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dropletsofink · 5 years

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No Regrets

[An “An Ember in the Ashes” fanfiction]

Elias is the Soul Catcher, bound to Mauth for eternity.

He finally accepts the Waiting Place, allowing the magic to fully replace his humanity. No longer does he remember how he cared for his friends, how he fought alongside them. He only knows his duty.

It isn’t long before a spirit he recognises appears, with hair woven into braids and the gravitas of a leader. A Zaldara. There is a wicked slash wound across her throat, where a blade must have ripped through. She died valiantly, defending her tribe against the onslaught of Martials hell-bent on conquering them. But died, all the same.

He feels nothing as she passes on, but reminisces a time where she would have scorned him for his choice.

Another appears, familiar in face, but Elias can’t place who he is. He has the air of a Mask, and carries himself with the same coldness. The ripple of metal against his brow marks him as one, but the compassion in his sea-green eyes tells a different story. One of loss and anguish, love and dejection. His killer was a poison, and his death was slow. But he died with many things left unsaid, and too many regrets.

He takes a while to pass on. No doubt waiting for someone.

Elias’ duty binds him to the Waiting Place, and his heart long stopped yearning for his life outside the Forest of Dusk. But as the spirits all blend into one, single entity, he feels something like lead settle deep in his bones. Something that he knew he would gain, even as he cemented his bargain with Shaeva.

Loneliness.

But it isn’t until another spirit enters the Waiting Place, with midnight hair and sun-gold eyes, the stance of a freewoman, but crippling uncertainty, that he feels the full, crushing weight of his choice. Despite Elias’ pact to lay down his humanity, the sight of her brings visions of a future that could have been, with a cottage, and a child with raven hair and grey eyes. Visions of happiness and warmth, emotions so very foreign to him. She recognises him, and tries to talk to him. But he only responds as he would to any other spirit, albeit his breaking heart.

She died in an attack on the Commandant, throwing herself in the path of a sword aimed at her brother. Darin screamed at her to run, but she didn’t. And she got herself killed.

Elias watches with sorrowless eyes as she passes on.

Shaeva told him that he would have to watch those he loved die. He thought it would hurt more, like a blazing scim across skin, but his pain is dull. Mauth numbs his senses.

Or so he thought. A spirit crosses the threshold, with hair the colour of wintry sunlight, and bloodstained armour. Blue eyes scan his form, assessing for a threat, before realising who he is, and as her face falls, Elias swears that his entire being does as well.

“Elias?”

“Welcome, Helene Aquilla, to the Waiting Place.” The calmness of his voice does nothing to betray the maelstrom of guilt raging in his chest, or the slow suffocating feeling crawling up his throat.

“What is this place? Where am I?” She grits her teeth, arms folded over her middle. What looks like a gaping wound punctures her midriff, like a spear was thrust through. She was protecting Zacharias from an assassination attempt. He lived, but she paid the price with her life.

“This is the Waiting Place. You’re dead, and I’m here to escort you to-”

“Cut the crap, Elias! Who- what are you? You’re not the Elias I grew up with.” Her eyes shine with fury, fury at being dead, or fury at his lost humanity, Elias doesn’t know. A frustrated sob builds at the back of her throat, and she chokes out. “I bargained with the Augurs, and they promised you’d be unhurt. But this-” Helene looks up at her old friend, her fury giving way to rare vulnerability. “This isn’t unhurt. You’re breaking, Elias. Being stuck here can’t be your fate.

“I sold my soul to serve Marcus, for you. I died protecting Zacharias, and now I don’t even know if he’ll be safe. Avitas-” Her brow furrows as she squeezes her eyes shut. “The Commandant got him. Don’t make the same mistake I did, Elias. If our friendship meant anything to you, please, get out of here.”

Elias thought that nothing remained of his old self, but when he speaks, there is none of Mauth’s tranquility. Only his raw hurt. “I’m sorry, Helene.”

