OLAMILEKAN:
Darkness. Endless, suffocating darkness.
I floated, weightless, swallowed by the void. There was no up, no down. Just the infinite stretch of nothingness. It felt familiar, like I had been here before. But I couldn't remember when or why. Time didn't exist here. I could have been floating for seconds or for centuries.
Then, a voice.
Clear. Sharp. Echoing.
"It is the end."
The words cut through the silence, and suddenly, I wasn't alone. The voice repeated itself, over and over, drilling into my skull. There was something unsettling about it, something I couldn't place. I knew this voice. Or maybe, I had heard these words before. But from where? When?
Then, the chanting stopped. A heavy silence fell, pressing down on me like a weight. And then—
Light. Two golden, massive orbs pierced through the abyss. Eyes. Watching me. Studying me.
"You have to stop him," the voice said, now deeper, more commanding. "Only you can."
"Stop who?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
A loud clack sounded. A door unlocking? A gate opening? The voice spoke again, urgency dripping from its tone.
"Ensure that you do not st—"
Before it could finish, the void collapsed around me. I felt myself being yanked away, pulled by an invisible force. The golden eyes dimmed, vanishing into the abyss. Then—
Light.
My eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the sterile white ceiling above me. A beeping sound filled my ears—steady, rhythmic. My body felt stiff, my muscles sore. My throat was dry, like I hadn't spoken in days.
I turned my head slightly, and that's when I saw him.
Joshua stood by the doorway, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
"Where am I?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"The hospital. On Myrad Island," Joshua replied, stepping inside.
Myrad Island. The NSDA facility. It all came rushing back. The mission. The fight. Kairin. The darkness that swallowed me whole.
"What about the mission?" I forced myself to ask.
Joshua sighed. "The mission was a success. Thanks to you."
He didn't sound victorious. His voice carried a weight, a sorrow that I wasn't expecting.
"But I wouldn't call it a success. We lost Leila and Amira. Dorian is undergoing treatment as we speak."
A pit formed in my stomach. Leila and Amira… Gone. I clenched my fists. How had I let this happen?
"Treatment?" I asked, confused. "Wasn't his arm the only thing that was broken? A healer could fix it in no time. So why treatment?"
Joshua hesitated before answering. "A little bit of the beast's blood got into an open wound, contaminating him with some unknown disease. The doctors found a way to treat him, but…" He looked away. "They said he won't be able to use magic anymore. His magic core was contaminated. To save him, they had to remove it."
I froze.
No magic. No power.
Joshua's voice lowered, thick with emotion. "They also said he'll experience side effects. He'll be more prone to sickness, weaker than before."
I exhaled sharply.
"It was all my fault," Joshua continued, his voice shaking. "If I was stronger—if I had been able to match you and Kairin's speed—we would've saved him faster. Living like that… is worse than death."
I reached for his arm, gripping it tightly. "It's not your fault, Joshua. There's nothing we could've done. We didn't know we'd face something like Kairin. And you did save Dorian. If it weren't for you, he would be dead."
Joshua didn't respond immediately, but after a moment, he gave a slow nod and sat in the chair beside my bed. "You've been out for four days."
"Four days?"
"Yeah. A lot happened while you were unconscious." He leaned back. "You won't believe this, but General Robertson actually apologized for the incomplete mission briefing. Well, it wasn't much of an apology, but he gave us a week off. So we can go home. And this time, we're staying for the entire week."
For the first time in what felt like forever, a small smile tugged at my lips. "A whole week? That's a miracle."
Joshua chuckled. "Right?"
We talked for a while longer, discussing everything from the mission aftermath to what we'd do when we got home. Then, just as Joshua was about to leave, he paused at the door and turned back.
"By the way," he said, his brow furrowed. "You had a scared look on your face when I walked in earlier."
I blinked. "A scared look?"
"Yeah. Like you had a bad dream or something."
I frowned. "A bad dream…"
Something gnawed at the back of my mind, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall anything.
"I don't remember," I admitted.
Joshua shrugged. "Well, whatever it was, it's over now. Get some rest. We leave tomorrow."
---
A few hours later, I was discharged. I gathered my things—my sword, my jacket—then made my way to Dorian's room.
He was awake.
"Look who finally decided to join the living," Dorian joked, his voice weaker than usual.
"You gave us a scare," I replied, pulling a chair beside his bed.
We talked for a while—about his condition, about what he planned to do now. He put on a brave face, but I could see the frustration in his eyes. He had lost something irreplaceable. His magic. His identity. And there was nothing I could do to change that.
"At least I'm still breathing," he muttered, forcing a smile. "That's gotta count for something."
I nodded. "Yeah. It does."
---
The next day, Joshua and I returned home.
Navil. Once known as Nigeria before the cataclysm. Now, it was a land of mixed ruins and rebirth.
We stood in front of our house and knocked. The door swung open, and there she was.
Our mother. Dressed in a flowing Yoruba iro and buba, a patterned wrapper tied around her waist, her gele neatly wrapped. She looked at us, eyes wide, and then—
She pulled us into a tight embrace.
"Welcome home, my children."
At that moment, all the horrors of the mission faded away. The blood, the death, th
e screams… They melted into nothing.
Because, for the first time in a long while, I felt warmth. I felt peace.
I was home.