Echoes of the Hidden Path
The sun had barely begun its ascent over Maiduguri when Modupe stirred awake. The hotel room was bathed in the soft golden hues of early morning, the curtains swaying slightly from the air conditioning. Blinking sleep from her eyes, she rolled onto her side and reached for her phone.
5:47 AM.
She had barely gotten any rest, her mind looping through the events of yesterday—the parchment, Dr. Kijana's reaction, the car that had tailed her from the estate.
Throwing the blanket off her body, she stretched, feeling the stiffness in her muscles. She needed a long, hot bath before anything else.
With sluggish movements, she padded across the plush carpet into the en-suite bathroom. The massive space gleamed with polished black marble, its luxurious design a stark contrast to the dusty roads she had been traveling the past few days. A freestanding tub stood near the floor-to-ceiling window, offering a sweeping view of the city skyline.
Modupe twisted the knobs, letting hot water pour into the tub, steam rising to fill the air. As she waited for it to fill, she walked over to the mirror, taking out her phone.
She had seen a TikTok trick once—a way to check if you were being watched through hidden cameras. She turned on her front camera, holding the screen close to the mirror and shifting angles slightly. Supposedly, if there was a hidden camera embedded inside, it would reveal an unnatural glow different from the usual reflection.
She checked. Then checked again.
Nothing.
Still, the unease in her gut didn't subside.
Pushing the thoughts aside, she stepped into the bath, sighing as the heat melted the tension in her limbs. For the first time since she arrived in Maiduguri, she allowed herself a moment of stillness. She soaked for a long while, only getting out when the water had cooled.
Dressed in a comfortable shirt and jeans, she moved to the small dining space where breakfast had been laid out—golden akara, spicy pepper sauce, and soft agege bread. She ate heartily, needing the energy for the day ahead.
As she sipped her kunu, she reached for her phone and dialed Taiwo.
"Morning, love," his familiar voice greeted her, still thick with sleep.
"Morning, sleepyhead." She smirked, hearing him yawn on the other end.
"How was your night?" he asked.
Modupe hesitated. "Restless. I kept thinking about the parchment, the translation, everything. I need to head out to the forest today. The description of the location doesn't make sense yet."
Taiwo sighed. "You sure you don't want to wait for me?"
She smiled. "If I wait for you, we might lose whatever lead we have. And besides, I can handle myself."
Taiwo exhaled through the receiver. "Just be careful, Dupe."
"I will," she promised.
They exchanged a few more words before she hung up.
It was time to move.
Modupe sat in the driver's seat of her G63, gripping the steering wheel lightly as she navigated out of the city. Her mind ran through the details of her journey.
The parchment had given her a rough idea of where to look, but the landscape of Maiduguri had changed over time. What was once untouched wilderness had been eaten away by settlements and roads. The forest where the legend spoke of was still there, but she needed precision.
Reaching into the passenger seat, she pulled out a sleek black drone case, flipping it open. A custom-built reconnaissance drone rested inside, equipped with high-resolution cameras and a mapping system. If there was an unusual landmark or formation in the forest, this would find it.
She maneuvered her SUV off the main road, parking at the edge of the forest path. Stepping out, she shielded her eyes from the morning sun and launched the drone.
It soared into the sky, humming as it began scanning the terrain below. Modupe monitored the feed from her tablet, eyes scanning every inch of the forest floor.
Then, just as she thought she had a clear path—
The feed cut out.
The drone's signal vanished abruptly, and a small SYSTEM FAILURE alert blinked on the screen.
"What the hell…?" she muttered, adjusting the controls.
The screen remained black.
It was as if the drone had flown into a dead zone.
Her stomach tightened. Either something was interfering with the signal, or—
She didn't want to finish the thought.
Releasing a slow breath, she leaned back in her seat, her fingers drumming against the steering wheel. The parchment's cryptic message came back to her:
"The earth swallows light, yet the sky trembles beneath it."
She frowned, opening her tablet to cross-check the words with her surroundings.
It should have pointed to something obvious. A cave, perhaps. Or a place so thick with trees that light barely penetrated. But what she saw from the drone before it cut out was a clearing.
A regular, open clearing.
The description of the riddle didn't match what she had seen.
Frustrated, she pulled out her notebook, jotting down theories. The words nagged at her. "The earth swallows light" suggested a place where darkness reigned, where light was absorbed, not reflected. It could mean a sinkhole, a cave system, or even a depression in the ground.
But then, "the sky trembles beneath it"—
That implied something reflective. Something that moved when the sky moved. Water.
A lake? A still body of water reflecting the heavens?
None of it matched the clearing she had found.
A chill crept up her spine.
The legend wasn't just a poetic phrase—it was directions. If the parchment was real, and the riddle was accurate, then whatever the clearing was... wasn't the destination.
Her gut told her she was close. But she was also missing something critical.
As she sat in thought, the wind rustled through the trees. The drone was gone. The message was vague.
And something in this forest didn't want to be found.
Modupe exhaled, drumming her fingers against the dashboard. Her mind swirled with questions. What had caused the drone to fail? A simple malfunction? Electromagnetic interference? Or was there something else, something unnatural lurking beneath the surface of this place?
Her gaze returned to the clearing on the map. It looked ordinary, but the riddle suggested otherwise.
She needed to see it with her own eyes.
Placing her tablet on the passenger seat, she started the car and eased forward onto the rugged path leading deeper into the forest. The hum of the engine felt too loud against the eerie silence that had settled over the area.
Tall trees lined both sides of the dirt road, their branches interwoven like skeletal fingers blocking out the morning sun. The deeper she drove, the dimmer it became, as though the forest itself sought to devour the light.
"The earth swallows light…"
Modupe gritted her teeth. The words felt more ominous now.
Minutes passed in tense silence. Then, she noticed something.
The wind had stopped.
No rustling leaves. No chirping birds. Just stillness.
Her foot instinctively hovered over the brake pedal, heart hammering. Something about this place felt… wrong.
She checked her rearview mirror. The dirt road behind her remained empty. But as she turned her eyes back to the front—
A shadow moved.
Her breath hitched. It was quick, barely more than a flicker at the edge of her vision, but she had seen it. A dark silhouette shifting between the trees.
She slowed the car, fingers tightening on the wheel.
Then, her side mirror caught something else.
A black SUV.
Trailing her.
It wasn't close. In fact, it remained at a distance, half-hidden behind the tree line, watching.
A surveillance vehicle.
They weren't interfering. Not yet. Just observing.
She swallowed hard. Whoever they were, they knew where she was. But they weren't making a move.
Not yet.
Modupe pulled the car to a stop near the entrance of a narrow footpath. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and stepped out.
The warm metal of the car door felt grounding beneath her fingertips as she locked it behind her. She cast one last glance toward the black SUV in the distance. It remained still, no figures emerging, no weapons drawn.
A warning, perhaps? Or a silent message?
Either way, she had come too far to turn back now.
With steady steps, she entered the forest on foot, the trees swallowing her whole.