Her eyes widen. He feels Mauth’s power seep out of him.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry that you had to serve Marcus, and about Livia-” His voice cracks but he continues, staring at the grass beneath his feet. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that alone.”

Helene straightens despite her wound and rests her hand on Elias’ shoulder. “I regret a lot of things, Elias, but being your friend isn’t one of them. It never will be. The Elias I knew would have found a way to stay loyal to his duties and live his life.”

“Hel-” The words stick in his throat, “I’m the Soul Catcher now. I can’t be free of this place, no matter how I try. It was a bargain I made, and it can’t be undone.” The familiar helplessness threatens to pull him under, but he fights it, clenching his fists and avoiding her eyes. But he feels Helene’s phantom warmth as she hugs him, just like when they were Cadets.

“Don’t, Elias. Get out of here, be who you want to be. You didn’t escape Blackcliff and the Commandant only to be chained here.” Helene releases him and walks into the forest, her fury having evaporated completely. And, although her back is turned, Elias still hears Helene whisper, “You deserve more than this, Elias Harper.”

And with that, she dissolves into the mist.

Leaving Elias completely alone.

#fanfiction #writer #writing #writers on tumblr #writing community #aeita #an ember in the ashes #atatn #a torch against the night #aratg #a reaper at the gates #elias veturius #laia of serra #helene aquilla #avitas harper #afya ara-nur

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reviewsandrecaps · 7 years

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Recap: A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2)

Synopsis: Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Characters: Laia Can turn invisible; she doesn't know why. Escaped Blackcliff with Elias. She and Elias headed for Blackcliff to free her brother, Darin, from Kauf. Izzi and Keenan joined them along the way, and later Afya. Keenan and Laia end up traveling alone after Izzi dies and Afya and Elias leave. Laia grows closer to Keenan and gives him her mother's armlet. Keenan transforms into the Nightbringer and Laia realizes that he was using her to get to her mother's armlet. Because she was in possession of the armlet, a piece of the Star, a powerful Scholar weapon, the Nightbringer can't harm her. Laia succeeds in freeing Darin from Kauf, with help from Elias and Afya. She has feelings for Elias, but shit's complicated because he's dead. Elias Veturius Soul Catcher. The Commandant's son. After failing the last Trial, Elias escaped execution with Laia. The Commandant poisoned him with Nightweed before he made it out of Blackcliff. Nightweed doesn't have a cure. Elias promised to help Laia free her brother Darin from Kauf, and that's what he does. On the way, he keeps seeing the Soul Catcher in the Waiting Place, the place people go after they've died. The closer he gets to Kauf, the closer he gets to dying. He dies in the process of freeing Darin from Kauf. He tells Shaeva, the Soul Catcher, that he'll take her place as Soul Catcher if she brings him back to life. She does it. He saves Darin, but he's tied to the Waiting Place. Helene Aquillus Blood Shrike. Mater of Gens Aquilla. Elias's best friend at Blackcliff. Marcus makes Helene hunt Elias. When she fails to bring him in for execution, Marcus kills all of Helene's family except for her sister, Livia. Now, Marcus has tasked Helene with assassinating the Commandant. Avitas Harper Black Guard. Elias's half-brother. Avitas was spying on Helene for the Commandant, but now he's working with Helene. Keenan/Nightbringer The leader of the jinn. He wants to reunite the pieces of the Star – the Scholar weapon used to imprison the jinn – to release the jinn from where they're trapped in the Waiting Place. The pieces of the Star can't be taken; they have to be given freely. The Nightbringer has transformed again and again to retrieve the lost shards. He transformed into Keenan to get the piece of the Star that was in the armlet Laia's mother gave her. The Nightbringer is haunted by what he's done to retrieve the pieces of the Star. He can't hurt the people who have touched the shards. Shaeva/Soul Catcher The Nightbringer made Shaeva Soul Catcher as punishment. Izzi She was a slave in the Commandant's house. Laia helped her escape. Izzi was killed by Martial soldiers on the way to Kauf. Cook She was a spy for the Resistance. She was tasked with spying on the Commandant, but she was caught. The Commandant kept her as a slave, but she escaped. She helps Helene, and has offered to help Helene kill the Commandant. She has ties to Laia's parents, and cares about Laia, but we don't know what her connection is. Marcus Farrar Emperor. Sadistic asshole. Has a weird thing for Helene. He's engaged to her sister, Livia. Afya Zaldara of Tribe Nur. Gibran Afya's brother. Faris and Dex Black Guard. Friends with Helene and Elias from Blackcliff. Tas A Scholar slave boy who was in Kauf. He helped Elias while he was in Kauf. Elias helped him escape Kauf. Tas killed the Warden. Shaeva/Soul Catcher The Soul Catcher. She betrayed the Nightbringer, so he killed her and brought her back as Soul Catcher as punishment. Livia Aquillus Helene's youngest sister. Engaged to Marcus. Hannah Aquillus Helene's younger sister. Killed by Marcus. Pater Aquillus Helene's father. Killed by Marcus. Spiro Teluman Darin's friend and mentor. His family is infamous for their superior swords. Quin Veturius Elias' grandfather. He's been in hiding since Elias failed the last Trial. Helene wants to find Quin. She wants him to help her bring the Commandant down.

