Blood Over Bright Haven

The epigraph is a verse from the Leonid that describes God’s Light following Leon and burning away falsehoods.

Thomil successfully creates a conduit, showing enough talent to mimic Sciona’s spellwork instead of schoolbook spellwork. Sciona, meanwhile, has made little to no progress on her mapping spells. While she can make better maps than others, she still cannot see where she is siphoning from. Sciona believes it should be possible to see the Otherrealm clearly; it is Faene, not Leon, who declared that the Otherrealm is beyond human comprehension. Thomil wonders if seeing the Otherrealm is dangerous, but encourages her, since even her Tirasian employers would prefer the benefit of a clear mapping spell to religious obedience.

With only a week to perfect her spells, Sciona considers joining forces with Renthorn, but Thomil is furiously against the idea. She says that Thomil is stunningly good at magic, which he attributes to mapping the land as a hunter. Sciona is startled to learn he grew up outside Tiran, unlike most second- or third-generation Kwen in the city. Thomil refuses to share what the Crossing was like.

Later, as Thomil reads a book on runes, he explains that he has seen runes before in the Kwen wilderness where the Venholt Endrastae tribe lived. This pings for Sciona: Leon received his visions from God in the Venhold mountain range, so she concludes that he must have preserved the precious knowledge of the runes, saving them from the Kwen and the Blight. Thomil points out that Blight started five years after Leon took the runes, meaning he stole the knowledge without any real purpose. Sciona is annoyed that Thomil is so dismissive of her beliefs. Thomil retorts that he doesn’t believe in her God; he only cut his hair short to conform so he could get a job. Sciona asks about Kwen faith traditions, so he reluctantly explains his belief in the outcome of actions, not the intention: “It’s much easier to tell yourself you’re a good person than it is to actually be one” (149).

Sciona orders him to be quiet, but then feels guilty for using their power imbalance to win an argument. Remembering the principle of magic, “Truth over delusion,” she apologizes and tells him to never stop contradicting her. He cannot be both civil and honest, so she tells him to always be honest. Thomil takes this to heart and finally explains what meidra means: a powerful female sorceress, renowned among Kwen. Kwen magicians were women because magic was a protective art practiced by people who did not hunt. Sciona doesn’t believe witches could have been powerful, but Thomil points out the internalized misogyny of her assumptions.

The epigraph is a verse from the Leonid that calls magic hope and urges Tiranish people to pursue truth at all costs.

Sciona is unable to sleep, thinking about the Kwen witches. She realizes that they might not have been performing divination, but mapping. She leaves Aunt Winny’s house early to go back to her laboratory to investigate.

Sciona finds the account of Highmage Jurowyn, the last to travel the Kwen wilds before it became illegal. He described a witch he befriended, who protected her family with her magic and could open windows to another realm, but refused to show him how it is done. Other early highmages wrote that the energy pools of the witches are sinful, but the mapping of Leon is holy. To Sciona this proves that they are using the same magic. In a book on the history of magic, Sciona reads that Archmage Stravos, who had both Tiranish and Kwen heritage, and a disability, was the primary sourcer for the barrier spells erected by Leon.

Renthorn and another mage find her and taunt her for her lack of progress. She realizes Renthorn is desperate to know what she is up to because he needs a path forward himself.

In her lab, Sciona looks through Stravos’s complex spellwork for a way to open a clear Otherrealm window. Eventually, she transforms it into a spellograph-compatible mapping spell and creates the clearest image of the Otherrealm to date. The next step is clearing the image entirely. Thomil encourages her, so she casts a spell that shows a perfectly clear window; in it, they see a snowy landscape with animals and bushes.

Sciona’s delight is offset by Thomil’s alarm. The view looks exactly like the Kwen wilds. He asks her to cast a spell; as she does, she siphons energy from a bush, which unravels into light and energy. Thomil, horrified, grabs the spellograph and hurls it against the wall, shakily explaining that what they just saw was Blight.

The epigraph is a verse from the Leonid that announces Leon’s founding of Tiran as a holy, protected site.

