The Drowned Gods, #2
Stranger Skies
by Pascale Lacelle
Contents
Chapter 39: Emory
Overview
Emory, Romie, and Aspen infiltrate the Chasm to free Tol and uncover the Fellowship’s secret: dragons are chained and their heart-flame stolen. Captured and thrown into the arena, they face eldritch and the Night Bringer.
Emory overloads, commandeering beasts by siphoning allies’ power, endangering them. Keiran intervenes, taking a fatal blow meant for her, which steadies Emory’s magic. He escapes wounded as Tol survives, confirming Emory’s perilous Tidethief nature.
Summary
During a staged joust in the Chasm arena, Emory, Romie, and Aspen slip away to free Tol while their friends remain as cover. Guided by Aspen’s scryed map and Emory’s Glamours on guards, they descend into a grotto and discover a chained dragon tortured for its heart-flame by sages, knights, and the Knight Commander. They are spotted and struck down.
Thrown into a cell with prisoners, they find Tol collared to prevent shifting. Tol reveals the Fellowship’s oath is a lie: draconics are made with stolen dragon flame. The gate rises, and they are forced into the arena against an ursus magnus and ember-fox eldritch. Emory kills a fox with Reaper magic, horrifying Tol, who insists the eldritch aren’t the enemy.
The gate explodes as more beasts and umbrae pour in, led by the demon wearing Keiran’s face. Chaos erupts among guards and crowd. Emory realizes Tol is a target and blasts back enemies, her power surging with the ley line. Keiran engages Tol; Aspen fears Tol will be killed.
As Virgil, Nisha, and Vera rush in, Emory breaks, erects a barrier, and instinctively siphons magic from Romie’s blood, Aspen’s bones, and Tol’s heart. She Glamours the ursus magnus and other beasts to turn on the draconics, but the siphoning cripples her friends and drops Tol to his knees, leaving him exposed to Keiran.
A knight strikes at Emory, but Keiran intervenes, taking the blade through his middle. His touch stanches Emory’s overload, returning stolen power to her allies. He then beheads the knight, mounts the ursus magnus, and escapes, wounded. Tol survives; Aspen and Romie recover, but Romie’s look confirms Emory’s fear: she is a Tidethief whose power imperils those she loves.
Who Appears
- EmoryLeads Tol’s rescue, discovers dragons’ torture, unleashes overwhelming magic, puppets eldritch by siphoning allies, nearly kills them; stabilized when Keiran shields her.
- TolOath-breaking draconic; reveals dragons’ flame is stolen; collared, prosthetic leg; survives arena and Keiran’s attack, key target of the Night Bringer.
- Keiran (the demon/Night Bringer’s vessel)Leads umbrae assault on the Chasm; duels Tol; takes a sword for Emory, dampening her surge, then escapes wounded.
- RomieInsists on aiding Tol; power is siphoned by Emory, leaving her drained; recognizes Emory as a Tidethief.
- AspenGuides prison infiltration; aids Tol; bones break under Emory’s siphoning and then reset when power returns.
- Knight CommanderOversees torture of a chained dragon; captures the intruders; later targeted by turned eldritch.
- CaiusExplains the draconic oath and leads crowd chants, distracting while the rescue party slips away.
- Master BaynsRed-robed sage participating in the harvesting of dragon flame.
- VirgilProvides cover, later rushes into the arena to help and warns Emory of an attack.
- NishaStays as lookout, then runs into the arena to assist amid chaos.
- VeraRemains in the stands, then joins the arena rescue attempt with Virgil and Nisha.