The Tsar’s skeleton army started marching forward. He’d conjured thousands of them. Their twisted outlines stretched off into the devastated landscape. I’d never seen an army this large.
The twisted figures clawed their way across the rubble. Moonlight reflected off their spikes and swords. Meanwhile, the Fantomes all raised their arms. The bones in their left hands glowed blue in the night as they began speaking an incantation in unison. I couldn’t make out the words, yet the meaning was clear.
The Fantomes were about to cast, and I was their target, too.
I looked down at the bone crawler in my hand. Its power wouldn’t be enough. A memory appeared. Back in the gardens, the Fantomes had changed their bone crawlers into something else. I could do that, too, if I had enough power.
A thrill of realization energized my soul. Every follower of the Tsar received a bone crawler. The Tsar only destroyed the bone crawlers in the Fantomes. All the prisoners still had their bone crawlers, though. At least a dozen of them stood nearby.
An idea appeared in my mind. It was insane. It was all I had.
There was no time to lose. I reached out through the bone crawler in my hands, just as I reached out to find Necromancer power in the air.
Instantly, I felt it. The connection from this bone crawler to all the others that still lived. I yanked their power into my own body. My veins felt as if they were on fire. Every inch of me vibrated with energy. My stance loosened as I teetered from side to side.
Stay focused, Elea. You have to do this.
The power inside me became stronger and stronger. All my bones and veins lit up with purple flame. I remembered how the Tsar did his spells. No incantations this time. I pictured what I wanted. Another army of skeletons appeared. Mine.
I set the energy loose.
Purple light flashed all around me. When the brightness faded, thousands of skeletons now stood nearby. They were of all different sizes and shapes.
That was the Necromancer side of my hybrid power, summoning the skeletons. But I needed more than that. Caster energy must be part of this spell as well. It was the only way to generate a hybrid army that could fight and beat the Tsar.
Besides, I wanted my gods-damned Brothers and Sisters back.
Using all my focus, I pumped more magick into the skeletons. The skeletal bones became covered in muscle, flesh, and leather robes. Dark purple markings of bone covered their skin.
Flesh and bone, with faces painted as skeletons.
They were my army.
They were perfect.
Next, I used my power to contact the souls I’d connected with in the dungeons. I opened the channel of communication with the dead. It looked like I was speaking aloud to myself, but the message went to Quinn and his people. “I offer you a chance at life again. Even more importantly, I give you the hope of revenge. Come back and destroy the Tsar and his army. Take mortal form once more.”
There wasn’t time for me to explain my full plan, yet that didn’t seem to matter. Ghostly voices echoed through my mind.
Give us life and revenge.
“Thank you, my Brothers and Sisters.” Pulling in fresh power, I summoned their souls back from the dead. Thousands of ghosts rose up from the ground, an army of blue spirits from the ashes below. Each ghost found the flesh and bone body that I’d prepared for them and slipped inside. With a burst of purple light, the two sides merged. Heights changed. Faces altered. The flesh and bone creations became matched the spirit they now housed. My spell was complete.
My army began to move.
What a sight. They were pale bodies with the images of skeletons painted on their skin in deep purple. They were alive and ready to fight.
And the Tsar’s skeleton horde ran to meet them.
The field of rubble became a blur of battle. Blue flashes of light filled the air as the Fantomes cast against my Necromancers. The Tsar’s skeletons leapt into the fray, their bone-white weapons gleaming in the starlight.
I stumbled across the rubble until I saw them. The captured Creation Casters, along with Ada, Veronique, and the others. My hand still glowed with purple light. Good. I had some hybrid power left. Using my new magick, I pictured the spells I wanted. Again, the spells worked. Ada, Veronique, and the others became invisible to all but me. Meanwhile, the Creation Casters broke free of their chains and began to fight. I scanned the battlefield, looking for Rowan.
He lay nearby, his body still immobile. Acting on instinct, I rushed to his side and set my hands on his chest.
I hated him.
I loved him.
I didn’t want him to die.