Page 2 of Wrath of the Oracle

Her time to leave had come.

“Promise me we won’t meet in the next life.” Asaa tightened her wrist around Keita’s hand and drove the sword into her abdomen. She chose to end her own life with Keita’s hands. Only then would she rise again and take her revenge. Her world turned black as Keita’s growls rent the air.

Someone orsomethingstalked Sholei.

The small hairs on her arm rose and a thin, cold sweat broke on her back, making her hyper vigilant of the silent trees. The air stilled, and birds’ chatter went silent. Sholei snaked her hand into her medicine basket and felt around for the small dagger she carried for protection. Her frantic fingers failed to locate the blade, and her heart hammered in her chest. She swallowed and turned her head around.

The talons of a large eagle almost scratched her eyes out.

Sholei shrieked as the wings of the big bird whipped about her face. Her head scarf fell off and exposed her tattoos to the midday sun. She dropped her basket to protect her face just in time for the talons to sink into her forearms.With renewed strength, she flung her arms around and hit the large bird again. The assault stopped and the bird flew away, leaving Sholei to bleed into her cotton sleeves.

She didn’t have time to recover as a horse neighed behind her. She turned to see the tallest horse she had seen in her short life. Its black coat shone against the bright light. It neighed again and brought her attention to the rider strewn across its back—a lump of a human covered with a dark cloak draped across the horse’s flank. A single arrow protruded from his back, his face hidden against the neck of his steed. The rider’s big hand clutched the reins of the horse.

Curiosity, or maybe old habits, drew Sholei closer to the injured rider. She couldn’t see his face because a mass of long, dark locks hid his features from view. The horse stayed still as she stretched her hand and touched the rider’s hard fist. His skin was hot, and Sholei withdrew as if burned.

The man raised his head, and his eyes flashed at Sholei. The color of burning coals stared back at her. Sholei opened her mouth to scream, but a large, calloused palm covered her mouth. His fingers dug into her face, and she stumbled back, panicked. The thick foliage cushioned her fall as the man pinned her down in a swift move from his horse.

“Who are you?” the injured man asked, his voice low and guttural. Sholei stared at those burning eyes. His wild locks tumbled down his broad shoulders and waved before him, hiding part of his face from view. Her limbs trapped beneath her, Asaa couldn’t move. The man’s body was likeiron wrapped in skin, and Sholei couldn’t feel any softness through the layers of clothes between them.

“I will remove my hand if you promise not to scream. Nod if you understand.” Her breath grew labored as words dried in her throat. She nodded in response. She had wandered off a long distance from the guard post in search of herbs, and no one was around to hear her, even if she screamed.

The man removed his hand from her mouth, and Sholei took a deep breath. His hand moved to her neck, and he pressed a knife against it. Her heartbeat increased tenfold.

“I’m a physician. I can heal your wound.” She blurted out the only words she could think of—anything to get this boulder of a man off her.

The man flinched as if he remembered his injury. He withdrew the knife from Sholei’s neck, leaned on his knees, and clutched his shoulder. Sholei recalled the lessons of her best friend, Tula.When you’re trapped underneath an opponent, you use your head to knock his chin.

Sholei used her head and knocked the man’s chin. Hard. He grunted and tumbled to the ground, onto his back. She got up from underneath him and dashed for the tree line. She’d taken fewer than ten steps before a fallen tree branch hit the back of her knees, causing her to fall face first, narrowly missing a protruding tree root.

Sholei glanced back at the man on his knees, glaring at her, the sneer on his face half hidden by his long hair. He tumbled forward and crumpled onto the forest floor.

Sholei waited for a few moments to see if he’d move, but he lay prone.

Was he dead?She should run to the patrol guards stationed outside the forest to report the presence of the intruder, but her feet trudged toward the fallen man.

She raised the branch he’d used to trap her above her head and approached him. She kicked the knife in his hand away, she expected him to wake up, but he didn’t. She pushed the hair back from his nose with shaky fingers and felt for his breath.

He was unconscious, his breaths shallow.

Sholei relaxed her shoulders and dropped the stick. Her knowledge of medicine told her he wouldn’t get up anytime soon. She thought to leave him there, but a loud screech from a nearby tree made her gaze up to the eagle that attacked her earlier. Its beak opened and its wings spanned outward, ready to swing down. It would make a meal of the man if she left.

Against her better judgment, Sholei examined the man’s wounds. She worked at the medicine courtyard in the capital and had learned to diagnose patients who visited— patients who couldn’t afford the expensive services of the Imperial Physicians.

The arrow in the rider’s back was made of steel, and its design was foreign to the ones she had seen from the soldiers of Mukuru Kingdom. The shaft was pure steel with four small tails. They sported a small insignia—one she didn’t recognize. The man groaned when she turned him to his side, as she tried to assess his wound further.

She unclasped the golden brooch underneath his shoulders and removed his dark coat. Beneath the heavy material was a loose blue undercoat. Blood coated the luxurious velvet material common to the traders from thenorthern kingdoms.Was he a merchant? What was he doing deep in the forests of Mukuru Kingdom?Sholei removed the undercoat and touched his dark skin. His shoulders were strong and broad. He wasn’t overly muscular, but sculpted and toned. Tattooed wings were inked between his injured shoulder blades.

Sholei resisted the urge to stare at his sinewy muscles as heat crawled up her neck. She faced many men in various stages of undress in the medicine yard, but never had she reacted to one like that. Sholei trained her eyes on the hideous wound beneath his left shoulder blade as she pondered how to remove the arrow. She retrieved her medicine basket and assessed the meager supply. White pus surrounded his festering wound.

His horse moved to stand under a tree, the same tree the infuriating bird perched on, and its sharp eyes on Sholei.

Soon it would be sundown, and Sholei doubted if she’d be able to return to the medicine yard before dark. It was pure luck they were near a river. She couldn’t drag the man and resorted to creating a crude shelter around him. The plains might be warm during the day, but a slight cold could do a patient like him in.

Sholei set up the shelter with tree branches and leaves and returned to remove the shaft. Wrapping white bandages around the wound, she took a deep breath and tugged it from his shoulder. The man groaned but didn’t move. She tossed the weapon aside, Sholei cleaned the wound and applied herbs to stop blood flow. By the time she was done, darkness was creeping in around them.

As a physician, Sholei spent some nights in the forest when she and Musembi foraged for herbs. On that day, she was alone, as her mentor was passed out drunk in their yard. Sholei collected small twigs and started a fire. She burned herbs to ward off bugs and keep predators in the dark.

She turned to her patient and examined his exposed chest. Unusual scars crisscrossed his skin from his shoulders to his toned stomach, seven in total. As he lay close to the warm fire light Sholei gazed at his body unabashedly.Who was this man with a tattoo on his back and scars on his chest?His blue pants sat low on his waist, and Sholei used his thick cloak to cover his body. His long, muscular legs were encased in black, knee-length leather boots.

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