Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
They talk about random things—Nyktos’s jealousy, Dyses, the family crest, the significance of the wolf and the hawk… When Sera says she saw a silver hawk in the Dying Woods, he tells her it’s not possible, insisting that not even they would enter those woods—we know that’s not true, since it was Attes in his nota form.
Hanan riles Nyktos about the Ascension of a god in his Court and him killing those he sent to the Shadowlands, and Nyktos threatens him, then throws him across the floor. When Hanan rails about Bele’s Ascension, Nyktos plays dumb, saying it had to be Kolis, and then taunts Hanan about doubting his King’s power.
Nyktos helps Sera breathe and bow and then tells Kolis that Sera’s father is a god, and her mother is mortal, trying to throw him off about her eather. He reiterates that Kolis is only sensing Nyktos’s blood in her. When Kolis moves to touch Sera’s hair, Nyktos catches his hand and tells Kolis he’ll do to him what Kolis has done to those who touch things that belong to him, then announces that Sera is not to be touched by anyone but him.
Playing his part, Nyktos apologizes to Kolis for not seeking approval for the coronation. When questioned about what he did to Dyses, he simply says he didn’t like the male’s tone. He then tells Kolis that he, too, felt a god Ascend and searched for the source, finding nothing. He assumed it was Kolis. Hanan challenges him again, and he argues that only the Primal of Life can Ascend a god.
Dyses enters the room, alive and well, making Nyktos stiffen. Still, he tells Kolis he was surprised by the Ascension for the same reason Attes was: it’d been a long time. He states that the dakkais in the Shadowlands surprised him, as well. He’s told it was simply bad timing. The dakkais were dispatched because Nyktos didn’t seek approval to take Sera as his Consort.
I call bullshit.
Sera tries to take the blame, saying it was her fault and trying to intervene. It makes Nyktos furious. He’s told to be quiet, or it will not be he who suffers.
Kolis plays his sick little game and asks Nyktos what the penalty is for disrespect. He answers that it’s a life. Kolis explains that Sera must kill a young draken—Thad—as recompense. Nyktos tries to intervene again, but he’s told to stay silent or Kolis will rip out Sera’s heart, and then warns that if anyone else pays the price for her, she will pay with her blood.
After the horrible ordeal, and once they return to the Shadowlands, Sera asks him to take her to Vathi. He tells her that the draken are like gods; therefore, her bringing someone back to life will not result in someone else losing theirs. However, she can’t do anything to help the young draken. It would be felt.
He ends up taking her to Vathi anyway and orders Attes to retrieve Thad. Nyktos tries to comfort Sera, telling her not to thank him and explaining that Kolis was making Kyn their enemy by forcing her to take the life of a draken from his Court. When questioned, he tells Sera that it’s too late for them to wonder if they can trust Attes.
Sera goes to the young draken, and Nyktos tells Attes to never speak of what he sees, threatening that he’ll level Vathi and hunt the other Primal down if he does.
After Sera brings Thad back to life, Nyktos orders Attes to keep the lad hidden and then tells him to bring him to the Shadowlands where Nektas can keep him safe. He warns Attes that Kolis may send dakkais after feeling the power surge and asks why the other Primal didn’t go to Kolis with his suspicions to gain favor. Attes says that he remembers who Nyktos’s father was and who Nyktos was meant to be.
Nyktos tells Sera that he trusts Attes with the secret and assumes he’ll keep quiet, at least until the coronation. He then asks Sera why she spoke out. He laments that she doesn’t deserve to have this done to her and is surprised when she says that he doesn’t either. He quips that he’s used to it and is stunned when she says that she did it for him. He insists he doesn’t deserve it.
They discuss Dyses’ resurrection and the Revenants. Nyktos hopes Kolis doesn’t have a lot of them. He knows Dyses isn’t a demis—a false god created when a god Ascends a mortal—and is certain that Kolis doesn’t have embers of life any longer. So, he’s not sure what to think of his creations.
Nyktos remembers what Gemma said about what she saw and surmises that she encountered Revenants in different stages of creation. No matter, Kolis found a way to bring about life without the necessary embers—something to convince other Courts that he still has the power.