Bini warriors broke away and ran along the side of the fence to the back, led by General Chinua. At the back of the fortress, two hundred more waited. The Bini tossed their grapple hooks over the side.
But this time the rope burst into flames; in mere seconds it had burned to ash.
“Damn Edo magic!” the general cursed. “I don’t like this! I fight with spear and sword—not magic! Bolajl...!”
Instantly the witchdoctor appeared, a specter not of solid flesh but of spirit – his image blinking in and out in the darkness. “The only way inside this fortress is under it.” Bolajl said. “I can create a door, but I cannot hold it open. Enter at your own risk.”
He took a gourd from his belt and began to chant, then smashed it against the wall. Green flames crawled up the side of the fortress, sizzling like acid... and a doorway appeared.
Chinua jaw dropped. “Well I’ll be—! This is it, let’s go!” They thundered through the door.
Now Nandi smiled. “So that’s the plan, distract them with arrows while we sneak through the backdoor. But why have you brought me here?”
“Because your heart cried out to me. Would you like to join them?”
“Oh yes!”
“And so you shall . . .”
In the next instant, she stood armed with shield and sword—still female and with her breasts covered with a strip of cloth, with her head shaved. Nandi rushed through the door with the men—Sule among them—into a narrow, dark chamber.
The passageway led to a flight of stairs and above it they could see moonlight shinning down. Suddenly an inhuman screech exploded reverberating in the hall. They clapped their hands over their ears.
The banshee cry ended.
And the walls came to life.
Ten foot, hulking creatures with only eyes in their smooth faces pulled themselves from the sandstone to attack.
General Chinua uttered an oath. “The Edo must have a counter alarm!”
They fought on grimly, but it was no use—severed arms regenerated, machetes sank into strange clay-like skin, but drew no blood. With arms like steel the monsters snatched up warriors and crushed them. In the darkness, the screams of the dying and injured echoed in the passageway.
Behind them, Bolajl doorway vanished. “We’re trapped!” Sule shouted.
Suddenly Ogun was beside her. The panther opened its mouth and roared. Warriors rose from the chamber floor – specters with the heads of leopards, and the bodies of men covered by black fur. At this new intrusion the Bini knew all was lost...
But the panther warriors fell upon their enemies with the claws and teeth of jungle cats – disemboweling them – severing necks and arms. The Bini raced up the stairs and across the city square.
Fighting in the torch lit square, Nandi waited for someone to shout that a woman was among them. But the cry never came.
The god has cloaked me!
She found herself fighting alongside Sule. He stabbed the Edo warrior he was grappling with in the gut, glanced at her...and his jaw dropped.
He knows! The moment almost cost them both their lives. In that instant, an Edo sprang forward, and slashed her across the chest. As Sule rushed to help her, another stabbed at his throat. Sule leaped back, the sword point pricked his neck drawing blood and Nandi thrust forward with a killing stab to her opponent, then like lighting sliced across the other Edo’s chest.
They cut a bloody path toward Oba Fela’s palace. Their enemies now beset from the front and back, were falling under the Bini swords.
“You!” Nandi pointed at Sule and fifty others. “Follow me!”
They cut a catacomb to Fela’s palace, thundering from room to room searching for him. Finally, they came to a resplendent chamber with a huge veiled bed and two overstuffed chairs.
Oba Fela his four wives and six children were hiding there. In the next instant, the Edo witch doctor appeared, hissing a mantra, and at the time smashing a glass ball to the floor. Smoke exploded in their faces.
When it cleared, the king and his family had vanished.
“It’s doesn’t matter!” Nandi shouted. “The city is ours!”
* * *
She awoke with a gasp. Her hand flew to her head and she felt the braids.
It was a dream – a wonderful, wonderful dream! The sounds of battle still echoed in her ears. Nandi rose up on her elbows and looked around. Mariama slept on the floor beside her.
How long have I been out?
She slipped out of bed, and walked through the group room to the palace entrance. In the distance she heard the sound of cheering.
* * *
Tomi dragged the Edo though the ivory palace followed by five other warriors and threw him at his father’s feet. “We found this one lurking outside the city!” The Bini encircled him with spears. “I started to kill him but I thought you wanted to question him first.
“Speak and perhaps I’ll spare your life!” Adegoke barked.
“I am Chicha and I bring you a message from my king: Oba Fela.”
“He is Oba of nothing now!” Adegoke sneered. “He is a coward who fled with the help of witchcraft! And the Edo empire is mine now!”
“King Fela has joined his Esan allies in the north. He—they—will attack in the morning unless I return with an answer to his question.”
“And what question would that be?”
“Actually, it is a proposition,” Chicha replied. “Oba Fela proposes an alliance between the Bini and Edo kingdoms. United you will sweep across the continent to build an empire... and none will stand before you.
Adegoke leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “I’m listening.”
“This truce will be solidified by the marriage of King Fela’s oldest son, Abayomi, and your daughter Nandi.”
* * *
She hunkered down in the elephant grass watching them. Nandi’s eyes drank in every fluid movement as the warriors parried, blocked and stabbed. While practicing, the young men used heavy sticks – even so these sparing sessions often ended with someone bleeding.
Her eyes lingered upon one ebony
