Page 36 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

I marvel at the sight.

“Where am I?” My throat is so dry, the words practically scratch themselves free. I push myself onto my elbows. All I see before me are endless stretches of turquoise seas.

There’s no sign of the raging ocean. No remnants of the Skulls’ ship or King Baldyr’s golden mask. Waves and forested bluffs surround me. Sunlight catches the edge of the medallion in my chest.

It’s still here.…

I reach under my wrap. Touching the tarnished metal brings every memory flooding back. I see the way the ocean lit up. I feel the golden glow that surrounded my skin. I remember the bolts of lightning that charged through my being.

I move toward the tides, bending down till the waters catch my reflection. The majacite crown is still welded into my temple, but a newmane of white hair sprouts around the black metal. The thick tufts fall to the small of my back.

I touch my neck, but there are no puncture wounds. The bruises and cuts I sustained on the ship have healed. I run my hands up and down my spine, and I can’t believe it.

Even theMAGGOTKing Saran had carved into my back is gone.

What is this?

I return to the lightning that struck my core. Whatever Baldyr’s done to me has transformed more than my magic. I don’t feel like the Reaper I’ve always been.

It’s like I’ve been born again.

I run my hand over the medallion again, and I see the girl from my vision. Thick curls run through the dark hair that falls down her slender back. Her eyes sparkle like diamonds, and yellow silks cover her brown skin. Emerald plants lean into her as she passes.

“Find her.” I hear the ancient voice. I hear the promise I made back. In that moment, I felt a bond form. It was like a contract weaving itself through my soul.

I think back to the chest Baldyr carried out of the captain’s quarters. There were two medallions left. The Silver Skull’s compass still hangs from my wool belt. I open the lid and stare at the spinning dial.

I have to find that girl. Somehow I know she’s the one King Baldyr needs next.

But how am I supposed to find her when I don’t even know where I am?

I rise to my feet, taking in the island’s shores. The cresting waves lick my knees as I search for signs of the others. Far down the coast, a body lies facedown in the sand. The tides push the half-conscious boy onto the beach, and sand dirties his white streak.

“Inan?” My heart lurches and I break into a sprint. Inan’s arms shakeas he tries to rise. He chokes up seawater and algae, collapsing back into the tides.

“What’s going on?” he croaks. His skin is red with burns. I reach down to help him up, but the moment our bodies touch, the medallion warms in my chest. A blue light I haven’t seen in over a moon erupts under Inan’s skin.

Magic.

The dark blue wisps lick my hands, taking me from the coastline all the way back to my homeland. The sunlight shifts as our world transforms. Lush green valleys take shape, surrounding us on all sides.

In a rush, I’m brought back to the day I sat with Inan on the riverbank, the day I started teaching him how to control his gifts. The old memory comes alive, trapping us back in time.…

“How does it work?” I ask. “There are times when it feels like you’re reading a book inside my head.”

“More like a puzzle than a book,” Inan corrects me. “It’s not always clear, but when your thoughts and emotions are intense, I feel them, too.”

“You get that with everyone?”

He shakes his head. “Not to the same degree. Everyone else feels like being caught in the rain. You’re the whole tsunami.”

When the memory disappears, I struggle to breathe. Inan lifts his glowing palms. His brows crease as the blue light fades. He looks back up at me.

“How did you do that?”

I raise my hands as the medallion’s heat cools. I reach for my own Reaper magic, but a foreign force rises to the surface. Instead of the power of life and death, thunder rumbles through my veins.

The medallion is still transforming her blood.The growl in King Baldyr’s voice haunts me. The hard look in his stormy gaze.When her new power is ready for the harvest, I want her brought to the fortress in Iarlaith.

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