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CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

ZéLIE

T HE MOMENT I LAND on the thrashing seas, the waters start to glow. The white force ripples through the currents. It pulses far below.

My entire body shakes with the strength awakened from deep inside. Electricity rumbles through every vessel. Bolts of lightning shoot from my lips. Chanting voices fill my ears.

I open my arms to the night as I hear the call of my ancestors again.…

“Ti ìjì ati òòrùn—”

I shut my eyes, and I’m brought back to the mountaintops of Ibadan. Mama stands before me, head lifted to Oya’s storm. The faces of Reapers long passed circle around us, deep purple robes flying in the wind. They spread out their arms, laying their hands on my shoulders, my neck, and my temple.

As they chant, my skeleton shakes. The jolt reverberates through my core. A familiar heat runs through my veins. I inhale as the magic of life and death returns in full strength.

“ 4yà, kún mi nínú! ” I cry out to my goddess. The air howls in response. Billowing clouds gather above, blocking out the Blood Moon. The clouds spiral above my head, creating the eye of a hurricane. Rain falls in sheets.

Nothing stands in my way as I race across the seas.

This ends here.

The white glow travels through the ocean as I sprint across the surface, spreading far beyond the horizon.

I reach for every spirit that has fallen, every body tossed to the seas by the Skulls.

I think of every maji we lost on their ships, every New Gaīan left floating in the Black Bay. No life will be lost in vain.

We get our vengeance today.

Baldyr’s carrier sails at me at full speed, the largest craft in his annihilated fleet. The force of the hurricane rips through the clouds surrounding his vessel, allowing me to witness the monster he’s become.

Nearly double the size he was before, I see the effect of the power Baldyr siphoned from our veins.

The beast of a king roars in his place, a mess of blood and iron.

Red lightning crackles around his deformed metal skeleton.

His twisted mask is smelted to his skin.

Molten rock swirls through his body, oozing like an open wound.

He stands on an elevated platform above an army of Skulls.

Baldyr opens up his arms, and a fissure splits through the seas. Ocean water pours into the divide as giant plumes of lava fly free. I skid to a halt as the molten wave arcs over my head.

“6mí òkú, ? gbé mi w0—”

I throw up my hands, and the spirits of death answer my call. Black shadows shoot forth in twisting arrows, creating an opening through the sizzling red wall. Ash falls before me as the molten wave comes crashing down. Steam rises into the air, creating a dense cloud.

“ You cost me everything! ” Baldyr yells. I grit my teeth as he takes to the sky. Bolts of red lightning crackle in his palms, growing in size.

“ 6mí òkú, ? fún mi lágbára yín, ? jáde wá nínú òjìji tuntun— ” I chant again, conjuring new shadows of death. The spirits explode from my back, allowing me to fly across the seas.

I twist under the first bolt that Baldyr launches. I spiral to avoid the next. But Baldyr screams into the night. A river of lightning breaks free from his deformed chest.

“ Ha! ” I call forth my own golden lightning, wrapping it around my body in a sphere. The electric wall holds as Baldyr’s bolts crackle around my form. When it dissipates, I fight to get to him.

Baldyr throws everything he has, every bit of power stolen from the failed ritual. Bloodmetal vines launch through the air, thorns like blades. Molten spheres shoot at me like cannons. Streams of magma arc through the air like claws.

“You can’t stop me!” I shout at the twisted king. With my shadows of death, I repel every attack. There’s no way to block my onslaught.

I am the god that’s been reborn.

When I reach the carrier, I throw my head back. I scream with the wrath of my gods.

The entire ocean shakes.

Then the first animation breaks through the waves.

Finally!

Silver hands reach through the water. They claw their way above the surface. The watery corpses of maji rise, a legion of souls brought back to life.

Dozens of animations turn to hundreds. In the blink of an eye, there are thousands. The spirits of my people fight through the glowing seas, tearing through the crashing waves.

Animations launch themselves at Baldyr’s carrier in droves.

They crawl onto the deck, unleashing the full might of their wrath.

The Skulls shout as the resurrected souls descend.

Their glowing blades do nothing to hold them back.

The animations cover the Skulls in their deadly swarm, tearing the foreign warriors limb from limb.

More animations build under me like a mountain, lifting me high into the air. They rise beneath me until I reach Baldyr’s plane, level with the source of my despair.

“ Baldyr! ” I scream the old king’s name through the building tempest.

Baldyr summons all the power within him. Blood and lightning spiral above his head. Molten metal spews from his chest like throwing knives. They catapult toward me like shooting stars.

“ Demon! ” he roars, unleashing his barrage.

My neck flies back as I raise my hands to the skies. The seas arc around us, closing us into a whirlpool of white.

A thousand bolts of lightning come crashing down, stealing the last of the king’s life.