BRIMSTONE BY CALLIE HART
Book 2: The Fae & Alchemy Series
SPOILERS AHEAD...
We open with Kingfisher, our shadow-wielding MMC, stalking a vampire through the halls of the Black Palace at Ammantraíeth. The vampire reveals himself, Fisher stabs him with Nimerelle, his clothes get ruined (again), and the vampire dissolves into ash. The encounter is a warning: the blood court is restless, and Saeris's safety is uncertain. Before the ash even settles, in comes Carrion. He tells Fisher something weird is happening outside – the snow looks like it’s moving. Fisher runs to a window and sees a little white fox sprinting for its life while a horde of flesh-hungry feeders chase it like it’s the last chicken nugget on the planet. Cue panic, it’s Onyx and Saeris would never forgive Fisher if something were to happen to the little fox.
They launch into a high-speed rescue mission on horseback. Fisher scoops up the terrified, injured fox, hands him to Carrion, and gets them all back to the Black Palace.
Saeris is not happy to see her fox half-dead, but she is relieved to see that Fisher is still breathing. Even though he doesn’t have access to most of his powers this side of the river, Fisher ends up sacrificing all his healing magic to save Onyx. Saeris asks why? And Fisher gives her the “I’d do anything for you” speech.
As Saeris prepares for her coronation, Taladaius advises Fisher not to show fear or worry for Saeris, as the Blood Court will use any weakness to undermine Saeris’s claim.
In the past 48 hours, Saeris got a crash course in vampire blood court politics: There are 5 vampire Lords who rule beneath the Monarch. They’re called the Lords of Midnight. There’s Zovena, Taladaius’s ex and the Keeper of Missives. Ereth, religious zealot leader and Keeper of the Evenlight. Algat, a former dark witch now Keeper of Records. The Hazrax, a tall, long-limbed creature, who has sworn loyalty to no one, but just wants “to watch”. It’s the Keeper of Silence. And Lastly, Taladaius, her sire and the Keeper of Secrets.
They’re all bound by the Rule of Ascension. This means they must acknowledge Saeris as queen first before they can try to steal her throne. If they acknowledge her, they must obey her. At least for a time.
When Saeris and Fisher enter the Hall of Tears, the Lords of Midnight are waiting. Zovena challenges her, questioning how a former human can replace the mighty Malcolm and accusing Taladaius of trying to install Saeris as a puppet. The court refuses to crown her until she proves she is truly one of them. She must drink blood. Refusing to feed on a random victim, Saeris agrees to drink Fisher’s blood. Saeris, being new to this, accidentally doses Fisher with her venom, resulting in a lusty exchange. It’s explosive, transforming the Hall of Tears into a beautiful space. The court accepts her display of hunger as proof she’s “leashed by the blood” and that there’s no question of her commitment to their people.
Fisher and Saeris are still reeling from the bite as Ereth walks up to crown Saeris. Then Fisher spots Ereth pulling out a dagger from beneath his cloak. Fisher throws Nimerelle, stopping him from stabbing Saeris. Taladaius uses his powers to stop Ereth’s followers from attacking as Saeris commands the court to their knees, issuing her first royal edict: When you’re in my presence, you’ll greet me on your knees. All subjects of the blood court are forbidden from harming or killing me, my mate, or my friends. From this moment on, no feeder enthralled to a high blood of this court may be used for the purpose of war, malice, or mayhem. The vampires of Sanasroth have no choice but to obey.
After this, Fisher is forced to leave Ammontraíeth and return to Cahlish. He fills Renfis in on everything that happened: the coronation, Saeris accidentally dosing him, killing a Lord of Midnight, and Saeris’s edict. He also reveals he can’t summon his shadow portals while at Ammontraíeth.
They run into Lorreth, and the conversation shifts to Foley, one of their lost brothers from the Lupo Proella. At the Battle of Ajun Gate, Foley was thrown from a dragon and attacked by feeders. They found him hours later, tucked away in the mouth of a mountain, hiding from the sunlight, a vampire now. Years later, Fisher discovered that Taladaius was at the battle, witnessed what happened, and changed Foley as a kindness to Fisher. Foley fed before Fisher and the gang could reach him, and he was horrified by what he’d done. Overcome with guilt, he fled and disappeared to Ammontraíeth, cutting himself off from everyone. Taladaius knows where Foley is, but he’s deliberately keeping that information to himself. This is especially frustrating because Foley’s grandfather was an Alchemist, meaning Foley might be the only person who can explain Saeris’s powers.
