Page 83 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

A line of blood spills from the mouth of the den.

My heart rattles against the medallion as I look in.

Though caught off guard, the Skulls are quick to react. As their weapons glow red, their muscles swell. Their broad frames expand. Runes carve down the Skulls’ chests as their bodies transform. The ground shakes as the bronze Skulls charge.

The Lâminas move with a speed the Skulls can’t pin down. One Lâmina dodges as a Skull swings his hammer. The weapon blasts through the cave wall. Stone and debris fly as the Lâmina pivots, driving his white blade through the Skull’s heart.

Another Skull charges Köa with his axe. Köa pulls an ivory barong from the side of his abdomen. He cuts straight through a Skull’s core before whipping around to stab another. Body by body, he rips through the Skulls. The leader of the Lâminas summons a vicious rage, but even he doesn’t compare to the ferocity Jörah wields.

Jörah moves like a mountain. He overpowers every Skull in his path. Green light sparks from the emperor’s fingers as he draws out a shark-tooth blade the size of his head. He grabs the weapon’s golden handle. A Skull raises his axe to attack and swings.

Before he can strike, Jörah guts him like a pig.

We’re winning.…

Warm blood spills under my feet as I dare to walk into the cave. The way the Lâminas move, I don’t see what can stop them. But Yéva’s warning still rings through my ears.

“Protect the king!” a Skull shouts in their tongue. That’s when I finally see him. King Baldyr sits on a boulder at the back of the cave, hands cupped over the knob of his battle-axe. Though his men are being slaughtered before him, King Baldyr doesn’t react.

Being this close to him again, my blood runs cold. My hands shake beyond my control. My chest aches with the memory of the medallion he shoved into my skin. The very metal changing me from within.

For the first time since arriving to New Gaia, the sound of thunder pulses through my ears. The veins of the medallion begin to heat. The winds whip around me, blowing my mask away.

At the sight of me, King Baldyr’s eyes widen. He rises in the back of the cave.

“Merle…”He mutters the words, yet his voice shivers through my spine. Despite his golden mask, I feel his smile. A hunger enters his hazel gaze.

“You have returned!” Baldyr roars.

In front of me, Jörah dispatches the final Skull. The Lâminas regroup around their emperor, resuming the V formation they held before. They move forward as one unit, preparing to take King Baldyr’s golden skull.

Jörah rips off his mask. With a curse, the emperor bares his teeth. He raises his shark-tooth blade—

“Blóðseiðr,” King Baldyr commands.

Paralysis strikes me the moment King Baldyr utters the words. A chill like ice passes up my legs. It runs down my arms. The staff drops from my hand, echoing as it rolls across the stone floor.

What’s happening?

The golden medallion sears my skin. I grit my teeth against the burning flesh. Red light twists from my skin like smoke. A familiar power surges to my fingertips.

My hands rise beyond my control. My feet lift from the stone as my neck falls back. Magic I haven’t felt since I was in Orïsha shakes through my bones.

Crimson light spills from my fingertips, reanimating the fallen Skulls.

My magic.

He’s using it.

He’sin control.

“Jörah, run!” I scream. I can’t fight the power that breaks free.

Jörah and the Lâminas gather together. They stand back-to-back as the slain Skulls rise around them, dragging their bodies from the floor. Necks reset. Bones bend. Red light leaks from behind their bronze masks.

“Run!” I shriek.

The risen Skulls attack at once. The move like no human can. They lunge like rabid ryders. The Lâminas struggle to defend.

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