EVEN FROM THE END of the hall, the explosion rattles me to my core.
Unbearable heat sears my skin.
Black smoke fills the air.
“Jokôye!” I cough through the smoke and charred pieces of parchment that fly through the air. But Ojore drags me back. My eyes sting as he pulls me away from the fight.
“Don’t let them escape!” Mother points at the seven figures who charge through the black clouds. As the smoke clears, I see the blanket of bodies on the floor. Jokôye lies unconscious, leg twisted in half.
Mother runs forward, igniting the emerald glow in her chest. But Amari doesn’t back down. My eyes widen when a navy light flickers to life behind her ribs.
Magic swirls around Amari’s body like a typhoon, spreading through every limb.
“Ya èmí, ya ara!” she screams.
Blue light radiates from her hands in waves, pushing through the soldiers in her way.
Mother cries out, arching backward in pain. She grabs her head as she falls to the floor. Her golden mask skitters across the stone.
My chest clenches as Amari raises her hand to me, but when we lock eyes, she doesn’t strike. Even as our armies collide, I see my sister. I see my blood.
“Amari!” My steps falter as I try to slow, but Ojore drags me around the corner. I struggle to stay upright as he pushes me up a flight of stairs. We race down a long hall, my pulse spiking as the rumble of the Iyika grows near.
“In here!” Ojore pushes me into a cramped room, pressing a hand to my mouth. Sweat drips down my face as the Iyika’s boots thunder toward us. I flinch when they pass.
Ojore doesn’t move until their footsteps die for good. I peek out of the room to see the Iyika disappear up another flight of stairs.
“Skies.” Ojore trembles, bracing himself against the stone wall. Though I try to breathe, my throat tightens the farther away Zélie gets. Her spirit tugs at mine. It’s as if she’s still anchored to my soul.
I attempt to pull her into my dreamscape, but when my magic sparks, a splitting pain erupts in my head.
“Are you okay?” Ojore grabs me as I double over, and I nod. But even in this temple, I can’t move into the dreamscape.
“Stay here,” Ojore orders. “I’m going back for the others.”
I hold the bronze piece tight as he turns to run back for my mother and Jokôye. When he disappears around the corner, I look to the stairs again.
I ignore every voice that screams at me to stop as I sprint after Zélie’s sea-salt soul.