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CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

INAN

I N THE WEEKS FOLLOWING the cease-fire, Or?sha transforms before my eyes. Word of the Skulls’ impending arrival spreads throughout the lands. Or?shans travel from all over the kingdom, bringing their talents to the battlefront.

With the power of the maji and t?táns combined, we fortify Lagos on all sides.

Tamers call in wild animals to create a legion of trained ryders.

A large pen is erected to hold the endless hordes of sleek cheetanaires, hulking panthenaires, and rare black-tusked elephantaires.

The elder they call Na’imah shows the t?táns how to enlarge the wild beasts, creating ryders large enough to charge through an entire legion of Skulls.

Out in the port, Nao leads the Tiders, pushing back the waters so others can erect defenses.

Kamarū and the Grounders mold sand into hardened spikes large enough to rip through the bottom of an approaching Skull ship.

Behind them, a legion of soldiers works diligently to lay down a path of floating bombs.

On the shores, Welders create special cannons for the Burners to shoot long-range attacks. With gathered blastpowder, the Burners generate lethal blows. The very air sears with the power of their flames.

Outside of Lagos, Mother works with her troop of t?táns.

I watch as they lift the earth. By working day in and day out, they’ve created a new mountain range, closing the city off.

A single passageway allows fighters to make their way to the front, while leaving a way for the most vulnerable villagers to get out.

“And if the Skulls manage to pass our defenses?” I ask.

Mother clears everyone out of the way. Her hands glow with green light. With a clench of her fist, the earth rumbles. Rocks rise, closing off the passage.

“If we have to, we can bring the mountain down. They won’t be able to get away.”

I put my palm on Mother’s shoulder. She still bristles at my touch. But after a moment she grabs my hand, allowing her fingers to rest above my own.

“You’ve done well,” she says. “You should be proud.”

“It’s not me.” I shake my head. “It’s all of us.”

After fighting for a unified Or?sha for so long, I can hardly believe we’ve come so far. No longer a kingdom at war, I see the dreams I used to have for my people come to life. All the hopes I thought had died.

With our new partnership, we have something that might outlast the Skulls’ attack. The beginning of a new nation, one where the people are true allies. But to become that Or?sha, first we must survive.

If the Skulls land on our shores, they must be destroyed.

On instinct, I reach for the weathered parchment in my back pocket, bringing it out into the light. When the New Gaīan emissaries sailed into Lagos’s port with a vessel woven from vines, I didn’t know what to expect. For a moment, I thought we were under attack.

Instead, the russet-skin beauties emerged in orange silks, calling for me with this parchment in hand. Immediately, I recognized Amari’s script. I pored over her words detailing everything the others had discovered.

As I finish my rounds around Lagos, I look to the words of Yéva’s prophecy again.

A daughter of the Great Mother’s storms…

A daughter of the Great Mother’s forge…

A father formed from blood…

Before the Blood Moon, all three will unite.

On the Old Stone, the bodies shall be sacrificed.

He will feel the touch of the Great Mother again.

The skies will open once more,

And a new god will be born.

I look back out over all the defenses we’ve raised. With everything at our disposal now, I know we can put up a good fight. Yet I still don’t know if it will be enough.

If Baldyr gets what he’s after, how powerful will he become?

“Where is your mind?” Mother searches me with the amber eyes we share.

“Lagos is defended.” I look back at the city. “With this mountain pass, Or?sha stands a chance.”

“Then what’s next?”

I roll up the parchment, making my way back to Lagos’s port.

“It’s time to go on the attack.”

B Y THE TIME NIGHT falls, Nao, Dakarai, and I are already far out at sea. From the moment we joined forces again, there wasn’t one day when the Tider didn’t beg me to leave and go after the Skulls.

The weeks at home have taken Nao to new form. The lean muscles she carried before the Skulls’ capture have returned. Though her magic was already strong, she wields her gifts with a new rage.

A fresh coat of sweat glistens over her tattoos as she commands the waters around our vessel, alight with the teal-blue glow. Crafted by a Welder to grant us speed, the thin ship allows us to cut through the ocean like a knife. With our skeleton crew, we practically fly.

Dakarai sits at the head of the boat, using a drawn map to chart our path. According to his vision, the Skulls’ ship docked at an island a few days’ sail from where our own ship went down. At the moment, it’s our only clue to where the Skulls are based.

If we can defeat them before the Blood Moon…

Though I don’t know when the Blood Moon will rise, my mind races with the thought of what we might find. From the moment we encountered the Skulls, they’ve had the upper hand. Who knows how long they were working with the mercenaries, searching for Zélie and raiding our lands.

With information, we have an opening. With the right knowledge, we can bring the fight to them. Or?sha has a chance to thrive.

Zélie has a chance to live.

I squeeze the side of the boat as the thought of Zélie overwhelms me, remembering the unbearable weight of the terror she held inside. I think of my promise to keep her safe. The opportunity I have now to atone for my mistakes.

I have to find a way to be worthy of her. Her and the crown I once held. I have to be more.

I have to be the king I couldn’t be before.

“We’re here.” Dakarai’s words knock me out of my head.

Nao brings her hands down with a sharp wave, and the teal light surrounding her fades.

Our vessel stops at once. I grab the iron masthead to keep from going overboard.

The New Gaīan emissaries come to a stop beside us, eager to see the Skulls for themselves.

A chain of islands sits a few kilometers ahead, dotted with caves and thick vegetation. Three Skull ships sit in the crescent-shaped bay. The sight makes my stomach twist. Phantom pain spasms through the hand they broke. I hide my shaking fist.

Long ramps extend from each vessel, creating pathways to the island’s rocky shores. Skulls move freely up and down the wooden planks. The black waters crash under their feet as they unload a long line of barrels and crates.

“Can you bring us in closer?” I whisper.

A softer teal light encompasses Nao’s hands as she guides us toward the shores. We stay far enough away to avoid being spotted, sailing around the island’s borders.

Different bonfires line the coast. Skulls gather around the dancing flames. They toast to one another with glass bottles, their mead flowing like water. Other Skulls pass out in shoddy tents, facedown in the sand.

“What do we do?” Nao looks at me. I study the island, reaching for a plan. One of the Skulls’ ships prepares to depart the trading port. Its crimson sails billow, sporting the ornate seals that mark the Tribes of Baldeírik.

“Can you show me what ships will pass through the bay?” I ask Dakarai.

The elder of the Seers opens his palms.

“ Orúnmila, bá mi s0r0. Orúnmila, bá mi s0r0— ” As Dakarai chants, silver light surrounds his hands. It swirls in a vibrant spiral until the trading port before us appears between his palms.

We watch as time accelerates through Dakarai’s magic. The sun rises and falls in the sky. Different ships sail in and out of the trading ports, revealing the Skulls’ sailing patterns.

The full moon disappears into blackness. Countless chests and containers move from the ships to the sands. I worry I won’t find what I’m looking for when I see it, a ship mightier than all the rest.

I found you.

I bend down, getting as close to Dakarai’s magic as I can.

Triple the size of any of the other Skulls’ ships, King Baldyr’s vessel moves like a fortress in the sea.

Its golden sails flutter in the wind. Countless multi-colored shields decorate the ship’s sides, glistening over the crashing waves like scales.

“What does this mean?” Nao asks. I study the night sky—the full moon hangs above.

“We know when King Baldyr’s coming,” I answer. “That means we have a chance to annihilate him.”

“But are we ready?” Dakarai asks. I look back to the New Gaīan emissaries; one sketches a portrait of the island and the Skulls.

“We aren’t,” I answer. “But they are.”