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The Shadow Of Freiya Tamuno

The Shadow of Freiya Tamuno is a short fictional story by Benn Ik an award winning poet and novelist. Author of the award winning novel THE TRUTH and many other short stories and poems like the anthology of poems "Poems from the cloud of reality published on Amazon. He has also been published and featured in many magazines and blogazines both local and internationally. He was the secetary of the Nigerian Young Writers Association.

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The Shadow of Freiya Tamuno

In the heart of the Niger Delta, where the rivers snake through dense mangroves and the air hums with the songs of cicadas, there lay a small village called Ogbokor. It was a place where the sun kissed the earth with golden warmth, and the people lived simple lives, bound by tradition and the rhythms of nature. Among them was a young girl named Freiya Tamuno, whose name meant "gift of the gods." She was known for her sharp wit, her curious mind, and her restless spirit. But Freiya’s life was about to take a turn that would forever alter her destiny.

Freiya was only fourteen when the men came. They arrived in the dead of night, their faces obscured by dark masks, their movements swift and silent. They moved like shadows, slipping through the village with practiced ease. Freiya had been outside, sitting under the moonlight, weaving a basket from palm fronds. She loved the stillness of the night, the way it seemed to hold secrets just out of reach. But that night, the stillness was shattered.

Before she could scream, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she was lifted off the ground. She struggled, but her captors were too strong. They carried her through the forest, their footsteps muffled by the thick undergrowth. Freiya’s heart pounded in her chest as she was taken farther and farther from everything she had ever known.

When they finally stopped, they were deep in the forest, in a clearing surrounded by towering trees. In the center of the clearing stood a large, ancient tree, its roots twisting like serpents into the earth. Beneath it was a hidden entrance, a trapdoor that led underground. Freiya was dragged down into the darkness, where she found herself in a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers. This was the headquarters of the Black Mamba Society, a secret association of assassins who had operated in the shadows for centuries.

The leader of the society, a woman known only as Mama Onyeka, greeted Freiya with a cold, appraising gaze. Mama Onyeka was a formidable figure, her face lined with the marks of a life lived in the shadows. She spoke with a voice that was both soft and commanding, like the hiss of a snake.

“You are here because you have been chosen,” Mama Onyeka said. “You have a fire within you, a hunger for justice. We will train you, mold you into a weapon. You will become one of us, a Black Mamba, striking down those who prey on the weak and corrupt the land.”

Freiya’s mind raced. She wanted to protest, to demand to be returned to her village. But something in Mama Onyeka’s words stirred a deep, primal part of her. She had always felt a sense of injustice, a burning anger at the way the powerful exploited the powerless. And so, against her better judgment, she nodded.

The training was brutal. Freiya was pushed to her limits, physically and mentally. She learned to move silently, to blend into the shadows, to strike with deadly precision. She was taught the art of disguise, of deception, of manipulation. She learned to wield knives, guns, and poisons with equal skill. But the most important lesson she learned was patience. The Black Mambas did not act rashly. They waited, watched, and struck only when the time was right.

Years passed, and Freiya grew into a formidable assassin. She was given the codename “Enyimba,” meaning “elephant,” for her strength and resilience. Her first mission was a test, a way to prove her loyalty and skill. She was sent to Lagos, to eliminate a corrupt politician who had been embezzling funds meant for public infrastructure. The man lived in a fortified mansion, surrounded by guards and security systems. But Freiya was undeterred.

She infiltrated the mansion under the cover of darkness, moving like a ghost through the halls. She found the politician in his study, surrounded by stacks of money and expensive art. He looked up as she entered, his eyes widening in fear. Freiya did not hesitate. She slit his throat with a single, swift motion, leaving him to bleed out on the floor. As she disappeared into the night, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction. She had struck a blow against the corruption that plagued her country.

Over the years, Freiya carried out many such missions. She became a legend, a ghost story whispered among the corrupt and powerful. They called her the “Shadow of the Delta,” a phantom who struck without warning and left no trace. But with each life she took, a piece of her soul seemed to wither away. She began to question the morality of her actions, the toll it was taking on her humanity.

One night, after completing a particularly difficult mission, Freiya returned to the Black Mamba headquarters. She found Mama Onyeka waiting for her in the central chamber, her expression unreadable.

“You have done well, Enyimba,” Mama Onyeka said. “But I sense that you are troubled.”

Freiya hesitated. She had never spoken of her doubts to anyone, but the weight of them was becoming unbearable.

“I… I don’t know if I can continue,” she admitted. “Every time I take a life, I feel like I lose a part of myself. I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

Mama Onyeka regarded her with a mixture of pity and understanding. “The path of the Black Mamba is not an easy one,” she said. “It requires sacrifice, both of others and of oneself. But remember why you are here. You are fighting for justice, for the people who cannot fight for themselves. You are a weapon, yes, but you are also a shield.”

Freiya nodded, but the words did little to ease her conscience. She knew that Mama Onyeka was right, that the work she was doing was necessary. But she also knew that she could not continue to live in the shadows, to exist only as a tool of vengeance.

One day, Freiya received a mission that would change everything. She was sent to Abuja, to eliminate a high-ranking government official who had been implicated in a massive corruption scandal. The man was responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, and his elimination would be a major blow to the corrupt elite.

But when Freiya arrived in Abuja, she found herself face to face with the man’s young daughter. The girl was no older than Freiya had been when she was taken from her village. She looked up at Freiya with wide, innocent eyes, and in that moment, Freiya saw herself reflected in the girl’s gaze.

She could not do it. She could not take another life, not like this. She turned and walked away, leaving the mission unfinished.

When she returned to the Black Mamba headquarters, Mama Onyeka was waiting for her. The older woman’s expression was one of disappointment, but also of understanding.

“You have chosen your path,” Mama Onyeka said. “But know this: once you leave, you can never return. The life of a Black Mamba is one of secrecy and sacrifice. If you walk away, you will be on your own.”

Freiya nodded. She knew the risks, but she also knew that she could no longer live as a weapon. She had to find her own way, to reclaim the humanity that had been stripped away from her.

And so, Freiya Tamuno left the Black Mamba Society and returned to the world of the living. She wandered for a time, searching for a new purpose. Eventually, she found her way back to Ogbokor, to the village she had been taken from so many years ago.

The villagers welcomed her with open arms, though they did not recognize the woman she had become. Freiya settled back into the rhythms of village life, but she was forever changed. She carried the weight of her past with her, a shadow that would never fully leave her.

But she also carried something else: a sense of hope. She had chosen to walk away from the darkness, to reclaim her humanity. And though the road ahead would not be easy, she knew that she had taken the first step toward redemption.

Freiya Tamuno, the girl who had been taken from her village and molded into a weapon, had finally found her way home. And though the shadows of her past would always linger, she knew that she had the strength to face them, to forge a new path, and to live a life of her own choosing.