Esu woke before the bells rang, ribs on fire. The servant dorm was a long hall of bodies two hundred boys on straw mats, snoring, farting, dreaming of power they'd never touch. He sat up slow, hand pressing the rag bandage tight against his side. Breathing shallow. The broken bones from Jide's punch ground like gravel. Moving made him want to puke.
But he moved anyway.
Slipped out barefoot, cold stone biting his feet. The yard was already alive grey robes hauling buckets, sweeping the same dust every day. Esu grabbed a yoke, two heavy buckets swinging, and joined the water line to the trial square. Twenty trips before they fed you. That was the rule.
His arms burned by trip six. Shoulders screamed by ten. Water sloshed over, soaking his legs. A big kid in line laughed Tunde, thick arms, thin fire spark glowing faint on his knuckles.
"New trash can't even carry water. Move."
Tunde shoved hard. Esu's shoulder hit the wall. Pain exploded white-hot. One bucket tipped, water flooding the stones.
The line laughed. Guards looked over, grinned, looked away.
Esu picked up the empty bucket. Said nothing. But his eyes marked Tunde scar on the neck reading "Fire Ant Clan." Liked burning small things. Bragged last night about roasting rats alive.
Tunde would die first.
Breakfast was a bowl of cold yam mash and thin soup that tasted like dirt water. Esu sat in the corner, ate half, saved the rest in his sleeve. Food was a weapon. He watched the room split strong packs took the best spots, weak kids got kicked or worse. One boy sat alone, small, hands shaking as he ate. Pale skin, no blood glow at all. Zero like Esu.
Lami. From the south villages. Esu heard the mocks yesterday.
Lami looked up, caught Esu's stare. Tried a weak smile.
Esu nodded once. First pawn.
After eating, jobs got handed out. Esu drew stable duty shoveling horse shit for the elders' rides. Sun beat down like hammers. Flies swarmed thick. He worked slow, eyes always on the trial square across the low wall. Prodigies trained there silk robes flashing as they threw wind blades at straw men, fire balls exploding in controlled bursts, water whips cracking the air.
One girl stood out. Tall, long braids tied with blue beads, skin dark and smooth, eyes the color of deep ocean. She walked across a training pond like it was dry land, laughing as boys tried to follow and sank to their waists.
Princess Adeola. Yemoja blood thick as royal wine. Direct daughter of the enclave head. Untouchable. Servants whispered she could drown a man with a tear.
Esu marked her. Future prey. Long term.
By noon, his back was fire. Hands raw and bleeding. He slipped away during the short water break, hid behind the stables. Pulled out the saved yam, chewed slow. Then he sat against the wall, legs crossed, and reached for the spark.
The tiny piece of Fear Shard left in his chest. It flickered weak, like a candle in wind. He breathed deep, pushed gentle. Pain stabbed behind his eyes. A drop of blood dripped from his nose.
Too soon. Body still broken.
He stopped. Wiped the blood. Smiled small in the shade. Patience. Power came to those who waited and killed for it.
Afternoon shifted them to the herb fields outside the inner wall. Rows of green and red leaves for salves and poisons. Guards watched lazy from shade. Esu worked next to Lami pure chance, or maybe the boy followed.
"You okay?" Lami whispered when the guard looked away. "That shove looked bad."
Esu glanced over. Lami's hands shook picking leaves, eyes red like he hadn't slept. "I've had worse."
"I'm Lami." Another try at a smile. "From a Benin village. Saved two years mucking pigs to pay the gate fee. They say if you work hard…"
"Jide." Esu gave the dead name easy. "Lost my clan to Ife snakes."
Lami's eyes went wide. "The survivor? Captain Bello bragged about pulling you in."
Esu shrugged. Let the kid build the legend himself.
They worked quiet after that. Lami talked when guards walked far about his dead sister, how fever took her last rainy season, how he promised her grave he'd get strong, never let the world hurt family again. Esu listened. Asked small things. Learned Lami had no one left. No one to ask questions if he vanished.
Perfect.
Dusk brought end of work. One hour free before dorm lock. Most boys gambled stolen coins or collapsed on mats. Esu found Tunde behind the kitchens, crouched over a line of ants, finger sparking as he burned them one by one.
"Tunde," Esu called soft.
The big boy turned, smirk already sharp. "What, water dog?"
Esu held out the saved yam half. "Peace. For earlier."
Tunde snatched it, bit big. Chewed loud. "Smart. I like smart dogs."
They talked. Esu played broken talked about the ambush with shaking voice, eyes wet like the memory cut fresh. Tunde ate it up. Bragged about his fire blood, how he'd burn through the beast wave tomorrow, get inner disciple robes by next moon.
When Tunde turned to piss against the wall, laughing about some girl he'd force later, Esu moved.
Hand over mouth tight. Sharpened herb stick straight into the kidney. Twist hard.
Tunde bucked wild, eyes bulging. Fire sparked on his fingers, hot against Esu's arm. Burned skin. But Esu twisted deeper, leaned all weight in.
"Feel it," Esu whispered in his ear, calm as prayer. "The fear. The dark coming. All yours."
Tunde's terror poured out real, raw, delicious. Dying alone behind kitchens, no one hearing, fire useless. Esu breathed it deep, pulled the echo into his chest like smoke.
The spark grew. Warmer. Hungrier.
Not a layer jump. Just stronger.
Tunde went limp. Esu eased him down, hid the body under trash piles food scraps and broken crates. Wiped the stick on Tunde's robe. Walked away calm.
No one saw. Guards drunk already. Boys inside gambling.
Back in the dorm, Lami had saved him half a mat. "You look pale. Bad food?"
Esu lay down slow. "Yeah. I'll live."
Lami talked more about beast cages opening tomorrow for feeding. Dangerous job. Paid three coppers extra. "I'm volunteering. Need the money."
Esu turned, hand on the boy's shoulder. Friendly. "Me too. We'll watch each other's backs."
Lami smiled real this time. Trust blooming like blood in water.
Esu closed his eyes.
One bully fed the flies. One pawn hooked deep.
The spark pulsed warm in his chest.
Still Layer 1.
But the hunger grew.
Night dragged. Esu dreamed of wolves again. This time he wasn't running.
He was the one with teeth.