A Light in the Flame

Before they leave for Dalos, Nyktos asks Sera to temporarily put their differences aside and play the part of the loving couple before Kolis. Nyktos and Sera shadowstep before the gates of Dalos. The landscape appears sunny and beautiful at first, with a great crystal fortress rising in the distance. However, as they walk toward the fortress, Sera notices that she cannot hear the sound of birds or other animals at all. Worse, as they enter a tree-lined courtyard, Sera sees naked people strung up from the branches, in various stages of torture, many already dead. She feels nauseated, and the embers of life in her chest begin to burn.

Nyktos kisses Sera to calm her, his icy energy cooling the embers. Attes interrupts the couple. Standing next to him is a tall, masked male called Dyses. Dyses tells Nyktos and Sera that he is there to escort them to the atrium. He calls Sera Nyktos’s “mistress” (417), which Nyktos finds offensive. He asks Dyses to refer to Sera as his Consort. Dyses counters that Sera is not the consort of Nyktos yet and asks Sera to bow to him instead. As Sera reluctantly bows to Dyses, Nyktos shadowsteps behind him and, in a shocking move, removes his heart from his chest. Dyses topples forward and dies.

In the Atrium, Sera and Nyktos discuss Dyses. Though Nyktos killed him, Sera felt no sadness at his death, and neither did Nyktos sense his soul leaving his body. This suggests that there is something odd about Dyses. Sera also comments on the décor of Kolis’s palace, which is extravagant and gaudy and dominated by gold. Soon, Hanan approaches Sera and Nyktos. He asks Nyktos to hand over Bele, as he knows that she Ascended in the Shadowlands. Nyktos smoothly lies and says that he has not seen Bele in many years and has no idea what Hanan is talking about.

Just then, Kolis enters. Sera notes that Kolis looks very similar to Nyktos, who is his nephew. However, while Kolis’s features are perfect and polished, Nyktos has a wild, simple beauty. Sera also senses something amiss about the scent and golden aura of Kolis. Nyktos and Sera kneel before him. Kolis asks Nyktos to take a seat but bids Sera to stay standing so that he can examine her. Kolis studies Sera and tells Nyktos that she feels more powerful than a godling. Nyktos remarks that Kolis possibly senses his blood in her. As Kolis moves to touch Sera’s hair, Nyktos grabs Kolis’s arm. He tells Kolis that he must not touch Sera since Nyktos is very possessive of her. Kolis withdraws his arm.

Kolis turns to the matter of Hanan’s complaint against Nyktos. Nyktos says that he had no hand in Ascending Bele. He argues that only a Primal of Life could have Ascended Bele, and since Kolis was not in the Shadowlands at the time, Bele’s Ascension is a story. Unwilling to admit that there could be another Primal of Life, Kolis tells Hanan that his case is baseless and dismisses him. Meanwhile, Dyses joins them, alive and whole. Sera and Nyktos are shocked and realize that Dyses is a Revenant, one of the vampire-like creatures that Kolis is rumored to be creating.

Meanwhile, Kolis tells Nyktos that he is displeased with his nephew for not seeking his approval before taking a Consort. Sera will have to pay the price for the faux pas of killing a young draken from Kyn’s court. An angry Kyn brings in a young, chained draken in human form. Sera steels herself, apologizes to the young male, and kills him. As she brings down her blade, she feels another entity screaming in rage inside her. She realizes that this is Sotoria.

Kolis deems Sera worthy of being Nyktos’s Consort, and Nyktos hurries Sera out of the Atrium. Feeling that she has compromised her soul by doing Kolis’s bidding, Sera asks Nyktos to take her to Vathi, the court of Attes and Kyn, so that she can bring back the draken. Nyktos tells her that it is too dangerous, as any attempt at Ascension will be felt by Kolis. Sera tells Nyktos that she is willing to pay that price; there is no point in her becoming the Consort if innocent people are allowed to die. Nyktos relents and shadowsteps her to the mountainous region of Vathi.

In Vathi, Sera asks for the draken’s body to be brought to her. Attes brings the boy, and Sera places her hands on his chest. Eather pours out of her and into the draken. He awakens with a jolt and calls Sera “Meyaah Liessa.” He tells her that his name is Thad. Nyktos asks Attes to keep Thad hidden and Sera’s feat a secret. Attes promises that he will not betray Sera and bends a knee to her, calling her his queen. Sera and Nyktos return to the Shadowlands. They’re sure that Kolis would have felt the Ascension and wonder what he will do next. Sera tells Nyktos that she felt Sotoria’s ancient rage in her when Kolis asked her to kill the draken. Although she is supposed to be Sotoria’s reincarnation, she feels like Sotoria is a distinct entity within her. Nyktos agrees that this is possible. Sera may have two souls, hers and that of Sotoria.

Sera is in her bedchamber, with Reaver keeping her company as Ector stands guard outside. Though Sera resurrected Thad, she is still filled with horror at her act of killing him and cries in grief. Her tears are blood, which is what legends say of the most sorrowful tears of the Primals. Suddenly, Veses throws Ector inside and forces entry into the chambers. Veses tells Sera that she is there to get to know her better, wondering why Nyktos would take a “freckled and fat Consort” (462). Sera asks if the fact that Nyktos chose her, and not the Primal, for a wife makes Veses bitter. Veses laughs that she already has Nyktos. An angry Sera calls Veses a joke. Stung by the insult, the Primal moves to hit Sera. Reaver flies out and attacks Veses, and she swats him against a wall. Sera launches herself at Veses, eather pouring from her. As Veses and Sera grapple, Veses tells Sera that her power is obvious. She can tell that Nyktos has found himself a Consort who is a “Primal in their culling” (466). Just then, Bele strides in, her sword raised.

Seeing the eather swirl in Bele’s eyes, Veses immediately recognizes that she has Ascended. As Bele and Veses fight, Sera checks on Reaver and finds him unconscious. Though Sera knows that reviving Reaver before Veses is extremely dangerous, she decides that Reaver’s life is more important than such concerns. She places her hands on the draken’s chest, and he opens his eyes. Sera shifts Reaver to a safe place and joins the fight against Veses. Nyktos, too, enters her chambers in his Primal form and blasts Veses with his power. She falls unconscious. Nyktos asks his guards to put Veses in the cells.

Nyktos tells Sera and Bele that it was Veses who was behind the attack on the Rise, raising the entombed gods from under the ground. After Aios leaves, Nyktos tells Sera that she will need his blood to recover. As Sera feeds from Nyktos, she sees one of his memories of her. This vision means that she can now access his thoughts because of her growing powers. The embers need to be removed from Sera before they kill her. Nyktos tells Sera that they must consult Delfai tomorrow, and Sera agrees. Overwhelmed by the day’s happenings, she asks Nyktos to make love to her, putting aside their differences. The two have sex.

It is the day of Sera’s coronation. Erlina and Aios help her get ready, dressing her in a pale silvery gown embroidered with diamonds. Rhain comes to the chambers, saying that he needs to talk to Sera urgently. However, Sera must not reveal what he says to Nyktos. The truth is that a few years ago, Veses learned about the deal between Sera’s ancestor and Ethyos. She threatened Nyktos with sharing the knowledge with Kolis. To buy her silence, Nyktos offered Veses his blood: The Primal could feed from him whenever she wanted. Since then, Veses visits Nyktos often. Nyktos’s skin is cold not because he is the Primal of Death but because Veses has been preying on his blood. Sera realizes that everything Nyktos did was to protect her. The embers in her chest begin to hum, and she tells Rhain that she will eventually kill Veses.