Terms: Augur Martial holy-men. There are fourteen. Immortals who can see the future and read minds. Blackcliff The Mask training school. Black Guard They ensure loyalty from the military. Blood Shrike Leader of the Black Guard, right hand of the Emperor, second most powerful man in the Empire. Illustrians Martial upper class. Gens Martial families. Kauf The worst Martial prison. Mask An elite soldier of the Martial Empire. Mater Matriarch of a Martial family, or Gens. Pater Patriarch of a Martial family, or Gens. Skiritae A group of rebel Scholars in Kauf. Star The Scholar weapon used to imprison the jinn. It was destroyed, its pieces spread across the land and picked up by Scholars, Martials, and Tribesmen. The Nightbringer wants to find all the pieces so he can release the jinn. He can't take the pieces back; they have to be given freely. Anyone who touches a piece of the Star is safe from the Nightbringer. He can't harm them. Zaldar/Zaldara Leader of a Tribe.

Recap: Laia and Elias find a girl in the catacombs. She says she needs silver. She's an efrit. She grabs Laia, but lets her go, screaming. She asks what Laia is. They hear soldiers coming. They run.

The Commandant finds them. There's an explosion and part of the tunnel collapses. They climb out into Serra. They see Scholars fighting Martials in the streets. The Scholars are revolting. They run down an alley. They don't have many options for leaving the city. Elias decides they'll go to one of his grandfather's storage buildings that's against the city walls. There's a door that leads out of the city. Elias goes into the storage building alone.

The Commandant attacks Elias. She says she gave Helene to the Black Guard for interrogation. The Commandant cuts Elias. Elias sees Laia, but she disappears. She throws sand into the Commandant's face. Elias knocks the Commandant out. They steal the Commandant's horse and get outside of the city. The Commandant always has a backup plan, so Elias is expecting soldiers to be waiting for them, but there are none. She let them escape.

Helene's interrogator, Avitas Harper, questions her about Elias, how he escaped, about Laia. She's tortured, but she doesn't tell Avitas anything. Marcus comes with Helene's father. Her father made some kind of arrangement with Marcus. Marcus releases Helene. He says he has a mission for her.

Elias and Laia head away from the city. Wraiths find them in the desert. They want silver. Elias and Laia fight them off. Elias notices the blade Laia's using, the scim Telluman made with Darin. Laia tells him the truth about everything. Elias says with what Darin knows about Martial steelcraft, he could bring down the Empire. They stop to take a break, and Elias collapses. He shows Laia the cut the Commandant gave him. Laia thinks the Commandant poisoned him. Laia knows what extract will help him, but doesn't have it. They decide to go to Raider's Roost.

