Chapter 16

Climbing toward the surface, Raeve resolves to keep Kaan alive, her focus narrowing as they reach a vast shaft beneath the Citadel. Pyrok introduces his brother, Roan, recently freed from execution, while Moltenmaw riders mass above in battle formation. The group realizes the Tri-Council is mobilizing as Bothaim’s people converge on the arches, believed to be runed against the coming moonfalls.

Kaan gathers white robes as disguises, and they push through blood-marked doors into the High Treasury, a cavernous hall lined with sealed chambers. The sight stings Raeve with memories of Essi’s longing to see this place. Roan is drawn to a pair of aurora-etched doors, but Raeve notices a familiar silver shimmer—like the Fate Herder—slipping into the chamber and follows it.

Inside a star-dark, rune-caged room, a small silver-bound volume materializes on a plinth: the Book of Voyd. Raeve unknowingly crosses lethal warding etched into the threshold, terrifying Kaan and the others. Roan identifies the artifact, explaining his sentencing stemmed from seeking it and from claiming the city’s arches hide forbidden runes that could deflect moonfalls.

Determined to help protect Kaan and spite the Fate Herder’s manipulations, Raeve decides to take the book. Kaan, wary of the Tri-Council’s wrath, reluctantly agrees due to the stakes. Roan urgently warns the book grapples with minds and has killed or driven would-be readers mad, though one handler may currently endure it.

Accepting the risk, Raeve slices cloth from her cloak, wraps her hands, and lifts the ice-cold Book of Voyd from the plinth. As dread and urgency mount, Kaan orders Raeve out so they can escape before the Tri-Council’s forces converge.