Fannie squealed and reared. Awa clutched her mane as she backed up. An elephant lumbered their way, wavering like a mirage. Scars crisscrossed her back and one tusk was a jagged stump. The enormous beast moved fast, ears flapping, trunk extended. For an instant Awa feared she was the vanguard of a barbarian thief-lord raid. Yet Kyrie and Bal smiled and waved. Soot wagged his tail. The elephant halted before Djola and trumpeted. She extended her trunk and gathered his scents: Jumbajabbaland, honeybees, raintree blossoms, void rot.

“Mango knows you, remembers you,” Kyrie said.

Djola pressed his nose to the tip of Mango’s trunk. “Why name an elephant Mango?” He grumbled, happy to see the beast.

“Why not?” Bal asked.

Mango wrapped her trunk around Djola’s waist and pulled him closer, rumbling. He leaned against her broad forehead, rumbling a reply. Mango dropped to one knee.

“The Master of Weeds and Wild Things indeed,” Awa whispered.

Djola wiped blood from his marble eye and tears from Mango’s cheeks, before scrambling onto her back. Ancient Kyrie climbed up, agile and practiced. Maybe she wasn’t as old as lying griots claimed. Old didn’t have to mean infirm, yet Kyrie defied the stories. The elephant headed out the corridor into a mango grove. The exit was closer than Awa realized. Bal leapt up on Fannie and hauled Awa up too. They trotted into warm sunlight. Awa felt dizzy, uncertain. Her thoughts were riddled with the hidden lies she was willing to believe. How would she ever clear her mind?

The elephant stomped away from the grove. Fannie looked back to the cave.

“Mango knows the best way to Arkhys City.” Kyrie was eager to battle Hezram’s lies.

“Good. Once we’re there, I’ve made a plan with Samina.” Djola was also unafraid.

“Better than the Holy City plan, I hear. No turning a mountain to poison desert.” Kyrie smirked. “That golden heart wheel holds you to life. Let’s not waste it.”

“Golden heart wheel?” Bal poked Awa. “From Smokeland?”

“Yes,” Djola said. “Lahesh conjure I suspect. Griots say some Lahesh escaped the everyday with their spirit and breath bodies. They roam the inner seas, tinkering and drumming.”

Awa almost burst into tears. The boat people were Lahesh! Yari’s people, living in Smokeland and Hezram hounds them.

Bal squeezed Fannie’s sides to get her moving. “Where’d you get a heart wheel?”

Awa talked over Bal. “Does Samina know conjure to stop Hezram?”

“Yes. Yari did too. Abelzowadyo,” Djola replied, and Awa lost a few breaths.

“What’s that?” Bal hugged Awa’s trembling shoulders. “I’m a tough blade of sweetgrass. Don’t worry about tromping me down. I can hear any story you tell.”