The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Silvery-white embers danced over my skin and crackled as
wispy cords stretched out from me, swathing the columns
like glistening spiderwebs and flowing across the floor in a
network of shimmering veins. My rage had become a
tangible entity, a living, breathing force that could not be
escaped. I stepped forward, and the top layer of stone
shattered under my boot.
Tiny pieces of stone and dust broke away, drifting down.
Several of the masked attackers moved back as thin fissures
appeared in the statues of the gods. The cracks along the
floor grew.
A masked attacker broke from the line, rushing me.
Sunlight reflected off the blade of his sword as he lifted it
into the air. I didn’t move as the wind picked up the tangled
strands of my hair. He yelled as he brought the hilt of the
weapon’s handle down on me—
I caught his arm, halting the blow as I shoved Casteel’s
blade deep into his chest. Red poured across the front of his
tunic as he shuddered, falling to the side. Four more
charged me, and I spun under the arm of one as I thrust up
the blade, slicing open another’s throat. Blood sprayed as I
whipped around, swinging the sword through the metal
mask. A sharp, stinging pain raced across my back as I
planted my foot in the center of the man’s chest and pushed
off as I yanked the blade free of his skull.
A hand grabbed me, and I twisted, slamming the blade
deep into the attacker’s belly. I jerked the hilt of the sword
sharply as I dragged it through the man’s stomach, voicing
the rage inside me with a scream. That rage pulsed into the
air around me, and a statue near the back of the Temple
broke in two. Chunks of stone crashed to the floor.
Another ripple of pain flowed over my leg. I turned,
sweeping the sword in a high arc. The blade met little
resistance. A dagger fell into my hand as a head and mask
rolled in opposite directions. Out of the corner of my eye, I
saw one of the Descenters grab Kieran’s stiff body by the