The forest went quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the insects stopped.
Then he saw them.
Three wolves stepped from the undergrowth.
The forest seemed to shrink around them.
They did not rush.
They spread out.
One drifting left through the low ferns.
Another pacing slowly to the right, its paws silent against the damp soil.
The third remained in front of him, head lowered, watching with patient intelligence.
They were not wandering beasts.
They were hunters and Ojadili is thier game .
The pattern was deliberate — a slow tightening circle meant to trap prey that tried to flee.
Running would only trigger the chase.
And wolves never lose a chase.
The one in front took a step closer.
Not aggressive.
Confident.
It already knew the outcome.
Ojadili's eyes moved from one to the other, his breath shallow.
They were cutting off every path.
Their fur was matted with old hunts. Their ribs visible beneath taut skin. Their eyes glowed ember .
Just hungry.
Their predator mechanics at it's peak .
Ojadili's pulse hammered against his skull.
No divine power waiting to answer his call.
Just skin, bone, and fear.
A bitter laugh almost escaped him.
Moments ago he had stood before gods and survived their judgment.
Yet now death had come in a far simpler form.
Three starving animals.
No prophecy.
No law.
No divine court.
Just teeth and hunger.
His chest tightened.
"Is this truly how it ends?" he whispered under his breath.
Not as a warrior.
Not as a chosen man.
But as prey in the mud.
He searched himself .His hands moved across his body again, searching desperately.
No weapon.
No divine spark.
No shield.
"Amadioha is this your Justice?" Ojadili cried out .
The first wolf circled left.
The second lowered its head, testing the air.
The third did not move.
It watched.
It studied.
They wait for collapse.
Ojadili took a step back.
Dry leaves crunched beneath his heel.
The nearest wolf lunged halfway forward — not attacking yet, only measuring distance.
Fear flooded him.
Not the fear of gods.
Not the fear of death.
But the fear of dying meaninglessly.
Here.
In dirt.
After surviving heaven. He wished the gods killed him directly in Heaven than dying and been use as food to these animal.
His breathing became uneven.
Memories flickered violently across his mind — the divine court, lightning suspended in Amadioha's palm, Ani's calm voice, Amamiheuwa's defense.
He had been worthy of judgment.
But here?
He was prey.
The watching wolf moved first.
Fast.
Silent.
It sprang.
The wolf exploded forward like a released arrow.
Ojadili barely saw the movement.
One moment it stood still.
The next it was already air
borne.
He twisted sideways on instinct, throwing his weight backward. The animal's claws tore through the front of his clothing instead of his throat.
Fabric ripped apart beneath curved talons.
He crashed into the ground.
Dirt filled his mouth.
The wolf landed beside him and turned instantly for another strike.
Too fast.
Another shape rushed from the side — the second wolf closing in while he struggled to rise.
They were not attacking separately.
They were attacking together.
The first snapped its jaws inches from his face.
Ojadili rolled desperately across the ground as teeth slammed shut where his neck had been moments before.
Leaves and mud clung to his skin as he scrambled backward.
But the circle had already tightened.
Ojadili leaped, but teeth tore into his shoulder. Pain exploded through his body. He screamed — raw, unfiltered — as hot blood soaked into torn fabric.
He stumbled.
Fell.
Another wolf leapt but he instinctively kicks him off with his feet.
Claws raked across his chest.
Air left his lungs.
The forest spun.
He grabbed a fallen a stone .
The rock was heavier than he expected.
His fingers slipped against its rough surface as he tried to lift it. Pain shot through his injured shoulder, sending a wave of weakness down his arm.
The wolf clinging to him growled louder, its jaws tightening slightly as if sensing his fading strength.
Ojadili forced himself to breathe.
Slow.
Focus.
He dragged the stone upward with both hands, muscles straining violently. The weight trembled above his chest for a moment.
Then he swung.
The rock slammed down against the wolf's skull with a dull crack.
But the force didn't land well.
The animal yelped and released him briefly, staggering back.
But it did not fall.
It shook its head violently, fur bristling as it regained balance.
Ojadili stared in disbelief.
He just poured water on a rock .
Even that desperate strike had not been enough.
The other wolves were already moving again.
Closer.
Hungrier.
The wolves pressed closer.
Their growls vibrated through the ground itself.
His heart pounded louder than their snarls.
