Children of Blood and Bone

Inan struggles to suppress his magic as he thinks about Zélie’s dream-delivered threat. He and Kaea talk and she questions him about how he gained his knowledge of the fugitives. She also references Inan’s “episode,” referring to his vision, which he excuses by claiming he saw Amari dead on the beach. Inan and Kaea touch hands and he receives a flash of memory from her. Kaea tries to calm his concerns for his sister while they ride, but Inan thinks only of killing Zélie to hide his secret.

Amari, Tzain, and Zélie struggle to climb the mountainous terrain between Sokoto and the temple. Tzain and Zélie fight over whether the temple is real while Amari thinks of Binta for strength. They find a spot to rest and Amari discovers a human skull. Zélie uses her powers to sense the spirit of the dead and determines the temple is close by. Amari follows Zélie and they climb a cliff, discovering the temple of Chândomblé. Zélie feels her magic powers increasing and touches another skull, sharing a brief vision with Amari of what the temple once looked like. Zélie continues to see through the spirits of the dead until Tzain calls for them, leading them into an old gold tower with a strong magical aura. They find a statue and Zélie uses her magic to reveal a hidden stairwell. They descend but trigger a trap at the bottom, which locks them in a chamber that fills with poison gas. They are knocked unconscious.

Inan and his soldiers descend on Sokoto, handing out wanted posters and searching for Amari and Zélie. Kaea and Inan find the merchant who traded with the girls. Inan steals a bottle of ink to secretly dye the white streak growing in his hair as they question the merchant, then opens the merchant’s safe to discover Amari’s headdress. Inan remembers watching Binta place it on Amari’s head after he severely injured Amari while sparring. The merchant reveals that the girls were preparing to travel into the jungle and Kaea realizes their destination is the temple. When the merchant tries to run away, Kaea kills him, warning Inan that he must kill those who know too much.

Amari wakes up to find the three teenagers bound and their belongings taken. A man who Zélie calls a sȇntaro, or high priest, appears. He says that the scroll was taken from his people years ago and glares at Amari, recognizing her royal blood. Zélie interjects and tells him that she saw what the temple looked like and knows what happened. There is a pause before the man magically removes their bindings and returns their belongings, then instructs them to follow.

The teenagers follow the sȇntaro, who introduces himself as Lekan. He senses Reaper magic in Zélie as he leads them deeper underground. Lekan leads them to a mural that depicts the origin of the gods, humans, and magic, telling them about the different kinds of magic. He also explains that sȇntaros were meant to act as guides to the maji, sharing the wisdom of the gods with the magic users. A part of the mural depicts a woman using the bone dagger, the sunstone, and the scroll—the ancient arcane artifacts bestowed by the gods—to create a blood binding that enables the continuation of magic. Lekan says that King Saran came to Chândomblé and pretended to worship the gods and goddesses but secretly searched for the relics and killed the sȇntaros to stop magic from continuing. Lekan only survived because he was away from the temple during the massacre. He tells the teenagers that to ensure that magic returns permanently, they must perform the blood binding ritual. He tells them that they have until the centennial solstice to travel to a sacred island and perform the ritual with all three ancient artifacts, or else magic will never return to their continent. Lekan cannot perform the ritual himself, because it must be done by a woman connected to magic.

Lekan leads them to a different part of the temple while Zélie struggles with her fears. Lekan uses an obsidian tub of water to connect Zélie’s spirit to the Sky Mother, the mother of all the goddesses, so that she will be able to complete the ritual to restore magic. He uses blood magic, the most powerful and dangerous of magics, and cuts Zélie’s hand. He chants and Zélie’s magical energy is released, giving her a glimpse of Oya, the patron goddess of Reapers, and the Sky Mother. Zélie feels fully connected to magic for the first time, but is exhausted by the ritual. As she prepares to rest, Lekan realizes someone is coming and they must flee.

Inan’s ability to hear thoughts is growing stronger. He and his soldiers climb the cliffs leading to the temple, and the effort of climbing means he cannot suppress his magic. He slips and almost drops Amari’s headdress, catching it and remembering when Amari refused to spar with him and his father made him attack her. Inan feels a pulse of Zélie’s magic and knows they are close.

