(The Market Square. A crowd gathers around a new stranger. He is not Ajaka, but a youth with skin like polished ebony, carrying a staff of red iron. He moves with a grace that defies the heavy air.)
PRINCE ADEBAYO: (Approaching the stranger) You! Who gave you permission to stand in the center of my father's market? You carry no goods to sell.
THE YOUTH: I am not here to sell, Prince. I am here to collect a debt.
PRINCE ADEBAYO: (Laughing) A debt? My father owes no one.
THE YOUTH: He does not. But your mother does. She promised a life to the shadows, and the shadows have come to claim the interest.
PRINCE ADEBAYO: (Drawing his sword) You insult the Queen? You will die where you stand!
(Adebayo swings his sword. The moment the steel touches the youth's iron staff, the Prince's sword shatters into a thousand needles. One needle flies back and pierces Adebayo's throat. He falls, gurgling.)
(The Palace. Night. OJUOLA and WEMIMO are huddled together as a messenger brings the news of Adebayo's death. Suddenly, the torches in the room turn a deep, blood-red.)
OJUOLA: (Terror taking over) It's him. He didn't stay in the forest.
WEMIMO: We have to go to the Oracle! We have to offer sacrifices! We have gold, Shola! We can buy the gods!
OJUOLA: You cannot buy a God who has been waiting 33 years for a meal. Look at your hands, Wemi.
(WEMIMO looks down. Her fingers are turning into cold, grey iron. She tries to scream, but only the sound of grinding metal comes out of her throat.)
(The scene ends with the OBA entering, his face pale.)
OBA ADEREMI: The Oracle has spoken. He says we have been living in a house built of stolen bones. He says a "Foreign God of War" has arrived at the gates. And he is not alone. He has brought Ogunwumi with him... but she is no longer a girl. She is the Flame.
(A loud, metallic BOOM echoes through the palace. The heavy iron doors begin to melt, dripping like wax.)
BABA JIDE: (Laughing hysterically in the background) The forge is open! The hammer falls!
Who will be left when the War God calls?