Chapter 61: Emory

Sidraeus forces Emory to stand on a ley line and listen until she senses its currents. Trying to cleanse a corruption within it using multiple magics, Emory draws dangerous darkness and is lured toward Atheia’s power. Sidraeus physically yanks her off the line and siphons the darkness into himself, anchoring her.

They discuss Tidecaller origins: Tidecallers borrow Atheia’s creation and risk burning out without it, effectively Tidethieves. Emory realizes she has skirted Collapse by unconsciously drawing from keys and the ley line, and vows to find power that harms no one. She affirms love for her magic and recognizes kinship with Sidraeus’s hunger for creation.

They speak of guilt and consequences: Sidraeus admits centuries of remorse for the Tidecallers’ fate and being bound to Keiran’s corpse; Emory confronts her complicity in Keiran’s death and the desire for him to suffer, yet wonders if death was enough. Both acknowledge their mirrored burdens.

At night, Sidraeus wakes Emory as draconic knights and sages pass below—Caius weeps as Master Bayns chastises him. Overhead, the Knight Commander reveals a plan: follow the Golden Helm to the Sun Forger to harvest limitless dragonflame and ensure Anatolius’s death, leaving a captured “beast” as a message to the Night Bringer.

Tracking the growl, they find an eldritch—part wildcat, part owl—pinned by golden swords. Sidraeus frees it while Emory heals its wings. The creature speaks telepathically to Emory, offering its gift of knowledge and truth if she touches its heart. She accepts and is flooded with revealed truth, which she hides from Sidraeus.

After the eldritch departs, Emory lies about what it shared, instead channeling her anger over the Fellowship’s cruelty. She proposes a broader plan to strike back at the knights. Sidraeus, wary yet impressed, agrees as they prepare to act.