57 pages 1 hour read

Katherine Applegate

The Last: Endling #1

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Symbols & Motifs

The Light of Nedarra

The Light of Nedarra is Khara’s sword. The sword is part of the Arms of Kainor, the weaponry owned by Nedarra’s greatest hero, Kainor the Magnificent. Khara came to own the sword because her great-grandfather was the Baron of Riverhome, Keeper of the Arms of Kainor the Magnificent. Unfortunately, Khara’s great-grandfather was arrested and killed after the Corpli family turned on the Donatis and the Rantizzos during the war to overthrow the first Murdano years before. Somehow, the Arms of Kainor survived, and Khara’s father gave the Light of Nedarra to her, but he also sheathed it in theurgy spells to hide its true identity.

The Light of Nedarra is symbolic of the betrayal that the Donati family suffered as well as Khara’s desire to get revenge against those who betrayed her family and humiliated them by handing their ancestral home over to the Murdano’s seer and his descendants. Hidden beneath layers of magic to appear as a bent and ineffectual weapon, its appearance mirrors Khara’s own unassuming appearance, for although she seems to be just a plain guide and often disguises herself as a boy, she possesses great strength of character, many valuable skills, and a noble lineage. Khara also wields the sword well, using skills that her father taught to her.