Elias hallucinates. He sees his friend, Tristas, who died in the Third Trial. They're in the Waiting Place, a place for dead not ready to move on. The Soul Catcher comes and tells Elias he's dead, he just doesn't know it yet. Elias wakes up. A storm is coming. They find shelter before the storm hits. Laia tries to keep Elias talking, but he slips away again. He realizes the Commandant poisoned him with Nightweed. There's no cure.

Marcus orders Helene to hunt Elias down and execute him publicly. Helene agrees to do it because she doesn't have a choice. When Helene leaves Marcus, she hears the Commandant speaking to someone. They're talking about killing Cook. The Commandant wants to know why Laia is so important. The Commandant leaves, but the creature, the Nightbringer, catches Helene listening. He can sense her healing power. The Nightbringer says it will destroy her if she isn't careful. The Nightbringer has a similar power. He uses it to heal some of her injuries.

Laia and Elias are nearly at Raider's Roost. Elias loses consciousness, so Laia goes alone. She hears people talking about a bounty on her and Elias. She finds an apothecary and buys the extract. A Tribesman recognizes her and wants her to take him to Elias.

Elias wakes up tied up on the floor of the cave. Laia is trying to convince the Tribesmen not to kill Elias. Laia gives Elias some of the extract. He fights off the Tribesmen and Laia kills one. They get away, and Elias comes up with a plan to get to Kauf. He says they'll go to the Tribal lands. The Fall Gathering is beginning soon, during which every Tribe gathers in Nur. When it's over, the Tribes leave. Elias wants to find a Tribe that will shelter and hide them as they make their way to Kauf. Elias wants to use Afya Ara-Nur's favor. He tells Laia about the Nightweed.

Helene goes to the Black Guard barracks. She gives orders to bring her friends Faris and Dex onto the Black Guard. Avitas, her torturer and the Commandant's spy, is waiting for her in her quarters. Marcus assigned him to go with her to hunt Elias. Faris and Dex come. They agree to join her task force to hunt Elias. They get to work immediately.

They go to investigate a murdered Mask. As soon as they get there, Helene knows Elias wasn't responsible. She hears a voice whispering to her; it says “little singer.”

A few nights later, Helene hears the whisper again. Someone grabs her – a woman. The woman gives Helene a hint about how to find Elias's trail. The woman says she killed the Mask. She says if Helene hurts Laia, she'll kill her. Helene recognizes the woman. It's Cook.

Elias and Laia keep moving. Elias can tell someone is following them. A few weeks later, they stop a day away from Nur. Someone starts shooting arrows at Elias, tells Elias to let Laia go. It's Keenan. Izzi is with him. Keenan says he's going with Laia to Kauf. Izzi wants to go too. They head for Nur together.

Helene, Faris, and Dex find tracks leading from Elias's grandfather's storage building out into the desert. They think Elias fought the Commandant, but Helene can't figure out why she let him escape.

Helene goes to talk to the Commandant. She questions her about whether she saw Elias after he escaped his execution. The Commandant lies. She mentions that Marcus is going to marry one of Helene's sisters, Hannah. This is what her father traded.

Faris brings Helene a report that the horse Elias and Laia were riding was found near Raider's Roost. Helene realizes Elias is heading to Nur for the Fall Gathering.

They've run out of the extract Elias needs. There's a wind storm, but they get to Nur. Elias gets Laia, Izzi, and Keenan into an empty wagon. He goes to find an apothecary. On his way, he sees wanted posters for him and Laia. The Empire knows they're in Nur. He goes to the city's Martial stronghold and sees members of the Black Guard, recognizes Faris and Helene.

