Wura
When Nissi's eyes locked on her, Wura felt her stomach tighten. That look… that wide, frozen, sinister smile sent a chill crawling up her spine. Nissi looked like a possessed doll, the corner of her mouth smeared with blood, her teeth too visible, almost feral. She looked ecstatic. Mad. Dangerously at peace with the horror around her.
Wura didn't even have time to move.
With a swift motion, Nissi grabbed a fistful of her tunic near the chest, pinning her in place, and the blows came. Sharp. Brutal. Relentless. Three times faster, three times stronger than Wura's. She felt her nose crack, her cheekbones shudder under the impact. Her jaw snapped with a dull crunch. The world spun. Each strike felt like it was breaking her from the inside out, from soul to skin.
Then, without mercy, Nissi tore the blindfold from her eyes.
The open air hit her pupils like a frozen blade. Wura felt naked, stripped bare before her, before them, before the forest itself.
– Hiding them won't change what you are, spat Nissi.
The punch that followed hit so hard she lost her footing. Her body crashed backward, slamming into the ground. Pain bit into her shoulder and hips. Her vision blurred with stars, her breath came ragged, her heart pounding in her temples.
From the ground, half-conscious, she lifted her gaze and saw Nissi walking toward Nath.
No.
No, no, no.
He wouldn't survive. He'd lost too much blood, for too long. He was dying, right there, before her eyes, and she couldn't stop it.
– Nissi… or… whatever you've become… stop… she whispered, her throat burning.
Nissi turned slowly, irritation flickering in her eyes, as if she were addressing an insect.
– You're still alive?
– Why… why are you doing this? Wura asked, dragging each word through the pain. Being a Black Warrior, is that enough to justify everything?
A shadow passed over Nissi's eyes, but her tone stayed sharp as glass.
– Shut up. You don't know anything. Not about me.
Her voice cut through the air, cold, metallic.
– I used to be weak. I swallowed everyone's orders, their fears, their expectations. I stayed silent my whole life. But now? Now I'm the strongest chosen one in this forest. And I do whatever I want.
Wura clenched her teeth despite the pain.
– I thought Black Warriors were meant to protect. Not destroy…
Nissi froze. Her face tightened. Something cracked in the mask, anger, yes, but also grief. Deep, suffocating grief, hidden beneath her words.
– You'll never understand, she breathed bitterly.
She stepped closer. One step. Then another. Her gaze locked on Wura.
Wura tried to rise, her arms trembling, her body screaming. Nissi lifted her foot, ready to crush her again.
But Wura moved, pure instinct. She rolled aside, hooked Nissi's leg in a desperate motion.
Nissi staggered. Just enough.
Wura lunged, tackling her with all the strength she had left, slamming her to the ground. Nissi's head hit the dirt with a heavy thud. Her body went limp.
Wura froze, breath ragged, fist still clenched. But her heart twisted painfully. She hated that it had come to this. Nissi.
She shook her head. Nath. She had to help Nath.
Staggering, running only on adrenaline, she took a few shaky steps toward him, then stopped dead.
Behind her, movement.
She turned just in time to see Nissi rise again. Her eye blackened, literally. A dense, dark glow burned within it, deeper, fiercer than before. She looked possessed. Twisted by her own fury.
A scream ripped through the air. Nissi charged.
Wura kicked, but it was useless.
Nissi caught her leg, pivoted in one fluid, savage motion, and dragged her whole body into a spinning fall.
The world turned upside down.
***
Ru
The sun climbed higher, slow but steady, toward its zenith. Time was running out. Ru still hadn't found an amulet. He'd come across others, some with theirs proudly hanging from their necks or belts. He could have ambushed them, stolen the prize, disappeared through the branches before anyone could react.
But he didn't.
He couldn't.
He'd rather fail than stoop that low. They had fought for what they carried, earned it. He would do the same.
A sharp noise shattered the quiet. One blow. Then another. Shouts. Heavy impacts. Ru froze, head turning toward the sound. It came from the undergrowth, not far off. He moved closer, cautious.
Then he saw them.
A boy slumped against a tree, head drooping. An arrow pierced through his palm, deep. Blood had streamed down, pooling dark at his feet. Barely conscious. The metallic smell hung thick in the air.
A few meters away, a fight. Two girls. One of them he recognized, the one who'd almost spoken to him earlier. The other… no. Black markings carved across her face like inked scars. Intimidating. Ferocious.
And those eyes…
Ru shivered.
The first girl's blindfold lay on the ground. Her eyes gleamed like twin suns. Unnatural. Inhuman.
The attacker fought with ruthless precision, pure instinct and power. No technique, just raw force. Each strike meant to kill, or at least to shatter. Ru had seen plenty of fights during the trial, but never one this violent. What was her goal? Eliminate her opponents one by one?
His gaze drifted to the injured boy. Maybe he was the target. Rumor had it some gifted ones could sense loas — spirits, souls, hidden presences. Strategic assets. Maybe she wanted to take him. Enslave him. But if so, she was doing a terrible job of it.
The other girl finally collapsed. The attacker turned toward the boy, moving closer, then suddenly spun around. Her eyes locked on her fallen opponent. Something passed between them, unspoken but heavy. Then she raised her foot.
And everything shifted.
A blur of motion. A reversal. The attacker lost balance. The unmasked gir, faster than thought, had disarmed her, slammed her down, hand pressing her face to the dirt with brutal force.