Before the conversation can go any further, Danya bursts into the tent, panicked. Apparently, there are eight feeders at the riverbank acting strangely. Then all hell breaks loose. The feeders absorb both Ren’s and Fisher’s magic, and silver and fire don’t affect them. Realizing magic is making them stronger, Fisher tells everyone to fight without it. As Fisher attacks one of the feeders with Nimerelle, a black substance crystallizes along the blade, and Nimerelle screams in pain.
Fisher and Danya manage to behead a feeder, but in the process, Fisher is struck by a magical backlash and is thrown into the river. Hours later, he wakes in a tent healed by Te Léna. The warriors were able to chain the feeders together and behead them, but they’re not dead. Ren says those feeders could only have been made by one person, Taladaius. But Fisher shuts that down. After this exchange, Fisher learns they’ve lost 114 warriors.
Fisher and Lorreth return to Ammontraíeth with the severed feeder heads for study, and Carrion makes a disturbing discovery: the feeders were human, from Zilvaren. One of them even has a sterilization mark behind its ear like Saeris. This confirms Madra is deliberately infecting her people and sending them as living weapons.
Meanwhile, Saeris continues to hear whispers from the quicksilver. Taladaius confirms there’s a quicksilver pool hidden within the Black Palace. Back at Cahlish, Saeris is welcomed by their friends, but things get awkward when Archer casually brings up wedding plans. Fisher shuts it down immediately, stating he and Saeris are already god-bound.
After dinner, Fisher explains that he would marry her if he could. Apparently, Fae weddings require exchanging their true names, giving the other person power over them. Fisher reveals he doesn’t know his true name, since both his parents passed away before his 14th birthday, which is usually when the Fae learn theirs. Saeris makes it clear she doesn’t need a ceremony and that she chooses him regardless. They share an intimate moment, with Saeris drinking his blood and deepening their bond.
The next day, Fisher and Ren head to the Irrín war camp only to discover the camp has been destroyed. The feeders left tied to the oak tree have fused with it, which now bleeds black blood, confirming the rot is spreading. Realizing the danger, Fisher sends Ren to warn as many villages as possible about the Rot.
Back at Cahlish, Saeris visits Everlayne, who has been trapped in a coma-like state. When Saeris touches her, the quicksilver in Everlayne’s earrings reacts, and she suddenly starts speaking. But it isn’t Everlayne’s voice. The voice says its name is Edina. Speaking in riddles, Edina tells Saeris to find a hidden book in the library with a butterfly on it and not to tell Fisher about the book. She then tells Saeris she needs to seal her Alchemical runes before it’s too late. As Edina leaves Everlayne’s body, Fisher walks in and asks why Saeris was screaming his mother’s name. Saeris relays Edina’s message, leaving out the part about the book.
Fisher decides it is time to tell everyone what happened to Saeris during her transition. Fisher tells the group that Saeris met Zareth, the God of Chaos. The gods have given up on this world, but Zareth thinks Saeris and Fisher can save it. No pressure.
With time running out, they decide to split up. Fisher and Carrion will return to Zilvaren to uncover Madra’s plans, rescue Saeris’s brother, Hayden, and collect as much silver as they can to create relics. Saeris will stay in Ammontrìeth to train with Lorreth, try to learn as much as she can about her Alchemy powers, and maintain her fragile grip on the Blood Court.