They get to Afya's Tribe. Elias asks Afya to escort them to Kauf, and once there, help them break Darin out. Afya agrees to do it, but she doesn't want her Tribe to be the only one to bear the burden. She brings Tribe Saif, Elias's foster family's Tribe, into the deal. Elias sees his foster mother, Mamie Rila, for the first time in years. He tells her about everything that's happened, the Trials, but not about the poison.

Helene finds and questions Mamie Rila. She realizes that Mamie has spoken to Elias. She lets her go, but has her followed. She's going to the storytellers' stage. Helene goes there. There are thousands of Tribesmen there. Mamie Rila takes the stage and tells Elias's story. The Tribesmen are getting riled up. Mamie is starting a riot.

A soldier kills a Tribesman and chaos erupts. Elias, Keenan, Laia, and Izzi use the panic to leave, heading for the caravans. Elias sees Helene being overtaken by the crowd and he goes to help her. He tells her he's not long for this world and that he misses her. When he leaves, she doesn't stop him.

Elias finds his way back to the others. They get into wagons and start moving. He sees some of his family's Tribe, Tribe Saif, surrounded by Martials. He wants to help them, but can't without being captured.

That night, Elias goes to the Waiting Place. The Soul Catcher says he won't live past Rathana, which is only two months away. He wakes up and starts forming a new plan. Getting to Kauf by Afya's wagons will take two months. The Empire's couriers make the same journey in two weeks. He decides to leave the others, go by horse alone. He tells Afya where to go once they get near Kauf. He says Darin should be there waiting for them by the time they get there. He leaves a letter for Laia, then he leaves.

Helene tells Dex to interrogate the captured members of Tribe Saif, including Mamie Rila. Helene spends days searching wagons for any sign of Elias, but she finds nothing. She takes the group of soldiers that are with her to a garrison to rest. The Commandant is there executing Scholars. Helene tries to stop her, but the Commandant ignores her. Later, a soldier brings Helene a message. Marcus is ordering her to go to Antium. The Illustrian Gens have declared war on each other.

The Soul Catcher finds Elias again near the Forest of Dusk. The Soul Catcher says the Waiting Place is in the Forest of Dusk. She takes him into the Forest, brings him to Tristas. She tells Elias he needs to help Tristas move on. Elias asks the Soul Catcher what she is. She was human once, but now she's damned. She's a jinn. Days pass and Elias is unsuccessful in helping Tristas. The Soul Catcher takes Elias to Kauf, warning him that he must be quick if he wants to succeed. He only has two weeks left.

Avitas and Helene reach Antium. The Commandant takes them to Marcus. Marcus says of ten Gens, four propose an Illustrian candidate to replace Marcus as Emperor. Five want their own Paters to take the throne. Marcus wants Helene to publicly execute them by the following morning.

Laia and the others find a family of Scholars on the run from the Empire. Afya says they can't help them. One of the women says the Commandant is killing everyone, even prisoners in their cells. She says Antium is next, and after that Kauf.

Avitas points out that one of the Gens on Marcus's list, Gens Sergia, is allied with the Black Guard. Avitas is worried the Guard will turn on them rather than killing the Pater they're allied with. Helene goes to speak with Sergius. She blackmails him until he orders the Guard to do her bidding.

Helene, along with the Black Guard, round up the traitors. They're executed the next morning. Marcus announces Elias will be executed by Rathana. If Helene doesn't find him by then, he'll start executing her family.

Laia is worried about the Commandant executing Darin in Kauf. They spot Martials. Laia convinces Afya to hide the Scholar family. The soldiers search the wagon where Laia is hiding with part of the Scholar family. The soldiers find where they're hidden, but don't see Laia. She's invisible. They start burning the wagons where the others are hiding, forcing Keenan, Izzi, and the others to come out. Still invisible, Laia gives Keenan a scim and cuts the ropes tying the others. They kill all of the Martials. Izzi and a few others die in the fight.

