Chapter 9

Aris, Kira, and Zane enter glittering Starside as the gates lock for fifty days. With teams forming, they agree to travel together when Zane reveals a partial map. Cadoc mercy-kills a wounded Ender, heightening the danger. Exhausted, the trio finds a blue pool, where an immortal named Pelas appears and invites them to his dwelling, warning that night is deadly even for immortals.

Weighing the risk against the failing light, they follow Pelas to the Tower of Knowledge compound, where the senior scholar Ellis welcomes them and the immortals interrogate them about mortal life. Over bitter soup, Aris masks her anger and ignorance, learning that immortals can be killed only by high metals and that recent immortal deaths are rising.

After offering to continue alone with Pelas, Aris plays the simple mortal to lower his guard, steals his star-metal quill-key, and lets him smuggle her into the Tower at night. She searches chained books across levels, seeking quest intelligence. She finds a worn journal, A Quest of Life and Death, with a complete, hand-drawn map to the gods. Below, she overhears Pelas planning to keep them alive with poison and vivisect them.

With scholars approaching, Aris rips out the map, abandons the book, and triggers chaos by slicing the spines of magic-laden texts, which explode into smoke, fire, and howls. She escapes the tower’s stacks, reunites with Kira and Zane, and confronts Ellis at the door. Recognizing her Starside sword, Ellis lowers his weapon and steps aside.

As the trio flees into morning, Ellis silently notes the glint of silver on Aris’s wrist—seeming unsurprised—suggesting he recognizes her hidden nature while deliberately allowing their escape.