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He insinuates that Sotoria’s soul is trapped within Sera, and it bothers her. She asks if anyone knows what will happen to Sotoria if Sera dies, and Attes tells her no.
Their discussion ends with him asserting that she’s not the weapon Eythos thought he created.
When she insists she can still fulfill her duty, he says she might be right, but she can’t kill Kolis.
She hopes he’s wrong.
Sera tells Attes that she stabbed Kolis, and it shocks him. He says the false King must be weaker than he thought.
Attes mentions Sotoria’s soul being lost again, and it angers Sera. She snaps that she knows Sotoria’s soul is the most important thing, and he tells her that she matters, too.
Sera mentions having a plan, and Attes is shocked—she hasn’t been there long. As she thinks about it, she asks what will happen if she manages to free Ash. He won’t return to the Shadowlands quietly. Attes tells her he will if he’s smart. He then explains how word of what he’s done will have spread, and he’s powerful, the second Primal most wouldn’t want to piss off. Sera assumes Attes is the third, and he calls her clever.
She tells him he’s incredibly stab-worthy, and he says he’s heard that before. Assuming her role as the Primal of Life, she orders Attes to back Nyktos, and Attes swears—an unbreakable bond. Then he bows and pledges his sword and his life—even though he doesn’t actually have a sword at present.
Sera asks about Sotoria again, and Attes says he’s been searching for a way to safeguard her soul. When Sera asks if Sotoria’s name means something like Kolis and so’lis do, he tells her it means “my pretty poppy.”
She asks Attes to get her a weapon made from the bones of the Ancients, and he tells her all the reasons it’s a bad idea. She capitulates. He then asks Sera if she can feel Sotoria. When she says she can, he says he hopes she hears what he’s about to say and says he will save her this time. Then, he leaves.
With nothing else to do, Sera trains, wondering what exactly she was trained for and if Holland knew all along that she wasn’t a weapon.
She remembers the wolf she saw while gathering rocks as a child and gives in to her feelings of missing Ash like a limb. She thinks about making Ash swear to live before she dies and getting him to see that he’s not to blame.
Sera wakes later, but she really doesn’t. She’s at her lake, and the colors of the landscape remind her of the Shadowlands.
Ash arrives.
He asks her to look at him. She does, and each of them thinks they’re the one dreaming. In reality, it’s a shared dream. Not caring what it is, they give in to their desire to touch each other and have sex. She tells him that she loves him, and he calls her beautiful.
Suddenly, he sees her bruises and gets upset. Sera starts to wake, telling him she can no longer feel him. Then, she’s back in the cell, but can still feel where they touched and what they did.
The Chosen come to take care of their chores, and Sera behaves. Callum stares, and she asks him if he wants something, then tells him she doesn’t think he’s right in the head—what with dying all the time and all.
She asks him about the Chosen she saw during her escape attempt. Before he can answer, Kolis enters the room and asks what they are discussing. Callum explains that they were talking about Antonis—the one who turned Craven.
Kolis tells her they’re an unfortunate side effect of creating the Ascended. When Sera points out the differences between Eythos Ascending the Chosen and what Kolis does, it angers him. He tells Callum to leave and then asks if she’s been resting. She reminds herself to stick to the plan and plays nice.
He orders her to have some fruity water, and Sera asks where Nyktos is. Kolis wants to know why. She tells him it’s merely a curiosity, then asks about the army. He tells her they haven’t left the borders of Dalos and explains they’re in the Bonelands to the south along the coast beyond the Carcers. He tells her it’s full of forgotten Temples and bones of dragons.
Sera asks him why he hasn’t forced them out since he wants to be all-powerful, and his answer makes her realize that he needs things to rule over. He says the mortals have become complacent, and says he plans to take a more active role.
She asks if her abduction will heighten tensions, and he says his taking her will only be a problem if the other Primals think that she’s worth going to war over. He says a little more, and she realizes he basically admitted that, in his current state, he thinks he’d be defeated if things escalated.
He asks again why she inquired about Nyktos, and she gives him the same answer. He tells her that she never screamed in terror for him, then warns her not to say anything unwise. She admits that she’s fond of Ash, tempering what she really wants to say, then tells Kolis that he scared her.
He tells her it wasn’t his intention, and she goes on to explain her fondness for Ash. Kolis shatters the glass he holds. She tries to calm him by saying that Nyktos only wanted the embers, not her, and tells Kolis Ash didn’t know what Eythos did. He tells her not to lie, and she says she’s not.
Kolis then asks her if she’s fucked Nyktos, and Sera carefully answers that they’re attracted to each other. Kolis tells her that someone wouldn’t kill another for a person they don’t love, and she says people kill for any and all and no reason. He argues that Primals don’t and then says that every life he’s ever taken has been for love. Sera tells him that she’s sorry love has only ever inspired death for him.
She reveals that Ash removed his kardia, and Kolis tells her Nyktos is currently in stasis. She confirms that he’s gone to ground, and Kolis acknowledges. She asks why it didn’t happen sooner, and he explains that the chamber is made of shadowstone, which is dragon fire and anything dead. Not much can penetrate it, and the earth isn’t one of the few. He explains how shadowstone absorbs eather like it does light.
As they talk more, Sera insists she’s telling the truth about Ash and his kardia, and Kolis says he can believe it. It sounds like something his nephew would do. He would think it would stop Kolis from striking out at someone Nyktos loves. He admits that Nyktos fears becoming him and says he made sure he felt that way.
Sera’s embers flare, and Kolis tells her to calm herself. She starts glowing. Once he orders her to sit and calls her good like a pet dakkai, he tells her he doesn’t believe what she said earlier about her feelings for Nyktos. He says the marriage imprint proves there’s love and mulls over what to do. She says it just appeared and then explains the difference between loving someone and being in love with them. After, she shuts it all down again and becomes the empty vessel she needs to be.
Kolis says he’s in love with Sotoria, and Sera asks him how he can know. Then tells him to prove it by releasing Nyktos. He grumbles that her demand proves she loves his nephew. She doesn’t deny it—she already told him she loved Ash—but says it would show her that he’s willing to do anything for her. He lists what he’s already done, and she tells him that it’s the bare minimum required to show love, adding that releasing Nyktos would matter because he doesn’t want to do it but knows it would please her.
When he asks her why, she tells him and adds that Kolis has only endangered her. He asks why she would be interested in falling in love, and she says it’s because she’s never known it. She reasons that commonality could bring them closer, and he asks if she thinks he’s a fool. Her reply is that love makes you idiotic. He counters that she tried to kill him, but she says she also stabbed Nyktos.
