Chapter 6

Chained with his father and other prisoners, young Zevander is marched under the punishing Solassion sun toward the mountain‑carved mines. An older Lunasier prisoner succumbs to sun poisoning, and at a guard’s command an orgoth snaps the man’s skull to free the cuff. Zevander notes his father’s burning skin while his own merely darkens, then the prisoners are split: boys one way, older men—including Lord Rydainn—another.

In a tunnel, boys are fed one by one into a chamber of screams where a squat torturer with a silver‑poured face waits. As Zevander wavers between fleeing and fear, four golden‑armored Bellatryx arrive. When another boy attempts escape, a Bellatryx impales and halves him with chilling amusement, halting Zevander’s run. A guard’s blow knocks Zevander unconscious.

Zevander awakens in Caligorya, a dark mental realm, confronted by a hooded stranger who claims to know his parents. Symbols sear both their wrists; the stranger instructs him to close his eyes to dull the pain. He explains the markings are a spell suppressing Zevander’s magic and declares Zevander bears Deimos’s ancient sablefyre, not spindling weakness.

Rejecting the claim, Zevander’s focus slips back to waking agony. Bound by ropes in the torture room, he is lashed while guards jeer. The Bellatryx warrior who killed the boy studies Zevander with interest, orders the torture ended, and demands he be sent to the mines and, once strong, delivered to her—sealing his fate.