The Hero of Numbani

by Nicky Drayden

  “Airborne?” Efi said, jumping to her feet. “Does that mean I finally get to fly on a plane?”

  “Affirmative.”

  Efi smiled. “Then let’s do this.”

  Many thanks to Bola and her family for sharing their lives and memories and Yoruba proverbs with me; to the Overwatch team at Activision/Blizzard for entrusting me with these wonderful characters and helping me to shape their story; to Ehigbor for bridging the gap between Nigerian culture and Overwatch Lore; and to David for the groan-inducing math jokes.

  Thanks to Chloe, Lori, and Beth for whipping this manuscript into shape and laughing all along the way.

  And to all the Overwatch fans out there, thanks for allowing me to be a part of your community. I hope that this story has made it richer.

  NICKY DRAYDEN is a systems analyst who dabbles in prose when she’s not buried in code. She resides in Austin, Texas, where being weird is highly encouraged, if not required. Her award-winning novel The Prey of Gods is set in a futuristic South Africa brimming with demigods, robots, and hallucinogenic hijinks. See more of her work at nickydrayden.com or catch her on twitter @nickydrayden.

  ©2020 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Overwatch and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First printing 2020

  Cover illustration by Odera Igbokwe

  Cover design by Betsy Peterschmidt

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-63359-7

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