Page 84 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

One Lâmina cries out as a Skull rips out his heart.

Another Lâmina takes a curved blade to the throat.

The risen Skulls rain down hell. They tear through Jörah’s best with no regard.

No!I try to resist, but my magic tears from my skin in a never-ending flood.

King Baldyr moves from the back of the cave. He marches through the chaos, completely unharmed.

“Zélie!” Jörah shouts my name.

But there’s nothing the emperor can do when Baldyr takes me by the arm and drags me away.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

TZAIN

SHOUTS ECHO ASI charge through the forest. All at once, the air stills. Something dark passes over the barren soil.

The black trees begin to twist.

All around me, slain Skulls rise. Their bones crack as they reset. They look at me with lopsided heads. One Skull unhooks his axe, raising it to strike.

Nothing stops me as I dive into the battle. I roll under the first Skull’s blade. I slice my axe through his neck before he has a chance to turn around. His head rolls across the ground.

Two more risen Skulls charge at me from behind. With a roar, I cut through both of them at once. Their glowing hammers fall from their hands. Their blood coats the twisting trees.

As the Skulls swarm, I feel all the time spent sparring with Köa and the Lâminas in their training squares. The scars along my arms ripple with newfound strength. My body moves with deadly precision.

But memories of the ship reawaken as I fight through the risen Skulls. They crawl out of me from the void. I see every severed limb.

I feel the blood that fell like rain.

I don’t want to draw on the enemy’s power again. I’m not ready tolose control. But more Skulls emerge from the forest. Too many for me to fight alone.

“No!”

I hear my sister’s scream. I whip my head toward the cave.

“Zélie?” I call. My heart lurches as her screams grow. I look to the axe, and I don’t see another way. I slice my hand along the blade and grab on to the hilt.

Blóðseiðr.

A shiver runs through me as the foreign words ring between my ears. The hilt of the axe heats, feeding on my blood. A new power surges from within. A red glow surrounds my axe as it comes back to life.

The monster I became on the ship rears its ugly head again.

“Hargh!” I barrel forward. I open my heart to wrath. I feel the axe’s power like a fire in my blood. I cut through every risen Skull in my path.

The strength of my swing throws their colossal bodies into the trees. Their bronze masks fly as they fall. With the awakened axe, I’m unstoppable.

Nothing can cut me down.

But as I fly down the forest trail, my vision starts to blur. I struggle to keep my mind clear. The frenzy I can’t control builds. The axe’s bloodlust overpowers my will.

When I make it into the cave, Zélie is nowhere to be found. Köa, Jörah, and a masked Lâmina fight with all they have. More than two dozen risen Skulls wreak havoc. They move like rabid beasts, almost leaping across the cave.

Jörah fights in the back. Blood leaks from the wounded emperor’s teeth as he wields his shark-tooth blade.

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