Eleko sat cross-legged on the earthen floor; he held the one-foot length chain by its middle link and swung it gently over the large square of dark cloth lying flat on the ground. The thin chain consisted of four concave nuts from an Opele tree linked at equidistant intervals down each side. As the village’s Babalawo, their shaman, the divination chain was Eleko’s means of channeling Orunmila, the Yoruba god of wisdom and knowledge.
Across from him, Adagba, the leader of the village’s hunter’s guild, the Egbe Ode, sat cross-legged, watching the chain pendulum over the cloth. Sweat beaded along the forehead of the man’s midnight-black skin, and his dark eyes gazed intermittently from the chain to Eleko, who chanted the sacred Odu of Ifa.
With a flick of his wrist, Eleko cast the string of nuts onto the cloth; it landed in a twisted, snake-like pattern as if a great serpent writhed on the floor. Both men leaned forward and peered intently at the configuration of the chain.
“What does the Opele tell you, Eleko?” the broad, muscular shoulders of the hunter visibly knotted with tension.
Eleko stared at the divination chain; his lips pursed as he studied every twist and turn. The Babalawo blew out a deep breath and sat back, his eyes filled with regret when he finally looked up at the hunter. Adagba met his gaze, searching his face for…
