CHAPTER 40

Jefri and Amdi crawl through dark castle tunnels as oil surges behind them. They force an exit to a hillside amid Steel’s massed troops. Steel’s packs ignite the oil into a wall of fire, isolating the outer forces and blocking escape routes.

Pham, Johanna, Pilgrim, and Blueshell bring the lander close, but a mishap grounds it. Against Pham’s orders, Blueshell rolls toward the walls to reach Jefri. Pham and Pilgrim fight back Steel’s packs while seeking a safe path through the flames.

Blueshell reaches Jefri and Amdi at the gap just as fire closes it. He loads them aboard, covers them with a heat shield, and drives blind through the inferno. Pham and Johanna watch helplessly as the skrode emerges ablaze and collapses near the lander.

Pilgrim pulls back the scarf to reveal Jefri and Amdi alive but shaken; Amdi’s coherence is damaged. Johanna and Jefri reunite in tears. Blueshell is dead, his trunk burst and fronds charred, leaving Pham torn between guilt, grief, and the drive of his implanted mission.

As the fires ebb and the ramparts fall silent, Ravna reports Steel’s forces retreating north. Pham commandeers the lander’s loudspeaker to summon Woodcarver’s help in breaching the castle so he can reach the Countermeasure. Meanwhile, net fragments announce the fall of Sandor Arbitration and debate the Blight’s unprecedented moves, with its fleet only hours from the system.