Tzain carries Zélie as they follow Lekan to a hidden room, where he gives Zélie parchments that contain incantations for her magic. Zélie is overwhelmed by new magical sensations as they creep through the temple. She remembers Nailah as the soldiers get closer, and Lekan uses magic to put the guards to sleep. Nailah attacks the one guard remaining, drawing Inan’s attention to the group. Zélie calls to her lionaire and the three teenagers and Lekan climb on top of her, traveling quickly through the forest with Inan and Kaea in pursuit on top of their own giant cats. They reach an ancient bridge and must split up to cross. As Amari guides Zélie, Lekan uses magic to lift the giant cats of their pursuers. Inan and Kaea leap to the ground before their mounts are thrown over the side of the cliff. Kaea and Inan attack Lekan, who keeps them at bay with his magic while the girls run across the bridge. Amari makes it safely, but the bridge snaps under Zélie. She manages to hold on and climbs the bridge’s remnants like a ladder, but the final plank snaps under her weight. Lekan uses his magic to catch her and lift her to safety, but the distraction gives Kaea the chance to stab him through the heart. Lekan’s spirit briefly enters Zélie’s body before he dies, leaving Amari, Zélie, and Tzain to flee with the bone dagger he has given them.

Inan plots how to use his own magic to prevent the return of the maji. Using his magic, he senses Lekan’s spirit and learns the man’s name before Kaea returns, telling him there is no way to cross the mountain. Inan orders her to guide the construction of a new bridge while he looks for answers in the temple. She tries to fight his orders, but he commands her as prince and she concedes.

The trio travels across a desert for several days. Amari remembers more moments with Binta and grieves her friend. The teenagers talk about their hopes to find the sunstone in Ibeji, but Zélie is worried because they only have 13 days remaining before the solstice. They arrive at the city and split up to be more inconspicuous, though Amari is fearful because of the presence of royal guards. Tzain tries to comfort her before they part ways. Zélie and Amari’s relationship has grown strained after Inan’s attack on the temple, and Zélie struggles with being in a place with so many buried dead now that her magic has awoken. They see divîners locked in the stocks and performing slave labor, which is shocking to Amari. At a well, Zélie is accosted by a soldier for being a divîner, and they are charged gold for cups of water. Zélie gives their canteens to some of the enslaved divîners, who tell them they are forced to compete at the arena. If they win, their enslavers will pay off their debt. In return, the nobles who enslaved them will win a stone that grants eternal life, which the girls believe to be the sunstone they seek.

The teenagers enter the arena stands. Zélie is overwhelmed by the spirits of the dead who, according to her religion, cannot move on to the afterlife if they have experienced too much pain or trauma while dying. An announcer excites the crowd as the metal-grated floor of the competition area fills with water. Boats filled with divîners sail into the arena, where they must fight to the death. No one has survived in two months. The announcer shows off the money and the sunstone before combat begins with cannonball fire. Zélie feels each death as it occurs. All the combatants are destroyed, leaving the announcer to push for another competition the next day.

Kaea oversees bridge construction while, in the temple, Inan uses his magic to see Lekan’s lingering memories. He sees the memory of Amari, Tzain, and Zélie walking with Lekan through the temple and the mural depicting the birth of the gods and magic. He recognizes the god connected to his powers and is filled with rage but realizes he will have to dream using magic to find answers.

The three teenagers sneak through the arena, now filled with laborers cleaning the blood off the combat area. Zélie uses magic to guide them through the arena to a safe, where she picks the lock but Tzain breaks the turn wheel of the door. They hide as guards and the announcer chase a young divîner boy into the room. When they begin to beat him, Zélie emerges and addresses the announcer, telling him she wants to compete. Later, the three teens argue about her decision, and Zélie tells them that if she uses one of Lekan’s spell scrolls she can reanimate the dead and create an army on the fake battlefield. Zélie struggles with the spell for hours before calling to the spirit of a divîner girl she gave water to earlier. She successfully summons the spirit animation, then faints.

Inan dreams that he has returned to the field of reeds where he first met Zélie’s spirit. He summons her again and she mocks him and the King, making him feel guilty. Zélie begins to change the landscape of the dream, creating a waterfall and a pool of water to swim in. Inan is concerned by how much he is attracted to Zélie. Zélie accidentally hints that they are in Ibeji, and Inan confirms that Amari is safe before he wakes up from the dream.

Inan finds that Kaea is in the mural room at the temple, where he has had his vision, and she reacts with fear and anger at his magic. He says that Zélie cursed him and that he has been using his magic to help but would never hurt Kaea. However, when Inan refuses to return to the castle before Zélie is found, he and Kaea fight, resulting in her death by Inan’s magic.

Amari, Tzain, and Zélie listen to the cheers of the crowd as the announcer takes them to the divîners that will serve as their crew in the arena battle. They give the divîners smuggled food and water, but the divîners are distrusting. When Zélie steps forward and assures them that she wants to keep them alive, they comply.