Page 36 of Children of Blood and Bone

It’s like a floodgate opening in my heart, an endless wave of emotion rushing through my entire being. The gods are back.Alive.With us after all this time.

The twinkling stars between Mama Agba’s palms swirl and dance with one another. An image slowly crystallizes, sharpening like a sculpture before our eyes. With time, I can make out three silhouettes on a mountainous hill. They climb with relentless fury, making their way through thick underbrush.

“Skies,” Amari curses. She takes a tentative step forward. “Is that… me?”

I snort at her vanity, but the sight of my cropped dashiki makes me stop. She’s right—it’s us and Tzain, climbing through the jungle greenery. My hands reach for a rock while Tzain guides Nailah by the reins to a ledge. We ascend higher and higher up the mountain, climbing till we reach the—

The vision vanishes, snapping to empty air in the blink of an eye.

We’re left staring at Mama Agba’s empty hands, hands that have just changed my entire world.

Mama’s fingers shake from the strain of her vision. More tears spill from her eyes.

“I feel,” she chokes through her silent sobs. “I feel like I can breathe again.”

I nod, though I don’t know how to describe the tightness in my own heart. After the Raid I truly thought I’d never see magic again.

When Mama Agba’s hands are steady, she grasps the scroll, desperation leaking through her touch. She scans the parchment; from the movement of her eyes, I can tell she’s actually reading the symbols.

“It’s a ritual,” she says. “That much I can see. Something with an ancient origin, a way to connect with the gods.”

“Can you do it?” Amari asks, amber eyes shining with a mixture of awe and fear. She stares at Mama Agba as if she were made of diamonds, yet flinches whenever she draws near.

“It’s not I who was meant to do this, child.” Mama places the scroll in my hands. “You saw the same vision as I.”

“Y-you cannot be serious,” Amari stammers. For once I agree with her.

“What’s there to argue?” Mama asks. “You three were on the journey. You were traveling to bring magic back!”

“Is it not already here?” Amari asks. “What you just did—”

“A fraction of what I could do before. This scroll sparks the magic, but to bring it back to its full power, you must do more.”

“There has to be someone better.” I shake my head. “Someone with more experience. You can’t be the only maji to escape the Raid. We can use your power to find someone for the scroll.”

“Girls—”

“We can’t!” I cut in. “Ican’t! Baba—”

“I’ll take care of your father.”

“But the guards!”

“Don’t forget who taught you how to fight.”

“We don’t even know what it says,” Amari interrupts. “We cannot even read it!”

Mama Agba’s eyes grow distant like an idea’s taken hold in her head.She scurries over to a collection of her belongings, returning with a faded map. “Here.” She gestures to a spot in the Funmilayo Jungle, a few days east of Ilorin’s coast. “In my vision you were traveling here. It must be where Chândombléis.”

“Chândomblé?” Amari asks.

“A legendary temple,” Mama Agba answers. “Rumored to be the home of the sacred sêntaros, the protectors of magic and spiritual order. Before the Raid, only the newly elected leaders of the ten maji clans made the pilgrimage, but if my vision showed you traveling there, it must be your time. You must go. Chândomblémay hold the answers you seek.”

The more Mama Agba speaks, the more I lose feeling in my hands and feet.Why don’t you understand?I want to scream.

I’m not strong enough.

I look at Amari; for a moment, I almost forget she’s a princess. In the glow of Mama Agba’s candles she looks small, unsure of what to do next.

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