Page 110 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

Orïsha.

New Gaia.

The world.

“Zélie!” I hear the shout.

Tzain rides from the eastern mountains, crossing the stone on Nailah’s back. A legion of vineweavers reworks their videira like a tank. The hard vines cut through the rock as they catapult their way to us.

Tzain…

The last of my heart gives me the courage for what I must do. I won’t doom him to live in a world where King Baldyr reigns. I won’t allow the maji to suffer that pain.

“Remember what you promised me!” I scream. I have to end this now, while I still have a chance.

I raise the whittled bone in the air.

“Zélie,no!” my brother shouts.

I allow myself one final look at the stars before driving the bone through my heart.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

TZAIN

TIME STANDS STILL.

Everything I know dissolves at once. The strength I’ve fought to build evaporates, cut off from its guiding source.

Zélie’s silhouette hangs suspended as she stabs the bone into her own heart. Blood leaks from her chest in ribbons. Her silver eyes bulge as she chokes.

I failed you.…

All the air in the world evaporates. In a heartbeat, my entire being shifts. I hear the laugh I’ll never hear again. I see the day Zélie was first born, the purple blanket Mama wrapped her body in.

The moment Mama first placed her in my hands, I didn’t know what to feel. Then Zélie grabbed the collar of my shirt. Her tiny nose wrinkled as she pulled me close. I pressed my forehead against hers and looked into her silver eyes.

I didn’t know one day she would become home.

But now…

A cavern opens up inside me. Shame rips at what remains of my heart. All the vows I made to protect her crumble into dust.

My little sister is gone.

The lightning that rages around Zélie’s body flares out of control.A giant charge emanates from her medallion as her body falls limp. The blast strikes King Baldyr square in the chest.

“Vernið Föður Stormanna!” a Skull yells from the crowd.

Baldyr howls with the pain. His arms fly back from the force. The threads of magic swirling around him come to an abrupt end. The king’s mutilated body hangs suspended between god and man.

More yells echo as the ritual falls short. Confusion spreads through the masses below. Baldyr twists through the air, plummeting into the sea of Skulls.

With Baldyr down, Zélie and Mae’e fall to the altar. Their bodies roll against the hard stone. The ring of fire around them dissipates. The fur-cladgaldrasmiðardescend.

“Leave her alone!” I scream. I snap Nailah’s reins. My lionaire gallops as fast as she can. Amari and Inan hold tight behind me as we race.

Nailah leaps from ledge to ledge, bridging the space between us and the altar. Troops of vineweavers flank past us. They use their rolling vines to catapult themselves through the air.

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