“We are here.”
At last, we reach the top of the stairs and emerge outside into the fading daylight. Lekan leads us to a glittering stone steeple that rises out of the mountaintop, far above the same temple we first entered. Though a few cracked tiles mark the entrance, the site is largely untouched. Towering pillars support the structure, bending into rows of elegant arches.
“Wow,” I breathe out, running my fingers along the carved sênbaría marking each column. The symbols glow in the waning sunlight seeping in through the archways.
“Here.” Lekan gestures to the only fixture in the steeple, an obsidian tub steaming with clear blue water. The liquid begins to bubble as he nears, though no flames dance in sight.
“What is this?”
“Your awakening. When I am done, your spirit will be re-tethered to Sky Mother’s.”
“You can do that?” Amari asks.
Lekan nods, the ghost of a smile tickling his lips. “It was my duty with my people. I trained for it all my life.” He clasps his hands together, gaze soft and unfocused. Then suddenly he shifts, eyeing Tzain and Amari.
“You must leave.” He gestures to them. “I’ve already broken centuries of tradition by letting you come this far. I cannot allow you to observe our most sacred ritual.”
“Like hell you can’t.” Tzain steps in front of me, muscles flexing in challenge. “I’m not leaving you alone with my sister.”
“You should stay,” Amari whispers. “I have no right to see this—”
“No.” Tzain extends his hand in front of Amari, stopping her before she can scurry down the stone steps. “Stay. No us, no ritual.”
Lekan purses his lips. “If you stay, you are bound to secrecy.”
“We vow.” Tzain waves his hand. “We won’t say anything.”
“Do not take this vow lightly,” Lekan warns. “The dead won’t.”
Lekan shifts his glare to Amari; she all but melts. He only relents to grasp the rim of the obsidian tub. The water instantly boils under his touch.
My throat goes dry as I approach the tub and a new wave of steam hits my face. Oya, help me. I can’t even sell a fish without causing the destruction of my entire village. How am I supposed to be the maji’s only hope?
“If I agree to this, you must awaken others.”
Lekan stifles a frustrated breath. “Sky Mother brought you here—”
“Please, Lekan. You have to. I can’t be the only one.”
Lekan clicks his tongue and ushers me toward the tub. “Fine,” he concedes. “But I must awaken you first.”
I take a tentative step into the tub, sliding in slowly until water covers all but my head. My clothes float around me as the heat soothes my every limb, kissing the strain of today’s climb away.
“Let us begin.”
Lekan takes my right hand and removes the bone dagger from the folds of his robe.
“To unlock divine power, we must sacrifice that which is most divine to us.”
“You’re using blood magic?” Tzain steps toward me, body stiff with fear.
“Yes,” Lekan says, “but your sister will be safe. I will keep it under control.”
My heartbeat quickens, remembering Mama’s withered body after she used blood magic for the first time. The boundless power ripped her muscles apart. Even with the aid of Healers, it took her a full moon to regain her ability to walk.
It was a risk she took to save Tzain when he nearly drowned as a child, a sacrifice that allowed him to cling to life. But in sacrificing herself, she nearly died.
“You’ll be safe,” Lekan assures me, seeming to read my thoughts. “This isn’t like when maji use blood magic. Sêntaros have the ability to guide it.”
I nod, though a dull spike of fear still pricks at my throat.
“Forgive me,” Lekan says. “This may hurt.”
I inhale a sharp breath as he slashes through the palm of my hand, gritting my teeth against the sting as blood begins to seep out. The pain turns into shock when my blood glows with a white light.
When it drips into the water, I feel something leave me, something deeper than a simple cut. The red droplets turn the clear blue liquid white; it boils even harder as more blood falls.
“Now relax.” Lekan’s booming voice drops to a soft timbre. My eyes flutter closed. “Clear your head, take deep breaths. Release yourself from your worldly tethers.”
I bite back a retort. There are too many tethers to count. The flames of Ilorin lick my mind, the echoes of Bisi’s screams ring in my ears. The prince’s hands wrap around my throat. Squeezing. Tighter.
But as my body soaks in the heated water, the strains start to fade. Baba’s safety … Inan’s fury … One by one each burden sinks. They leave me in waves until even Mama’s death seems to evaporate in the steam.
“Good,” Lekan soothes. “Your spirit is being cleansed. Remember, whatever you feel, I will be here.”
He places one hand on my forehead and another on my sternum before he chants. “?m? Mama, Arábìnrin 4yà. Sí 1bùn iyebíye r1. Tú idán mím3 r? síl1.”
A strange power whirls around my skin. The water boils with a new intensity and my breath hitches as its heat takes hold.
“?m? Mama—”
Daughter of Sky Mother, I repeat in my head.
“Arábìnrin 4yà—”
Sister of Oya.
“Sí 1bùn iyebíye r1—”
Bare your precious gift.
“Tú idán mím3 r? síl1.”
Release your holy magic.
The air above us tingles with electric energy, stronger than anything I’ve felt before. It surpasses the buzz of Inan’s imprinting, eclipses the surge of touching the parchment for the first time. The tips of my fingers grow warm, igniting with white light. As Lekan chants, the power travels through my veins, making them glow beneath my skin.
“?m? Mama, Arábìnrin 4yà—”
The louder his incantation rings, the more my body reacts. The magic overwhelms every cell in my being, pulsing as Lekan submerges my head beneath the water. My skull presses against the floor of the tub, and a new kind of air catches in my throat. I finally understand Mama Agba’s words.
It’s like breathing for the first time.
“?m? Mama—”
Veins bulge against my skin as the magic grows, a swell about to burst. Behind my eyes, sheets of red dance around me, crashing like waves, spinning like hurricanes.
As I lose myself in their beautiful chaos, a glimpse of Oya emerges. Fire and wind dance around her like spirits, spinning like the red silks of her skirt.
“Arábìnrin 4yà—”
Her dance transfixes me, igniting everything that I never realized was trapped inside of me. It scorches through my body like a flame, yet chills my skin like ice, flowing in uncharted waves.
“Sí 1bùn iyebíye r1!” Lekan shouts above the water. “Tú idán mím3 r? síl1!”
In one final surge, the tsunami breaks free and magic flows through every inch of my being. It inks itself into each cell, staining my blood, filling my mind. In its power I glimpse the beginning and end at once, the unbreakable connections tethering all of our lives.
The red of Oya’s wrath whirls around me.
The silver of Sky Mother’s eyes shines.…
*
“ZéLIE!”