Saeris opens the portal for the boys, then goes training with Lorreth. As they train, Lorreth tells her the tragic story of the Battle of Ajun Gate, where Ren’s twin sister died:
Ajun Gate is a magical iron-warded gate that guards Ajun City. The gate is designed to keep threats out, but it’s vulnerable during festivals. During a festival, it’s left open, and Fisher and the Lupo Proella stand guard. A Dragon named Omnamshacry, believed to be the last black dragon, attacks Ajun City. Apparently, Malcolm promised Omnamshacry something in exchange for betraying the town. The only way to close the iron gate and stop the invasion was for Fisher to do it himself, despite the iron burning through his body. On the brink of death, Fisher is transported to another realm by the twin goddesses, Bal and Mithin, who healed him and gifted him the god sword, Nimerelle. Kingfisher awakens just as the battle for Ajun reaches its zenith. Ren’s twin sister, Mirelle, is killed by the dragon while saving a child, and Foley is thrown from the dragon and presumed dead. In a desperate act to take down the dragon, Fisher allows himself to be swallowed by the dragon and kills it from the inside. As Fisher waits for his friends to get him out of the dragon’s corpse, he’s visited by Mirelle's spirit, who offers comfort and a final warning: All the god swords will start failing soon, except Nimerelle, because part of her soul is bound to it. She also says his mother loves him and says to guard his true name; his life depends on it.
After this trauma dump, Saeris and Lorreth decide to get drunk. Their night of fun turns into a fight when the vampire running the tavern refuses to serve Lorreth due to an unpaid tab. Taladaius appears at the tavern, and we find out that he owns it. He forgives the 600-year-old debt and tells the vampire to serve them.
While Saeris is being scolded by Taladaius for being at the tavern, the runes on her hands start burning, which Taladaius can feel through their maker-bond. Taladaius promises to help her figure out how to seal them. He also says he’s worried about her political authority. To protect her rule, he proposes publicly severing their maker-bond, and Saeris agrees.
Meanwhile, Fisher and Carrion arrive in Zilvaren and are immediately attacked. They decided not to bring their god swords, worried that if they were caught, they didn’t want Madra to gain more quicksilver. Using shadows and glamour to hide their Fae appearance, they escape into the city. Carrion leads them to a tavern where they wait for a vault breaker named Vorath Shah, who Carrion needs to reach his hidden treasury. But when they finally corner Shah and reach the vault, they walk straight into a trap. Thousands of scorpions swarm them, merging into a powerful desert demon named Joshin, King of the Dark Dream.
Back at Ammontrìeth, Taladaius takes Saeris to visit the library. It’s filled with enchanted paper stargazer birds. Algat is also there. She reveals that Malcolm hid the alchemist texts and demands blood in exchange for a book. Saeris gives blood to Algat’s shadow cat, Guru, then commands Algat to never invade her mind again. When she’s alone, Saeris is attacked by a vampire who turns out to be Foley Brierstone, Fisher’s missing friend. Defending herself, Saeris’s unsealed power discharges violently, punching a 20-foot hole in the palace wall.
Saeris is still recovering from the blast when Foley confronts her, accusing her of killing Fisher, convinced Fisher would never give his dagger to a vampire. Lorreth intervenes, explaining that Saeris is Fisher’s mate.
He tells Foley that they’ve been writing letters, trying to reach him for years. Foley reveals he never received the letters and has been hiding in the palace library ever since he was turned, refusing to swear loyalty to Malcolm.
Meanwhile, in Zilvaren, Fisher and Carrion are stung by the scorpions, falling into hallucinations as the poison takes effect. Remembering the demon is vulnerable to light, Fisher breaks the magic seal on the tower wall and lets in the sun’s light, weakening Johan. Fisher makes a bargain with Joshin; he promises to spare Joshin’s life and let him go free in exchange for a secret and 2 droplets of his venom, so they can make an antidote. Joshin agrees and seals the bargain with blood, not reading the fine print. Fisher takes one of Joshin’s scorpions and seals it in a small wooden box. If the little scorpion is alive in the box, Joshin will not be truly dead. Joshin calls Fisher a cheat and a liar and says it will take him lifetimes to regenerate if they destroy this body. Fisher shrugs and says, “Tell us the secret”. Joshin warns that defeating their true enemy will require facing something far darker and making an even greater sacrifice. Fisher burns the demon, and he and Carrion escape.
