Page 82 of Children of Virtue and Vengeance

“Mama Agba.” I turn to face her. Even in my head, the question waiting on my lips sounds ridiculous. But I don’t know how to account for the colors of light I haven’t seen. “Is it possible to combine different magic?”

“Well, the very nature of the cênters—”

“Not like that,” I interrupt. “Is it possible to combine differenttypesof magic? The magic of people not in the same clan?”

Mama Agba’s eyes go wide and she steps back, brows creasing in thought. “Why do you ask?”

“In myìsípayá, I saw different colors. I saw purples mixing with golds. It was a rainbow of color,” I explain. “A rainbow of power.”

“I see.” Mama Agba purses her lips. “Combining the same magic is rare enough, but to mix different magics… to my knowledge, it has only been done once before. It is the very reason Orïsha has majacite at all.”

My mouth falls slack as Mama Agba tells me the tale of the Grounder and Cancer who combined their magic, a connection so powerful and explosive it created majacite deposits throughout the land.

“The two maji were killed on impact,” Mama Agba explains. “But we still feel the effect of their connection today. The deposits they created are what the monarchy have mined for over a century.”

“Could it happen again?” I ask.

“In theory.” Mama Agba shakes her head. “If a connection like that could be sustained, if its wielders could survive, there is no telling what could happen. A Grounder and a Burner could raise volcanoes from the earth. A Reaper and a Healer might even be able to raise the dead.”

I nod, thinking of the potential at hand. A power like that is difficult to comprehend. It feels even mightier than the gods.

“But Zélie, to go that route—”

“I know,” I assure her. “It’s still not the plan.”

A gentle chatter rises from below as the maji leave their dormitories, and Mama Agba and I move to my balcony. I watch as groups traverse the stone bridge to the third mountain, crossing over the natural baths to meet at their clan temples.

Mâzeli leads Bimpe and Mári, his large ears easy to spot in the crowd. Mama Agba smiles as we look down on them. She rubs her hand up and down my arm.

“Do you still remember yourìsípayá?” I ask, and Mama Agba exhales. A soft smile settles on her face, so bright it lights the room.

“I peeked into the beyond,” Mama Agba breathes. “I kneeled on the mountaintop. Sky Mother welcomed me with open arms.”

“It sounds beautiful,” I whisper.

“It was.” Mama Agba nods. “It’s been decades, but I can still remember that special warmth. That love.”

Mama Agba straightens my collar and removes my headwrap, shaking out my coils before leading me out the door.

“You are the person your Reapers need, Elder Zélie. The only person you need to prove it to is yourself.”

BY THE TIMEI make my way to the third mountain, most clans are hard at work. With the exception of the Reapers, every other clan has at least a dozen maji who can fight.

The maji gather in front of their clan temples, training while divîners watch. As I pass them on my way to the Reaper tower at the top of the mountain, the little confidence Mama Agba instilled in me begins to melt.

“Not like that,” Na’imah instructs, shaking her head so hard that a shower of orange flower petals fall from her curls. Dragonflies orbit her head as she repositions a maji’s hands around her cheetanaire’s temples. “Feel the connection before you begin the incantation.”

The Tamer nods and closes his eyes, face stern with concentration. Small monkeys skitter across his back as he chants, some hanging from his neck and ears.

“Èdá inú egàn, yá mi ní ojú r?—”

A soft pink light ignites behind the Tamer’s eyelids, growing in strength. When he opens his eyes, the cheetanaire does as well. The same pink light fills the ryder’s thin irises.

The Tamer’s mouth hangs open as he gazes at the world through the cheetanaire’s eyes. It’s like their heads are controlled by the same source. The two even blink in unison.

On the ledge above them, Folake leads a demonstration for the Lighters, her long white locs tied back. She stretches out her slender fingers, gathering something I can’t see.

“The trick is to feel the light like something you can hold in the palms of your hands. Once you can feel it, the incantation is easy.Ìbòrí òkùnkùn!”

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