Chapter 19

Maevyth wakes to find Zevander standing on the porch, blood on his mouth and a wounded rabbit in hand, staring into the yard. He is trance-like, speaking of death, while dozens of synchronized, glowing eyes watch from the darkness. When Maevyth snaps him out of it, pale spider-legged creatures charge, and Zevander drags her inside, barring the door.

Zevander struggles to recall a fog-shrouded hunt and a rotten tree that filled him with dread. Troubled by his worsening waking-dream episodes and Maevyth’s emotional distance, they argue over leaving for vivicantem. The tension shatters into desperate intimacy as they give in to long-suppressed desire.

A scream from Aleysia’s room interrupts them. Maevyth insists on going first; they find Aleysia awake, calm but bound. After releasing her, Aleysia fixates on meat and shows odd behaviors—flat affect, finger-tapping, abrupt mood shifts—yet recognizes Maevyth and fears the creatures outside.

Aleysia recounts that Moros guided her from the woods and sheltered her, claiming earlier horrors were hallucinations from venom. She says The Crone Witch later locked her in a pantry and tried to kill her. Maevyth doubts this, remembering Moros’s monstrous transformation, but wavers as she considers her own venom-induced confusion. A sudden panic attack overtakes Maevyth; Zevander steadies her.

Maevyth and Zevander debate the timing of Aleysia’s awakening with the rabbit’s death and her hunger for undercooked meat. They decide to go to Moros’s manor next, hoping for vivicantem or answers. Maevyth reveals Moros kept kidnapped Lyverian women alive in a tank with their legs sewn together, and asks Zevander to grant mercy if they find them suffering.