The Ancient, named Aydun, introduces himself as an Arae (or Fate). He answered a summons from Kolis and is carrying out his will to hold a meeting with Sera. Despite Ash’s angry reaction, Aydun assures them that his role is to keep their meeting civil and ensure no violence occurs.

Ash and Sera speak alone before she leaves. Sera admits that losing Ash scares her even more than Kolis. Now that Kolis is the Primal of Death and she is the Primal of Life, it has left Ash without a true court and, potentially, vulnerable in a way that he has never been before. Ash finally relents when Sera promises him that she won’t let Kolis’s words affect her.

Aydun uses the portal to travel to Dalos. Before entering, he stops Sera. He warns her of the importance of this meeting to prevent war. All the “threads” of futures that the Arae see involve war; however, Sera has repeatedly changed the threads. He tells her to trust her instincts, pointing at her chest.

Sera breaks down the gates to Dalos, ignoring Aydun’s request that they wait for their summons. Inside, they are immediately confronted by Callum, Sotoria’s brother and a Revanant who can bring himself back to life. He berates Sera for lying about being Sotoria, something she did to protect herself from Kolis when she was his captive. In response, Sera grabs his dagger and kills him, knowing that he will return.

In the Great Hall, Sera sees several of Kolis’s “creatures” in various stages of sexual pleasure. Kolis often takes Chosen, immortals who are destined to become gods, and experiments on them, leaving them in various states of godhood. Kyn, Kolis’s strongest ally, sits on the dais with a godling on his lap. Seeing that she is in distress, Sera frees her, invoking Kyn’s wrath. When Kyn threatens Sera, she draws on the eather to burn his insides. Aydun intervenes, sending Kyn from the room.

Kolis then arrives. Sera can immediately see that he is greatly weakened. He sends everyone from the room except for Sera, Aydun, and Callum, who has already returned.

Kolis offers to let Sera remain Primal of Life. He will rule the realm as the Primal of Death—something that has never been done before. He also asks for the Star diamond, which contains Sotoria’s soul. In return, there will be no war.

Aydun suggests that Sera make an offer in return. The responsibility overwhelms her with anxiety, as it is not something that she had planned for. She tells Kolis that he can keep Dalos and remain Primal of Death; however, he will have no control over the realm, and she will be Queen. He also will not get Sotoria. In return, all he gets is no war.

In response, Kolis moves quickly from the throne, standing directly in front of Sera. He uses his sykik, his enchanting ability, to return Sera to the trauma of being his captive. She fights against the visions she sees, repeatedly telling herself that she is safe. Eventually, Aydun intervenes, as the entire castle begins to shake. He warns Kolis that Ash is causing the tremors, as he is moments from disrupting their meeting in response to Sera’s stress. Sera works up the courage to tell Kolis that he “disgusts” her, then Kolis vanishes.

Aydun then tells Sera that she has a month to consider Kolis’s deal, even though she already knows that she will say no. He reminds her to do whatever her “instincts” tell her.

Sera returns to the Shadowlands and meets with Nektas and Ash. She tells them about her time with Kolis. They seem bothered by the fact that Sera offered to let him live if it brought peace. However, she argues that their revenge is not as important as peace in the realm. Sera continues to insist that Kolis does not truly want war, as he would not want to rule “bones.” In the end, they decide to continue with their plan of gathering the Primals.

The next day, Ash goes to Vathi. Sera paces with Reaver, trying to distract herself. She starts thinking about The Prophecy of the Ancients, a prophecy spoken by the goddess Penellaphe that outlines the destruction of the realms. It speaks of a Primal of Life and Death, which parallels Aydun’s words about a war ending in “blood and bone” (259). She tries to call on Holland to ask him but is unsure how to do it. Several guards then come to her room and tell her that the goddess Penellaphe has arrived at the castle.

Sera meets with Penellaphe and Ward, the first viktor (a person designated by the Arae to protect an important being). When she sees Ward, she has strange visions from her vadentia. She questions whether he is truly centuries old.

Ward tells his story. Centuries ago, he was charged with protecting the Queen of the Vodina Isles. When the King took a mistress and impregnated her, the Queen instructed Ward to kill her and the child. However, unable to do so, Ward instead hid the woman until she could give birth. He also secretly trained her in combat. She then killed the Queen, usurping her throne and allowing her son, Ronan, to rule. The woman’s name was Seraphena, the Silver Knight, and she was Sera’s relative. Sera was named after her. Ward was rewarded by the Arae and turned into a viktor for saving Seraphena, thus allowing Sera to be born and change the world centuries later.

The three then discuss the prophecy. Sera mentions a third part not spoken by Penellaphe, which Kolis knew. It discusses one person becoming “Primal of Blood and Bone” (272) and ruling all others; Kolis believes that person is him.

