Chapter 56

Anya had spent hours chained to a wall in a large living room that V?lundr had gutted for his workspace. She had been unconscious when they had led her out of the other room, disorientating her so she didn"t know what floor she was on or in what part of the house. V?lundr no longer trusted her in the room with the Ovinnik, and he wasn"t about to lose another hostage.

The physical pain of aching arms was hard to bear but having to see V?lundr work was worse. Anya had watched him create his crow slaves with such a cruel efficiency, swapping their forms over and over as a form of entertainment. He had drawn a neat circle in chalk behind the door leading into the room and had decorated it in symbols Anya didn"t know or understand. When he started to cut himself and draw runes with his blood, Anya thought she would vomit. The tickle of magic she could still feel recoiled inside of her at whatever ritual he was performing.

Anya had been keeping quiet and drowsy, so they thought she was still heavily sedated. She knew she couldn"t fool them much because an alarm would sound every two hours, and V?lundr would inject more of the drugs into her.

Anya had tried to mind-link with Katya again, but her power was nowhere near strong enough, and the drugs made sure she didn"t have a clear head.

Falling in and out of consciousness, she dreamed of the farm, of Eikki, of the firebird blazing in the night, Trajan smiling as he read aloud to her. Images of the past month flowing over and over again. She dreamed of Baba Yaga clack clacking at her loom, Yanka walking through the forest or picking herbs from her garden, of a man with raven hair and golden eyes standing next to a ruined tower on a green hill.

Shouting and commotion in the house brought Anya out of her dream. The door on the other side of the room burst open, and there was Trajan, full of fury and flecked with blood. He instantly spotted her hanging from the wall, and his eyes turn red.

Two guards rushed him, and he grabbed one by the face and flung him hard at the wall. The other man he punched in the throat so hard that his fist came out the back of his neck.

"Trajan, no!" Anya croaked desperately. "The floor?—"

Trajan didn"t hear her as he tossed the corpse aside and tried to rush to her side. As soon as he hit the first symbol on the floor, an invisible hand of power slammed him down and into V?lundr"s circle. Trajan hissed out an otherworldly sound and smashing against the invisible walls, screaming as power electrocuted him.

Trajan sat up with a groan and spat out something black from his mouth. "Anya, are you all right?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," she replied and gave him a weak smile. "Just hanging out and waiting for my rescue."

"I apologize for not being better at it," he wheezed.

"I"m glad you can admit that this was a ridiculous attempt." V?lundr appeared, and Anya struggled at her manacles, her hands itching to wipe the grin from his face. "Now, now, Anya, you know what happened last time you caused a fuss."

"He has nothing to do with this, V?lundr. It"s me Ladislav and Vasilli want. Let him go."

V?lundr walked slowly towards Trajan. "No."

"Your magic circle won"t hold me for long," Trajan said, his voice changing, becoming deeper and distorted. The hair on Anya"s arms stood on end.

"You don"t frighten me, thanatos," V?lundr hissed.

"I should."

V?lundr"s hand twisted, and Trajan clutched his head. "Now, Anya, you will see him for what he truly is."

"Stop it, please," she begged as Trajan writhed in pain.

V?lundr didn"t seem to listen or care. Trajan"s clothes were melting under the power pouring from V?lundr"s hands.

Anya pulled frantically at her chains, trying desperately to touch her magic. She started screaming and V?lundr hissed in frustration.

"Shut her up, will you?" he told the nearest guard.

Anya thrashed, trying to fight him off, but as soon as he hit her, her world went black.

Anya was dreamingabout sitting by the fire in her small farmhouse. Eikki was in a chair opposite her and had a kantele on his lap, plucking the strings with well-practiced ease.

"Remember this story, Anya," he said as he continued to play. "It lives in your blood with all of our ancestors, ready to help you when you need it." He started to sing in his strong husky voice, and Anya let the Kalevala"s familiar stories wash over her.

Steady old V?in?m?inen, rune singer of unspeakable power, had been building a boat and wounded himself with an ax. He had found a gray beard healer to help him with the wound. V?in?m?inen was telling the old man about the Origin of Iron. He explained how iron was first created, and knowing it gave the magician power to control it. He had sung his rune songs, and the iron had to obey, removing itself from his leg so it could be healed.

Anya jerked awake as someone hit her in the ribs. She opened swollen eyes and wished she hadn"t.

"Wake up, Yanka"s blood." V?lundr kissed her busted lips softly. "Wake up and see what I have done."

Trajan, if she could still call him that, had been entirely stripped of his human form. His skin was a shimmering dark grey and had wings coming from his back made of smoke and shadows. He was covering his face, but she saw his enlarged eyes were a deep dark red.

"Let him go," Anya whispered. "Stop this. I"ll give you anything."

"You already have. I wanted a thanatos, and now I have one."

"I"m going to kill you for this, V?lundr," Anya promised as a deep calm settled within her. She could feel her magic rising through her. He had been too preoccupied with torturing Trajan to remember to inject her.

V?lundr rattled her iron chains and laughed at her. "Oh, brave Anya, you aren"t going to do a damn thing."

Anya"s dream was coming back to her in hazy snippets. Eikki"s stories, the Origin of Iron, the Twins telling her how the old stories have power and truth in them, that her affinity with fire was one of her greatest strengths. The Origin of Iron. It lives in your blood with all of our ancestors, ready to help you when you need it.

