As the ceremony came to an end, we began to disperse.
Each of the Divine families prepared for the journey back to their respective kingdoms, cloaked in silence and layered grief. Around the burial ground, Ashtaris, sleek divine steeds, bred from the bloodline of the ancient Eeland Antelope were being guided to their riders. The soft sound of hooves against damp grass filled the stillness, a ceremonial end to a day no one wanted to witness.
I stood beside my steed, tightening the grip on the reins, when Major Deji Adesina approached, already mounted on his own Ashtari. He raised two fingers subtly, an unspoken signal between us. Ride with me. A private matter.
We couldn't talk here, not with other Divines around. Their ears were too sharp, enhanced to catch even the quietest whispers.
I turned to my Hands and instructed them to return to the Udoka Headquarters in the Eastern Kingdom. I told them I would join them later.
They bowed and mounted their own steeds. I climbed onto mine, and together, Major Deji and I set off down the south trail leading away from Zumi, into the quiet hills where even supernatural hearing had its limits.
When we'd placed more than enough distance behind us, I finally broke the silence.
"How are you holding up? How's your divine essence recovery coming along?"
Deji exhaled slowly, eyes forward.
"It's growing back. Slowly, but surely. Maybe in a few more months I'll be battle-fit again. But for now…" He shrugged. "Still out of commission."
"Still," I said, "your bravery back at the Confluence was undeniable. It's what earned you the title—Major of all Majors."
He gave a faint nod, but didn't look the least bit impressed by the praise.
"I just did what I had to do," he said. "And I'm glad I did. If I hadn't… who knows what would have been the outcome?"
"Agreed," I said, gripping my reins a little tighter. "We all had to make hard calls. Unlike you, who wielded your Cobra Dagger, I had the Black Bow, which made things easier for me, at least in terms of distance. Long-range advantage gives you more time to think."
Deji let out a half-smile. "What a wild contract that was. So much happened… too much."
He grew quiet for a moment, then turned to me.
"That's actually why I asked to speak with you."
I nodded. I'd suspected as much. At the start of the Confluence mission, I had asked Major Deji to keep his eyes and ears on the Husafi brothers. My instincts had been gnawing at me ever since the surge began. I knew something wasn't right.
And what he told me next… confirmed everything.
"Idris was receiving the coordinates of the shrine locations during the contract, probably from his superiors… maybe even Major Hassan himself."
My body went still.
"The shrines?" I asked. The shrines were responsible for birthing the Voros portals, that allowed Voros to cross over from the Fallen realm into ours.
He nodded grimly. "Yes."
I stared at him, stunned.
"How did you find out?"
Deji's jaw tightened.
"Ajani found out. Or at least… he got too close to the truth. That's when Idris tried to eliminate him. Stabbed him with a divine toxin, the kind meant to destroy Fallen creatures, but still deadly to humans. It would've worked too, if I hadn't gotten there in time."
"You saved him?"
"Barely. Extracted the poison myself."
I was silent. Processing.
"All of this… happened during the Confluence contract?"
Deji nodded. "Ajani kept it to himself at first. He acted like he'd lost his memory. But after the mission, once I had recovered enough to speak, he told me everything. I'm the only one he told. Besides my Master, of course."
I exhaled deeply.
"That was the right move. If the Husafis ever found out about that incident, they'd spin it in their favor. They'd accuse the Adesinas, paint your family as the aggressors. They'd bury their own sins under a scandal."
"Exactly," Deji muttered. "Even if it's obvious the Husafis were behind the chaos, and even if it's clear that what killed Idris wasn't human… politics doesn't care about facts."
"Just advantage and agendas," I added.
He nodded again. "That's why this'll never see the light of day. Not unless something changes. But I told you because you needed the truth. You asked me to watch the Husafis. So I did."
I looked at him for a moment.
"You've given me more than I asked for, Deji." I said. "And I'm grateful."
I then asked him about Akenzua, how he'd been able to save us back at the Confluence, and how he could possibly be that powerful. Deji explained that Akenzua had finally aligned with his divine essence. I remembered Akenzua had once admitted to struggling with alignment, that he had no physical enhancements and relied solely on his Divine Craft. Deji believed the crisis at the Confluence had forced a breakthrough.
Still, I was skeptical. Akenzua moved too quickly… almost like a Master.
When I said that, Deji brushed it off.
"You're just imagining things," he said. "Maybe the spores that attacked you during the battle messed with your perception. Akenzua is just a Lesser Hand, nothing more."
Maybe he was right. I had taken a lot of damage. Maybe I'd been running on too much adrenaline, seeing everything through a haze. Akenzua couldn't have moved like a Master, unless he was one. There was no point debating it further.
So we shifted topics.
"What do you think actually killed Idris?" I asked. "A Fallen of the Fifth Order or higher?"
Deji nodded. "That's likely. But the Husafi brothers still aren't talking. They're holding back about the creature, and how it all happened."
Then he turned to me.
"I have a feeling this ties back to the Confluence. Maybe the Husafis got involved in something far bigger than they could control."
I nodded slowly. "Could be. They're being too quiet. And like you said… the less they say, the more there is to suspect."
But regardless of their silence, I told him I'd get to the bottom of it, one way or another. And Deji's lead was a step in the right direction.
We spoke about other things as we rode, less urgent matters, more personal ones, and by the time the rain began to fall in a gentle shower, we'd agreed to share any new findings with each other moving forward.
Eventually, our paths split. Major Deji headed west. I turned east.