Chapter 46: Kai

Kai, Baz, Clover (Cornelius), and Luce/Adriana compare time rifts: Dovermere’s door is absent here, while Luce arrived via a Harebell Cove cavern that no longer functions. Clover reveals he’s in the Selenic Order and has been Glamouring authorities to shield Baz and Kai. He explains the Order’s hidden seat, the Treasury beneath the Vault, and its origin as guardians of sealed doors between worlds.

Clover outlines his Seer-leaning visions and research with Luce and Thames: all worlds connect through dreams in a spiral leading to the Deep. He has seen a bleak future where magic and life fail, and believes the solution is to petition the higher gods by bringing back the Tides and the Shadow.

Luce recounts prophetic dreams, a capsizing at Harebell Cove, Emory’s difficult eclipse birth, and a Seer’s warning that unlocking Emory’s Tidecaller nature sparks apocalypse. She hid Emory’s truth, then traveled back to seek Clover’s help, whose own vision shows Emory awakening power, questing through worlds, and turning all to ash.

To spare Emory, Clover commits to awaken the Tides and the Shadow himself in this era by opening the long-warded door beneath the Vault. Baz rejects the idea that Emory would destroy worlds, but Clover insists changing the outcome requires action now. Kai resolves to support Baz despite doubts about fate.

Exiting the secret room, the group finds the floor wet and four corpses laid before the Vault, clothes soaked and bodies arranged. Among them lies Wulfrid, blue-lipped and glassy-eyed, as if drowned and then expelled by the wards.