L’?r? smashed her blades together and sparks flew as they crashed against each other. The woman looked at them and scoffed. She channelled her agbára and formed an energy orb, and threw it at the brick wall, blasting a hole through it.
The woman jumped and L’?r? watched as she used short bursts of hot air to slow her falling speed until she gracefully landed on the ground. L’?r? looked back at Alawani. She couldn’t do that.
‘Just go!’ Alawani shouted, going back for his sword.
A royal guard grabbed on to his hand and held on like a feral beast as Alawani thrashed, trying to get free. ‘L’?r?, jump. Now!’ he shouted through the chokehold. L’?r? grabbed on to a pole hanging out of a window a few feet below her before landing on the ground. She looked up, hoping to seeAlawani at the hole in the wall, but instead, a royal guard sneered at her, and as soon as he stretched his hand to blast them off, the woman pulled L’?r? behind her and shot at the room. Smoke and dust filled the hole which had doubled in size and the sounds of screams from within the building made L’?r?’s heart ache with every beat.
‘What are you doing?’ L’?r? shouted at the woman. ‘Alawani is up there, you could’ve killed him.’
‘That guard would’ve killed you,’ the woman replied sternly.
‘I’m going back for him,’ L’?r? said, trying to climb in.
‘No, you’re not,’ the woman said, holding her in a locked grip.
‘Don’t touch me!’ L’?r? said. ‘I don’t know you.’
‘Okay, calm down,’ the woman said, raising her hands. ‘My name is Márùn, and I’m here to help.’
‘Why? What do you want?’
Márùn sighed and turned her back to L’?r?, raising her hair to reveal the back of her neck. There at the base of her skull were three tongues of flames, dark as coal, inked into her skin.
L’?r? gasped, ‘Life debt.’
‘Yes,’ Márùn said, facing her again. ‘I owe a life debt to the prince’s mother, so I promise you, I can and I will get him out, but not with you running around in there.’ She glanced around the building and pointed at the barn in the corner. ‘Take two horses, wait in the tree line and we’ll meet you there.’
‘I can’t,’ L’?r? said, ‘I can’t just leave him.’
‘We need a way to get out of here fast once I get him. So go!’
L’?r? looked towards the barn. ‘Tell him to light up the sky if you can’t find me in there, I’ll find you both.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘He knows what to do,’ L’?r? said and ran for the barn.
‘Run!’ Márùn shouted as the guards started shooting blasts of energy at them.
L’?r? rode her own horse and managed to lead Alawani’s by its reins as she made her way through the chaos of animals that raced to the tree line for shelter from the fire. Behind her she saw Alawani and Márùn fighting the royal guards on the ground, and so much of her wanted to go back but Márùn was right. If they made it to where she was, they could be out of the third ring long before the royal guards caught up with them.
She tied the horses to a stump and ran back to the tree line to watch. She crouched when she felt the earth moving beneath her. Slight vibrations she recognized. Alawani. She peered through the branches, and from a distance, she could see the glow of agbára oru radiating from his hands and the tattoos on his skin. He slammed his hands firmly on the ground. When the guards charged at him, covering the ground between them, the earth cracked open, and magma flowed out of it. The burst of red liquid spread quickly and burned their feet. Only one or two of them were quick enough to use their own agbára to remove the heat from the magma. Not that they were quick enough to avoid being burned. L’?r? flinched against the guards’ screams as the earth’s heat engulfed them in flames. At that moment, L’?r? realized that Alawani had been even more powerful than she thought before the stripping, since he could do this even when weakened.
Alawani and Márùn used the moment of confusion to race towards the tree line. L’?r? sighed in relief, then yelled as someone grabbed her hair and dragged her across the forest floor, releasing her only when they reached a clearing. From the clash of cowries in her assailant’s hair and the strong scent of temple incense, L’?r? knew exactly who had caught her.
L’?r? tried to stand and met the heavy blow of the maiden’s fist on her face that sent her crashing to the ground. Blood filled her mouth and black spots danced across her vision.
‘Oath-breaker,’ L’?r? heard Milúà say.
She lifted her head to see Alawani’s image swimming in her blurry vision, hands raised as he ran towards them in the clearing. L’?r? spat out blood and mud and tried to lift herself off the ground only to be struck down again, this time with the maiden’s golden staff across her back.
L’?r? yelled and fell back into the wet ground, grabbing hold of the mud as the ground swallowed the sounds of her scream.
‘Stop!’ Alawani shouted, running to hold L’?r?.
Milúà grabbed a fistful of his hair and dragged him to his feet. ‘I can’t believe you did this to me,’ she said.
‘I didn’t do anything to you, Milúà,’ he said. ‘I left.’
