Chapter 56: Emory

At dawn, Emory infiltrates the draconic knights’ camp using Lightkeeper invisibility and finds the Shadow bound with chains and a dampening collar. When a knight attacks, the Shadow kills him with a chain, then seizes Emory by the throat and blames her for his captivity. Emory pushes back and proposes a bargain.

Emory offers to free and heal the Shadow in exchange for instruction to control her magic and a promise he will stay away from her friends. The Shadow agrees but threatens to kill her friends if she betrays him; Emory counters that she will ensure he dies in Keiran’s body if he betrays her. She rusts off his restraints using a Reaper trick and leads him out under invisibility.

Once safely away, Emory demands the full truth about his goals and the keys. The Shadow begins with revelations: the Tides’ true name is Atheia, a four-faced deity of Bruma, Anima, Aestas, and Quies. He then reveals his own true name—Sidraeus—once called Phoebus, associated with eclipses and the sun.

With the darkness held at bay in his presence, Emory presses for what happened between Atheia and Sidraeus. He says the story must start at the beginning, setting the stage for an origin account that will reframe their conflict and the purpose of the keys.