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)
Kolis hasn’t set foot in the Shadowlands since he switched fates with Eythos, though it’s unknown whether he can. Still, it’s assumed that he knows about the embers of life and thinks he can use them. It’s also presumed that he knows about Taric and the other gods Nyktos dispatched, and that Bele’s Ascension has unsettled him and the other Primals.
Kolis sends Attes to the House of Haides to let Nyktos and Sera know that he disapproves of the coronation, and orders them to come to him in Dalos when he issues the command.
The day Sera arrives at Cor Palace, Kolis enters the atrium, followed by the stench of stale lilacs. Gold-laced eather spills across the floor and collapses, coiling like a viper around his feet. He orders everyone to sit—everyone but Sera. He shadowsteps to her and tries to force her with eather to look at him.
He remarks that she doesn’t feel like a godling as he’s been told and notices she’s been warded with a charm. He calls Nyktos clever. When he tries to touch Sera’s hair, Nyktos blocks and threatens him. Kolis tells Nyktos that he pleases him but warns him to release him immediately.
Kolis claims to be hurt that Nyktos didn’t seek his approval for his union and asks if Nyktos knows why they’ve been summoned. Hanan speaks up, and Kolis scolds the Primal for talking without permission, flexing his power.
As the discussion turns to the Ascension that’s been felt, he confirms that he is the only one who can restore life and Ascend a god, knowing that’s not true. He turns his attention to Hanan again and chastises the Primal for his lack of faith, ordering him to leave and not return until summoned. He then apologizes to Sera.
Kolis brings forth Dyses, his Revenant, and remarks that Attes and Nyktos seem surprised by him. He then asks if they have the same doubts and lack of faith as Hanan does. They both simply say that it’s been a long time since the Primal of Life restored life. Nyktos adds that he was shocked by the dakkais, too, and Kolis says the attack was punishment for his nephew’s failure to seek approval.
He adds that he will not let Nyktos’s disrespect go unpunished. Sera says it was her fault, and Kolis calls her brave. He then turns his attention to Nyktos and says Sera must earn permission the same way he would.
Kolis turns to Kyn and asks the Primal if he brought what he was ordered to and then instructs Sera to kill a young draken. Nyktos speaks, and Kolis tells him to be silent and that it won’t be him who suffers if he disobeys.
Sera inquires about what will happen if she refuses, and Kolis chuckles when Thad tells her it won’t matter. Kolis then tells her to pay the price, or he will by killing Thad, her, and a draken from the Shadowlands.
Sera asks Kolis what he’ll gain by making her do what he asks, and he tells her that it will tell him everything he needs to know.
Sadly, we know that’s true.
Nyktos tries to intervene, and Kolis warns him again, telling him that he’ll rip out Sera’s heart if he does it once more. He then turns back to Sera and tells her that the draken is young enough that hitting the head or heart will do, then adds that if anyone but Sera pays the price, he’ll demand she pay it with her blood.
Sera kills the draken, and Kolis laughs. Then, smugly, he gives the couple permission for their union and the coronation and dismisses them.
After Attes kidnaps Sera, Kolis enters through a partitioned wall and remarks that he’s happy to see she’s awake. He calls her brave again and tells her she betrayed him the moment she left by using what wasn’t hers to snatch away the life she owed him—by going to Kyn’s Court and bringing Thad back to life.
Sera asks him what Blood and Ash means. He tells her about the prophecy and has Callum recite most of it, only finishing the end. He asserts that he knows Sera’s heard it. When she remarks that he is the great conspirator, he laughs.
They try to dissect the prophecy, and he states that he believes Mycella was the first daughter, and Sera is the second. He also thinks the middle section of the prophecy is something that will happen at some point in the future. He thinks the end of the prophecy is all about her.
He tells her she is the bearer of two crowns and he needed her to restore a draken’s life to know that the embers had reached the point of power where they would ensure the rest of the prophecy came to be. He calls her clever and tells her she’s just a vessel to give him what he wants.