Empire of the Vampire, #2
Empire of the Damned
by Jay Kristoff
Contents
IX. No Promises, No Vows
Overview
Gabriel and Phoebe’s desperate pursuit of Dior collapses under two blows: they discover a Voss-commanded legion of wretched also marching toward her, and a deadly storm forces them into shelter at Ravenspire. Realizing Dior may reach Dún Maergenn before they can catch her, Gabriel shifts from pursuit to a dangerous new plan: seek an army at the Highland Wintermoot.
The chapter also deepens Gabriel’s history with Lachlan, revealing how love, rescue, disappointment, and Gabriel’s affair with Astrid fractured a once-brotherly bond. Phoebe offers Gabriel comfort without vows, but their intimacy is interrupted by an intruder triggering Gabriel’s glass alarm.
Summary
Gabriel and Phoebe ride hard out of Fa’daena, trying to regain the time Gabriel lost in the Forest of Sorrows. Gabriel can no longer feel the bond that once led him toward Dior, but the last direction he sensed sends them south through the ruined wine country of East Ossway.
On the sixth day, Phoebe spots a vast column moving through the snow. Gabriel recognizes thousands of wretched marching with unnatural discipline under highblooded Ironheart command, with wagons behind them. Because the legion is moving into Ossway while Dior lies south, Gabriel concludes the Forever King’s forces are also coming for Dior, making any rescue far more difficult.
A massive storm rolling down from the Moonsthrone forces Gabriel and Phoebe to abandon the chase and seek shelter at Ravenspire, a damaged château near the Lùdaebh River. Gabriel fortifies a library with tripwires, pans, and shards of sanctus glass, while the pair wait through three worsening nights. Gabriel repeatedly reaches for Dior and feels nothing, which convinces him they may no longer be able to reach Dior before Dún Maergenn.
Because Dún Maergenn is nearly impossible to breach, Gabriel argues that they need an army and proposes going to the Highland Wintermoot. Phoebe warns that the Highland clans hate the Ordo Argent for killing the Stormbringer and may kill Gabriel on sight, but Gabriel insists he will risk it for Dior, with or without Phoebe.
While trapped by the storm, Phoebe asks Gabriel about Lachlan. Gabriel recounts sparing Lachlan during the Ossian campaigns, freeing Lachlan from Dyvok indoctrination after showing him the slaughterfarms, and fighting beside him as a beloved younger brother. Gabriel explains that their bond soured after Lachlan discovered Gabriel’s affair with Astrid, though Lachlan kept the secret out of honor.
Phoebe challenges Gabriel’s retreat into grief and offers him warmth without promises or vows. Gabriel accepts, and the two begin an intense, carefully negotiated intimacy, complicated by Gabriel’s silver touch and blood thirst. When Phoebe’s lip is cut on Gabriel’s fang, Gabriel nearly succumbs to the Kiss, but he hears the crunch of glass from his ward and stops; in the frame narrative, Jean-François angrily reacts to the interruption as Gabriel says suffering followed.
Who Appears
- Gabriel de LeónNarrator; pursues Dior, plans to raise an army, and confronts grief, desire, and danger.
- PhoebeDuskdancer ally; guides Gabriel to shelter, challenges his despair, and offers comfort without vows.
- DiorAbsent captive; Gabriel and Phoebe chase her while Voss forces also move toward her.
- LachlanGabriel’s former beloved protégé; his painful history with Gabriel is revealed through memory.
- AstridGabriel’s dead lover; her affair with Gabriel caused Lachlan’s disillusionment.
- Jean-FrançoisVampire historian; reacts angrily to Gabriel’s cliffhanger in the frame narrative.
- TolyevDead Dyvok patriarch; Lachlan’s father, whose crimes and death shaped Lachlan’s turn.