Contents
Chapter 12
Overview
Ambushed by gravity-defying assassins, Sancia and Gregor are forced into an uneasy alliance. Using stun bombs, Whip, and a captured density espringal, they whittle down their attackers amid gruesome mishaps. In crisis, Clef hijacks a gravity rig and halts the battlefield, killing the last two. Exhausted, they’re collected by Berenice and driven toward the Dandolo campo, while Clef falls ominously silent.
Summary
Under attack by nine wall-running assassins, Gregor realizes a merchant house must be behind the ambush. He reluctantly frees Sancia with a weighted tether, and they agree on a plan: Sancia will reach the Zorzi Building’s upper floor while Gregor draws pursuit into a narrow, laundry-strung fairway.
After Sancia deploys stun bombs, Gregor blinds the attackers, snares and scatters them using Whip and the clotheslines, and wounds several. From above, Sancia fires a density-cord espringal; one assassin’s legs are torn off when his gravity rig prevents rest, revealing the horrific risks of scriving gravity. Gregor knocks another unconscious and weaponizes the floating body to sow chaos.
Two assassins breach the Zorzi interior. Sancia blinds the space again, lets Clef guide a dolor dart into a rig, then navigates the rafters by touch. She tackles a second assailant, finds his rig controls, and inadvertently collapses his gravity—he implodes into gore, leaving Sancia falling until Gregor painfully catches her.
With seven down, the last two attackers take roof positions and fire. At Clef’s urgent command, Sancia touches him to a captured gravity rig. Clef chants through the device, stilling the scene and reversing the bolts midair; the shots obliterate their owners. Gravity snaps back, everything crashes down, and the burned-out rig leaves Clef silent.
As they reel, a black carriage arrives. Berenice orders them aboard and speeds them toward the Dandolo campo. Sancia, blood-soaked and shaken by a terrifying vision during Clef’s feat, hides Clef and claims ignorance of what happened, while Gregor, stunned, accepts Berenice’s intervention.
Who Appears
- Sancia GradoThief forced to ally with Gregor; fights assassins, disables rigs, triggers Clef’s gravity takeover, and survives a deadly fall.
- Gregor DandoloCaptain pursuing Sancia; improvises with Whip and tactics, is wounded, catches Sancia, and witnesses impossible gravity scriving.
- ClefTalking key; commandeers a gravity rig to freeze and reverse bolts, then falls ominously silent after burning out the device.
- BereniceYoung scriver allied with Orso; arrives by carriage and extracts Sancia and Gregor to the Dandolo campo.
- Gravity-rigged assassinsNine masked attackers with illegal rigs; most are killed through traps, density cords, rig failures, and Clef’s manipulation.