Contents
Chapter 18
Overview
Zevander reels from his first failed kill as his power betrays him, undermining his confidence. A mysterious horned watcher heightens the sense of threat. Regaining control, he coerces a guard into silence and service by implanting a scorpion, securing surveillance at the forest breach as he withdraws.
Summary
Zevander staggers from his failed assassination, enraged and shaken that his power turned on him. He debates returning to finish the kill but fears appearing incompetent, pacing the forest while wrestling with why the flame betrayed him.
On the way back toward the Umbravale, Zevander senses he is being watched. A shadowy, horned figure emerges under moonlight, prompting his tattoos to rise and cloak him in black smoke. Ready to incinerate the intruder, Zevander reins in his power; the creature bolts and vanishes into the woods.
Zevander continues through the Umbravale and across Hagsmist to the guard he had left restrained by his scorpions. He recalls the scorpions to his body—except one—then sends it into the guard’s forearm, embedding it beneath the skin as a lethal failsafe.
He threatens the guard to keep silent about the Letalisz and to report any breach from the other side of the woods. With the terrified man conscripted as an informant, Zevander whistles for his horse and departs, still consumed by anger and the unresolved failure.
Who Appears
- ZevanderAssassin-Letalisz; rattled by a failed kill, confronts a horned watcher, and coerces a guard by implanting a scorpion failsafe.
- Unnamed guardCaptured at the forest’s edge; threatened into silence and service when Zevander embeds a living scorpion beneath his skin.
- Shadowy horned figureMysterious watcher with branching horns; approaches then flees when Zevander’s power rises, hinting at a lurking threat.