Elias disguises himself as a soldier to get into Kauf. He hears soldiers talking about the Commandant killing Scholars. They say she's coming to Kauf soon. He learns that Darin went into the interrogation cells and never came out. Elias is going to leave, but the Warden catches him.

Helene talks to Cain. Cain tells Helene that if she can survive what's coming, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. He says she has to be unmade so she can be remade. She thinks he means she'll have to kill Elias.

Afya arranges for the Scholars to be taken to the Free Lands. Afya tries to get her brother, Gibran, to return to the Tribal lands. Laia says Gibran and Afya should both return to their Tribe. She says Keenan can get her to Kauf. Afya and Gibran leave. Laia and Keenan move on.

The Warden is holding a Scholar child, pressing a knife into his neck. The Warden has Masks with him. The Warden threatens the child, and Elias lets the Masks take his weapons and the extract. The Warden orders the Masks to take Elias to the interrogation block.

Avitas gives Helene a letter from Dex. He says Mamie Rila let slip that Elias went north. Helene can't figure out why Elias would head north. She finds Cook. Cook says the Commandant is planning something big. The Resistance is working with the Commandant, but they don't know it's her. She tells Helene about Darin. She says Elias is breaking him out of Kauf for Laia.

The Warden tortures Elias until he tells him why he's using the extract. The Scholar boy takes care of Elias. He doesn't have a name, so Elias calls him Tas.

Laia and Keenan come upon Martial wagons filled with Scholars. Laia wants to free them, but she hasn't been able to disappear since Izzi died. She hears one of the prisoners talking about Darin. A Mask says he's dead. Keenan says as long as there's a chance Darin's alive, they have to keep moving.

Without the extract, Elias starts having seizures again. He goes to the Waiting Place, sees the Soul Catcher. The Waiting Place is packed with murdered Scholars. The Soul Catcher, Shaeva, says the Nightbringer is coming to retrieve the pieces of a broken weapon, to free the jinn. She sends Elias away, but before he goes he sees Izzi. When he wakes, he hears someone crying. Tas says the soldiers call the prisoner the Artist. He draws on the walls with his own blood. The Artist speaks in his nightmares. He says a name: Laia.

Helene goes to Kauf with Faris and Avitas. They go to the cave and find his scims. Helene leaves Faris to watch the cave. Avitas says he isn't the Commandant's spy anymore. The Commandant ordered him to kill her once she got close to capturing Elias. He's been misinforming the Commandant for weeks.

Helene and Avitas meet the Warden that night. The Warden acts like he doesn't know where Elias is. He asks about the girl Elias is traveling with. Helene says her name is Laia and that her brother is in Kauf. She thinks Elias is trying to free him. Helene realizes the Warden has Elias.

Keenan and Laia approach Elias's cave. Inside, they find Elias's pack and scims. Rathana is only a week away. Elias should've broken Darin out by now. Helene, Faris, and Avitas catch them there.

Elias wants to get to Darin. Tas offers to help him. He says the Scholars in the pit have a rebel movement, the Skiritae. Elias doesn't want anyone else to get hurt because of him. He goes to the Waiting Place. Izzi is there. He helps her move on.

Elias attacks the Mask guarding his cell and takes his keys. He gets into Darin's cell. Darin says the Warden has been questioning him about Laia, not about the weapons. He asks what Darin told the Warden about Laia. He says things that Elias remembers Keenan saying to Laia while they were traveling together. Elias realizes that Keenan is working with the Warden. Keenan told the Warden he was coming. Masks come into Darin's cell, and Elias can't fight them. The Warden comes for Elias.

Laia says something to Helene about the army they saw in the Argent Hills. It reminds Helene about what Cook said about the Commandant planning something big. The Commandant has been amassing an army. Helene thinks Marcus wants to attack the Tribal lands or Marinn. A soldier from Kauf brings Helene a message from the Warden. It says the Commandant will arrive that evening. He tells Helene where and when he's going to meet the Commandant.

