L’?r? saw the slap coming before Alawani did. ‘Exactly,’ Milúà said, her nostrils flaring.
L’?r? struggled off the ground, breathing heavily and trying to blink away the spots that still dimmed her sight. She glanced back at the way she’d come into the forest. Where was Márùn?
Don’t do it, Command’s voice whispered in her mind – but what choice did she have? Milúà wasn’t going to let her live, that much was sure. The maiden would kill her and take Alawani back to his death. No. L’?r? couldn’t fail now, not when she’d gotten so far, and sacrificed so much. She clenched her hands in tight fists and released them, allowing her agbára to shine through her hands – the blueish-white light tinted by the warm ray of sunlight from above. Cold seeped deep into her core and she felt the dark veins on her hands grow, stinging with every inch of skin they claimed. The last time she used these powers, she’d killed something. She didn’t want to leave a trail of dead bodies in her wake but if it came down to Alawani or Milúà, the maiden had to go.
‘Let him go!’ L’?r? shouted at Milúà as the maiden pressed a knife to Alawani’s neck.
Milúà tossed a pair of black cuffs at L’?r?’s feet. ‘Put those around your hands and come with me, and I promise I won’t accidentally slide my knife across his throat.’
L’?r? picked up the chained cuffs and poured her agbára into them, freezing them until they became brittle like glass, then shattered them on the ground. ‘Let him go, and I will spare your life.’
Milúà laughed. ‘You think you can kill me with party tricks? What will you do? Build a wall here? Please go ahead. It’s a shame you didn’t get to see what I did to the last one you built.’
‘She won’t kill me,’ Alawani groaned. ‘L’?r?. Just go.’
Go? Go where? Did he think she’d leave him after all they’d been through? After everything she’d done to get him out?
Milúà scoffed, and she pressed the dagger, cutting the skin and allowing Alawani’s blood to flow down his neck.
Anger flared up in L’?r?’s chest. The energy in her buzzed as if responding to her emotions, fighting its way out. She stretched her hands towards the trees that surrounded them. Dark mists danced around the edges of the light that shone and oozed from her hands, and like a spreading disease, everything in the surrounding clearing froze over. The grass, the trees, and even the small animals scurrying around froze mid-jump.
Milúà tossed her knife to the ground and held Alawani in a tight lock with one forearm. With her free hand, she poured out her agbára oru, sending a beam of burning fiery energy towards everything L’?r?’s agbára had frozen over. Turning round in the same spot, she cleared it all, leaving a pool of mucky liquid drooping on the ground where the tall trees once were.
L’?r? hoped she didn’t look as frightened as she was onthe inside. The maiden was powerful. Perhaps even more powerful than Alawani had been before his stripping.
‘You’re going to have to do better than that,’ Milúà said, panting and smiling. Her eyes were dark and her breath heavy.
‘You can’t kill an Àlùfáà,’ L’?r? said, grasping at straws.
‘Do you want to bet on that?’ Milúà asked with a coy smile.
L’?r? turned off her agbára. Milúà had leverage, and she knew it. Alawani was weakened from his earlier burst of agbára and she couldn’t risk hurting him with her powers if she tried to fight Milúà.
The maiden thrust her hand at Alawani with agbára-ignited hands and burned him. He screamed and fell to his knees and Milúà kicked his jaw, sending him to the ground in a thud. She raised her staff over his head and a sharp spear sprung out from its end. L’?r? screamed.
In the next moment, an energy blast exploded near Milúà, sending her back into the mud. L’?r? had never heard a maiden scream before, no matter how much pain they were in. L’?r? swirled to see Márùn behind her, her glowing hands pointed at Milúà. L’?r? noticed how the maiden’s dark skin seemed to sizzle, the sweat drying off her and her skin nearly melting off. Márùn was burning her alive. Through the screams, Milúà tossed a blast at Márùn, who easily dodged it. Milúà’s agbára glowed through her hands and every mark on her skin, her eyes flaming red, burned in agony.
Changing her moves, Márùn pulled the same trick Mfà had the night before, heating up the air around the maiden’s face. Milúà clawed at her neck, trying to use her agbára to cool the air, but Márùn kept moving closer, narrowing her hands and closing the invisible bubble of hot air around the maiden’s face. Milúà fell to her knees. She held on to her neck, choking, unable to breathe. Her eyes bulged, and sheslammed her hands onto her chest to clear her airways. She wasn’t breathing.
‘Run,’ Márùn shouted.
L’?r? had been stuck in a stupor watching Márùn do things she’d never seen anyone do before. She ran to Alawani, pulling him away from both of them.
‘Stop!’ Alawani shouted at Márùn.
L’?r? gaped at Alawani in surprise. What was he doing? If Milúà had had one more moment, she’d have run him through with her spear.
‘She wouldn’t have killed me. She can’t! Stop it. You’re killing her!’ he shouted, running to Milúà, who was now lying limp on the wet, muddy ground.
L’?r? broke her silence. Her mind struggled to understand what she was seeing. ‘Stop! Let’s go,’ she shouted at Alawani.
‘L’?r?, we’re not killing her!’ Alawani shouted. ‘Márùn, stop it now!’ His voice boomed, and Márùn released her hold on the maiden.
Milúà’s breath hitched as she inhaled sharply. She squeezed her chest as she forced in deep breaths, trying to tear off the armour she wore, which no doubt was hot enough to burn through the sheer white cloth beneath it.
Alawani finally stood up when Milúà seemed more stable. L’?r? didn’t hear what the maiden said to him, but as Alawani approached L’?r? and stretched out his hand to her, she slapped it away and stormed off. She found their horse a few paces away and climbed on, giving Márùn a hand to join her.
‘Find your own way to the border,’ she hissed at Alawani and galloped away.