Silence.
The body marked in black lay still. For a heartbeat, the world hung still.
Ru didn't move. He watched.
The girl took a few shaky steps toward her companion.
But already, the other was stirring.
She rose. In one motion.
Impossible.
Ru's pulse quickened. She shouldn't have been able to stand, not after that hit. Yet there she was, straight, steady, her eyes darker than ever.
Unreal endurance. Something beyond human.
Ru took a step back.
He'd gone too far, realized it in that instant. He was just an observer, not a part of this fight. Not this time. This wasn't his battle.
He looked away, jaw tightening.
And before he knew it, his fists were clenched.
***
Wura
The world around Wura spun endlessly, until a force, as if driven by Nissi's will itself, hurled her violently backward. She braced for the crash, for the bone-crushing impact, for the darkness that would follow.
But the fall never came.
Instead, her descent was broken… by a body. A human one.
They rolled across the ground in a muffled thud, dirt rising in a faint cloud around them. No rock. No tree. No pain that wasn't already there, just surprise.
Someone had caught her.
A hand slid behind her back, steady and firm despite its slowness; another rested on her shoulder with an almost disarming gentleness. He didn't speak. He barely moved. His presence was wordless, silent, but as solid and grounding as the earth beneath her.
Wura blinked, dizzy. Her vision cleared, and through the blur she saw a face framed by short, layered hair. Recognition hit instantly.
Him.
Her heart tightened.
That boy with the faded haircut, the one who had ignored her when she called for help. What was he doing here now?
— You… she breathed, disoriented.
He looked at her without expression. But he didn't withdraw his hand immediately. She could feel it tremble, just slightly, against her shoulder, as if the contact itself was foreign to him. Then, abruptly, almost awkwardly, he pulled back and straightened up. Without a word, he turned toward Nissi.
— Don't move, he said, curt, but not unkind. You're in bad shape.
Wura tried to answer, to rise, but her right arm pulsed with deep, throbbing pain, and her legs buckled beneath her. She bit back a cry, lowering her head. Each breath carved into her ribs like a blade.
Her left hand pressed against her wounded arm, she watched as the stranger approached Nissi. What was he planning? A flash of dread ran through her. He's after Nath too.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself up, step by trembling step. Every muscle screamed. Her face was swollen from Nissi's blows; her vision blurred. Still, she pushed forward — bent, unsteady, but standing.
She stumbled into place, blocking the path between the stranger and the unconscious boy.
— I'm warning you, she said, her voice hoarse but unwavering. You'll have to go through me first.
Neither of them replied. Their eyes had already locked, a silent duel crackling in the charged air. A faint vibration rippled between them, almost imperceptible.
They were entering a trance.
The fight was about to begin.
For Nath.
As if he were nothing more than a prize.
Perfect. Let them kill each other. She'd have a chance to escape.
I have to hurry.
She knelt beside Nath, her trembling hand brushing his pale face. That was when she noticed it…his beauty. Something quiet and luminous lingered there, even in pain. His hair, disheveled and damp, fell across his forehead, softening his expression.
She grasped the arrow and pulled. It didn't budge. She tried again, another angle, more force. Nothing. The shaft stayed buried, defiant.
Panting, she wiped her forehead…and froze. Her hand was red. Nath's blood.
A wave of panic surged. Her hands trembled uncontrollably. Memories clawed their way to the surface, blood, screams, lifeless bodies. Heat rose in her skull, in her throat, in her chest.
No… not now…
The episode. It was coming back. That sickness, that heavy, invisible weight that crushed her whenever the past resurfaced. She was trapped in it again, powerless, paralyzed.
Darkness flooded her mind, shapeless but alive, watching her with a thousand unseen eyes. And its hands — those formless, crawling hands — reached for her, ready to drag her under.
— Wura…
A voice. Gentle. Fragile. Nath's.
— … You have beautiful eyes.
The words struck her like a spark in the dark.
Her soul snapped back into her body, pulled by something invisible and fierce. Her cheeks flushed with heat. She could breathe again. She could feel again.
It's just a wall, she told herself. You can break through it.
Her heart thundered, deep, steady, alive. A pulse of energy surged through her, spreading in clear, concentric waves. She seized the arrow.
This time, it came free, sliding out of the wound like a stake from soft earth.
Wura tore a strip from her torn dress, bandaged the wound quickly, then pulled Nath's arm around her shoulders. Together, limping, half-collapsed, they left the battlefield — broken, but breathing.
The pain dulled. Not gone, but distant now. What mattered was escape.
***
Far away, hidden among the trees, two silent watchers broke their quiet.
— You might've been right, murmured Linto. The Kosin… they all carry power, whether they like it or not.
Doubyé smiled faintly, saying nothing.
***
Wura
The sun drifted lower, swallowed by a sea of black clouds. Rain fell now, first a drizzle, then a storm.
They found shelter beneath a rocky arch.
Wura gathered the rainwater trickling down to clean Nath's wound. As she did, her gaze caught on a small raffia pouch tied at his waist.
The Forest Tribe.
Her father used to speak of them, healers, botanists, masters of natural medicine.
She rummaged through the pouch, desperate.
And there it was, a small green jar, marked with a single word that made her heart lift.
Healing.
She applied it to their wounds, then leaned back against the stone wall, utterly spent.
Sleep claimed her almost instantly, heavy, deep, merciful.