CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: ZÉLIE

Inside the sealed scroll room, Kenyon vents his panic until Kâmarū restrains him, while the group reels from the chaos outside. Jahi collapses from his cyclone’s toll, and Zélie steadies Mâzeli, vowing to lead them out despite the ringing in her ears and the heat of her glowing tattoos.

Amari takes charge: she asks Kâmarū about tunneling (he cannot affect the strange material) and presses Dakarai to scout an exit. She orders everyone to bag as many scrolls as possible and have Kenyon burn the rest to deny the monarchy. Zélie protests the loss of sacred history, but Amari frames it as wartime necessity. Mâzeli steadies the team, insisting they stick together and collect the scrolls.

Tension spikes when Amari warns Zélie not to act on her feelings about Inan. Zélie, torn between fury and focus, suddenly staggers as her tattoos blaze and pain sears through her. A golden beam erupts from her mouth, blasting the others back, and the room transforms into a star-filled cosmos as Zélie levitates. Amari grabs Zélie’s hand and is lifted too as a cobalt light flares from Amari’s chest and countless voices fill Zélie’s mind.

The vision collapses and they fall. In the quiet that follows, Zélie perceives ashê moving like blood within each maji—emerald in Kâmarū, deep purple in Mâzeli—while Amari’s navy power surges through her entire body, nearly black with density. Touching Amari rekindles the cobalt glow, warping the room again, confirming the magnitude of Amari’s power.

Recalling Oya’s ascension vision and the intertwining ribbons of light, Zélie connects Amari’s overwhelming ashê to Nehanda’s strength and the nature of power itself. With this revelation, Zélie tells the elders she finally understands what Oya showed her and believes she now knows how to defeat the queen.