Wolf Of Fire

27* Worthless

"Aira what in the name of the goddess do you think you are doing? Have you gone mad?!"

Aira ignored Cha- Cha's question which she had screamed with her flared nostrils and angry eyes. She fastened the leather straps that covered her knuckles.
Her face had already been painted, signalling that she was ready to fight!

In war,body painting showed how much one was willing to sacrifice to win. Aira had painted her face - she was willing to sacrifice her head and honour.

"Dinma,Achi...Ozo... somebody please talk to this girl! This is madness!"
Aira weaved her fingers through her short and rough locks in annoyance.
"Cha-Cha it is really nice to see how much faith you have in me! I am truly flattered!"
She deadpanned.

Her Kpinga,a throwing weopon with three differently shaped blades protruding out from different angles of the shaft was already on the table next to her, sharpened and ready to kill. There were no rules to the game but even though she may go down,she would not be going down without a fight!

"I think she is making the best decision."
Everyone in the room froze.
Did Ozo just support us?
Even Fire was surprised.
His lazy body was slouched against the only wooden bench in the room, taking up all the space and more.

Achi,who for some reason had been shooting not so subtle icy glares at his mate all day,had his face set in a confused frown.
"Wh...why are you..."
"Thank you!"
Aira's voice came out louder than intended as she cut off Dinma's question before shooting her a look to keep her quite.

"This must be the first time I am hearing you speak to me or even agree to my decisions!"
Ozo shrugged and got up to his feet with a tired grunt.
"Do not get used to it."
His voice was sharp and straight to the point.
Aira wondered how he could still have a care free look about him despite all that was happening. The only time she had seen him visibly worried was when Achi was hurt.

We used to be like that before...what...what happened to us?

"Ozo do not lead her on! I need your help dissuading her not adding fuel to fire."
"Mama..."
Ozo's voice had so much patience in them. The smoothness was one you use with a child.
"I am just saying that ever since this girl has come into our lives,it has been just chaos after chaos!"

"This gir..."
"Let me finish!"
He shot Achi an annoyed look. Achi was taken aback, Ozo had never spoken to him in that manner before. Judging from the sharp evil glint in his eyes,it was obvious that Achi was not going to take that lightly.

"As I was saying..."
Ozo continued, seemingly unaware of the hell he had brought down on himself.
"I believe that this duel would be a good way for Aira to prove to us that she was worth every single sacrifice we all had to make for her! We had our peaceful lives before she came in and I want her to prove that it was all worth it!"

Aira's face held no expressions. She did not like people and did not expect people to like her either but this was a lot to take in. She did her best to mask all she felt. Ozo's words struck like a well shot blow but was was more painful was the fact that they were not lies!

"If Aira wins the fight,then she proves her worth but if she loses and dies, then we know she was not worth all the trouble and we figure out how to get out of this mess that she put us in in the first place! It was not as though we forced her to challenge that warrior anyway!"

A heavy blanket of silence draped over the room as Ozo finished speaking. Achi stormed out of the room,ignoring Ozo's attempt to call him back. Aira felt Dinma's warm hand of comfort placed on her shoulder. But the hand just felt too heavy right now.