The Legendborn Cycle, #3
Oathbound
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 60
Overview
Bree confronts Erebus at Penumbra to reclaim her soul fragment, but he refuses a clean trade and forces her into a crueler bargain. With Nick and Mariah’s help, Bree exposes the Shadow King’s victims and discovers she can use their blood-bound connection to compel him.
The confrontation ends with Bree choosing to restore her soul even after Erebus threatens Alice’s fate in purgatory. Bree regains her memories, emotions, root magic, and full sense of her love for Nick, but the victory carries a devastating cost and confirms Erebus’s claim that she has become ruthless.
Summary
Bree, Nick, and Mariah reach the dark, empty Penumbra estate just before the arranged meeting with Erebus. Still shaken by Selwyn’s earlier intervention, they agree on roles: Mariah will flee if overmatched, Nick will handle the crown’s enchantment, and Bree will lead the bargain. Bree also asks Nick to trust her if events turn against them.
In the garden, Erebus meets them alone and immediately tries to belittle Mariah and Nick. Bree offers his crown in exchange for her missing soul fragment, but Erebus changes the terms: Nick must remove the Morgaine enchantment, Bree must return the crown, and Erebus will consider their old bargain complete while keeping her soul piece. Bree accepts because she refuses to let Erebus hold an open-ended claim over her life.
Nick begins peeling away the Morgaine magic from the crown, then stops with two bands left and darts away as planned. Mariah uses her ability to pull shadows from Erebus while Bree encloses herself, Erebus, and the crown inside a purple barrier. The effort reveals the ghosts of countless people Erebus has killed and consumed across centuries, including the original Erebus, tethered to the Shadow King’s body.
The Shadow King drops the human mask and admits he has devoured human lives to experience humanity, while Bree argues that he depends on the desires and messiness of the people he consumes. As Mariah weakens and Bree’s bloodmark burns, Bree realizes that the open magical connection between them runs both ways. She grasps an invisible thread tying her to the Shadow King and uses it to call and control him.
Bree demands that the Shadow King make her soul whole, but he reveals another stake: as Arawn of Annwfyn, he can command hounds circling Alice in purgatory and will ensure Alice never wakes if Bree forces him to restore the fragment. Nick tells Bree that either choice will be right. In anguish, Bree chooses to restore her own soul, and Erebus returns the fragment.
Bree’s missing people and memories flood back, along with the full force of her joy, love, fear, and grief. Her root magic returns, but Mariah collapses from exhaustion, and Bree realizes Alice may be lost. Bree also fully remembers and feels her bond with Nick, seeing that he has yearned for her as deeply as she longed for him. When Bree releases the Shadow King, Erebus falls bleeding and claims the lesson is over: Bree has become ruthless after all.
Who Appears
- Briana “Bree” MatthewsConfronts Erebus, compels him through their bond, and chooses to restore her fractured soul.
- Erebus / the Shadow King / ArawnBargains cruelly, reveals his consumed victims, threatens Alice, and returns Bree’s soul fragment.
- Nick DavisSupports Bree, removes most of the crown’s enchantment, and affirms her impossible choice.
- MariahUses magic to expose Erebus’s shadows and victims, then collapses from the strain.
- Alice ChenAbsent but central; revealed to be trapped in purgatory and hunted by Arawn’s hounds.
- Selwyn KaneAbsent presence; Bree’s restored memories bring back his smile, voice, and importance to her life.