Legacy of Orïsha, #2
Children of Virtue and Vengeance
by Tomi Adeyemi
Contents
CHAPTER EIGHT: ZÉLIE
Overview
Nehanda’s orbs release majacite gas that targets only maji, turning Amari’s rally into a massacre. The queen’s personal guard are revealed as tîtáns who wield unstable, blood-magic-like powers. Amid the chaos, Tzain protects Amari, but the group is split. Zélie is hit by the gas as the attack intensifies.
Summary
Black liquid from Nehanda’s orbs spreads across the sand and turns into a toxic gas. It spares kosidán and tîtáns but burns and chokes maji, revealing it as airborne majacite. Panic erupts as Zélie urges Tzain and Amari to flee while the cloud expands through the dome.
Nehanda orders mass arrests and deploys her golden, masked guard. When their hands glow, Zélie realizes they are tîtáns. They manipulate sand like Grounders, trapping and striking fleeing maji, weaponizing the very magic once reserved for Zélie’s people.
A tîtán guard loses control, his skin corroding before a burst of green ashê kills him. Zélie recognizes the consuming strain as blood magic, concluding that the tîtáns somehow wield unstable, deadly power beyond their control.
In the melee, a noble seizes Amari by her braid; Tzain floors him and drags Amari onward. The crowd swallows them, separating Zélie as tîtáns close from the front and the gas from behind. A tendril of majacite smoke touches Zélie’s neck, and she screams as the poison takes hold.
Who Appears
- ZélieNarrator; recognizes the airborne majacite attack and that tîtáns wield unstable blood magic; separated and poisoned.
- Queen NehandaOrders arrests, unleashes majacite gas, and deploys her masked tîtán guard against fleeing maji.
- TzainProtects and pulls Amari through the chaos; punches a noble; becomes separated from Zélie.
- AmariPleads with her mother during the assault; briefly seized by a noble before Tzain frees her.
- Nehanda’s tîtán guardGolden, masked enforcers who manipulate sand; one loses control and dies from volatile blood magic.
- Young majiVictim of the majacite gas, choking and burning, illustrating the attack’s targeted lethality.
- Noble attackerGrabs Amari by the braid amid the panic before being struck down by Tzain.