Thunder and Brimstone: The Sword of Kamalu.

SINAKALU

After tonight, they will have no choice but to accept you.

I pondered over the words Mama said earlier. She rarely makes such open promises to me like that. The last time she did was a long time ago when I was plagued with nightmares. She told me that it was malevolent spirits causing them.

They were called Idogu, nightmarish creatures that tormented the dreams of souls they wanted to consume. I hold up a golden medallion in my hand, tracing the intricate with my thumb, its familiar grooves and patterns etched deeply into my memory.

It was her gift to me. Her promise to protect me from them. I could still remember the night when she pressed it into my palm. Her voice was calm yet insistent, a hint of worry I have rarely seen since. "Keep this on you at all times," She had whispered, her breath warm against my ear. "It will protect you from the nightmares and keep the Idogu away," I remember nodding and tucking the medallion under my sleeping garments, her face lingering on me for a few moments, my consciousness drifting away as I slept and the peace that followed.

Since then, I have always kept it on my person. I only took it off when I sparred at the barracks because it got in the way. But still, I knew that no matter what I went through, I would never be alone if I had this piece of her with me. Or so I thought. Over the past few years, I've worn it less and less. The nightmares returned but I never told her due to the growing distance between us. I clutch it tightly hoping that tonight might bring us closer again.

"Sina, what do you think of this dress?"

I watch Toyin hold up the ruby-coloured buba to her shoulders, the fabric shimmering under the warm candlelight. She tilted her head from left to right, pouting as she stared at her reflection.

"Isn't it too big for you?" I chuckle, walking up beside her. "Besides, Mama said I could wear what I want tonight?"

She rolls her eyes, "You're not a very good liar Sina. Even, if the Madam allowed you to do so, I would not. You would put on a dashiki with a pair of pants and call it a day."

I pinch her cheeks angrily as she giggles. As annoying and truthful as her statement was, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders at her joke. Toyin was my attendant, the closest person to me other than Mama and my best friend. She was assigned to me when I was ten and, at first, we didn't get on too well. She was like most people in the kingdom who saw Igbos as second-class or in some cases less than that. There were many a time her sharp-witted mouth would throw subtle insults my way leading to a lot of fights between us. I hated her just as much as I hated everyone else then.

One day, that all changed. Mama had sent her out on some errands, and I took the advantage to sneak out as well. I was exploring the bazaar in the city when I saw several men gathering in an alley. I was going to ignore them when I heard a familiar voice crying out in fear. I don't remember the details just that when I was done, my fists were bloodied and Toyin was thanking me with tears in her eyes.

Since then, we have become best friends. She goes wherever I go, except to classes, the barracks, to the bath... so, not everywhere I go. She's one of my very, very friends, and I see her more as my sister than another person I know.

Said person bursts into the room in a fury. "Enough playing you two," She hisses, "Toyin, get her ready quickly, we depart in the next hour."

We stare at Aisha who is dressed in formal military wear. A red long-sleeved dashiki with bronze embroidery on the collar and the ends of the sleeves. Plain white pants secured at her waist with a leather belt and her sword hung at her side with its elephant carved bronze hilt.