The Hurricane Wars, #2
A Monsoon Rising
by Thea Guanzon
Contents
Chapter Twelve
Overview
Talasyn begins the chapter haunted by a nightmare in which Alaric’s magic destroys her, underscoring how fear and desire are becoming dangerously entangled. A quiet day with Elagbi reveals more about Sintan’s rebellion, Hanan’s manipulation, and the unresolved mystery of how Talasyn was taken from Nenavar.
When Alaric encounters a basking sea dragon, he admits he did not order the earlier attack on one of its kind and swears it will not happen again. Talasyn cannot forgive him, but their shared contact with the dragon creates a moment of connection that renews her hope in him, even as Elagbi notices and worries.
Summary
Talasyn wakes from a terrifying episode of paralysis in which shadowy chimeras devour her and Alaric, wearing Gaheris-like menace, appears to command them. The nightmare leaves Talasyn shaken and reinforces her confused fear of Alaric’s shadow magic, but an awkward encounter with Alaric half-dressed in their shared bathroom immediately complicates that fear with attraction.
Seeking distance from Alaric, Talasyn spends the morning on a hill with Elagbi, playing casongkâ and watching an ancient sea dragon emerge to bask on the beach while Nenavarene children climb over it without fear. Elagbi explains that the dragons vanished during the civil war, which the Nenavarene took as an ill omen brought on by the country’s violence against itself.
Talasyn asks why Sintan betrayed the Dominion. Elagbi explains that his once-beloved brother grew convinced that he should inherit the throne, gathered resentful nobles, and manipulated Hanan by using her concern for Lightweavers on the Continent. Sintan used the doomed flotilla as a pretext for rebellion, while Hanan was trapped in the capital and later died; Elagbi also admits he cannot understand how Talasyn’s nursemaid Indusa became involved in taking Talasyn to the Continent instead of preserving Nenavar’s heir.
Alaric and Sevraim appear on the beach to look at the dragon, prompting Talasyn and Elagbi to join them out of concern for how the dragon might react to Shadowforged outsiders. The dragon unexpectedly rolls over and drenches everyone, breaking Talasyn’s tension with laughter and reminding her of earlier moments of absurdity with Alaric. Alaric then quietly says he did not order Mathire to fire on the copper dragon months earlier and promises it will not happen again, but Talasyn can neither forgive him nor dismiss the harm entirely.
Talasyn changes the subject by daring Alaric to touch the sleeping dragon. When Talasyn and Alaric place their hands on its hot scales, Talasyn senses aether flowing through all three of them, light, shadow, fire, and sea linked in one living current. The shared wonder softens her view of Alaric and strengthens her hope that he is not his father, but Elagbi watches the growing closeness between them with worry.
Who Appears
- TalasynHaunted by Alaric-like nightmares; learns family history and cautiously reconnects with Alaric through the dragon.
- AlaricAwkwardly intimate presence; marvels at a dragon and promises he did not order the earlier attack.
- ElagbiTalasyn’s father; explains Sintan’s betrayal, mourns Hanan, and worries over Talasyn’s closeness with Alaric.
- SevraimAlaric’s companion; joins the beach scene and banters with Elagbi over casongkâ.
- SintanAbsent uncle whose ambition, plotting, and manipulation of Hanan caused the Nenavarene civil war.
- Hanan IvralisTalasyn’s late mother; remembered as politically innocent and manipulated into aiding Sintan’s scheme.
- IndusaAbsent nursemaid; suspected of helping remove Talasyn from Nenavar for reasons still unclear.
- MathireAbsent soldier blamed by Alaric for panicking and firing on a Nenavarene dragon.