I had a few hours to prepare for the final battle.
No pressure.
I wanted to tell Mama and my brothers what was happening, but I didn't want to worry them. I would handle Esther—I had to. Even though I had been careless recently, I wasn't interested in having a conversation with Death soon.
With the dolls' help, I spent most of the day researching Esther's zodiac magic and how to counter it. She used a type called "Chinese Zodiac Magic" which explained the animals. There were a few sorcerers who had encountered it. Some advised running away, while others gave odd solutions. I wasn't in a position of being picky, so I memorized everything.
Tears clouded my vision, blurring the information on my laptop.
"What's wrong, Binti?" Honey asked beside me on the couch, wearing her favorite pink nightgown and white shoes.
"Nothing." I rubbed the tears from my eyes with my hands. Having been selfish for so long, I didn't want to break Mama's heart. I saw what Baba's death did to her. She went from being a free spirit to a broken one, spending most of her time inside the house doing nothing. She would sit by the window and stare at the sky all day and night. It wasn't a pretty sight. It took months before she'd talk to me and my brothers.
Ebony entered the living room carrying a cup of herbal tea she had promised to make for me. "Here you go." She handed it to me.
"Thank you." I grabbed it with my trembling hands and took a sip. It helped calm my nerves.
My arms had healed after a few hours of sleep. I shouldn't have been nervous as I was at the peak of my powers during the full moon. Still, the idea of underestimating Esther made my stomach turn. Strength meant nothing if you didn't know how to use it—a sorcerer who could counter you with ease was the most dangerous opponent.
"You seem tense," Ebony said.
"That's what I said," Honey added.
"No, you didn't," I replied.
"If you clench your jaw too much, you'll break your teeth," said Ebony.
"I'm not—" I took a deep breath before sighing. "I'm not clenching my jaw."
"If you say so." Ebony grabbed Honey's hands and pulled her from the couch. "We'll be outside with Denzel if you need us."
"Have fun," I said.
Ebony gave me one last look from the exit—reminding me of Mama's overbearing stare—before disappearing from my sight.
I finished the tea and then lay on the couch. Bitterness struck my tongue. Swallowing it, it burned my chest, drenching my heart in sorrow. I couldn't believe I had teleported away from Esther. Part of me understood it was to save my life, but the other part—the egotistical side—had a hard time dealing with the loss. I went to fight Esther and ran away like a coward.
Confidence was such a bastard. A few days ago, I was sure I could beat her without a problem. But after last night, the seeds of doubt had grown within, sprouting their toxic roots around my brain and weakening my thoughts of winning.
Not that I hadn't lost before, many sorcerers beat my ass throughout the years. It was the manner of it. I knew Esther had set a trap, and I couldn't stop it. What was the point of knowing what would happen if you couldn't prevent it? At least when you didn't know, you could use it as an excuse for why you failed. Now all I could do was be a sore loser.
I waggled on the couch like a child, punching the cushion out of anger.
My phone rang, startling me. Picking it up from the floor, I groaned. Preacher Boy video-called me. Argh! He knew how much I hated it. Just text me!
"What do you want?" I answered.
"Hello, Binti." Esther's smiling face appeared on the screen.
Motherf—I sat up straight. "What have you done to him?" I gripped the phone, nearly breaking it.
"I needed insurance in case you thought of running away."
I hadn't even thought of it. It was true I could've left the country, and she would've had to chase me across the continent, fulfilling her cat or mouse question she had asked back at the preacher's house. But I loved a fight so much that running away never crossed my mind.
"Insurance?" That didn't sound good.
Esther turned the camera away from herself. From the look of the area, she was at a football stadium. Which one? I didn't know. She'd tell me soon—she loved the sound of her own voice.
The camera showed three unconscious people on the ground: Preacher Boy, Zainab, and Aisha.
Damn, she caught my whole team. "You better not hurt—"
"Oh, come on." Esther rolled her eyes. "Don't be a cliche. What were you going to say? I better not hurt them or I'll pay for it. God almighty, I thought you were different. But these last few days have shown I was wrong. You put up this image of being better than everybody else, but the truth is you're desperate to belong. You want to have people you can rely on. That's why you put up with these three even though they hold you back from fulfilling your potential."
The number of sorcerers who had said the same thing was a lot—I still didn't care. I might've been a powerful sorcerer who'd flourish among peers, but Aisha, Preacher Boy—and Zainab to an extent—made me a better human being. Having lived without a soul since getting moon magic, I lost the part of me that made me care for others until I met them. Sure, we argued and fought sometimes, but we never had to compete to see who was better, unlike if I was with those at my skill level. We respected what each of us brought to the table. It was why we worked well while other organizations kept hiring new sorcerers every month because of high employee turnover.
"Get to the point," I said.
"I'm at the National Stadium. You have an hour to show up or I'll kill your friends."
"I'll be there."
The necromancer ended the call.
🌙
I arrived at the national stadium. The night was young, and the moon was out and full, making my body vibrate with power. I licked my lips at the raw energy coursing through me, ready to be unleashed.
The area surrounding the stadium was weirdly empty when there should've been cars and people roaming around as there were open bars and kiosks. It was as if someone had ordered them to leave.
The stadium's doors were open. I went straight to the pitch before they closed behind me. Esther stood in the middle of the field while Preacher Boy, Aisha, and Zainab were unconscious on the ground. Joni stood next to her, his eyes as white as milk.
But that wasn't the thing that made me sweat like a pig even though the chilly wind blew hard. Corpses with milky-white eyes filled the sixty-thousand-seat stadium, sitting on the stands as still as rocks.
How did Esther have that many vanas working for her? What had she promised them... No, what had she given them? I smelled the air, and the hair on my arms rose. The corpses radiated a high level of—
Esther raised her right hand and snapped her fingers twice. Black smoke slithered out of the corpses' mouths and covered their bodies like cocoons. The demons' symbiotic sides took over, and the high level of magic radiating from them remained.
My mouth hung ajar.
To summon sixty-thousand vanas and make them able to control the magic of dead sorcerers meant Esther's magic power was insanely high. No wonder she was confident about beating me during the full moon. She was more powerful. I was the mouse, after all.
The necromancer's magic rivaled that of The Supreme Leaders—no wonder they stayed away from her. Otherwise, they'd have ensured Tanzania and Africa didn't lose moon magic.
Or maybe they had confidence I'd win?
Tuh! Yeah, right.
Esther pointed at Aisha, Preacher Boy, and Zainab. "Take them."
Tentacles exploded out of Joni's chest and wrapped around the three's bodies before he jumped away and disappeared into the stadium.
"I'll set them free after you're dead. I want them to mourn you," the necromancer said.
"How kind of you." I gave a fake smile.
The vanas activated their magic abilities—so did Esther. It was me against sixty-thousand opponents. I smiled. "Bring it on."