Sulphur & Lightning Chapter 27: 026 - Atilogwu

Read chapter 27 of Sulphur & Lightning by anaugustauthor on NovelPedia.

Drums beat loudly in the courtyard of the Chukwudifu manor. They didn’t beat loudly. It just seemed like they did because the world shook with their rhythm, like the earth had gained a new heartbeat. This never-slowing beat carried across the castle's halls, calling all its members and staff outside for a while. All work was suspended to observe the Atilogwu dance. While they waited, their bodies were moved by the music unconsciously, even the strictest guard not being able to restrain himself from humming and bobbing his head slightly – the music dared one not to dance. The word “atilogwu” itself meant “possessing magic,” as it was believed that the drummers and dancers were possessed by the magic of their ancestors or special draughts, enabling them to produce their music and dance. Speaking of dancers, it was at this moment that they filed out. Almost militarily, moving in time with the beat, but charged with the same electricity that had captured the air here. Brightly apparelled, barefoot, and carried away by the energy of the atmosphere, the dancers came to the great pleasure of their spectators, bodies shaking like leaves in the breeze. Elijah watched with some interest and was moved as well (he flexed his jaw to the beat), though he tried his best not to move for fear of being conspicuous – Chaina’s mother was seated close by. She was a few dozen metres away, high on the same parapet that Elijah and Chaina were. The heiress had insisted that they were too far from her for it to be an issue, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be comfortable. This was the closest he had ever been to a Highborn matriarch, and it was closer than he had ever planned to be. Still, even the worst tight-arse would feel themselves unwind in this atmosphere. Green. White. Yellow. Their colourful costumes dashed across the field in a flurry of activity so rapid and synchronised that nothing but his superior vision kept him in the loop. For all the speed and uniformity, the dance did not lose its elasticity, though. Every third gyration felt entirely planned but simultaneously struck the audience like a flash and stole a cheer from their lips before they were even aware of it. The rhythm shifted but never slowed, keeping that heartbeat sensation and ever rising, increasing the urgency of the dancers and their audience. The ogene (gong) sounded out with multiple sharp peals, signalling to the drummers the next song to play. The dancers seemed aware of it, stopping mid-step, mid-thought, mid-breath, and dancing exactly in sync at the moment the drummers switched, as though precognisant of the song to be played. This cycle repeated over and over. The conductor with the gong was seemingly trying to catch his dancers and drummers out by his ridiculous and abrupt changes, but failed each time. Elijah was well impressed by this, but his superior vision meant that, although he could not predict their stances, he could comprehend the fullness of the dance. It was amusing, riveting even, but just that. He turned to his side and saw that the young mistress was enraptured with the performance. Her pitch-black eyes spoke of memories and lives lived prior, and he couldn’t help but smile at her contentment. He sighed in his heart, and her elation was his for a moment. It was as he watched her that he noticed something changing on the field. Suddenly, the formation broke. Pairs became trios; trios stacked into columns. A boy dropped low, and another leapt, landing on his shoulders without breaking tempo. The base dancer’s feet continued their rapid pattern even as the weight shifted upward. Another climbed higher still, bare soles pressing briefly against backs and shoulders before finding their perch. A human tower rose from dust and music. And it danced. Yes, it danced. It is hard to explain, but this dance wasn’t the cautious sway of an unstable structure — but a living column bending, turning, answering the drums. Arms extended. Heads snapped. Anklets ratt