Shaking and grief-ridden, he once again declares that he knows what Blight looks like: His father was siphoned in front of him, spattering him with blood. Sciona struggles to understand, wondering how Tiranish magic could do such a thing, since it is the holy command of God.

Thomil challenges her to consider the Forbidden Coordinates, pointing out that they are the exact shape of Tiran. As she pictures it in her mind, she realizes he is right. However, she refuses to accept that the founders would have built a city on human life. Thomil grows angrier. Sciona, overwhelmed, slaps him. Thomil coldly challenges her to kill him, just another Kwen person dying for Tiranish comfort. He bitterly tells her that she worships a lie.

Horrified, Sciona runs back to her office, grabs another spellograph, and maps to a spot she knows has energy. The screen shows a beautiful ocean, with a few black-haired people gathering shells. Convinced God would never allow magic to siphon from people, she casts a spell, which immediately shreds apart a young woman on the beach. Horrified, Sciona stops the spell, but the girl is already half-unraveled. Sciona watches her lungs moving through exposed ribs as she dies “for a flash of fire here in Sciona’s lab a thousand miles away” (183).

The epigraph is a verse from the Tirasid, which declares that Kwen are brutes who will die in hell for their savage ways.

Sciona kneels on the floor and screams until Bringham and other mages force the door. She gasps that she killed a teenage girl and tries to explain that she saw the Otherrealm, but loses control and vomits. As a Kwen boy cleans up, Bringham tells her she has found a curse, likely one left by Sabernyn years prior to scare a young, bright mage in the future. Doubtful, Sciona decides to take some time off. The other mages whisper that her poor mental health is proof that no woman is fit for their work.

Sciona asks Aunt Winny if she is a good person and then sobs in her arms. She mourns every spell she has ever cast, knowing it cost lives. In her room, she feels that her death would improve the world, since she would no longer draw resources or harm people. She questions God; in dying she wants to go to Hell and ask the mages what they were thinking. As Sciona steps off the ledge, however, Alba pulls her back. Sciona screams.

Thomil sits up at the top of a defunct water tower in the Kwen district, overlooking the sleeping city and having suicidal ideation. He is furious with Sciona in particular because she granted him the first hope he’s felt in years. He’s grown fond of her, believing she sees him as a human being.

Carra, now a teenager, finds him up on the water tower, frightening him by how quietly she moves—something she’s learned to do as a chimney sweeper, an unusual job for a young girl. Carra goes through the world in a rage: “all the energy that had been loving in Maeva was cold in Carra. All the power that had been steady in Arras was wild in her. Angry” (198). Carra asks if Renthorn has hurt Thomil again, but Thomil quietly explains that he trusted someone he shouldn’t have. He tells her the truth about the Blight, not wanting to carry the burden alone. Caldonnae are honest people, and he has raised her to be Caldonnae to a fault. Usually, these sorts of burdens are shared by an entire tribe—but now the two of them are the whole of their tribe.

Carra screams into the waking city until the factories roar to life and drown her voice out. Thomil begs for forgiveness from the gods of the Caldonnae.

The epigraph is an excerpt from a medical alchemy textbook. It explains that women have different minds than men; women with mental illness need to be soothed through submission, typically by lobotomy.

Sciona has nightmares of her body falling apart, with the Leonid rotting around her. Alba begs to help her, but Sciona sees no escape since everything in her life is tied to death. Aunt Winny calls for the prescribed medical treatment: lobotomy. Alba forces Sciona to pull herself together so that an alchemist doesn’t ruin her brain. Sciona realizes, with Alba’s help, that if she is smart enough to get herself into this mess, she is smart enough, and has enough of an ego, to get herself out of it.

The alchemist is stunned that his patient is a very calm Highmage Freynan, which she uses to her advantage. She explains that if he doesn’t obey her orders, she will jump out of the window. This would reflect badly on him as a doctor, since another of his patients, the baker’s older brother, died by suicide before. The alchemist argues that she should sacrifice her intelligence and misery for stability and happiness, which she rejects: Emotion cannot be transmuted into something new, so misery cannot become happiness. Instead, emotion should be treated as motivation: She intends to use her hatred and grief for good. She sends the doctor away and decides to make it up to Thomil, and then ensure she is remembered by the world.