Moonfall, #2
The Ballad of Falling Dragons
by Sarah A. Parker
Contents
Chapter 73
Overview
Raeve leads Kaan and Ahvi to the cavern where Sereme first bound her, confronting memories of near-death. A discovered note reveals Elding directed Sereme to control Raeve for political aims. Ahvi prepares a perilous unbinding that will revert Raeve to her pre-bind state and rebind her to the Book of Voyd. When Sereme’s distant pain attack strikes, Kaan orders Ahvi to finish the rune, triggering the ritual.
Summary
Raeve, Kaan, and Ahvi traverse Undercity tunnels to a moonlit cavern marked by ancient dragon bones. Predators keep their distance, deterred by Kaan’s presence. Raeve recognizes the site where she once sheltered during a storm and descended into a lower shaft, recalling her desperate trek across the Ergor Plains after losing Fallon.
They enter the narrow tunnel where Raeve nearly died and where masked guards once tried to capture her. Raeve remembers Sereme arriving pristine amid squalor, offering survival in exchange for blood, forging the bind that saved Raeve yet shackled her. Kaan questions how Sereme found Raeve there, prompting Raeve to reconsider Sereme’s incongruously clean appearance.
Raeve produces a lark from Sereme’s desk. The note, signed by Elding, directs Sereme to control Raeve for political purposes and not overuse the bind’s pain, revealing a larger conspiracy. Kaan pockets the note as proof, and they prepare to proceed.
Ahvi assembles a ritual: a shimmering mixture, feathers and coal, and circles of runes around the Book of Voyd and Raeve. He adds a drop of his blood and asks for a large measure of Raeve’s blood, which Kaan binds after she bleeds into a mug. As Ahvi paints runes, he explains he will “pull a time spine,” severing the original blood bind by manipulating the moment Raeve gave Sereme her blood.
Ahvi reveals the consequence: Raeve will physically revert to the state she was in just before the original bind—near death—necessitating an immediate new tether to the Book of Voyd. Raeve fears she will die without a stabilizing bind, but Ahvi insists it is the only way. He begins to finalize the runes as Raeve hesitates to explain the risk to Kaan.
Before Raeve can refuse, Sereme inflicts remote pain through the bind, wracking Raeve with agony. Seeing Raeve collapse, Kaan urges action. Ahvi apologizes and completes the final rune, activating the ritual to undo Sereme’s bind and initiate the rebind to the Book.
Who Appears
- RaeveLeads the group to the cavern of her original bind; recalls near-death; provides blood; endures Sereme’s pain as the unbinding begins.
- KaanProtective and alarmed; shapes stairs with Bulder’s tongue; questions Sereme’s access; orders Ahvi to finish the ritual when Sereme attacks.
- AhviPrepares complex runic ritual to sever Sereme’s bind by manipulating time; uses Raeve’s blood; plans to rebind her to the Book of Voyd.
- SeremeAbsent antagonist whose bind still controls Raeve; inflicts pain remotely; implicated by Elding’s directive letter.
- EldingAuthor of the lark directing Sereme to control Raeve for political aims; warns against overusing the bind.
- FallonRaeve’s lost companion; memory fuels Raeve’s grief and context for her desperate state before Sereme’s bind.