V?lundr had turned his attention back to Trajan, so he didn"t see Anya find her feet and stand firm. He didn"t see the fury in her eyes when she looked at the iron around her wrists.

V?lundr was taunting his prey, telling Trajan in intimate detail what he would do to Anya, what Vasilli and Ladislav would do once they were told he had her.

Anya"s power flared up through her, fierce and hot. She opened her mouth, and her words whispered out unhindered by any other thought in her mind.

"Iron that binds me,

Iron that pains me,

Iron that holds me

in cold cruel grasp.

Remember your brother,

that frightening Fire.

Remember the touch

of Ilmarinen"s hammer.

Remember coals.

Burning heat

of Forge"s Fire.

Rise and remember,

Release your brother.

The one that tamed you,

into shape and into form.

Release his fury,

the heat of his anger.

Remember Mother"s Milk

that made you on Ukko"s knee.

Return to Earth now,

Flow like Mother"s milk,

into cold dark earth.

Free Brother Fire from

Cruel cold grasp.

Let his anger flow out

onto those that bind me!"

Flames hot and blinding burst from Anya"s hands before spreading down her body. The iron manacles melted like plastic and dripped onto the ground. Anya was aware of V?lundr shouting but she couldn"t make out the noise over the roaring in her ears. He ran for the door, but Anya held out a hand, and it swung shut and locked.

"You should have let him go when I asked," Anya said, her voice calm.

The guard bashed against the door beside V?lundr, trying to find a way out.

V?lundr had begun working spells against her, but they were bee stings against her skin. The fire poured out of her, setting the room ablaze. Her hands stretched out towards the two struggling men, who started screaming as they began to burn inside. With Vischto, it had been instantaneous, but Anya wanted them to suffer.

She stepped over them as they writhed and opened the door. The walls caught fire where she walked. She kicked open the doors until she found where the Ovinnik was being held.

"Yanka"s blood." Its eyes were wide in its gaunt face. Anya gripped his chains, and they melted beneath her hands. She touched his face and smiled. The Ovinnik smiled back, its body turning into something crossed between a cat and a man as it lit up with her fire.

"Go through the house and do your work," Anya told it. "If you find others, set them free."

It ran from the room, screaming and laughing, leaving trails of fire wherever it went. Anya went to Trajan and punched a wall through the invisible force holding him. V?lundr"s circle shattered beneath her touch. The flames along her skin were fading now, but she could still feel the power riding her.

Trajan was curled tight in a ball, covered in golden ichor from his wounds. Anya carefully rolled him over. "Trajan?"

"Don"t look at me, Anya. I am too weak to shield myself." He turned his silver face from her.

"Take what you need, Trajan, so you can heal, and we can get out of here. I can"t move you on my own," she begged. "There is more Darkness in the city, and we need to get out of here."

"No! I will kill you."

"You won"t. I trust you. It"s freely given, so take it." The silvery smoke-like substance was already seeping out of her skin and rushing into him. Anya sagged against him as the roaring, angry power in her veins slowly retreated again. Trajan"s skin was just starting to change back to human when she lost consciousness.

Trajan let Anya go,horrified at what he had done, the taste of her golden life force still lingering on his tongue. The house was burning around him, blocking them inside.

"Trajan!" Hamish appeared through the flaming door. "I found him!"

Cerise came through the door after him, her face turning from fear to fury.

"Trajan, what have you done?" she screamed, pulling Anya from his arms and lifting her up.

Hamish"s heavy coat dropped over Trajan"s naked body, and he was hauled to his feet. V?lundr"s body twisted in the corner, and Trajan could still feel the life in him fighting. He leaned over and placed a hand on the terrified face.

"I"m going to send you somewhere very special for what you have done," Trajan said, and V?lundr"s ruined mouth screamed as his soul was torn from his body.

"No time!" Hamish shouted and tossed Trajan over his shoulder. Hamish carried him through the burning house and outside.

Izrayl and Yvan were helping to put Anya in the back seat of Cerise"s car. Yvan climbed in after and held Anya tightly to him.

Trajan looked back at the burning house, feeling all the souls that had died in there. Spreading his arms out, he pulled all of them to him.

"Trajan," Cerise begged. "Trajan, don"t take them. Don"t put the souls of those evil assholes inside of you for even a moment." He ignored her, sucking the souls to him until there was nothing left.

"I have no intention of keeping them. I don"t want them left to wander this plane," he snarled.

For the first time since Ilya had saved him, Trajan opened the unseen door separating reality from the spirit world. It was where it had always been, in the corner of his eye at the edge of perception.

Cerise stumbled away from the torn hole in reality and yelled at the others to keep back and cover their eyes. Focusing on the soul energy inside of him, Trajan sent all the souls into the whatever Afterlife awaited them. V?lundr"s, he kept until last.

With an old efficiency, Trajan opened another gate leading to the seething, cold blackness of Tartarus. Summoning V?lundr"s soul, he sent it howling into the abyss. He shut both doors quickly until he was standing in the wet, dark streets of Paris. He turned around just as Izrayl"s massive fist connected with his face, knocking him out cold.