The Kindred's Curse Saga, #3
Heat of the Everflame
by Penn Cole
Contents
Chapter 4
Overview
Vance leads Guardians to unchain Diem under false pretenses and violently harvests her blood to open Lumnos’s canal bloodlocks for an attack on the palace. Cordellia catches him and orders Diem returned, but Vance stalls to fill vials. Alarms blare as an attack nears, culminating in the approach of a gryvern.
Summary
Diem endures days of isolation, dehydration, and flameroot-laced meals she secretly discards, feeling only the faintest stir of her suppressed magic. Vance arrives with armed Guardians and unchains her, claiming to take her to relieve herself, but their weapons and tension reveal another purpose.
When Diem resists being led into the forest, Vance escalates. The men pin her and Vance cuts her palms, demanding vials of her blood. He reveals his plan: use Diem’s blood to open the palace canal’s bloodlocks, exploiting the secret entrance she once exposed, to strike Lumnos before the Crowns can respond.
Diem tries to avoid using weakened magic, unwilling to risk slaughter or her own death. She fights physically, briefly breaking free, but is overpowered. Vance, needing her alive for the blood, orders nonlethal force and shifts to head and wrist wounds to fill vials faster, worsening her injuries.
Cordellia arrives, rebukes Vance, and orders Diem returned and re-chained, asserting Arboros authority. Vance defies her, insisting he is nearly finished collecting blood for a Lumnos mission, and keeps Diem pinned while the men continue filling vials.
As tension peaks, horns blare across the camp warning of an incoming attack. Guardians scramble to posts as catapults and archers ready. Amid the chaos, Diem hears wingbeats she recognizes; archers confirm a gryvern is approaching, interrupting Vance’s extraction and setting the stage for a violent clash.
Who Appears
- Diem BellatorImprisoned Queen of Lumnos; dehydrated, resists flameroot, physically fights capture as Vance harvests her blood for palace bloodlocks.
- VanceGuardian leader; orchestrates Diem’s removal, cuts her to fill vials, plans to breach Lumnos via bloodlocked canal, defies Cordellia.
- Cordellia (Mother Dell)Arboros leader; catches Vance, asserts authority, orders Diem re-chained just before alarms announce an incoming attack.
- Unnamed young GuardianNervous vial bearer; fumbles collecting Diem’s blood, revealing the men’s fear and inexperience.