Surprised by Sera’s revelation, Penellaphe insists that Kolis is wrong. The vision that she saw was hundreds of years in the future. The prophecy speaks of “two daughters” and “the realms [being] remade” (273), neither of which applies to Kolis. All the gods go into stasis for centuries before the final part of the prophecy is fulfilled. Ward argues that both Kolis and Penellaphe could be right: Kolis could go into statis and, centuries from now, awaken to bring about the end of the prophecy. Because Sera cannot remember the exact words, she decides to speak with Keella about it when they discuss entombing Kolis.

The three then discuss Sotoria. Because the prophecy described Sera killing the Primal of Death, believed to be Ash, Eythos put Sotoria’s soul and the embers of life into Sera’s bloodline. Once Sera was reborn as Sotoria, Eythos believed that she would fall in love with Ash rather than kill him, in turn allowing Ash to take the embers and become the Primal of Life. Sera expresses her confusion over how Eythos could have believed Ash could do this. However, Ward posits a new idea: Instead of wanting Ash to be the Primal of Life, Eythos could have wanted Sera to become the Primal of Life all along. Then, they could use Sera/Sotoria as a weapon to kill Kolis, thereby allowing Ash to become the rightful Primal of Death.

These thoughts make Sera realize that the true threat to Kolis is Ash. Because Sera became Primal of Life, Kolis again became Primal of Death. Ash is now the only person capable of taking his embers and usurping him. She panics, wondering if she has been restless because Ash is in danger. She abruptly ends the meeting, then shadowsteps to Ash’s side.

Sera arrives in Vathi relieved to find Ash safe, but she is still anxious. She senses something in the forest, then sees a knyakos (Dog of War) run from the trees. Attes quickly kills it, but it is followed by dozens more.

Ash insists that Sera should not fight the kynakos, so he, Attes, and Lailah begin killing them. However, Sera realizes that they are directly targeting Ash. Overwhelmed with anger, she calls upon her eather to fight back. It comes out in tendrils, obliterating all the remaining kynakos in moments. The group decides that they must have been sent by Kyn to kill Ash for Kolis.

Ash and Sera return to the Shadowlands. Sera tells him about her conversation with Penellaphe. They agree that the best idea is to entomb Kolis until Sotoria is reborn and her soul leaves the Star diamond. Then, they can use the Star diamond to remove Kolis’s embers of death and transfer them to Ash.

After, Ash and Sera have sex. Ash tells her that he would like to paint her nude. She is shocked to learn that he enjoys painting and that he is good at it. However, he has not painted since his parents died when he did a portrait of them both. She insists on seeing other paintings that he has done.

Ash and Sera are called to the throne room to see Attes. He is with Thierran, an oneirou, who can invade dreams and manipulate emotions. Attes was supposed to be calling the other Primals with Lailah. However, he points out that Sera has entered into an eirini, or truce, that makes it so that neither can act against the other without consequences. Their meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Kyn.

Ash angrily confronts Kyn as he comes into the throne room. Kyn ignores him, instead turning his attention to Attes. He insists that he needs to collect a debt for the killing of his kynakos. He then warns Attes that he is endangering his life by pledging allegiance to Sera. The two argue, with Attes making it clear that he will no longer support Kolis’s abuse of power or corruption.

As Ash tries to force Kyn to leave, Kyn turns on him and Sera. He goads Ash, telling him that he will take Sera as his own when Ash is killed. When he starts to say something else, Ash attacks him. As they fight, the others beg Sera to stop them. She knows that she should: Despite everything Kyn has done, she believes he does not deserve to die. However, Sera does not intervene. Ash rips out Kyn’s heart and crushes it in his hand. He orders the guards to remove the body, knowing that Kyn will rejuvenate.

The next morning, Ash and Sera go to the Thyia Plains to speak with Keella. In order not to upset the Arae and the eirini, they decide to speak carefully so as not to involve Keella with their plans. From her, they learn that celastite—a mineral that came with the Ancients when they fell from the stars—was necessary to entomb them. It is found in the mortal lands.

Sera asks about the prophecy, and Keella writes it down for them. From it, they learn that two “daughters” will “remake the realms” (335). Keella speculates that it could be related to Sera’s bloodline. Kolis misunderstood the order of the prophecy: Instead of becoming the Primal of Blood and Bone, the prophecy implies that he will be responsible for the awakening of the Ancients and the destruction of the realms.

The next day, Ash and Sera tell Attes what they learned. Sera then pulls Attes aside. She apologizes to Attes for how he must feel about Kyn, as Kyn is his brother. Even though he is corrupt, Sera knows that Attes still cares for him. Attes insists that he will do what needs to be done.