Contents
Chapter Thirty-Four
Overview
Gabe drags Lore from Nyxara’s collapsing tomb as Nyxara’s body undergoes its first death, intensifying Nyxara’s presence in Lore. Lore recalls how the gods were made and glimpses the start of the Godsfall but withholds solutions from Gabe. After a charged kiss, Lore chooses ruthlessness, decapitating Anton to silence the hidden prophecy, then vows to leave.
Summary
Disoriented by Nyxara’s memories, Lore is hauled from the collapsing tomb by Gabe. As they flee, Lore witnesses Nyxara’s preserved body rot to dust—Nyxara’s first death—while the catacombs shudder and partially cave. They escape through the well into dusk.
Climbing out, Lore senses Nyxara still within her, stronger after bodily death. The memories reveal how the pantheon was made and imply the gods have two deaths, hinting at a way to expel them that Lore refuses to accept. She also recognizes Apollius’s power diminishes if Nyxara departs, echoing the prophecy that power is made and unmade alike.
On a bench, Gabe presses for useful answers. Lore admits she saw the beginning of the Godsfall but not its end, which frustrates Gabe. Believing Apollius may have blocked Nyxara’s revelations, Lore conceals emerging plans that would cost too much. Their tension shifts into a deliberate, mutual kiss, but Gabe breaks it off; they part tenderly, unresolved.
After Gabe leaves, Lore goes to the greenhouse. She confronts the thorn-entangled Anton, who speaks of a final, older force guiding the last lines of his prophecy and Apollius’s fury that it existed. Refusing to let the prophecy further endanger them, Lore uses dull garden shears to decapitate Anton.
Lore drops a rose into the reopened well, whispering to her absent mother for help. Accepting the necessity of hard choices, she readies herself to leave and pursue her next step.
Who Appears
- LoreRescued from the collapsing tomb, binds deeper with Nyxara, withholds solutions, shares a decisive kiss with Gabe, and executes Anton.
- GabePulls Lore to safety, seeks answers about ousting gods, shares an intense kiss but stops it, then departs to rest.
- NyxaraBuried Goddess whose body finally dies; her consciousness strengthens within Lore and reveals origins, then is seemingly cut off.
- AntonProphet bound in roses; admits a hidden, ominous final prophecy; is decapitated by Lore to end the threat.
- ApolliusAntagonistic god; may block Nyxara’s revelations; his vows and power dynamics inform Lore’s realizations about two deaths.