“ZÉLIE!”
I break back to the surface and whip my head up. Tzain grips the rail of the ship, teeth clenched with strain. Blood covers his clothes and his face, but I can’t tell whether it’s his.
Only nine other vessels float through the arena. Nine vessels left in this bloodbath. But the stern of our boat groans under the surface.
Our ship’s going down.
I take a deep breath and plunge back into the water. Immediately, bile rises in my throat. Clouds of red and debris make it all but impossible to see.
I struggle to keep my eyes open as I kick as hard as I can. Each stroke down is a stroke through water thick and heavy with blood.
“4
mí àwọn tí ó ti sùn—”
Though I chant, the last of my ashê dwindles from my fingers. I’m not strong enough. My magic’s run dry. But if I can’t do it, Tzain and Amari might die. Our ship will go down, our chance at the sunstone will disappear. We won’t be able to bring magic back.
I stare at the scar on my palm. Mama’s face flashes behind my eyes.
I’m sorry, I think to her spirit.
I don’t have a choice.
I bite into my hand. The copper tang of blood fills my mouth as my teeth break through the skin. The blood spreads into the water, glowing with a white light that wraps around my form. My eyes bulge as the light travels within me, vibrating in my blood, radiating through my core.
Ashê tears through my veins, searing my skin from the inside out.
“4mí àwọn tí ó ti sùn—”
Waves of red flash behind my eyes.
Oya dances for me again.
Water twists around me, writhing with new and violent life. The blood magic takes over, enacting my will. With a rush, a new army of animations swirls before my eyes.
Their watery skin bubbles with blood and white light, coming alive with the force of a storm. Ten more animations awaken to join the army, water swirling as their bodies take form. They draw the blood and the debris into their skin, creating new armor for my army of the dead. They look to me when the last animation comes forth.
“Save the boat!”
My spirit soldiers shoot through the water like dual-finned sharks, fiercer than any ship or cannon in sight. Though my insides burn, the thrill of my magic overwhelms the chaos of our fight.
Pleasure swells through me as they follow my silent directive and disappear into the holes left by the cannonballs. A second later all the water inside begins to rush out.
Yes!
In an instant our ship gains buoyancy, bobbing back up to the surface. When all the water is out, the animations join with the wood, patching the holes with the watery remains of their bodies.
It worked!
But my wonder doesn’t last long.
Though the animations have disappeared, the surge of the blood magic remains.
My skin sears as it tears through me, burning as if the blood magic is ripping my organs apart. The violence shreds through my muscles. My hands go numb.
“Help!”
I try to scream, but bubbles rush through my throat. Horror sinks into my bones. Mama was right.
This blood magic will destroy me.
I swim for the surface, but each kick is harder than the last. My arms lose feeling, then my feet.
Like vengeful spirits, the blood magic overwhelms me, clinging to my mouth, my chest, my skin. Though I fight for the surface, I can’t move. Once so close, our ship now falls farther and farther away.
“Tzain!”
The crimson sea muffles the sound of my screams.
The little air I have in my lungs disappears.
Water rushes in.