We returned to our chambers after our talk with Ramala. The sky was getting dark. The table in our suite was piled high with different varieties of food. Zion made himself a plate and started chowing down.
I was resting in a reclining chair, thinking about Ramala’s words, when a sharp pain glanced across my chest. It felt much like it did when we had retrieved the gifts.
“Ow!” I said.
“What’s wrong?” Aliyah said.
My vision began to blur. I tried to force my eyes to stay open, but I could feel myself losing consciousness. Zion shook my shoulders to wake me up. “Cam, what’s wrong?”
I leaned forward but met only the crushing weight on my chest again. I shook my head, leaned back in my seat, closed my eyes, and succumbed to the pain.
For some reason, the Book sent me back to Shukti. I could tell because of the deep darkness. I marched over the rock outcrop to the jumbled voices I heard, then stopped before Ekwensu’s throne; a mass of mmo, speaking to one another in their own garbled tongue, stood behind him.
The death god bellowed, “Silence!”
They slunk away to the shadows, leaving a figure prostrate on the ground, covered by a long cape.
“You said you had protected the scepter. You said Ramala would never guess that it was hidden on Okeniyi,” Ekwensu said, his voice low and icy, still reminding me of snakes slithering on the ground. He sat on his throne staring down at what I thought was Amina.
When Ekwensu raised his skeletal hand, Amina’s body floated off the ground a few feet before she slammed right back onto the floor. She screamed, but the death god compelled her to stand up. He raised his hand, and her body flew upright, with her toes only barely touching the ground.
“Answer me, my darling princess,” Ekwensu said, his voice still calm and low.
“I thought I had taken all the precautions,” Amina struggled to say. “But the Book has returned.”
“You said you had taken care of it!”
Ekwensu closed his hand into a loose fist, and I could hear Amina gasping for air as her breath was restricted. “I did … take … care of … the … Book,” she managed to say.
He opened his hand. “So how is it here again?”
She rose in the air a couple more feet. She gasped again. “I talked with Agwu after the scepter was taken. He said three children stole it from him.”
“Children?” Ekwensu said, his eyes burning with fire. “What does Ramala need with children?”
“One of the children who took the scepter is the Descendant. The last one had … a child. I … I am sorry I did not tell you when I found out.”
With another flick of his hand, Ekwensu sent Amina down toward the ground again. She groaned as she hit the floor.
“Then you know what needs to be done. You must get the crown, the scepter, and kill the Book once and for all! My patience grows thin with you, Amina. If you fail, I will be forced to enter this fight.”
“I promise I will not fail,” Amina groaned. “I will storm the Palacia and kill the Descendant.”
“Ensure that you do not,” Ekwensu said. “For if you do, I’ll destroy you and take over both worlds without your help.”
I woke up. My chest was hurting so badly that I knew instantly this was not a dream or an illusion.
Zion and Aliyah shook me violently.
“I’m back,” I said, breathing hard. “I’m back.”
As their faces went from shock to overall concern for me, I stood and walked toward the door. “Where’s Makai?” I asked.
“What’s going on, Cam?” Zion asked.
“We need Makai. The soldiers must surround the Palacia and every courtyard. Amina is on her way to kill me.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean?”
But I wasn’t paying attention to them. I opened the door, stormed down the steps, and warned the guards there. Then I climbed back up the steps, two at a time, and ran toward the bedroom. I flung the door open with such force that it slammed against the opposite wall. I grabbed my armor.
Zion was right behind me. He said nothing at first, just followed my lead and started to prepare himself for battle.
“I saw Amina again,” I said, pulling on my boots. “Ekwensu was torturing her. She convinced him that I stole the crown and scepter. She is amassing her mmo army right now and is about to storm the castle.”
“I believe you,” he said, putting on his armor.
By the time we got back to the sitting room, Aliyah was ready to fight, her sword tied to her waist. I told her what I had seen. Then we marched to the hall leading to the Throne Room, just as Makai barreled through the crowds of soldiers.
He grabbed my shoulders. “Cameron, are you sure of this information?” he asked.
The pain in my chest was still there, evidence to me that what I had experienced and heard was real. “I’m telling the truth.”
The Throne Room door opened, and Ramala appeared, holding her scepter and wearing her crown, dressed for battle.
“My queen, you must go inside,” Makai said. “I will set soldiers around your rooms to protect you. You must not be seen with the gifts in front of Amina. She comes for them and to kill the Descendant.”
She brushed him away with a wave of her hand. “Nonsense. Chidani is my country. The Palacia is my home. The reign is mine. I will not allow Amina to take my throne or destroy the Descendant. I am ill, but with the gifts that have already been returned to me, I am now well enough to fight. I will stand for the Igbo people, with or without the ring to aid me.”
Makai took her hand and led her to the courtyard. We followed behind them and watched the skies. Soldiers spilled into the other courtyards and gates, securing the perimeters of the Palacia. I gazed at the stone wall surrounding us. I had a feeling it wouldn’t hold against the mmo.
The queen beckoned me forward. “You must go inside, Descendant. If Amina spots you, she will attack with the full might of her power. We must protect you; only you can find the ring.”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I will fight with my friends, for my friends.”
She signaled to one of her Queensguard. “Lock him down until the fight is over.”
A noise stopped us all in our tracks. The sky darkened, and a sound like trumpets blaring met our ears. The ground shook.
“What’s going on?” Zion asked, but no one answered him.
We all heard a ripping sound as we watched the skies. In the middle of a cloud, a deep white line appeared, so bright that it almost burned my eyes. The rip opened farther and farther until a figure, riding on the back of a fearsome gryphon—much bigger than the ones we had ridden—appeared. I could barely see the figure, but I knew exactly who it was.
“Sister,” Amina called out from her perch. “It’s been some time since we last saw each other. Hand over the Book and no harm shall befall you or the people you are protecting.” Although she was far away, we all heard her voice. Scores of mmo appeared through the rip and surrounded Amina.
We waited to hear what the queen would say, but nothing came. Ramala only put her fist in the air, the symbol to hold. I could just make out the sounds of soldiers’ boots running on the castle walls, getting into position from everywhere inside the Palacia.
“This is your last chance,” Amina called. “I don’t want bloodshed, but you shall have it if you do not deliver the Descendant.”
Again, the queen said nothing.
“So be it,” the princess said. “I will have the Book, even if blood runs down the streets of Asaba.” She released the reins of the gryphon and stood.
The queen opened her hand. At the top of the Palacia, the archers raised their arrows.
With a flick of her hand, the princess soared toward the Palacia. A red light appeared around her body as she descended, and the Book within my chest stirred. As I gritted my teeth, the sky exploded as the mmo unleashed themselves through the light and tumbled toward the ground.
Ramala brought her hand down and raised her scepter. “Attack!”