The Baobab Throne

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e did not burn with

oke and storm. To the villagers, it was cursed. To griots, it was sacred. But t

h every step she and Kio took westward, the air thicke

g into the belly

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s Into th

l, and the trail into a path o

quiet efficiency. Imani followed, clutching her pen

among the branches. Once, Imani thought she heard her name ca

mp beneath a stone overhang, they

a tree with no mor

t, or just terrib

an instant, but the man r

steal your firewood. Though your

ass beads and a grin too wide to trust. His clothes were mismatched -

you?" Ima

nd over his heart a

ter. Outrager of mothers. Breaker

ower his bla

brightly. "Which I am. But more i

ebrow. "And how wo

re, "you're headed to the Mountain of Fir

ered his sword,

the main trail, you'll hit the Bone Forest. Nobody returns fro

vely," Kio

older way. The Path of Echoes. It'

ed him. "Wh

ed. And curious. And th

"You speak

"Only when th

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t N

o play a small flute carved from antelope bone. The

o Kio. "Do y

"I don't tr

ed, still play

hrough the ash. The flames will test her bones. But

. "What does

ords. Just what I hear

ent, she saw a shape dancing - a thro

-

Firs

g, Tano led the

stone hollows. The trees here were twisted, bark pale as

orest ende

apor. A single stone bridge stretched across - narrow, cr

Flame Walk. Only those with

skeptical.

bridge breaks. If your past li

tepped

art po

e, the handprints began to glow -

step. The

brated wit

ter of t

f the lion

d, not from fear

urged, and a figure steppe

ng wearing

"Go back, child," the vision sai

must walk forward. Ev

ulsed. The i

epped

e cracked beneath Ki

oss as if gravi

they were

ist c

oomed in full - black, vast

slowly. "No

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