A Dawn of Onyx

Arwen falls asleep in her chambers while waiting for Kane to return as he promised. When she wakes, he is in her bed, and she is in his arms. However, when Arwen attempts to become intimate with him, Kane is reluctant because he is not sure what the future holds, given the war. However, when Arwen admits to her feelings and declares that she wants to be his, Kane gives in to their mutual attraction.

Before matters progress too far, the amorous moment is interrupted by the distant fire of cannons. They hurriedly get dressed in combat leathers as the castle comes under attack.

Kane and Arwen rush to find her family. Along the way, Arwen feels immense guilt, believing that she is to blame for the attack and admits to Kane that she told Halden of the alliance that Onyx is planning to make with Peridot. Kane reassures her that the fault for the attack lies only with Gareth and Lazarus.

When they reach her family’s quarters, Arwen is horrified to learn that Leigh is missing. Ryder and her mother are sent with everyone else to escape the castle and board the ships at Siren’s Cove. Meanwhile, Arwen and Kane stay behind to find Leigh. Remembering that Leigh loves animals, Arwen insists on checking the stables. There, they find Leigh freeing the horses.

They are about to flee the stables when a lone soldier, Halden, enters. Leigh throws herself at Halden and hugs him, but when she notices Arwen’s wary reaction, she rushes back behind her sister. When Arwen begs Halden to let them flee, he draws his sword and refuses. Kane cryptically mutters that Halden must know, and his comment confuses Arwen. However, there is no time for elaboration, and Kane and Halden engage in battle. Before Arwen and Leigh can flee, several more soldiers enter the barn and restrain Kane, leaving Halden free to pursue the sisters. Arwen fights back with all her strength, breaking Halden’s nose and loosening the soldiers’ grips on Kane just enough for him to regain the upper hand.

When all the soldiers are dead and Halden is knocked unconscious, they flee the barn, only to be surrounded by more enemy soldiers. Kane reluctantly pulls on his magic and releases the shadows, blanketing the entire area in an unnatural darkness that smothers the enemies, leaving them all dead. Though this show of power provokes terror in both Leigh and Arwen, they follow Kane to the boats, which have all been sunk. In the distance, they spot Mari wielding magic on a boat filled with escapees. Kane is shocked to realize that Mari is a witch, and when Arwen mentions that they stole Briar Creighton’s amulet from his study, he admits that the necklace holds no actual power.

Arwen, Leigh, and Kane rush toward Mari’s position but are intercepted by Lazarus. When Lazarus calls Kane his assassin, Arwen realizes that Princess Amelia was correct in her warning that Kane has been keeping secrets. Lazarus recites the seer’s full prophecy, which states:

A king doomed to fall at the hands of his second son. A city turned to ash and bones / The fallen star will mean war has once again begun. / The final Fae of full-blood born at last, / Will find the Blade of the Sun inside her heart. / Father and child will meet again in war a half century past, / And with the rise of the phoenix will the final battle start. / A king who can only meet his end at her hands, / A girl who knows what she must choose, / A sacrifice made to save both troubled lands; / Without it, an entire realm will lose. A tragedy for both full Fae, as each shall fall, / Alas, it is the price to pay to save them all (364).

Hearing this, Arwen realizes that she is the last full-blooded Fae and that she is destined to kill Lazarus and fated to die. She also realizes that Kane’s vested interest in her has been based on his knowledge of this prophecy. When Lazarus lifts a silver dagger to plunge it through Arwen’s chest, Kane lashes out with his dark power to defend her. Lazarus summons his magic to send a shard of ice through Kane’s chest, and Kane suddenly transforms into a dragon—the same black dragon who first carried Arwen to Onyx. Lazarus transforms into a wyvern to counter Kane, and they engage in battle. Arwen and Leigh take the opportunity to flee toward Mari’s ship.

Once on board, they reunite with their mother and Ryder. The ship begins to set sail, but when a stray arrow from the enemy finds its mark in her mother’s chest, Arwen is unable to heal her because her magic has never worked on her mother. Arwen and her siblings are left devastated. Enraged by her mother’s death, Arwen walks to the stern of the ship, pulls all the energy from the air around her in, and releases it in a torrent, aiming it at the enemy on shore. The sheer blast of power kills every living thing serving the enemy. Arwen collapses onto the ship’s deck, sobbing.

When Arwen wakes, Mari is at her side. Mari informs Arwen that she has cloaked the ship so that it can’t be followed, but she also admits that there was nobody left of the enemy forces to follow them after Arwen’s episode. Arwen appeases Mari’s hurt feelings by explaining that she had not known of her own identity as a Fae until the battle. Meanwhile, Arwen’s mind is reeling at the discovery that both her parents—her mother and her mysterious father—were full-blooded Fae themselves.

On deck, Kane informs everyone that they will sail for the Kingdom of Citrine. This announcement is met with a humorless laugh from Griffin, who states that they will not be welcomed with open arms. Arwen is still angry with Kane but gains more clarification from him when he confirms that she is Fae. He then reveals that Commander Griffin is also Fae and that both Kane and Griffin are capable of shapeshifting. Kane tells Arwen that the Blade of the Sun mentioned in the prophecy was the object that Halden was trying to steal from his vault; Halden was also trying to track down the Fae from the seer’s prophecy. However, the blade was stolen years ago. It is the only weapon that can kill Lazarus, and only when Arwen wields it.

Though Kane is devoted to ensuring that Lazarus never captures Arwen, she still feels deeply betrayed by lies. She declares that she will help him to end this war by finding the Blade of the Sun and killing Lazarus. Afterwards, she plans to find a way to save the Fae realm and avenge all those whose lives were lost. However, she declares that she and Kane have no romantic future together.