Legacy of Orïsha, #1
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
Contents
Chapter Nine: Zélie
Overview
At Mama Agba’s, the stolen scroll rekindles her Seer magic, revealing a vision that sends Zélie, Tzain, and Amari toward Chândomblé to restore magic fully. Ilorin is then firebombed by royal forces. After a near-fatal outburst from Zélie, Tzain rescues Baba and Mama Agba, and the group is forced toward flight and purpose.
Summary
Zélie brings Amari and Tzain to Mama Agba’s ahéré in Ilorin, forcing Amari to hide her identity. Mama Agba learns the truth, and Zélie recounts their escape from Lagos and the scroll’s power. When Mama Agba touches the scroll, dormant magic surges back through her.
Revealing herself as a former Seer, Mama Agba invokes Orúnmila and conjures a vision of Zélie, Tzain, and Amari climbing a mountain toward an unseen goal. She identifies the destination as Chândomblé, a legendary temple that may hold the key to fully restoring magic, and insists the trio must go.
Zélie resists, worried for Baba and the danger of pursuit, but Mama Agba promises to protect her father and presses the girls to trust the gods’ signs. The moment is shattered when blastpowder arrows ignite Ilorin, confirming royal forces have found them.
Zélie rushes into the inferno to find her family and nearly drags Amari into the flames in grief and rage when she believes Baba and Tzain are dead. Tzain then surfaces on Nailah, towing Baba and Mama Agba to safety, revealing they escaped by sea.
The fishermen’s sector collapses, plunging everyone into the water. Zélie surfaces, abandoning the urge to surrender, as the attack cements the need to flee and pursue the path to Chândomblé.
Who Appears
- ZélieProtagonist; brings Amari to Mama Agba, witnesses magic’s return, nearly attacks Amari in grief, survives Ilorin’s destruction.
- AmariRunaway princess with the scroll; hides identity, triggers Mama Agba’s magic, becomes target as Ilorin burns.
- Mama AgbaMentor and former Seer; magic rekindles via the scroll, conjures a guiding vision, urges journey to Chândomblé.
- TzainZélie’s brother; retrieves belongings, later rescues Baba and Mama Agba by sea during the attack.
- BabaZélie’s ailing father; sleeps at Mama Agba’s, is evacuated by Tzain during the firebombing.
- NailahMassive leonair mount; carries the group and tows a boat, crucial in the escape by water.