Contents
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Overview
Lore, Gabe, Alie, and Malcolm realize the Fount is selecting new vessels: Malcolm shows earth magic, Gabe feels fire impulses, and Alie stirs air. Fearing who might take Caeliar, they plan a clandestine midnight visit to Anton to verify the prophecy. Bastian is excluded, heightening tension and Lore’s guilt.
Summary
In the Church’s depths, Lore feels both relief and terror as the prophecy’s implication becomes clear: she and Bastian aren’t alone as vessels. While they debate failed and fulfilled predictions, Malcolm connects his unexplained plant growth to earth magic, and Gabe’s fixation on a steady flame betrays fire’s pull.
Pressed by Alie, Malcolm admits he’s felt no voice but fears Braxtos’s claim; Lore explains her contact with Nyxara intensified after channeling with Bastian. Malcolm vows abstinence from magic, but Gabe argues it won’t matter if a god wants a vessel. Alie stirs a gust, confirming Lereal’s touch. Gabe describes fire as intrusive impulses, not a voice, and notes Hestraon’s former strength.
They tally three elemental gods—Braxtos (Malcolm), Hestraon (Gabe), Lereal (Alie)—leaving Caeliar unknown and potentially dangerous if not aligned with them. Accepting they can’t wait, Alie proposes consulting Anton, the original hearer of the prophecy, despite his madness. Lore agrees to compare his words against Nyxara’s presence to judge truth.
They set a plan: at midnight, when Nyxara is loudest and Apollius weakest, Lore and Gabe will slip to the Presque Mort greenhouse to question Anton, then reconvene with Alie and Malcolm in the morning. Bastian is deliberately excluded due to Apollius’s control, a choice that pains both Lore and Gabe.
As they part in the Church proper, Lore wrestles with guilt, rejects seeking help from Lilia despite Nyxara’s pull, and clings to caution. Gabe declines to see Bastian, and Alie, shaken yet resolute, turns toward the pantheon windows, uncertain whether to pray.
Who Appears
- LoreProtagonist; confirms multiple vessels, feels Nyxara more strongly, drives plan to question Anton and agrees to exclude Bastian.
- GabePriest Exalted; experiences fire-driven impulses suggesting Hestraon, plans midnight visit with Lore, refuses to see Bastian.
- MalcolmScholar; realizes earth magic indicates Braxtos, angrily resists divine control, helps decide to consult Anton.
- AlieCourtier; demonstrates air magic hinting Lereal, proposes speaking to Anton, heads toward the pantheon to possibly pray.