"I cannot die like this," he thought as he begins to loose consciousness.
The third wolf then stretched forward and lunged for his throat.
Something inside him snapped.
A voice — distant and ancient — whispered somewhere inside the storm of the deep and evil forest .
At first he thought it was simply his body giving up.
A strange numbness spread through his chest, spreading outward through his arms like cold water beneath the skin.
But the sensation did not feel like weakness.
It felt… alive.
Just then HE BLACKED OUT .
Tiny sparks crawled beneath his flesh, flickering along his nerves like restless insects searching for escape.
The air around him shifted.
The hairs on the wolves' backs suddenly rose.
A low whine escaped the throat of the closest one.
Animals feel storms long before they appear.
Static crept across the ground.
Ojadili's fingers twitched against the soil.
Not courage.
Not rage.
Something deeper.
Lightning flickered beneath his skin.
A faint crackle danced along his fingertips.
Small arcs of light flickered briefly between them — faint and unstable, like lightning trapped inside a fragile cage.
The wolves hesitated.
Their instincts screamed danger.
But hunger pushed them forward.
Another wolf leapt.
And the storm inside Ojadili finally broke free
The one aiming at his throat hesitated mid-air.
Too late.
Thunder did not roar from the sky.
It erupted from him.
A violent surge burst outward — white-blue energy tearing through flesh and soil. The nearest wolf convulsed as lightning coursed through its body. The smell of burnt fur filled the air.
Ojadili is unconscious but something inside him is Conscious.
The forest lit up for one blinding second.
Then darkness returned.
Two wolves lay motionless.
The smell of burnt fur spread slowly through the rain-soaked air.
Thin wisps of smoke curled upward from the lifeless bodies, dissolving into the dark branches above.
For several seconds nothing moved.
Even the wind seemed afraid to disturb the silence.
The surviving wolf stood frozen at the edge of the clearing, chest rising and falling rapidly as it stared at the fallen members of its pack.
Predators understood death.
But this was not a death it recognized.
The creature lowered its head slightly, growling under its breath as if warning the strange force that had struck them.
Then even that began to disappear.
Leaving only rain.
Pain.
And the quiet forest watching everything.
Ojadili remained motionless.
Lightning still flickered faintly across his skin like fading echoes of a storm that had already passed.
The third staggered backward, fur smoking, eyes wide in animal terror as he runs away tail between it's leg.
Ojadstood there as the forest breeze trembles on his presence .
His body trembled violently and it's collapse once more on the floor .
The surviving wolf growled low — not attacking now, but wary.
Predators understand power in particular more than Prey to avoid painful Death.
Even when they do not understand its source.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
His vision blurred.
Blood dripped steadily onto the soil.
The lightning flickered again around his hand — weaker this time.
Unstable.
Uncontrolled.
The final wolf despite running away to a distance seeing the loss of power , decides to revenge his falling pack , It lunged once more, desperate.
Ojadili raised his hand instinctively.
Another surge erupted.
This time smaller but effectively .
Focused.
It struck the wolf mid-leap.
The creature collapsed in silence.
No dramatic explosion.
No roaring thunder.
Just sudden stillness.
The forest held its breath.
Ojadili remained kneeling.
Rain began to fall.
Soft at first.
Then steady.
It washed blood into the soil.
He looked at his trembling hands.
The lightning faded.
Completely.
Leaving only pain.
His body swayed.
The adrenaline vanished.
Reality returned.
He was injured.
Alone.
Weak.
The wolves were dead.
But the forest was not merciful.
He tried to stand again.
This time he succeeded — barely.
Each step forward felt like walking through water.
His shoulder burned.
His chest throbbed.
His legs shook beneath him.
"I cannot collapse," he whispered.
But the trees blurred.
Darkness crept at the edges of his sight.
The rain intensified.
Mud clung to his feet.
Every breath felt heavier than the last.
Lightning no longer answered him.
It had retreated.
Or perhaps…
it had never belonged to him at all.
After sone hours he finally wakes up ,
He couldn't remember a thing at that moment.
He tries to move but it was difficult.
Then the world tilted.
He fell face-first into wet earth.
The forest closed in around his unconscious form.
Rain continued.
Silent.
Indifferent.
Nevertheless, he rose as he continues his journey home.
Deep within the clouds above —
lightning flickered again.
Not summoned.
Watching.