The woman stepped out from the glowing forest, her feet not touching the ground.
Her long white cloth flowed like smoke.
Her eyes shimmered like moonlight on water.
Sade's breath caught.
She looked exactly like the woman who appeared in her dreams…
the same calm smile,
the same glowing skin,
the same whisper calling her name.
"Tunde…" Sade whispered. "She's the one. She's the voice I've been hearing."
Tunde took a protective step forward.
"Spirit, state your purpose."
The woman laughed softly.
A warm, echoing sound.
"I have many names," she said. "But for you, Sade… you may call me Olúkọ́ Ẹmí—the Guide of Souls, I am a GODDESS.
Sade felt a strange pull toward her.
Not fear.
Not danger.
Something deeper.
Something that felt like… memory.
"Why have you been calling me?" Sade asked, her voice trembling.
The goddess spread her hands gently.
"Because your journey began long before your birth. And now… it is time for you to understand who you truly are."
Tunde stepped between them, voice sharp.
"You had no right to drag her into the in-between!"
The goddess glanced at him calmly.
"I did not drag her. I awakened her."
Sade frowned.
"Awakened me? Awakened me to what?"
Tunde clenched his jaw, clearly uneasy.
"Don't listen to her too quickly," he said softly to Sade. "Old spirits speak truths in pieces."
Olúkọ́ Ẹmí raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, boy-who-walks-between-worlds… you fear what she will become."
Tunde stiffened.
"That's not true."
But Sade could tell—
he was afraid.
Not of the spirit…
but of what she might reveal.
---
The goddess stepped closer, her glow brightening.
"Sade… you did not cross by accident. You crossed because your spirit is one of the rarest."
Sade blinked.
"My spirit?"
"You are what the Yoruba call Ayè-Ọrun…"
"...a child of both realms."
Sade's heart skipped.
"I don't understand."
The spirit touched Sade's chest with a finger of light.
"You are alive… yet your spirit hears us. Sees us. Walks where others cannot."
Tunde looked down, troubled.
Sade whispered, "Tunde… is that true?"
He hesitated.
Then nodded slowly.
"I sensed it the first day I saw you."
Sade stepped back, overwhelmed.
"So all my dreams… the whispers… the strange feelings… it wasn't madness?"
"No," the goddess said gently. "It was your birthright."
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
The glowing trees dimmed.
The air grew colder.
Olúkọ́ Ẹmí's smile faded.
"There is little time. The shadow that followed you— it is no ordinary spirit. It is an Ajẹ́ Ọkùnkùn… a devourer of souls."
Sade's blood turned cold.
"What does it want with me?"
The spirit's eyes darkened.
"It wants to claim your Ayè-Ọrun spirit. With it… it will gain power over both the living and the dead."
Tunde stepped closer to Sade protectively.
"Over my dead body," he muttered.
The goddess touched Sade's cheek softly.
"You can return to your body, child. But if you do, the shadow will follow you. And it will not stop."
Sade swallowed hard.
"So what are my choices?"
The spirit lifted her glowing hand, and two paths appeared behind her—
one shining with light,
the other shadowed and twisting.
"Stay and learn your power…"
"Or return to life and face the dark alone."
Sade stared at both paths.
Her heart pounded.
Tunde watched her, silently praying she wouldn't choose the one that would take her away from him.
The goddess whispered:
"Choose wisely… Ayè-Ọrun."