"The spirits of a people never die. They retreat, watching from roots and rivers, waiting for one who dares to bleed on their soil again."
— Inscription on the Shrine of Aro Ndizuogu
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Location: Outskirts of Ngwo Forest — Two Days Later
Obinna's boots—well, what was left of them—crunched over moss-covered stone. The grove behind him was now distant, and the presence of the Council faded like the last notes of a funeral dirge.
His spear, still faintly glowing with etched Igbo glyphs, tapped softly against his shoulder. Azụmiri flew silently above, casting no shadow, though the sun blazed high.
> "The Council gave me no direction," Obinna muttered.
> "They gave you the truth," Azụmiri corrected. "And you survived the Trial. That is direction enough."
> "Surviving doesn't make me ready," he said. "It just makes me still breathing."
> "So speak with the dead," came a third voice.
Obinna turned.
From behind an overgrown termite mound, Mbanugo emerged, her serpent slithering beside her like an afterthought.
> "You followed me?"
> "I guided you," she replied. "You don't even know what shrine you're standing on, do you?"
She pointed ahead. Trees bent unnaturally around a smooth hill shaped like a cracked tortoise shell. The air grew heavier. Even Azụmiri, who once burned with stormlight, dimmed slightly.
> "This is a living shrine," Mbanugo whispered. "One of the few that still listens."
> "To what?"
> "To pain."
---
The Shrine of Ndizuogu
Obinna stepped forward cautiously. His heartbeat slowed. The hill's surface shifted as if breathing. A strange warmth radiated upward. Faint images shimmered across its surface—warriors marching, gods kneeling, women weeping with machetes in hand.
He knelt and pressed a palm to the stone.
Suddenly — darkness.
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Memory Plane — The Shrine's Heart
He stood in a smoky realm where time curled like incense. Around him, thousands of shadows wept and wailed, bound in chains made of war medals and colonial flags. Children clung to broken slates. Spirits wore army fatigues soaked in blood, Biafran crests dimly glowing.
At the center stood a boy—no older than Obinna—his skin glowing with fractured glyphs. A chain pierced his heart, dragging behind him a coffin.
> "Who are you?" Obinna asked.
> "The First Broken," the boy said softly.
> "Your name?"
> "Lost. When I refused to forget, they tore it from my tongue. Now I carry only pain. And this…"
He motioned to the coffin.
> "My generation."
> "You… you were one of us?"
> "We were all one. But you… are one again. You are the restart. The rebirth."
Obinna looked at the chains, at the silent army of forgotten dead, and clenched his jaw.
> "Then tell me what to do."
> "When the Living Shrine breathes your name, you are no longer allowed to walk small," the boy said. "You either awaken what sleeps in your blood…"
The coffin snapped open behind him, light and dust pouring out.
> "…or you bury us again."
Obinna reached forward.
And screamed.
---
Reality — Back in the Shrine
Obinna fell back, gasping.
His veins burned gold.
A new glyph had appeared on his neck—a coffin wrapped in thorns.
> "You entered the Inner Root," Mbanugo said quietly. "And survived."
> "The First Broken," Obinna whispered. "He was just a boy."
> "He was the first Biafran Seer. One of the originals who bound gods into war beasts. And the first to fall when the betrayals began."
Azụmiri landed beside them, his eagle eyes fierce.
> "Three glyphs before the Council. Four now. Obinna, you are spiraling toward awakening far faster than the prophecies predicted."
> "And faster than the Nigerian military would prefer," Mbanugo added.
> "Then let them come," Obinna said.
---
Meanwhile — Nigerian Military Complex, Kaduna
General Bello stood before a stone altar—not one of Christian make, but carved by a secret division funded by foreign groups.
On it lay a glass box.
Inside slept a child, no older than ten, floating in suspended animation.
His eyes opened—pure white.
> "Number 7 is awake," said the French envoy. "Shall we test him?"
> "No," Bello replied.
> "Then what?"
> "Send him… to Enugu. Let's see what a god-child does against another."
---
Nightfall — Spirit Grove Edge
Obinna sat alone beside a fire, scraping his grandfather's staff with a knife, carving marks into it. Mbanugo rested beside a tree, softly humming a song from her mother's village.
Azụmiri slept in flame-form, wings wrapped tight like a cloak.
Obinna stared into the fire, voice low.
> "Mbanugo?"
> "Hmm?"
> "Why me?"
She turned to look at him.
> "Because the gods made you a vessel."
> "And you? Why help?"
> "Because your scream in the shrine woke something in me," she said, placing her hand over her heart. "And because maybe… I'm tired of running from what I am."
> "And what's that?"
> "A remnant," she whispered. "Like you. A piece of history trying not to drown."
They fell into silence.
But the shadows moved around them now.
Because something was coming.
And it would not knock.
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⚔️ End of Chapter 6 — Shadows of the Living Shrine
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📘 Mini-Dictionary (New Terms Introduced)
Shrine of Aro Ndizuogu – A living monument that holds the memories and spiritual residue of a forgotten Biafran generation. One of the last places in Nigeria that allows direct contact with soul memory.
The First Broken – A young Seer from the original war who became a spiritual martyr. Now serves as a guardian within the shrine's memory plane.
Glyph of Thorns – The fourth glyph Obinna acquires, symbolizing sacrifice, remembrance, and unhealed loss. It deepens his spiritual connection but also begins to burden his body.
Remnants – Spirit-bound individuals who survived magical collapse during the first Biafran awakening. Most hide, are hunted, or went mad.