"No," I snapped, turning to look at them. I saw the fear in their eyes. The same fear that had been there since the Gate. The fear of monsters who had been told they were monsters for so long they had started to believe the label.
Hephaestus watched, his hammer resting on the floor, his expression unreadable. He wasn't going to help. This wasn't metallurgy anymore.
I looked at Kaelen. The Dragon. The leader who thought he had to carry the sky.
I looked at Thane. The Bear. The wall that thought it was only good for stopping blows.
I looked at Flynn. The Wolf. The hunter who hated his own teeth.
I looked at Elias. The Phoenix. The visionary blinded by the past.
If I waited for them to be ready, I would be a statue before the hour was up.
They couldn't save me. Not like this.
I had to lead them.
I closed my eyes. I didn't push the noise away. I didn't try to block the static. I took a breath of the sulfurous, burning air, filling my crystallizing lungs until they burned.
Listen to me,I projected, my mental voice cutting through their panic like a blade.
The static faltered.
You are scared,I told them.Good. Be scared. Fear means you have something to lose. But do not dare tell me you are weak. Do not dare tell me you are monsters.
I opened my eyes. "You are the Princes of Olympus," I said aloud, my voice rasping with the metallic timbre of the change. "You survived the betrayal. You survived the dark. You survived the Gate. Kaelen," I looked at him. "Burn for me. Thane," Ilooked at the giant. "Hold me. Flynn," I caught the wolf's amber gaze. "Keep my heart beating. Elias," I nodded to the weaver. "Fix the pattern."
I didn't give them time to doubt. I didn't give them time to think.
I slammed my hands onto the iron.
CLANG.
The sound wasn't in the room. It was in my soul.
The Anvil woke up.
It didn't feel like heat. It felt like judgment. A white-hot interrogation ripped through my palms, racing up my arms, seeking the core of who I was. It tore through the silver, tore through the flesh, and grabbed the bond with the force of a gravity well.
I screamed.
It wasn't a vocal sound. My throat locked instantly. It was a silent, internal shriek as the Anvil asked a question in a language made of fire and weight,WHAT ARE YOU?
And the princes, shocked out of their panic by the sheer violence of the connection, answered.
Kaelen roared, and the fire hit me.
Thane grounded, and the weight hit me.
Flynn moved, and the pulse hit me.
Elias wove, and the logic hit me.
I arched back, my spine popping, and the world dissolved into white.
SIXTEEN
Flynn
