The Drowned Gods, #2
Stranger Skies
by Pascale Lacelle
Contents
Chapter 21: Baz
Overview
In the sleepscape, Artem arrives with Glamoured allies and forces Freyia to reanimate Keiran. A shadow entity seizes Keiran’s body; Artem is killed and Freyia commits suicide. Umbrae overrun the bridge of stars as Baz’s timespinning backfires, tearing him and Kai into the sea. They wash ashore at Dovermere, seemingly in the past.
Summary
Baz tries to undo Kai’s sudden choking fit in the sleepscape by pulling at time, briefly resetting the moment. Before they can regain control, Artem Orlov arrives through the rift with Glamoured Virgil and Freyia, revealing a body bag. He drops the compulsion long enough for Virgil to accuse him of freeing the Reanimator and misusing her power.
Artem unzips the bag to reveal Keiran’s preserved corpse. He blames Baz’s Collapsing for their losses and compels Freyia to reanimate Keiran, believing the sleepscape’s boundless magic will restore him fully. Freyia, guilt-ridden by her past failures, obeys under Glamour. Keiran breathes, but shadowy claws pour into him. He rises with inhuman speed and star-dark eyes, seizes Artem by the throat, and strangles him, breaking Artem’s Glamour over the others.
Umbrae surge from the darkness, drawn by fear and Keiran’s corruption. Freyia, freed, apologizes and leaps into the void, choosing death. Virgil attacks Keiran and is thrown back; Nisha saves Virgil from the edge while Vera urges everyone toward the next door.
Keiran fixes on Kai, paralyzing him with terror. Baz reaches for time to stop Keiran, but the sleepscape’s tapestry of time tangles around Baz and drags him away. Kai yanks Baz free and they run, following the scent of earth toward the Wychwood’s door as the others flee.
Time itself lashes Baz, ripping him from Kai; they claw to hold on as reality compresses and then snaps. They plunge into the ocean, fight the surf, and struggle ashore. On the cliffs above Dovermere Cove, a once-ruined lighthouse shines whole and lit. Realizing the landscape is wrong, Kai concludes they have gone back in time.
Who Appears
- BazTimespinner; resets Kai’s attack, fails to control sleepscape time, is dragged by it, and surfaces at past Dovermere with Kai.
- Kai SalongaNightmare Weaver; suffers a terrifying episode, resists Keiran’s fixation, saves Baz in the time-tear, concludes they’re in the past.
- Artem OrlovGlamours Virgil and Freyia; forces Keiran’s reanimation; is killed by the shadow-possessed Keiran.
- Keiran Dunhall ThornbyReanimated corpse overtaken by a shadow entity; displays inhuman speed and kills Artem.
- Freyia LündtCollapsed Reanimator; compelled to raise Keiran, recalls tragic past, then chooses death by leaping into the void.
- Virgil DadeFreed from Glamour, denounces Artem, attacks Keiran, nearly falls before Nisha saves him.
- Nisha ZenaraAids Virgil during the umbra attack and witnesses Artem’s and Freyia’s fates.
- VeraUrges the group toward the next door amid the umbra onslaught.