Contents
Chapter 25
Overview
At a brutal winter-solstice Banishing, Maevyth incites chaos to save Aleysia but is branded a witch. Fleeing into The Eating Woods, she survives wicken attacks and witnesses a horned shapeshifter devour Moros and flay Uncle Riftyn. Maevyth reaches a veiled arch, crosses through, and is seized by armored men from another realm, while Aleysia is snatched behind the barrier.
Summary
Under a rare full moon at the winter solstice, Sacton Crain and the governor present Aleysia—bloodied and shorn—and accuse her and Uncle Riftyn of depravity, ordering a double Banishing. Desperate, Maevyth seizes a torch, sparks a melee, and when the crowd turns on her as a witch, she inadvertently summons a spill of bones that terrifies the parishioners. Moros fires to halt the mob and claims he will protect her; Maevyth refuses and urges Aleysia to run into The Eating Woods.
In the forest, swarming wickens bite Maevyth until Raivox dives in and kills two, scattering the rest. Moros tracks Maevyth, throttling her for defiance, but a horned, cloven-footed creature emerges. It steals Moros’s vial of white stones, swallows one, then devours Moros and reshapes itself into his grotesque likeness.
Uncle Riftyn finds Maevyth and tries to flee with her. The shapeshifter hunts them down and gruesomely skins Uncle Riftyn alive. Maevyth runs until she finds a thorn-walled clearing, a bony archway with a shimmering barrier, and gentle, firefly-like sprites. She discovers a freezing, bitten Aleysia and leads her to the arch.
Maevyth tests the veil and steps through; it hardens instantly, trapping Aleysia on the original side as the Moros-shaped creature approaches. As Maevyth pounds the barrier, strangers seize each sister: Aleysia is dragged away, and Maevyth is immobilized by an invisible force wielded by a dark-haired, armored rider and his guards, who debate her mortal scent, her fate, and propose delivering her to Bonesguard. Powerless and terrified, Maevyth remains their captive, unable to help Aleysia.
Who Appears
- MaevythProtagonist; disrupts the Banishing, reveals uncanny bone-summoning, flees into The Eating Woods, witnesses Moros’s death, crosses a veil, and is captured by foreign guards.
- AleysiaBrutalized and accused; flees into the woods, reunites with Maevyth at the veiled arch, then is seized as the barrier seals.
- MorosCollector who claimed Maevyth; confronts her in the woods, then is devoured by a shapeshifting creature that assumes his form.
- Shapeshifter (wrathavor-like creature)Horned, cloven beast; eats a white stone, devours Moros, imitates him, and brutally kills Uncle Riftyn.
- Uncle RiftynAccused alongside Aleysia; helps Maevyth flee, then is overtaken and skinned alive by the shapeshifter.
- Dark-haired commanderArmored rider who immobilizes Maevyth beyond the veil, debates her fate, and plans to take her to Bonesguard.
- Red-haired guardCrude, suggests delivering Maevyth to Bonesguard for condemned men; mocks and menaces her.
- Blond guardObsesses over Maevyth’s mortal scent; makes lewd remarks and urges keeping her.
- Silent guardMore restrained; briefly urges mercy or sending Maevyth back before falling silent.
- Sacton CrainLeads the Banishing, brands Maevyth an abomination, incites the crowd.
- The governorEndorses two Banis hings and orders Maevyth destroyed before chaos erupts.
- RaivoxSablefyre raptor; rescues Maevyth from attacking wickens by killing and eating them.
- The Crone WitchObserves the ceremony under the full moon; silent omen amid rising hysteria.
- Vonkovyan soldiersGuard the Banishing, block rescues, and escalate the crowd’s violence.
- WickensSmall predatory sprites in The Eating Woods; swarm and bite Maevyth and Aleysia.