Yishume nesishiyagalombili

Nikola's POV

I needed to find him! I refused to lose Samuel! Sammy's pendant was tied around my wrist securely. I kept touching it, running my finger over the engraving of my family crest to calm myself down. He was the only man privy to wearing this symbol after my brother died.

I couldn't wrap my head around what he did; what Riley says he did. I couldn't allow myself to believe that he would do that – that he would abandon me. He was always so strong and brave, and our people needed him. Why would he abandon us? I forced myself to not think of him and that damn cliff.

I had a goal – I needed to get Sammy home safely. When he was safe, I could deal with everything. My other concern was Lissa. She was unusually quiet, and I knew that meant her mind was running laps around itself with all the worst possible scenarios. I looked at her down-casted eyes. I hated feeling this useless, but I also knew that all would be well once she was back in her brother's arms.

"Lissa, we're almost there," I whispered to my beloved, causing her to look up at me with wet lilac eyes. I intertwined our fingers and kissed the crown of her head. She gave me a sad smile and then looked forward again.

The scouts, Riley brought along, had returned moments after they found me. They told us that they found the origin point for the huge fire. It was a few kilometres ahead of us, and it was heavily guarded. Luckily for us, the area was secluded so we would only have to worry about the primary forces and not their reinforcements.

I looked behind me at the two northern chiefs, engaged in hushed conversation. From the smirk on Quaahir's face, it must have been good. Although his smirk was a permanent feature on his face. This one was directed towards the princess; the devilish pair were finding in amusement in her frustration. Riley was scowling at something and her jaw was clenched. I couldn't bother to find out why.

Riley sent a few of the warriors ahead of us to split of and flank the village. We would approach from the head and they would get to the back. Desaley was familiar with the layout of the village and they kept their kraal at the rear point. That's where we would distract them. A few slashes and they would be scurrying to recover their livestock. Desaley was on that front along with another warrior. Daisey would help him destroy the kraal gates and chase the animals out. Quaahir was in charge of diverting the attention of their patrol and it was up to Zain to finish them off. That left me, Lissa, Riley and the bulk of the warriors – five of them – to penetrate the village's centre and free Sam.

That was their plan. I had a better one.

Once Quaahir went ahead and convinced the guards to engage in a moment of communal bliss, Zain lead them to a secluded section and ripped their throats out. I had presumed that their sharp teeth would be sufficient to get the job right but apparently, Zain didn't enjoy the taste of peasant blood, so they opted for using their claws instead. I rolled my eyes at this but as long as the threat was eliminated, I could hardly criticize the methods.

As soon as we reached the main territory, I waited for the sound of stampeding cows as my cue to charge forwards. This is it. I let go of Lissa's hand and charged forwards. I could hear Riley and Lissa call out for me, but I didn't care. I allowed the inferno to wrap around me as breached the village's last line of defence with a line of flames trailing in my wake.

I heard the screams of people in the village, but I blocked them out because in the centre of the village was my best friend chained to a post like a dog. He was naked and bloody. His beautiful blonde locks were shaved off, by blade from the looks of it and his face was beaten to the pump. I couldn't breathe properly- my heart was pounding against my ribs and my lungs were screaming.

I wanted to tear everyone to pieces and all I saw was red.

"Sammy!" I whispered as I walked towards his frail body. I lifted his head to look at me, but he was unconscious. I heard Lissa's frantic crying at the sight of her brother's beaten body. She sprinted towards her brother and sobs into his shoulder, while pulling at his chains.

I turned around sharply at the sound of people running towards us. I faced a group of local warriors and immediately attack them. I grip the wrist of the first warrior and watched him become engulfed by a flame. His screaming rips through his fellow warrior who look at me in pure terror. One of them drops their Mambele. The curved blade falls, slicing into the shin of the man beside him, who tenses in pain.

"Nikola. Stop!" Riley commands. Her voice is frightened and panicked. I turned to look at her with flames in my eyes. She was pleading with me to not escalate the carnage and for some reason, I could not explain, I decide not to kill the rest of the enemy warriors. They were clearly Koda warriors from the tattoos on their chest.

Instead of smiting them, I kicked the leading warrior in his chest. This caused him to fly back and the rest of the group and group to move backwards with him. This allowed me to look up to the sky and summon a bolt of electricity from the heavens. It came flying down to the Earth and created a flaming barrier between us as the treacherous Koda.