Fisher uses his blood, salt, the captured scorpion’s venom, and his shadows to create an antivenom for Johan’s sting. Carrion and Fisher drink the cure, enduring violent seizures as it works. Once the seizures and hallucinations stop, they head to Carrion’s place. Carrion opens up about his past, his lost homeland, his grief, and his complicated feelings for Saeris. He loved a human once, a long time ago, and he tried to love Saeris, but his heart was just too full of sorrow to make room for her.
Back at the palace, Foley begins helping Saeris understand her Alchemist powers, warning that her quicksilver rune is dangerously unstable. But he refuses to go further until she rests and learns control first, because without balance, her power could destroy her.
That night, Saeris and Fisher connect through a shared dreamscape near a Huntsman cottage. They share an intimate night together, and afterwards, Saeris tells him they found Foley. He’s now a shunned vampire, marked by gold-plated fangs. Fisher surmises that Malcom must have let Taladaius keep Foley at Ammontraíeth to control him instead of banishing him to the dead fields. Taladaius must also be the one keeping Foley fed. Fisher reveals more of their history with Taladaius. Apparently, he left the night he was supposed to become part of the Lupo Proella, also fleeing his betrothal to Everlayne to join Malcom. He did all of this because he was in love with Zovena.
When Fisher wakes, his previously broken hand is healed, proving their shared dreamscape was real. At Carrion’s home, Fisher sees drawings of Yvelia and Carrion’s mother, the former queen, and realizes how deeply Carrion longs for the life stolen from him.
Meanwhile, Saeris continues training and studying her Alchemist powers. Foley explains that her quicksilver rune is one of the most powerful and dangerous symbols, requiring balance between Salt, Quicksilver, and Brimstone. The Tria Prima. As she leaves the library, one of the enchanted paper stargazer birds follows her beyond its magical boundary and immediately falls to the ground, having lost the enchantment keeping it alive. Saeris is sad about this and picks up the fallen paper bird, putting it in her pocket.
Fisher and Carrion locate Hayden in Zilvaren, but he attacks them, believing Madra’s propaganda that Saeris betrayed their people and was killed by Fisher. Carrion steps in and tells him it’s all a lie, Saeris is alive, and that they are there to take him to her. As they prepare to return, Hayden tells Carrion he should stay a bit longer, as his last living relative, Gracia Swift, has just passed away. It’s a devastating moment for Carrion. Fisher, in a rare moment, offers Carrion some comfort. After the funeral, Madra’s guardians ambush them, forcing them to flee and hide in Elroy’s forge.
Elroy is there, not happy to see Fisher, and reveals he’s known about the Fae and Carrion’s real identity for years, having kept it secret. The Swift family was tasked with looking out for Carrion through the generations, but Elroy’s family, the forge masters, were tasked with something else. Elroy shows them the secret underground vault filled with stolen metal and the largest quicksilver pool Fisher has ever seen. They’ve been collecting metal and any quicksilver they can find for generations.
Meanwhile, Saeris reads about the Tria Prima. In the forge, she creates a relic using quicksilver, sacrificing a memory to bind its power. The mysterious Hazrax appears and offers her a bargain: it will remain and observe her in exchange for granting her one favor per year. Saeris agrees, but she wants the opportunity to renew the bargain each year.
After this exchange with the Hazrax, Saeris is overflowing with magic. She submerges herself in the quicksilver pool, where it challenges her to sacrifice Fisher for ultimate power. She refuses, choosing love, and the quicksilver accepts her as a true Alchemist, saying every Alchemist must have something they’re afraid to lose. The quicksilver then throws her out of the pool and warns that its gift will be her end.
Saeris wakes by the quicksilver pool. She realizes she’s opened it and scrambles to close it, but Belikon’s senial, Orious, comes through with five guards and offers her a bargain on behalf of Belikon: In exchange for safe harbor from the rot and food for her and the entire Blood Court, Belikon wants Saeris as an Alchemist in his court; he wants Everlayne and Solace back, and he wants Kingfisher publicly executed. Orious also reveals a terrifying truth: now that she’s half Fae, she’s required to swear an oath before the Firinn Stone, which all the Fae had to do, including Fisher and his wolves. They are all oath-sworn to serve the Yvelian throne, meaning Belikon can command them if he wishes. She says no, she won’t be used as a tool.
