Zamfara State
Yantoto Hills
Dust rolled through the cavern like fog.
Two massive trucks strained against chains buried deep in the rock wall.
Miners shouted. Pickaxes rang against stone. A payloader roared somewhere in the darkness.
Lanre stood in the middle of it all, shouting over the noise.
"GET THE DYNAMITE! Blow the whole thing!"
A massive hand suddenly slammed into his back.
Lanre choked.
"Ck—!"
A thick arm wrapped around his neck.
"Relax," Chukwu said, laughing. "I can't hear alerts with all this noise."
Lanre struggled.
"Free me. I'm close to something."
Chukwu released him and leaned casually on his shovel.
Lanre's eyes drifted to the wooden whistle hanging from Chukwu's neck.
A small halo carving glowed faintly purple.
"Six months of my work," Lanre muttered, "and it's hanging on your chest."
Chukwu grinned.
"But you've been paid."
Lanre crouched nearby, chewing his nail.
His eyes burned with exhaustion.
"Why are you even here?" he asked. "It's your day off."
Chukwu shrugged.
"You're excited. Means I'm excited."
Then his expression changed slightly.
"You also said there might be a god in there."
Lanre blinked.
"Sorry," he said flatly. "I'm straight and taken."
Chukwu burst out laughing and threw a shovel full of dirt at him.
"You want to wake a god with dynamite?"
Lanre waved toward the workers lighting the fuse.
"Relax. It's boxed. It won't do anything."
The fuse hissed.
Sparks ran down the wire.
A miner suddenly sprinted toward them.
"Oga!"
The explosion hit.
BOOF.
The cavern trembled violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling. Pebbles bounced across the floor.
Lanre brushed dirt from his hair.
Chukwu stood beside him, unshaken.
The miner pointed into the smoke.
"Apótí dúdú ré!"
Lanre frowned.
"What?"
"The black casket!"
Workers slowly gathered in a wide circle.
The dust cleared.
And there it was.
A black coffin, half-buried in the rock.
Gold patterns laced its edges.
Carved scales shimmered faintly across the surface.
The miners whispered nervously.
"Wetin be this?"
Lanre stepped forward slowly.
His heart pounded with excitement.
"Chuk…"
Chukwu's voice was low.
"Lanre… did you tell your family about this?"
"No."
"And the client?"
"knows. Isn't his problem"
Chukwu nodded.
"Smart."
Lanre crouched in front of the coffin.
His eyes glittered.
Finally.
After years of searching.
He had found it.
Quiet.