Helene and Avitas eavesdrop on the Commandant's conversation with the Warden. They're talking about the Nightbringer. The Commandant asks for the Warden's help. The Warden says the Commandant is carrying out her own will, not the Nightbringer's. She's jeopardizing everything they've worked for. The Commandant says her army will march on Antium in three days. That's when she'll claim her throne. Helene realizes the Commandant plans to kill Marcus and declare herself Empress.

Laia tells Keenan she isn't going to leave Elias in Kauf. He shoots down all of her plans. He steals Kauf uniforms and says he found a way into the prison. She wants to use her invisibility power, but he discourages her. They agree to make their move at dawn.

Elias agrees to answer the Warden's questions about Laia if the Warden will answer one question. Elias tells him everything. When he's done, Elias says that someone is pulling the Warden's strings. He asks who it is. The Warden says Elias should've asked “what,” not “who.”

Keenan's plan feels wrong to Laia. She says she won't leave Elias. She gives Keenan her mother's armlet. She says he deserves to know he isn't alone, that he's loved. Keenan transforms into the Nightbringer. Laia grabs the Nightbringer, furious, and goes into his mind. She sees the Nightbringer transforming into a boy, Keenan, sees her father going to him. Laia's family welcomes Keenan. He's obsessed with the armlet. After Laia's mother gives the armlet to Laia, the Nightbringer thinks he's failed. He betrays Laia's family to the Commandant. She wonders why he wanted the armlet. She sees the Forest of Dusk. There's an explosion. The Star – the Scholar weapon used to imprison the jinn – shatters, its pieces spread across the land and picked up by Scholars, Martials, and Tribesmen. The Nightbringer can't take the pieces back; they have to be given freely. She sees the Nightbringer transforming again and again to retrieve the lost shards. She sees him finding her. She feels his regret. He's haunted by what he's done. The Nightbringer forces her from his mind, then leaves.

Shaeva tells Elias he doesn't have much time left. Elias asks why the Nightbringer is interested in Laia. She says Laia has something the Nightbringer wants. Shaeva shows him that Keenan is the Nightbringer. Shaeva says anyone who has had a piece of the Star is protected from the Nightbringer. The Nightbringer can't kill Laia or Elias. He remembers touching the armlet. Shaeva says if the Nightbringer releases the jinn, they will annihilate the Scholars then turn on the rest of humanity. Shaeva leaves and Elias sees Tristas. Elias apologizes. Tristas forgives him, and moves on from the Waiting Place. When he wakes up, Elias knows how he's going to get Darin out, but he can't do it alone. He asks Tas for help.

Later, the Warden tells Helene that the Commandant will attack with or without his help. Helene says she'll stop the Commandant. She tells the Warden to give her Elias. The Warden wants to study Helene's healing power. He says he'll release Elias if she lets him study her. She realizes that bringing Elias to Marcus isn't the only way to show the Emperor's strength. Crushing the coup would work just as well. She decides to leave Elias in Kauf. She believes he'll be able to get himself out. She leaves with Avitas.

Laia still wants to save Darin and Elias. She goes to Helene for help with the layout of the prison and supplies. Helene agrees to help.

Laia finds that without the Nightbringer around, she can make herself invisible. Afya finds Laia in Elias's cave. She wants to help.

The soldiers moved Darin to another cell. Tas tells Elias where he is. Tas carries messages back and forth between Elias and Laia for a few days. They make a plan, which they carry out on Rathana. Tas causes a distraction and brings Elias keys. Elias gets out and frees Darin. A Mask knocks Darin out and Elias has to carry him. Elias feels his body failing. They come to a dead end, a locked door Elias can't open. Elias has a seizure. He wakes up in the Waiting Place.