Proving the growing mastery of her powers, she splits her god sword, Solace, into two short swords and fights off Belikon’s guards. Their null blades resist her magic, nearly overpowering her, until Fisher arrives through the quicksilver to help. Saeris merges Solace into one sword again and summons a wall of energy that resembles her Alchemaran shield. A blast of light comes from it, killing the remaining guards. They send Orious back to Belikon alive as a warning.
Hayden is passed out from gate travel, but stable at Cahlish, with Te Lena looking after him. Saeris and Fisher share a quiet moment, and Saeris asks how an oath-sworn Fae breaks their oath. He says they can’t. Saeris panics, saying that he and the other Fae warriors are all sworn to Belikon and that he can control them. Fisher tells her not to worry because the wards at Cahlish and Ammontraíeth prevent him from going there, and that he must be in their physical presence for him to command them. But the calm is shattered when Archer interrupts, stating that Everlayne’s condition has worsened. Everlayne is screaming and seizing. She awakens briefly, possessed by something unknown, and delivers a chilling warning: the gate is open and cannot be closed.
With the rot approaching Cahlish, they make the decision to evacuate all the Fae. Fisher sends Danya to retrieve their remaining soldiers at the temporary rally point and sends Lorreth to get Iseabail to help with Everlayne. Saeris, Fisher, and Carrion return to Ammontraíeth to gather more books and retrieve Foley.
Fisher, with the help of Guru, the shadow cat, finds Foley hiding on the library roof and reassures him that he hasn’t lost himself to vampirism. He reminds Foley he is still one of them, a wolf, and entrusts him with guarding the trapped scorpion demon, restoring Foley’s sense of purpose and belonging.
Taladaius gives Saeris the null blade recovered from Belikon’s soldiers after the quicksilver pool attack and prepares her for the upcoming Evenlight Ball. He tells her it’s the perfect place to publicly sever their maker-bond and that she must also choose a new Lord of Midnight at the ball.
Afterwards, Saeris heads to the library to find Fisher, only to be intercepted by one of the enchanted paper stargazer birds. Before she knows it, hundreds of the stargazers buzz around her head. Then suddenly, as one, they all stop flying and fall to the ground. As they hit the floor, they begin to unfold. Saeris grabs one of the sheets and realizes there’s writing on it about Alchemists. As she’s picking up the paper, they fly out of her hands and start stacking themselves into a single, ordered pile of a book that has a silver butterfly on it. Saeris is shocked. That’s the book Edina told her to find.
Then Fisher finds her. Saeris ignores Edina’s command not to tell Fisher about the book and gives it to him anyway. Fisher opens the book, and there’s a letter from his mother to him. It confirms he will fulfill his destiny. Edina instructs him to give Saeris the book back, as their bond is strongest when Saeris holds the knowledge.
Saeris prepares for the Evenlight Ball while growing increasingly uneasy about the null blade, which resists both her Alchemist powers and Fisher’s magic. It also can’t be shattered by a god sword. Not good. Meanwhile, Carrion struggles with the weight of his true identity as the lost Daianthus heir, unsure if he’s ready to claim a throne. Their conversation is interrupted when an infected feeder attacks and nearly kills Archer. Saeris throws the null blade at it, but it is absorbed into the feeder. As Archer’s glowing blood spills, the feeder reacts to the magma. It convulses, melts, then boils, leaving only the null blade behind. They discover the truth: fire sprite blood, also known as Brimstone, is the only substance capable of destroying the Rot. But Brimstone is finite in Yvelia, and using it risks wiping out the fire sprites entirely since their blood does not replenish the same way human or Fae blood does. The only other way to get Brimstone is from a dragon, and Yvelia is fresh out of them.
Later, Saeris reunites with her brother Hayden, who’s now awake, only to learn he believes Madra’s lies that she betrayed their people. Furious and heartbroken, Saeris storms away just as a new rune, Brimstone, ignites on her hand. As she studies Edina’s journal for answers, Fisher arrives with devastating news: Renfis has gone missing.
As they prepare for the Evenlight Ball, Fisher asks Iseabail to use her magic to try to find Renfis, but it doesn’t work. Just as they head out for the ball, Saeris reads the next clue from Edena’s book.
