Page 89 of The Gilded Ones

“I’m a virgin too,” I whisper. “Nothing wrong with that.”

“Same here.” Britta waves.

“Me too,” adds Lamin, Asha’s uruni, blushing. He’s a very shy boy, despite his massive size, and he very rarely speaks.

“Actually” – Li clears his throat – “me too. But I’ve kissed before – and other things.”

“You hypocrite!” Acalan gasps. “You made such fun of me.”

Li shrugs. “You’re an easy target.”

We all turn to Kweku, but he shrugs as well. “Well, don’t look at me, I grew up in the city.”

Now it’s Asha, Adwapa and Belcalis’s turn.

Adwapa’s the first to respond, and she does so with a humph. “We all know that ship has sailed for me. Happily too. Countless times across the horizon, as it were – like a ship, docking at every port.”

“Same here,” Asha says with a shrug.

When everyone turns to Belcalis, I clear my throat loudly. “How did we even get on this topic anyway?” I ask, trying to distract them. “We should be making plans – survival plans, contingency plans… The deathshrieks are less than ten days away.”

To my relief, Acalan takes the bait. “The largest number of deathshrieks ever, all of them waiting in the N’Oyo Mountains,” he says with a shiver.

I glance at Belcalis, trying to see how she’s doing. She catches my gaze, nods gratefully. “My thanks, Deka,” she mouths.

I turn back to the conversation to see Britta glancing across the group. “Is anyone else frightened?” she asks. “I mean, I’ve gotten used to the raids, but this is different. Just the thought of this has me stomach in knots.”

“You and your delicate stomach,” Adwapa humphs. “And no, I’m not frightened. When I meet the deathshrieks, I’m gonna force every last one of those bastards to taste infinity.”

“Ye and wha’ army?” Britta sniffs. “Ye only ever fulfil yer quota, lazybones.”

And just like that, the conversation becomes heated, everyone enthusiastically discussing how they’re going to handle the deathshrieks when we meet them. My thoughts drift, the same worries taking over them. I don’t know what I’ll do when I’m faced with deathshrieks again. After what I’ve seen, what I know, I can’t view them as just mindless monsters any more. But I’m still not fully sure what to make of them. I try to stifle my concerns, and that’s when I notice something – prickles creeping up my spine, then swarming me in one enormous wave.

Heartbeats.

Lots of them.

I hear the whoosh before I see the shadow hurtling towards us. Then a massive boulder slams into our ranks.

The moments after impact tick by slowly, a macabre but graceful ballet. Bright red and gold blood drains into the sand, severed limbs scatter with abandon. A few of them move, trying to wriggle back to each other.

Severed alaki body parts fighting off the gilded sleep.

“…eka!”

The sound of battle horns comes as if from a distance, as do frantic drumbeats. The commanders are calling to their troops, trying to get them to reassemble. It’s no use, not with all the boulders raining from the sky, their shapes clouded by the sand and dust whirling in the air.

“…ove, Deka!”

I’m overwhelmed by my heartbeat, my fear, the tingling. It rushes over my skin, a tidal wave only I can feel. Deathshrieks – an entire army of them. A shifting, formless mass in the distance. There are so many of them… I think, dazed. I knew there were, but this… This defies all expectation.

“Move, Deka!” Keita’s hand grips my shoulder. He’s standing behind me, Britta at his side. “The deathshrieks are throwing boulders at us!”

Another boulder ploughs into the advance guard, sending soldiers flying.

“Death Strikers, to me!” a voice roars. Captain Kelechi, riding at the front of the army.

Visibility is so poor now, I can barely see past my own nose. Mist is threading the sand, making it nearly impossible to see anything.

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