Chapter 39 Ìlú-Òdì, Sixth Ring, Kingdom of Oru #2
Tofa slowly stalked towards her and Milúà followed.
L’?r? stood tall and brushed away the sweat that had gathered on her brows, the sound of her breathing the only thing she could hear.
She was ready, blades out and fiery. Then suddenly, she felt an intense heat rising beneath her feet.
Alawani let out a deep guttural growl and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Hunched over, she couldn’t see what had happened to him and her body grew cold, her fingers trembling, her agbára itching to burst as she waited for him to stand.
When he did, his arms were scorched, and the magic cuffs fell from his wrists.
‘Tèmi, run!’ Alawani shouted.
L’?r? jumped back, and the ground began to blacken and simmer.
Soon it cracked open, bringing forth magma from its core.
The hot orange liquid poured out, bursting into bubbles that splattered everywhere.
Milúà was closest to them, and the deep animal growl that came out of her mouth let L’?r? know that it hurt as she fell to the ground.
She barked at her leg, holding it as the skin sizzled.
Even from a distance, L’?r? could see the piece of scorched flesh across her leg.
‘No!’ Tofa shouted but he was too far from the maiden.
He rushed towards Milúà, attempting to cross the magma divide but the Lord General grabbed Tofa and pulled him away.
‘You are our future king!’ he shouted. ‘I cannot let you put your life in danger.’ As the Lord General turned to run too from the expanding firepit, a bubble of magma burst under his feet.
He fell to his knees – the crash of his weight against the cracked floor sunk his leg deeper.
He fell on his side in agony, the magma crawling up his body.
Tofa rushed to his side, but by the time he was pulling the man out and cooling the heat, L’?r? knew from the melting flesh and fading screams that the man wouldn’t make it.
‘You’ve killed him!’ Tofa shouted at Alawani, his voice hoarse from the smoke.
But Alawani had used the distraction to run to L’?r?’s side of the foyer, near the main entrance – now, the lava field protected them from the crown heir’s group, which was pushed towards the inner stairs.
Alawani collapsed into L’?r?’s arms when he reached her, visibly shaking from overextending his waning agbára.
He’d made a deal with the gods, and they were taking what was owed.
‘We have to go!’ L’?r? said – but Alawani was too weak to walk and L’?r? didn’t have the strength to carry him.
The magma spread across the broken floor, and the air around them grew so hot that L’?r? felt the sweat soak into her clothes.
Looking across the boiling pond of burning earth and stone, she noticed Tofa’s agbára shining brightly through the smoke.
He was cooling the magma and sending it back down.
But Alawani’s strength was recovering – he lifted himself a little from her arms. ‘Okay. Let’s go,’ he said, shakily.
‘Lean on me,’ she urged.
Mercifully, the wind spread the smoke and steam from the cooling magma all over the room, obscuring them from view, and L’?r? and Alawani were out of the keep before anyone could cross the floor.
L’?r? bore Alawani’s weight against her side and helped him as fast as she could towards the graveyard; all that stood between them and the wall.
Sand blurred her vision and each step against the wind took so much effort that L’?r? wondered if they were moving at all.
Without looking back, she could still feel the maiden’s presence hovering over her like the grains of sand that stuck to her neck.
For the first time since Rmí left her, L’?r? wished he had chosen to fight with her.
If they wanted a chance at escaping in the storm, L’?r? knew she had to make sure the maiden couldn’t follow. The fighting wasn’t over yet.
The clouds started to turn dark and in the distance, L’?r? heard the rumble of thunder.
They were halfway across the graveyard, a mile-stretch piece of land full of the bones of those who’d tried and failed to cross without permission.
Sparse rocks and loose stones littered the scorched, exposed land that led to freedom.
A sudden explosion flung them in the air and knocked them to the ground, proving that L’?r? had been right.
Milúà marched out of the storm, her maiden’s spear glowing beneath the darkening sky.
L’?r? activated her blades with the old magic spell and ran towards the maiden, cutting her off mid-stride.
Milúà plunged the sharp end of her agbára-fuelled spear at L’?r?.
She dodged – but not fast enough. The spear sliced her mid-rib.
L’?r? yelled as the cut sent a jarring pain all through her body.
It wasn’t just the cut, but the burn. The burn of flesh, and the smell of it, made her want to vomit.
She raised her blades in anger.
L’?r? and the maiden were locked in a deadly dance, their weapons clashing in a blur of steel.
Milúà laughed as she caught each strike, knocking one of L’?r?’s blades out of her hands.
She spun around, delivering a swift kick to L’?r?’s chest. L’?r? kept an eye on Alawani, still sprawled on the dirt.
Milúà cackled and the sound of her voice made L’?r?’s blood boil.
L’?r? launched herself at Milúà. She was nothing if not relentless.
L’?r? gritted her teeth and redoubled her efforts, unleashing a series of rapid strikes that forced Milúà to step back.
When she saw a clear path, she used the back of her hand to slap the maiden across her cheek.
The shock on Milúà’s face was all the satisfaction L’?r? needed.
She didn’t pause long enough to enjoy it.
She kept going. A sharp kick to the stomach and Milúà heaved over in pain.
L’?r? drew nearer and struck her face with her knee.
Finally, she threw her blade to the ground and went in for a blow to end it all, but Milúà dodged it and formed an air cannon in her hands.
L’?r? didn’t see the air around the maiden’s glowing hand simmer and boil until Milúà sent it towards her, and it exploded near her face, sending her straight to the sand.
L’?r? lay in the sand for a few moments.
Next to her, she could hear Alawani’s voice calling to her as he crawled over.
Her breaths came in even shorter bursts.
Without Command’s voice in her head, every move felt unsure, weaker and with much less vigour.