As they enter the ballroom, Saeris sends a servant to fetch something just as Taladaius approaches to start the events of the night. He bows to Saeris, and Fisher sees a new tattoo on his chest. Then Taladaius publicly renounces his blood claim on Saeris to protect her political standing. This causes Saeris pain and makes her vomit blood. During the petitions for the new Lord, Foley appears as a surprise sixth candidate, summoned by Saeris. She names Foley, the shunned vampire, as the new Lord of Midnight. The blood court is in an uproar. Foley then swears fealty to Saras, shocking the court. She accepts him, granting him the protection of the throne.
As the Evenlight shines down and everyone dances, the vampires suddenly begin to vomit black blood. Taladaius reveals he poisoned the blood in the wine with the cure for vampirism, giving them a choice: revert back to being Fae and face their sins, or die the true death. Taladaius drinks the poison himself, intending to die to atone for his past. Chaos erupts in the hall as the high bloods begin to die or transform. Saeris and Foley pry open Taladaius’s mouth, forcing him to take the cure.
Back at Cahlish, the truth comes out: Iseabail and Taladaius worked together to replace the blood in the wine with Iseabail’s blood. Her blood is a curse to all vampires. It kills them unless they take the antidote that her clan created. Foley says Taladaius is still alive, and Iseabail panics. The dark magic she used is bound to Taladaius through the large witch mark tattooed on his chest. He was supposed to take the mark with him when he died, ending the spell. They rush to Taladaius’s room, and it’s on fire. The mark is borrowed dark magic. If left unchecked, it steals power and will open a demon portal. Iseabail tries to undo the spell, but nothing works. Then the runes on Saeris’s skin explode with light. Saeris presses her hands to Taladaius’s chest and uses the runes to break the spell, extinguishing the fire and removing the mark. After this, a new rune appears on Saeris’s skin.
Saeris and Fisher recover from the chaos surrounding Taladaius and share a quiet moment in another dreamscape. They reaffirm their love despite uncertainty about Saeris’s future and whether she’ll ever take the cure. As Saeris heads to the forge, Carrion finds her and asks for her help. Carrion has secretly been studying kingship. As they talk, Saeris notices one of the potted plants by the window growing as Carrion speaks. He says all the plants have been doing this. Then the estate shakes. They look out the window and see the army from Irrín marching towards them, coming for the evacuation.
Danya and Lorreth tell them the Rot is moving quickly towards Cahlish. Saeris reads Edina's book. It says, “Do not undo Zareth's work... do not drink from the vial. Do not let Foley drink it either". The next clue is "read on at the white cliffs". Fisher realizes they must evacuate to Inishtar, the White Cliffs.
Saeris and Hayden reconcile, but the moment is interrupted by the Hazrax, who appears to Saeris and mentions a two-part gift: the powerful new rune that’s now on Saeris’s arm, which gives her the ability to break or undo magic, and a Lord of Midnight ring for Foley, hinting he has an important role to play.
As the Rot reaches Cahlish, Fisher evacuates everyone through a shadow gate to Inishtar. He sends Saras through with Hayden and Foley, promising to follow with Onyx. Just as he’s walking through, a voice stops him. Belikon has found him.
Saeris and Hayden arrive at Inishtar to find it already under attack by infected feeders, and Fisher is nowhere to be found. They fight off the infected feeders and head to Te Lena’s friend’s house, to regroup. As they talk, they uncover a terrifying truth: Madra isn’t using quicksilver portals. She transformed the entire city of Zilvaren, which is fashioned after a wheel, into a massive magical construct, siphoning power from its people to transport the rot across realms. To ward the realm from Madra’s magic, Iseabail says they’ll need powerful witches, at least 10 powerful Fae wielders, and something personal that belongs to Madra. Saeris says, “I’ve got you covered on that last part. Don’t ask.”