Helene and Avitas make it to Antium. They go to Marcus. He's in the throne room with the leaders of the Illustrian Gens. Helene's family is there. She tells Marcus of the Commandant's planned coup. The Commandant says Helene made up the story to protect her family and Elias. The Commandant says Elias is in Kauf and that he's probably dead by now because he was poisoned. Avitas says the Commandant must've poisoned Elias with Nightweed because she knew it would take him a long time to die. She knew Helene would hunt him, and with Helene out of the way there would be no one to stop the coup. Marcus says Helene was ordered to bring Elias by Rathana or there would be an execution. Helene's family is seized.

Afya and Laia head toward Kauf. Afya goes to the boathouse. Laia makes herself invisible and goes into Kauf, sets up supplies to start a fire to make a distraction so Elias and the others can get out. Laia gets to the place where Elias was supposed to meet her, but he isn't there. She hears the Warden saying Kauf is under attack from the inside. The door to the interrogation sector is padlocked. Laia hacks at the lock with one of Elias's scims. She gets the lock off and the door open. There's a wall of flame on the other side.

Elias tells Shaeva he needs more time. He asks her why she was so interested in him. She hoped he would take her place as Soul Catcher. He remembers her talking about how she was made Soul Catcher. The Nightcatcher killed her, then brought her back and chained her to the Waiting Place. She's alive. He tells her to make him her successor, bring him back. She agrees to do it. She makes him a Soul Catcher. He goes back to his body the moment he died. The door he couldn't unlock before is open. He picks up Darin and he and Tas leave.

Marcus kills Helene's mother and her sister, Hannah. Marcus allows Helene to speak with her father before he executes him. Her father says Helene has to stay powerful and that millions of Martials are going to rely on her to keep the darkness of war at bay. He gives her the family ring and names her Mater of Gens Aquilla. Marcus kills him. Marcus says he's going to marry Livia, then he sends everyone out. Marcus tells Helene he knew about the Commandant's coup. He says if she hadn't talked about the coup in front of everyone, he wouldn't have had to kill her family.

Elias comes out of the door Laia opened with Darin and Tas. They get out of Kauf and into the prison yard where the Scholars have been rounded up. Tas gives Laia keys and goes to warn the Skiratae. Laia tries to unlock the pen the Scholars are in. The Warden catches her.

Elias sees the Warden dragging Laia away. He sends Tas to distract the Warden. Elias unlocks the pens. The Scholar rebels start fighting. Tas kills the Warden. Elias tells Tas to get the Scholars to the boats. When Laia, Elias, and Darin get to the boats, they're packed with Scholars. They move away from the prison, safe for now. Elias tells Laia about what he's become.

Helene has been helping Marcus hold power. Cook offers to help Helene take down the Commandant. Helene tells Cook to come back the next day to talk. Helene reads a letter from Marcus. He wants her to kill the Commandant. He threatens Livia. Helene summons Avitas to start planning the Commandant's assassination. She says they need to find Quin Veturius, Elias's grandfather. Avitas tells Helene why the Commandant kept an eye on him at Blackcliff, why she got him on the Black Guard. He says it's about Elias and their father. He and Elias are half-brothers. Avitas suspects the Commandant kept an eye on him because it was his father's last request. He was willing to spy on Helene for the Commandant because he wanted to learn more about Elias. His mother, Renatia, told him his father was kind. He never fit the Blackcliff mold. Avitas hopes Helene can use what he told her against the Commandant.

Helene goes to see Livia. Livia says Marcus hasn't hurt her. She's seen him talking to himself. She's noticed he only loses control when he talks about hurting Helene.

Laia and the others make it through the Forest of Dusk with Elias's protection. Darin still hasn't woken up since he was knocked out at Kauf. Araj, the leader of the Skiratae, is leaving with the Scholars. Laia is staying in a cabin near the forest with Darin. Afya is returning to her Tribe. When everyone else is gone, Elias keeps Laia company. He kisses her. Darin wakes up.

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