Throne of Glass, #7
Kingdom of Ash
by Sarah J. Maas
Contents
Chapter 60
Overview
As Anielle braces for the damaged dam to collapse, Rowan and the others realize they cannot save everyone or safely search for Lorcan. Elide defies the danger by riding Farasha across the battlefield, finds Lorcan gravely wounded beneath dead Valg, and forces him onto the horse. Their desperate flight back to the keep turns Elide’s promise to always find Lorcan into action, while the flood’s arrival becomes imminent.
Summary
On the battlements, Rowan weighs using his magic at the damaged dam but knows he can only delay the flood, not stop it. Soldiers, healers, and ruks rush to evacuate those in the water’s path, yet the defenders realize the rescue will not be fast enough. Fenrys admits he cannot bear to use the power he once shared with Connall, leaving Lorcan’s location unknown.
As the group debates whether anyone can search for Lorcan, Hasar points out that Elide has already ridden onto the battlefield on Chaol’s horse, Farasha. Rowan, Fenrys, Gavriel, Chaol, Hasar, and Aelin watch helplessly as Elide races through corpses and fleeing soldiers, shouting Lorcan’s name. Hasar warns that anyone who follows will likely die too, forcing the others to remain on the wall despite their instincts.
Chaol is joined by Yrene, who realizes Elide has gone after Lorcan. The watchers understand the odds are nearly impossible, but Fenrys invokes Hellas and Anneith, and Chaol identifies Farasha as the horse he has long called Hellas’s horse. This gives the desperate rescue the feeling of grim purpose, though no one can do anything but watch.
On the battlefield, Elide searches closer to the lake, believing Lorcan would have chosen that ground for its defensive advantages. She finds a trail of Valg corpses with no allied dead among them and follows the evidence of Lorcan’s slaughter. Just as she begins to fear he may be elsewhere, Lorcan groans from beneath a pile of bodies and raises a bloodied hand.
Elide uncovers Lorcan and sees catastrophic wounds across his stomach and back. Knowing the dam will break soon, she forces him to stand and climb onto Farasha despite his agony and her own injured ankle. When Lorcan finally gets into the saddle, Elide mounts in front of him, and he helps pull her up despite his wounds.
Elide sees a ruk near the dam waving a golden banner, signaling that the break is imminent. She drives Farasha toward the keep, praying the gate remains open while Lorcan clings to her and the horse gallops across the plain ahead of the coming flood.
Who Appears
- Elide LochanRides into the doomed battlefield, finds Lorcan, and drives him toward safety.
- Lorcan SalvaterreGravely wounded beneath Valg corpses, he struggles onto Farasha with Elide’s help.
- FarashaChaol’s fierce black mare; carries Elide and Lorcan in the race back.
- Rowan WhitethornRecognizes he cannot stop the flood and watches Elide’s rescue attempt.
- Chaol WestfallWatches Elide ride his horse and identifies Farasha as Hellas’s horse.
- FenrysCannot use his shared power to search and prays for Lorcan and Elide.
- Aelin GalathyniusStands silent and withdrawn, helpless before the dam’s looming destruction.
- Princess HasarWarns the others not to follow Elide into the deadly flood path.
- Yrene WestfallJoins Chaol on the battlements and grasps the peril of Elide’s mission.
- GavrielWants to help search for Lorcan but is restrained by the danger.