She felt like she was fighting blind, unable to predict her opponent’s next move.
Unable to hear her commander’s words. She was losing.
They were losing, and it’d all be for nothing. Nothing.
L’?r? lay on the floor gasping for air, trying to breathe as the heat engulfed her.
Every part of her body stung from the blast. Her ears rang, and her eyes watered.
Before she could stand, Milúà rushed to her, driving the sharp end of her spear down towards her.
L’?r? caught the scorching-hot staff in her hand and stilled herself, preparing for the burn.
No. She couldn’t die here. This couldn’t be the end of her story.
As she groaned beneath the weight of Milúà’s strength, she realized there was no burn. Her palms were glowing. Curse the sun. Her agbára had forced itself out. Water formed where her palms held on to the spear, and her hands slipped. The blade’s edge was now just a few inches from her face.
Suddenly Alawani got to his feet and shoved Milúà off her. She lost her spear in the fall, just a few feet away, but Alawani reached it first and threw it further away.
L’?r? got off the ground and flexed her hands, trying to send her agbára back beneath her skin. Its constant buzzing was a reminder of what she’d done to Command and with Alawani right next to her, she couldn’t risk unleashing the darkness within her.
‘Why are you protecting a murderer?’ Milúà shouted at Alawani.
L’?r? gasped. She wouldn’t. Somehow, the thought that Milúà might expose her made her panic more than when the sharp edge of her spear was mere inches from drilling a hole into her skull.
‘You need to stop this, Milúà!’ Alawani shouted back at her.
Milúà rose to her feet, her face bruised. She spat out something crimson and wet. ‘You don’t know, do you?’
L’?r? tried to avoid her gaze, but that was what gave her away.
‘You did not tell him,’ Milúà scoffed.
‘Tell me what?’ Alawani said.
‘That she’s a murderer!’ Milúà said, pointing at L’?r?. ‘I thought there were no secrets between lovers?’
Alawani turned to L’?r?. ‘What’s she talking about?’ In the middle of the storm every word spoken was shouted above the howling wind.
‘Not here,’ L’?r? said. ‘I’ll tell you everything, but not now.’
‘I can tell you now, this girl isn’t worth saving,’ Milúà seethed.
‘Who –’ He couldn’t finish the sentence, or he did not want to.
‘Tell him, or I will,’ Milúà shouted.
‘It was an accident,’ L’?r? said, her voice choked with tears.
Alawani moved closer to her, and she stepped back. The silence grew between them, and when Alawani tried to move closer to her again, she blurted out, ‘Command. I killed Command.’
The words were a weight lifted off her, easing her heart for a moment before letting in the flood of grief and guilt. L’?r? held her eyes shut and when she opened them, the tears fell.
‘It was an accident. I promise. I tried to save her.’ She turned on Milúà. ‘She was supposed to save her!’
‘You knew she was beyond saving the minute you filled her with that curse in your veins,’ Milúà spat back.
Alawani looked down at her hands, and she could see that confusion turned to dread and then something she could not recognize. Finally, he said, ‘You killed Command?’
‘It was an accident,’ L’?r? said, taking a step closer to him.
‘She loved you.’
‘It was an accident,’ L’?r? said again, taking another step closer, her voice pleading with him.
‘She was like our mother.’ Alawani moved out of her reach, tears brimming in his bloodshot eyes.
‘I’m sorry,’ L’?r? begged, shaking her hands, desperately trying to turn off the light in her palms. ‘I swear to you, Alawani, I’d never – you know me – it was an accident.’
‘You can’t control these powers,’ Alawani said, his voice firm yet full of pain.
From the corner of her eye, L’?r? saw Milúà smiling.
Alawani waited for her to say something, but there was nothing more to say. It was an accident. He should understand that, and the fact that he didn’t get that made her angry even as guilt and shame threatened to bury her alive.
‘How?’ he asked.
‘Does it matter?’ Milúà scowled. ‘Command is dead. A frozen body lost to the mud of ìlú-Idán.’
Alawani swung his head in L’?r?’s direction.
‘Since then? Since ìlú-Idán? You’ve had every opportunity to tell me.
’ He moved in closer to her, close enough that she could feel his breath.
‘Last night, in the dungeons. We spent nearly a day in silence. You –’ His voice broke.
‘Why do we keep doing this to each other? Why is there always a secret, something you can’t trust me with?
And now this. In the name of all that burns, L’?r?, what have you done? ’
‘Command was trying to take me back,’ L’?r? said, tears streaming down her face. ‘I just wanted to get away.’
‘Then why would you kill the only woman who ever treated you like a daughter and leave her body in the streets?’
‘I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. It was an accident!’
‘Her story didn’t add up to me either,’ Milúà added.
L’?r? sneered at her, but the maiden glared right back at her.
‘I’m guessing she didn’t tell you the woman’s last words either. The à?írí she refused to leave this world with.’
‘You hold her dying secrets?’ Alawani asked L’?r?.
‘I’ll tell you what she said,’ Milúà started.
‘Curse the sun! This has nothing to do with you!’ L’?r? shouted at her.
‘Command said that your father, the king, was murdered,’ Milúà blurted out.
Alawani froze, and then – to L’?r?’s surprise – he threw a blast at Milúà, flinging her away from them.
He faced L’?r?, still as a statue, as though he was trying and failing to understand the words that had shaken his world.
She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and hug him.
This wasn’t how she wanted him to find out.
She wanted to tell him when all this was over, when they were safe and alone and could mourn their losses together, but she’d ruined it all.
The fragile thread they’d hung on to since their oath snapped; the pillar in her mind cracked in half and slipped into the sinking sand.
To her horror, she realized that the gods hadn’t been the ones to force him out of her life – she’d done that all by herself.