I gave the trembling warriors one last glare before walking towards my wounded brother and the woman I loved. I knelt beside him, taking his chains into my palm and melting it off his bloody wrists.

I picked him up into my arms and motioned for Lissa to follow me as I walked towards the forest. I could feel the muscles in my leg burning from strain and my head was cloudy, but I kept walking until I was out of enemy sight before collapsing forward. Desaley rushed towards us, catching Sammy's body into his arms. Quaahir saved me from falling onto my face. I could hear the sound of Riley's furious scolding and Lissa's concerned voice but all of it faded and blurred into one as I succumbed to my exhaustion.

--

My head was pounding, and my throat felt like sandpaper and I tried to swallow. My eyelids peeled open slowly and I was bombarded with a blinding white light. Not yet – I'm not ready.

"Nikola?" a voice called softly. I wanted to tell the celestial voice to fuck off because I wasn't ready to die yet.

I tried to say just that, but the words didn't come out. It just came out as a groan. I tried to sit up, but the hands of this unknown person tried to keep me down. I fought against their hold and managed to sit up.

I opened my eyes and saw a very distraught Riley standing beside me. I frowned in confusion. I was still slightly dizzy as I looked around the room. I was in a room that was not mine. I was in someone's bedroom that was familiar.

"Ri… lee?" I breathed out. She perked up at the sound of her name and moved closer to me.

"Careful, Don't move too fast," she said as I tried to sit up further in bed. I saw a painting of the sun on the wall in front of me and various other painting of constellation and galactic bodies. The realization of where I was suddenly dawned on me.

"why Ammm I in y..oh room Rile…lee," I asked. My throat was still raw, and my skull felt like it was going to explode. She bit her cheek and played with her bangled before speaking.

"The gho… Your friends are in your room and. Well, I told my father that I would watch over you for a few days," she said. She was shifting on her feet and looking everywhere but me.

"Whe...eh?" I tried to ask where my family were. Sammy. I tried to move to get out of bed, but she stopped me. I glared at her, but she pushed me further in bed. She rolled her eyes at my stubbornness.

"They're safe. Samuel is with his sister and he is almost fully healed. HUH? How is that possible? That was too quick for him to heal!

Sensing my confusion, she bit her lip and then spoke, "You've been out for a few days. A week almost. The men who attacked and took Samuel were dealt with personally by tata. Everyone is fine."

Her words had my mind reeling. I was out for a week? I had overdone it but submitting to my flame fully. I had no choice. I needed to protect Sammy.

I sat up and looked at her pleadingly. The pendant was still around my neck, I felt its weight against my chest. I held it and looked at her, "Wah…ter."

She handed me a glass from the bedside table. I gulped it down and sighed in relief. The sandpaper in my throat finally dissolved and I could swallow the razors in my throat.

"I need to see Sammy," I said calmly. She bit her lip and nodded.

"You can see them in a bit. Just please let me take care of you first," she reasoned with me. I raised my eyebrow at her desperation. She just clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes at me.

Deciding it was best to just keep tension at a low, I relented and said, "I'm kinda hungry." This earned me a smile which made my heart swell and warmth to spread from my stomach to my face.

She went downstairs to get me something to eat. I took the time to look around at her room. I hadn't been in this room, this bed, in years but it hadn't changed much. It was still covered in constellations and muted tones of blue. I caught a glimpse of the custom blades I had carved for her. It was one of the first things I had ever made – I could not believe she still had it.

I was smirking when Riley came stumbling in, balancing our trays on her hands poorly. I bit my cheek to stifle my laughter. It was hilarious to watch her play the part of the hostess.

"I feel like we're in a time capsule," I said. She followed my eyes and immediately scrambled to put the trays down and scurried to block my view. I raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Just get over here and help me eat this, princess," I said sarcastically. She looked at me and rolled her eyes, attempting and failing at being offended. She took a seat beside me. A bit too far for my liking but I didn't comment on it. Things between us were strange and I didn't know how to act around her again. I guess she could feel it too because she was first to interrupt.

"I get that things are … weird now but I promise we will talk about all of this soon," she said. She was smiling to herself as we sat there, and I was still slightly confused. "Sorry, this is kinda nice, right. Us just being together." I shrugged my shoulders and continued to look at her. She was unspeakably beautiful in natural light. Her braids were freshly done with a few turquoise beads fitted in. I smiled at her and she smiled back but neither of us spoke again.

There were a thousand unanswered questions swimming around my head but for the moment I allowed myself to enjoy the moment beside the woman who used to be my world.