Morning came sluggishly.
The sky above the Pathway had shifted, bruised purples and grays stretching across the horizon. The fractures pulsed faintly, like a slow heartbeat, warning every eye that the world was not yet healed.
Imade stood atop a broken stone, rod in hand, eyes scanning the forest.
Silence met her.
Adaeze sharpened her blade slowly, each scrape echoing in the emptiness. "Seyi gone," she muttered. "And we no fit call him back."
Ngozi knelt, murmuring prayers, hands glowing faintly. "Ancestors no banish am," she said. "E mean lesson dey inside."
---
Kafé and Taye approached cautiously, fire and water flickering in restrained patterns.
"Pathway dey restless," Kafé said. "E like e know we dey here."
Taye's lips tightened. "E dey watch us—maybe test us."
Imade's voice was sharp. "We no dey fight what we understand. We dey learn. And we dey choose next step carefully."
Adaeze scoffed. "Learn? You mean we dey slow while Orunmare dey win?"
"Na different kind of winning," Imade replied. "We survive knowledge, no just battle."
---
The elder stepped forward, staff pressing into stone, face pale. "E mark Seyi as key," he admitted. "But no mean we powerless. The Pathway responds to will as much as strength. E dey teach us—to guide, not destroy."
Zoba's pendant pulsed brighter, flaring a message they could feel. "Ancestors dey whisper. Not all control lie with power. Some na understanding."
The Resistance absorbed the lesson quietly.
For the first time, strategy replaced fear.
---
Hours passed in tense stillness.
Then a low hum rose from the fractures.
The ground shifted. The Pathway pulsed.
The twins stepped forward, fire and water moving in harmony. Not to fight. Not to burn. Not to drown. But to probe.
Kafé extended a hand; a gentle flame touched the crack. It responded, glowing faintly. Taye let water flow over it, smoothing edges, stabilizing fragments.
"See?" Imade whispered. "We no dey force. We dey learn."
Adaeze watched silently, fists clenched. "E feel like weakness," she admitted.
"No," Imade said firmly. "Dis na preparation. Understanding strength before we use am."
---
The fractures pulsed again.
Not in anger.
Not in malice.
Recognition.
The Pathway did not close, but it did not grow.
A presence brushed their minds—not a command, but a suggestion.
Seyi's choice echoed through them.
To act with wisdom, not impulse.
To trust understanding over fear.
And the Resistance realized:
The war was no longer just about survival.
It was about learning the rules of the abyss, before it taught them the hard way.