Page 5

CHAPTER FIVE

ZéLIE

“T ZAIN ? ”

For the first time since they locked me on to this ship, a smile spreads across my lips. Feeling returns to my legs in a rush. The sight of my brother hardens something in my gut.

Tzain sits in the corner of a cage, face buried in his hands. When I speak, his body goes rigid. He lifts his head, and his dark brown eyes meet mine.

What do they need to escape? The question I asked Inan back in the hold runs through my mind.

A distraction. A way to get close to the Skulls without them realizing what’s going on.

Time slows down as I soak in Inan’s words. I can give my brother that.

If a distraction is what he needs, I won’t hold back!

“ Hah! ” I ram my head into the Skull to my left. The thorns of my crown break through his mask, impaling his right eye. The Skull cries out as hot blood spurts between his fingertips. It coats my chin as we fall to the floor.

The other Skull reaches for me as I scramble forward. With another roar, I kick out, and my heel connects with the Skull’s jaw. He hits the wooden floor with a heavy thud. His ring of brass keys goes flying down the hall.

There! I move for the keys, but the Silver Skull cuts me off. The captain lunges at me, a frenzy filling his hazel eyes.

Before the captain can strike, a maji named Udo comes to my defense. I recognize the skilled Welder though they’ve shaved his full beard. Metal burns cover his large hands. He shouts after me as I pass.

Udo whips out a pair of empty shackles, catching the Silver Skull by his feet. The captain crashes into the bars of a cage. A small dagger in his belt slides free.

This must be it. I extend my leg and kick, sending the dagger into Udo’s cell. As the ship shifts, the maji turn rabid. The long hall echoes with the power of their rage.

But in the chaos, the maji claw at the fallen Skulls. They snap weapons and tools from their belts. Bits of rusted metal and dropped knives disappear into their cells.

As they work, my eyes return to the ring of brass keys sitting down the hall. The Skulls are still down.

There’s a chance I can set these maji free right now!

I launch myself up, closing the distance between me and Tzain. My brother throws himself against the bars of his cell. The five maji he’s chained to are dragged forward by his strength.

I leap over the Silver Skull. Even with his mask, I see the anger our rebellion brings. The captain’s fingers graze my ankle, but I don’t slow down. My heartbeat spikes as I snatch up the keys.

“Hurry!” Tzain yells. The ship jostles me from side to side as I fight my way back to his cell. My muscles burn with the strain, yet I run as fast as I can.

When I reach his cage, Tzain grabs my shoulders. I don’t know how long it’s been since I felt anything but the enemy’s cold hands. Tears well in my eyes as I struggle to fit the first brass key into his lock. When the gears don’t shift, Tzain steadies my shaking hands.

“Breathe,” he whispers. “ Breathe. ”

With a large exhale, I force myself to calm down. I pull out the first key and move to the next. I jam in the third. The fourth. The fifth.

The floors creak as the Skulls rise behind me. The hairs lift on the nape of my neck.

“Go!” Tzain tries to push me away.

“I won’t leave you!” I shout back. I jam the sixth key into the lock. With a click, the gears start to shift. I twist to pull him out—

All at once, Tzain shoves me to the floor. A knife meant for my shoulder lodges into his right arm. Tzain roars and stumbles back. The brass keys are yanked from my hands.

The Skull I impaled hovers over me, baring his bloodstained teeth. Crimson droplets fall onto my neck. He removes the hammer in his sheathe.

“ Nei! ” the Silver Skull shouts. I crawl away as the bronze Skull transforms. His blood soaks into the rectangular runes carved into the oak shaft of his hammer. The same runes carve themselves down the Skull’s chest.

The bronze Skull cries out as the hammerhead glows red. The very air around him shakes. Veins bulge against his fair skin. His muscles swell with new strength.

My eyes widen as the bronze Skull grows so tall he eclipses the captain’s height. The entire hall freezes at his display.

I didn’t know the Skulls could fight this way.

“ Haettu! ” The captain lunges. It takes all of him to tackle the bronze Skull. With great force, the captain shoves his warrior against the cells. The bronze Skull dents the iron bars.

My pulse races as heated words pass between them. The Silver Skull points to the majacite crown on my head.

“ Hún tilheyrar Baldyri! ” he declares.

Did he just say Baldyr ?

The bronze Skull resheathes his hammer, and the effects of his bloodmetal fade. He stumbles back as he returns to his normal strength. Though a monster of a man moments ago, now he struggles to catch his breath.

The Silver Skull grabs me. He yanks the knife from my brother’s arm and holds the blade to my neck. The edge digs into my throat, forcing me to stay still.

“Hold on!” Tzain shouts as the captain marches me down the hall. “I’m coming! Zélie, I’m coming—”

I don’t hear what my brother says next.

The arched door at the end of the hall flies open. Whipping winds swallow all sound. We pass through the gateway, and the entire world spins. I struggle to take it all in.

Mighty waves crash against the ship’s side. Sea spray stings the open cuts on my head. The yellow moon shines above, and its delicate light spills across my face. I gasp at the sight.

The deck…

A second is all I have to savor the fresh sea air. I lift my head to the open sky. A hard rain falls into my eyes. An endless expanse of clouds swirls overhead, forming a blanket over the glittering stars.

Everywhere I turn, Skulls cover the ship—all brawn and menace and grit. Paint is smeared across their fair skin. They shout in their brutish tongue as they man the colossal ship.

Over a hundred meters long, the vessel has seven mastheads spread across the deck.

Each square sail ripples with the image of a man formed from storm clouds, the emblem of the Tribes of Baldeírik.

Rows of mounted cannons line both sides of the deck, each positioned to shoot out of the circular gunport.

Iron plates reinforce the massive hull, topped with the figurehead of a tarnished silver skull.

The captain sends a Skull back through the arched door before pointing to the opposite end of the ship. Above the deck, living quarters rise three levels high. At the top level, a tower sits. Its walls are marked with white.

That has to be where they’re taking me now.…

My throat dries as we move. I stare at the place the other girls in my hold disappeared to, never to return. But as we walk, I catch the lifeboats Inan spoke of. Our only way off the ship. Enough for the dozens of Skulls above deck.

Enough for the dozens of maji locked in their cells.

Let it be enough. I think of my brother and the maji, of everything they snatched in the frenzy. If they got what they needed, they still have a chance.

The maji can be free at last.

But when the captain marches me up the stairs, the thoughts of the others vanish. I come face-to-face with a crimson door.

I look up to the sky as they push me inside, praying I’ll live to see the yellow moon again.