illusion — Kafé on the walkway, the glowing silver chain, the sudden flare of power, the shadows recoiling.
Orunmare leaned forward, intrigued.
"A child, yet the mark answers him already."
He exhaled deeply. "Abeni hid him well."
Behind him, his apprentices knelt, trembling. They never spoke unless spoken to. Orunmare did not like useless voices.
One apprentice finally dared to lift her head.
"Master… the shadows say the boy is protected. The island holds a barrier."
Orunmare turned slowly.
His gaze alone silenced her breath.
"The barrier is older than your fear," he said calmly. "Older than Lagos. Older than even the Serpent Order."
He stood, robes trailing like liquid darkness.
"The Serpent Order failed me once. Their foolish rituals, their war with the Jackal, their arrogance…"
His eyes sharpened.
"But destiny always restores itself."
He stretched his hand toward the glowing runes. The symbols shifted into two figures.
Twin figures.
Two serpents.
One shining gold.
One burning black.
Taye and Kafé.
"Twins born under the same eclipse," he murmured. "Two vessels. But only one destiny."
The runes glowed brighter.
> "Two shall rise. Only one shall carry the dawn."
Orunmare's smile widened, cold and patient.
"But the dawn… belongs to the one I shape, not the one fate chooses."
He flicked his hand, and an image of Taye appeared — running through the forest, escaping Barutu's flaming compound.
"That one has already tasted fire," Orunmare whispered. "Pain has shaped him. The shadows whisper his name."
He lowered his voice until it felt like the room itself leaned forward to listen.
"Taye Adeniyi… the child stolen twice. First by the Order. Then by the Jackal."
His eyes gleamed.
"A perfect weapon."
The apprentices exchanged nervous glances.
Orunmare continued, voice soft and deadly:
"Kafé carries the mark. But Taye carries the hunger. The need to prove himself. The ache of abandonment."
He stepped deeper into the sanctum and placed his palm on a cracked stone altar.
"Find Taye. Bring him to me."
The shadows rose eagerly, twisting into a swarm, awaiting their master's command.
"Once the twins face each other," he whispered,
"only one path remains…"
A deeper darkness gathered above him — a presence ancient and formless, responding to his call. For a moment, even the shadows trembled in its wake.
The presence whispered back:
"THE DUSK RISES.
THE DAWN DIVIDES."
Orunmare's eyes flashed white.
He extended his arm toward the lagoon, far beyond the cavern walls.
"Kafé Adeniyi," he said, voice cold, "your power returns to you. But your destiny… belongs to me."
The shadows burst through the sanctum roof, streaking across Lagos like smoke chasing breath.
Across the city, lights flickered.
Birds scattered violently from the trees.
A faint tremor rippled through Makoko's waters.
Kafé felt it instantly — a chill crawling down his spine.
Imade looked at him, worried.
"Again?" she whispered.
Kafé nodded, swallowing hard.
"He's watching."
Back at the Sanctum
Orunmare watched the tremor spread.
His voice thundered softly:
"Let the boy run. Let him hide."
His cloak fluttered as the shadows returned to him.
"When the time is right, the brothers will stand before me…"
A pause.
A smile.
"…and the dawn will kneel."