AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As Nyktos and Sera bicker, Nektas tells them it’s entertaining. He insinuates that death isn’t a foregone conclusion for Sera because the embers aren’t fully hers until she Ascends. They should be removable until then. He adds that when Eythos was the Primal God of Life and Ascended the Chosen, they became like godlings because the eather was stronger in them. None ever became gods, but none had embers in them either. He tells Sera that anything is possible with her and reminds her that someone had to tell Kolis how to take the embers from Eythos.
As they discuss possibilities, Nektas tells Sera how they can find Delfai via the Pools of Divanash but adds that they’re temperamental, and he can’t be the one to ask. It needs to be her.
When the Cimmerian appear, Nektas arrives at the battle, killing one with a bite and shaking it in two. He senses the eather growing in Sera and looks up to give her a warning growl.
After the attack, Nektas brings Sera breakfast and sits with her. He asks if she wants to accompany him to check on Jadis and then wonders what she thinks of Ash’s plans to remove the embers from her. He tells her the road to the Vale is dangerous. When they talk weaknesses, he says he can burn anyone to a crisp save for a Primal—no one can fight a Primal unless they attack Nyktos or his Consort.
Nektas tells Sera that Ash could hurt her if he loses his composure but won’t risk it if she’s close to him. He then says he thinks Kolis will use the summons as a chance to find out how the embers of life were felt and will offer his permission for the coronation in exchange for the embers.
After following her back to her chambers, Nektas calls her meyaah Liessa, and she calls him meyaah draken. He recognizes that she doesn’t like being referred to as a Queen and says that he didn’t know he was her draken, then tells her that she’s their Queen with or without a coronation. She carries the embers of life; therefore, she is the Queen.
Nektas reveals how Ash has had to convince Kolis that he’s submissive to him and what would happen if Kolis knew the truth. When they discuss in more detail, Nektas tells Sera that everything that’s going on is personal for her because Sotoria is part of her. He then asks her why she no longer calls Nyktos Ash and explains that Eythos called him that. Ash introducing himself to her as that the first time means something.
Sera and Nektas discuss Ash and Court and whether Ash forgives her for what she planned. Nektas says he never said Ash forgave her, only that he understands and accepts it. If he didn’t, she wouldn’t be in his bed or smell of him, and Nektas wouldn’t have sensed peace from Ash.
He visits Vathi to see Aurelia—Reaver thinks he’s sweet on her. When he returns, Sera blames him for everything that’s gone on since he left and then tells him that his eyes flashed blue. He relays that it happens sometimes. He mentions it to Ash and then takes the younglings away.
After their trip to the Vale is planned, Nektas says he’ll meet them on the road to the Pillars. After they meet up, he tells Sera about Eythos as the Primal of Life and explains that being near the Pillars was hard for him. He then tries to get her to understand that she’s stronger than she thinks and calls her meyaah Liessa, adding that it’s her that makes him say that, not the embers.
He and Nyktos tell her about the riders. When they bow, Nektas remarks that he hasn’t seen them do that in a while. When he and Sera break off from Ash and the Primal says she is very important to him, Nektas replies with, “I know.”
Nektas tells Sera he knew she cared for Nyktos before she was ready to admit it to herself. She says that if she’d been able to kill Ash, he wouldn’t have needed to kill her because she would have done that herself. Nektas answers that if that’s true, he’s even more right than he thought.
They talk about what happened in the Dying Woods, and he tells her that Ash could have fucked him up. It’s another reason he knows the Primal’s feelings go beyond fondness. Nyktos cares for Sera.
Nektas then details that Ash removed his kardia, not so he wouldn’t become his father and how he grieved for Mycella but so he wouldn’t become his uncle. He suggests that Sera loves Ash and tells her that love should be terrifying.
When they approach the Shroud, Nektas stops Sera from getting too close and tells her about the sirens. To keep her close, he takes hold of her horse’s reins, only releasing them hours later to go through the passage under the mountain to the Pools of Divanash.
Nektas tells Sera he smells Ash on her but also death—lowercase d. Her body is dying; the Culling is killing her. He then tries to detail what life and death smell like to him.
At the Pools, he tells her what to do but admits that he’s never seen it work. He hears Sera confess her suicide attempt. He calls her meyaah Liessa again and tells her it worked, then identifies Delfai for Sera in the Pools.
When they see where Delfai is, Nektas remarks that it’s fate that he’s with someone Sera knows. When Sera explains who Kayleigh was to her, the draken tells her that Ash finds great enjoyment in visiting Tavius in the Abyss and does it quite often.
As they talk more, Nektas reminds Sera that he was there when the mortals were created and helped, that fate isn’t absolute, and that nothing is more powerful than the ability to feel.
After they leave the Vale, Nektas asks her if she’s okay and tells her she can talk to him if she ever isn’t. He’ll ensure she is.
As they travel, he senses the nymphs and tells Sera to halt. He explains about the nymphs, and they fight them. Sera kills them, and he tells her that only the Primal of Life can wield the kind of eather needed to kill nymphs—it’s the same as what can kill another Primal.
Nektas eavesdrops on Sera and Ash and then brings the younglings to say goodbye to the couple. He wants to go with them, but only they can answer Kolis’s summons. He tells Sera he will see her again.
Nektas and Jadis go to the mountains. On coronation day, he returns but leaves the younglings there. Landing in front of the thrones in draken form, he remains there the entire time. Attes stops to speak with him after talking to Sera and Nyktos. He nudges Keella’s arm in response to something the Primal says, and she strokes his cheek.
When the next big attack comes, he and Orphine attempt to fend off the enemy draken attacking Lethe. Nektas then fires on the dakkais attacking Ash, scorching those in front while Orphine takes those behind Nyktos.
Nektas comes to Ash’s aid when he breaks free of the Carcers and goes to rescue Sera. When Ash Ascends her, he’s there to help watch over her and talk to Ash as he talks to his Queen. At one point, he makes sure they’re okay and has his life threatened by his friend.
He’s pretty sure they’ll be just fine.
My next viewings of Nektas were in Poppy and Casteel’s time.
Nektas wakes when Poppy touches him, snarling and sniffing her and then giving a soft whirring trill.
When Poppy returns to Iliseeum the second time, he’s in his god form and tells her that Nyktos has rejoined the Consort in sleep. He urges her to be sure before she speaks the words that cannot be rescinded and says that once she summons the flesh and fire of the gods to protect, serve, and keep her safe, they will be cast in fire and carved in flesh. He then asks if she wants them to destroy the Blood Crown for her and is told she wants them to fight the Revenants and the Ascended. To fight beside Atlantia, not for them. She adds that she doesn’t want any cities destroyed or innocents killed.
Nektas asks Poppy if she plans to take what is owed and inquires whether she can bear the weight of two crowns. He also pleads with her to bring back what is theirs to protect and what will allow the Consort to wake—Poppy’s father. He then adds that Malec is lost to them; he was gone long before they realized, then reveals that Malec is not her father. His twin, Ires, sired her.