Saeris and Carrion head to investigate one of the feeder bodies. They find one wearing guardian armor and carrying Madra’s plague bag. The bag contains ashes from the sacrifices burned in Madra’s honor, and her hair. Just as they’re walking back, Saeris spots Taladaius sitting on a rock near the cliffs. Zovena’s lifeless body lies near him, drained dry by a feeder. He says he was planning to take his own life by jumping off the cliff, but then he saw the sunrise. How could he consign himself to another endless dark when he’s been given back the light? Saeris picks up the sword at Taladaius’s feet and uses her quicksilver rune to make it into a god sword for him. In awe that the sword found him worthy, he names the sword “Tarsarinn” meaning Redemption.
After regrouping, Saeris presses Lorreth to tell her the plan Fisher had to defeat the Rot. After swearing she won’t run off to enact the plan without Fisher’s knowledge or help, Lorreth gives in and tells her.
Meanwhile, Carrion is confronted by the satyrs, who recognize him as the lost heir of Yvelia. Though they kneel before him, Carrion refuses to claim the throne, at least for now.
Then Saeris realizes she can find Fisher via their dreamscape, so she rushes off to find Danya and asks Danya to punch her. Danya is delighted. Saeris gets knocked out, and enters a dreamscape of Cahlish. It’s dark and covered in the Rot. Saeris senses Fisher behind a warded door and uses the Hazrax’s rune to break it. Fisher is there, unresponsive, sitting in a chair. The Hazrax appears and reveals that the paper stargazer she picked up from before is the missing page from Edina's journal. Saeris reads it, then asks for her favor: to be transported to the Wicker Woods.
The Hazrax transports Saeris’s physical body to the Wicker Woods. She tracks Fisher using the quicksilver in his eye and fights through Belikon’s guards to reach him, finding him imprisoned inside a dryad tree. When Belikon tries to execute him, Saeris uses Fisher’s true name (which she learned from the missing journal page), Khydan Graystar Finvarra, to break his magical oath and free him forever, severing Belikon’s control. Together, they overpower Belikon, pinning him with their god swords. But during the escape, Orious kills Onyx with a null blade, devastating Saeris. Fisher decapitates Belikon, knowing it will only slow him down, not kill him.
Fleeing through a shadow gate, Saeris refuses to accept Onyx’s death. She summons the Hazrax to see if Onyx’s spirit is still with them. The Hazrax says yes, and Searis uses the Hazrax’s rune to undo death itself. The Hazrax warns that all magic has its limits and that she could shatter the rune, rendering it useless, and that she will not be able to use it later to save her friends from their oaths. Saeris doesn’t care, there'd be another way to free them.
Onyx moves his paw, and Saeris pulls magic from her Alchimeran shield to heal his body. Then she passes out. When she wakes, Fisher is carrying her towards Ajun. Onyx is alive, and the rune from the Hazrax is gone.
As Belikon’s forces close in, Fisher and Saeris reach Ajun Gate. It opens, and it’s Renfis on the other side. He reveals he was summoned by his oath mark to guard the gate. Apparently, when Mirelle died, they buried her at the top of the mountain at Ajun, and since Mirelle was Ren’s twin, his blood is now a part of Ajun, making him an Ajun Fae. Only the Ajun Fae can be called to join the knighthood and guard the gate between this world and another.
Ren leads them to the Ajun quicksilver pool, which is organic, black, and hot. This pool leads to Diaxis, which Fisher calls Hell.
They cross into Diaxis and are immediately captured by Arissan, a massive dragon who guards the realm and can hear their thoughts. Fisher reveals his true name and demands to speak with Styx, the King of Dragons. Arissan spews fire, which Saeris’s shield deflects. Arissan spares them so Fisher can face judgment by Styx for killing her son. They are confronted by Crave and Githrand, who recognize Fisher’s god sword, Nimerelle, as a legendary weapon capable of ending worlds. Fisher says it was a gift from the gods. They declare Fisher will face judgment for killing Omnamshcry (Arissan’s son), and Styx’s emissary, Ereth (the Lord of Midnight from the coronation). They threaten Saeris, and Fisher summons a shadow wall to protect her. Crave and Githrand are shocked by his shadow powers and demand to know where he got them from because only half-gods can wield shadows. Fisher proclaims he has come for a dragon, as is his right. Then says, “Summon our father. Tell him I’ve come to make a trade.”
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