Page 161 of The Blade in the Ashes
He leaned forward rapidly, catching Iris off guard as he pressed her lips to hers and she yelped in surprise before relaxing into his touch and returning the affection.
Clay made a face, upper lip curling back, and I pinched him.
“While I hate to rush this little reunion,” Clay told them, hiding his disgust with a smirk aimed in my direction. “I was planning on flying to Inanis today. I’d like to have up to date information when I meet with the President.”
Well, that announcement certainly soured my good mood.
Clay had told me earlier in the morning that he planned to meet with President Jonan and I hadn’t bothered to hide my feelings on the matter. I hated the idea of being separated from him again. In fact, the thought of it alone sent my heart racing and made me painfully aware of the shackles still strapped to each of my wrists.
But we needed allies.
And my escape from the castle apparently made the possibility of President Jonan joining our cause more likely.
So I’d begrudgingly agreed.
Iris, still obviously focused on the progress of Nikolai’s healing, one-handedly tossed a bag to Clay before removing the three blades strapped to her thigh.
“I would like to keep my original blade,” she requested, still not looking at him. “But I suppose these two would belong to each of you.”
I took them from her, glancing over the daggers while Clay pulled out two dusty tomes from the bag.
“And these are?” he held one book in the air.
And my heart stopped.
The world seemed to blur around me as I snatched it from his grip, staring at the title. My jaw fell open as I desperately tried to process how in all of creation they had found this.
“I had a feeling you might want that,” Nikolai noted, buttoning his shirt again as the healer took her leave. “Don’t suppose there’s information in there that’s helpful?”
Silence was his only answer.
I was too busy flipping through the pages, breathing in the words as if my life depended on it.
As if all of our lives depended on it.
My fingers stilled, when I found the page I’d been hunting for. I swallowed. The faded ink seemed almost alive as I traced over the words.
At the seat of your power, where magic flows most intensely, blood of the God must be shed. The blood will open. The God shall face their truth.
“What is it, love?” Clay asked me, his voice low as he tipped up the book in my hands to read the title.
I read the sentences over and over until I felt them imprint themselves on my soul. In the depths of my gut, that tiny spark of magic that still lingered inside of me suddenly seemed conscious once more. It was ready to be brought back to life.
“It’s instructions for a ritual,” I explained, meeting each of their gazes. “A ritual known as The Forging. It’s how a God comes into their maturity and forges their own Godly Weapon.”
Iris was the first to piece it together, her eyes darting from side to side as she figured it out. “Like Hyrax’s Bident.”
I nodded. “Exactly like that.”
“So if you do it,” she continued, stepping towards me to glance over the words along the pages still cradled in my hands. “You would create your own weapon. And theoretically, at maturity your powers would develop to be their strongest which might mean that...”
Her voice trailed off as if she were too afraid to say them out loud.
But I wasn’t.
“Not only would they come back, but they would be stronger than ever before.”
Chapter Forty-Six
