Africa Leveling

The air was thick with tension, a palpable unease settling over the trio as they searched for Jajwok. Kipkemboi was pacing, his brow furrowed in concern. "It's not like him to just disappear," he muttered, casting anxious glances around the dimming forest.

"We need to split up," he decided, his tone firm. "We'll cover more ground that way."

Kit Mi Kai, standing with his arms crossed, gave a sigh of frustration. "This is bothersome," he muttered, his expression cold and indifferent. "I'll go east and check the villages outside the forest." Without waiting for a response, he turned and headed off into the trees, the shadows swallowing him whole. Kipkemboi and Olamsuri exchanged worried glances before setting off in opposite directions.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a crimson hue across the sky, Kit Mi Kai found himself standing on the outskirts of a village. From a distance, he could see a large crowd gathered in the center, their torches flickering in the growing darkness. His instincts flared — something was wrong.

Pushing through the throngs of villagers, Kit Mi Kai elbowed his way to the front of the crowd. The chanting filled his ears, a discordant hum that resonated with malice. *Burn him alive,* they cried. *Kill him!*

Kit Mi Kai's gaze locked onto a familiar figure, nailed to a large wooden plank, flames licking at his feet. His heart skipped a beat as he recognized the man. "Jajwok?" he whispered, disbelief flashing across his usually stoic face.

"What is going on?" he demanded, turning to the woman standing beside him.

Her face was twisted with hatred, her eyes glowing with a sick satisfaction. "That thing," she spat, "that's my son. It deserves this. It has tormented us since birth. We tried to kill it when it was younger, but it was too fast, too clever, and it ran off into the Evil Forest.

But now… now it's finally where it belongs." Her voice dripped with venom, each word a dagger aimed at her own flesh and blood.

Kit Mi Kai's gaze returned to Jajwok, who hung limply from the wooden cross, the flames creeping higher, blistering his skin. Delirious from the pain, Jajwok's eyes fluttered open. He could barely make out Kit Mi Kai's silhouette through the haze of smoke and agony.

In his delusion, he heard Kit Mi Kai's voice, cold and cruel, cutting through the chaos like a blade. *I knew you'd end up like this. You never belonged in this world. Your mother is watching you burn, and she's glad. Maybe you should've never been born.*

Tears welled up in Jajwok's eyes, mixing with the soot on his face. *Maybe he's right,* he thought. *Maybe I don't deserve to live.* His mind spiraled into a pit of despair, the flames dancing around him, feeding off his hopelessness.

But just as the fire began to consume him, Jajwok felt an immense force yank him upwards. He gasped, his body jolted from the burning plank. Kit Mi Kai, without a word, had stepped into the fire and pulled him free, his expression unreadable as he hoisted Jajwok's scorched body onto the ground.

As Jajwok's blurry vision began to focus, he turned his head, noticing the eerie silence. The once bloodthirsty crowd was nowhere to be heard. He blinked, struggling to make sense of what he saw: a sea of bodies, blood pooling beneath them, their faces twisted in deathly stillness. Fifty villagers lay dead, their weapons discarded at their sides.

"What happened?" Jajwok whispered, his voice raspy, barely audible. *Was I imagining things?* He couldn't believe his eyes. *Am I still imagining things?*

"No," Kit Mi Kai's voice was devoid of emotion. "I killed them."

Before Jajwok could process the weight of those words, Kipkemboi and Olamsuri arrived at the scene, horrified by the sight before them. "What happened here?" Kipkemboi demanded, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sword.

Kit Mi Kai met his gaze, his eyes dark and unfazed. "I killed them."

Kipkemboi's face contorted with anger. "What? You killed innocent villagers? That's too far, even for you. If you've gone rogue, I'll have no choice but to put you down." He stepped forward, drawing his sword.

Olamsuri knelt beside Jajwok, her fingers gently tracing the burns on his body. "What happened to him?" she asked, her voice tight with concern.

Kit Mi Kai glanced at Jajwok, then back at the blood-soaked ground. "The villagers were burning him alive. They tricked him, drugged him, and dragged him here."

Kipkemboi clenched his fists, fury bubbling inside him. "Those bastards. They'll pay for this." His grip tightened around his sword, his knuckles white with anger.

Kit Mi Kai let out a cold laugh. "They're already dead."

"Then I'll destroy their souls," Kipkemboi growled, his eyes narrowing as he watched the faint outlines of the villagers' souls begin to rise from their lifeless bodies, drifting toward the light.

Without hesitation, Kipkemboi swung his sword with precision, slicing through the souls as they ascended. Each one shattered into a thousand pieces, dissolving into the night like fragile glass.

Once the souls were dealt with, Kipkemboi sheathed his sword, his fury replaced by grim determination. "What about Jajwok? He's dying."

Jajwok, barely clinging to consciousness, pointed weakly toward the sky. Kit Mi Kai followed his gaze. "He's affiliated with lightning," Kit Mi Kai mused. "If we could just get him into the clouds…"

Olamsuri, her expression fierce and resolute, stood up, untying the shuka from her shoulders. The loose red cloth fluttered in the wind, exposing her bare neck, adorned with beads that clinked softly as she moved. Kipkemboi's eyes lingered on her for a moment, before he snapped back to the urgency of the situation.

"Tie him to my back," she ordered Kit Mi Kai, her voice firm.

Once Jajwok was secured, Olamsuri handed her rungu to Kit Mi Kai. "Throw this with everything you've got — straight into the clouds."

Kit Mi Kai took the rungu and hurled it with all his strength, the weapon disappearing into the dark storm clouds overhead. Without hesitation, Olamsuri teleported, vanishing into the sky with Jajwok still strapped to her back.

High above, lightning crackled, attracted to Jajwok's body like a magnet. His charred skin began to regenerate, the lightning surging through him, healing him with each strike. Olamsuri watched as the sky roared with life, the power of the storm infusing Jajwok with newfound energy.

She threw her rungu back to the ground, teleporting herself safely back to the earth below. Moments later, Jajwok descended, riding a bolt of lightning, his body whole and unscathed as if the flames had never touched him.

Kit Mi Kai crossed his arms, watching him with a raised brow. "You look good as new," he remarked. "Now, can you explain what happened? Who were those villagers, and who was that woman claiming to be your mother?"

Jajwok shook his head, his face blank with confusion. "What villagers?" he asked, his voice hollow. "What woman?"