Page 104 of Cry of the Firebird

Trajan, if she could still call him that, had been entirely stripped of his human form. His skin was a shimmering dark grey and had wings coming from his back made of smoke and shadows. He was covering his face, but she saw his enlarged eyes were a deep dark red.

"Let him go," Anya whispered. "Stop this. I'll give you anything."

"You already have. I wanted a thanatos, and now I have one."

"I'm going to kill you for this, Völundr," Anya promised as a deep calm settled within her. She could feel her magic rising through her. He had been too preoccupied with torturing Trajan to remember to inject her.

Völundr rattled her iron chains and laughed at her. "Oh, brave Anya, you aren't going to do a damn thing."

Anya's dream was coming back to her in hazy snippets. Eikki's stories, the Origin of Iron, the Twins telling her how the old stories have power and truth in them, that her affinity with fire was one of her greatest strengths. The Origin of Iron.It lives in your blood with all of our ancestors, ready to help you when you need it.

Völundr had turned his attention back to Trajan, so he didn't see Anya find her feet and stand firm. He didn't see the fury in her eyes when she looked at the iron around her wrists.

Völundr was taunting his prey, telling Trajan in intimate detail what he would do to Anya, what Vasilli and Ladislav would do once they were told he had her.

Anya's power flared up through her, fierce and hot. She opened her mouth, and her words whispered out unhindered by any other thought in her mind.

"Iron that binds me,

Iron that pains me,

Iron that holds me

in cold cruel grasp.

Remember your brother,

that frightening Fire.

Remember the touch

of Ilmarinen's hammer.

Remember coals.

Burning heat

of Forge's Fire.

Rise and remember,

Release your brother.

The one that tamed you,

into shape and into form.

Release his fury,

the heat of his anger.

Remember Mother's Milk

that made you on Ukko's knee.

Return to Earth now,

Flow like Mother's milk,

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