As Sera awakens, she is comforted by Ash’s presence. She realizes that she now has heightened eyesight, something that came as a result of her Ascension to Primal. Ash explains that she will gain other senses in the coming days. Ash’s father, Myktos, who is responsible for Sera’s Ascension because he transferred the embers of life to her bloodline before he died, had the ability of vadentia (“foresight”).

Ash insists that they need to find food for Sera so she can continue to recover. As Sera goes to bathe, they are interrupted by a sudden mist that enters the room. Just before everything goes dark, Sera senses a mysterious “ancient” presence.

Sera wakes up in a dark chamber. Three cloaked riders appear before her. She recognizes them as “the riders of the end of everything,” known as “War. Pestilence. Hunger” (19). They repeatedly tell her that she needs to “prove” herself now that she is the Primal of Life.

A monstrous three-headed creature appears before Sera. The riders tell her to kill it, and a sword appears before her. Using her memories of training with Holland, Sera learns about the creature and realizes that its center head is in control. After a brief struggle, she manages to behead it. It disappears in a bright red light, then her stepbrother, Tavius, appears in its place.

The horsemen once again tell Sera to prove herself, and Sera begins attacking Tavius. As she goes to get the sword, she realizes that she has already punished Tavius by killing him before. As much as she wants to destroy his soul, she realizes that she has no right to kill him again. She then thinks of all the people that she has killed, all of it done without remorse and without the authority to do it. She tells the horsemen that she will not kill Tavius.

To Sera’s surprise, the horsemen are satisfied with her answer. They tell her that it is her responsibility to respect life and death. They promise to do her bidding in the future when she needs to call on them. After they leave, Sera realizes that the “monster” she needed to kill was the one within herself.

Sera returns to her bedchamber and sees that Ash is in bed, asleep. She goes onto the balcony where she meets Nektas in his god form. He remembers when Eythos Ascended to Primal of Life and went through the same thing. His biggest weakness was his ego, which took him hundreds of years to overcome.

Sera asks about Eythos’s vadentia. Nektas assures her that it will grow stronger within her over time. Near the end, Eythos could tell everything about a person when in their presence; sometimes, however, it was less clear why he was being led to something or had a strong feeling to do something. In the end, Nektas reassures Sera that she is worthy of being the Primal of Life.

When Ash awakens, Sera tells him about seeing the horsemen. She questions whether she is a bad person for having always been willing to kill people without remorse. However, Ash assures her that her bad choices do not define her. He reminds her that she has fought for the Shadowlands without hesitation and earned the respect of the gods.

Ash and Sera discuss Kolis. It is unlikely that anyone is powerful enough to kill him. Instead, he will need to die by the hand of someone he loves. They can use the bones of the Ancients, gods who ruled before the Primals, to entomb him, but they likely do not have enough. During her Ascension, Sera learned of the Ancients that were put into stasis in the ground. If they awaken, they will bring “unia and eram” (“ruin and wrath”) to the realm (59).

Sera talks about her time in Kolis’s dungeons, specifically how Ione and Attes helped her. Ash hesitates, then asks what Kolis did to Sera while she was captive.

The question sends Sera into a panic. She chastises herself, insisting that she should be stronger; however, she has vivid memories of Kolis asserting his control over her. She vows never to let her autonomy be taken away from her again. Instead of explaining this to Ash, she changes the subject back to how to defeat Kolis. Their best chance is to wound him with bone from an Ancient, then leave the weapon inside of him, as it will not allow his wounds to heal. Even then, Ash admits that it will only buy them a few years, as the ground itself will work to free a Primal. The other option is to use Sotoria, the woman Kolis has always loved, as they now have her soul in the Star diamond. However, Sera does not want to force Sotoria to be reborn or to act on their behalf, as she has spent her entire existence being reborn and abused by Kolis. In the end, they decide that they need to speak with Keella, the Primal of Rebirth, as she is the only Primal that is as old as Kolis.

Finally, Sera suggests a meeting with the other Primals. She wants to rule in a democracy, giving the other Primals an equal say. It has never been done before, but Sera is adamant that it is the only logical way for people to be ruled.

Reaver and Jadis (Nektas’s daughter), two of the youngest draken in the Shadowlands, visit Ash and Sera. Reaver, whose parents were killed by Kolis, tells them how afraid he was that they, too, would be killed by Kolis. He begins to cry, and Ash pulls him into the bathing chamber to give him privacy as Sera thinks of how good he is with the young draken. Sera also learns that she can already understand Jadis when she speaks in her draken form, meaning that her powers are developing faster than Ash expected.

That night, Sera has nightmares of being imprisoned by Kolis. She feels Ash’s reassuring presence, which allows her to push the terror away.

The next morning, as Sera prepares to meet with the gods of the Shadowlands to discuss their plan, Aios visits her. Aios was one of the first true friends that Sera met when she came to the Shadowlands, while others kept their distance. When Kyn, Attes’s brother, attacked, Aios was killed; Sera used her powers to bring her back to life.

Aios thanks Sera for saving her. Sera is hesitant, as she has come to realize that saving people is not always the right choice; a life must always be traded for the one she brings back. Despite Aios’s gratitude, a voice within Sera tells her that she is disrupting the “natural order of things” (91) by deciding who should be saved and who shouldn’t.

Aios asks Sera if she is doing all right since being held captive by Kolis. Because Aios was once one of Kolis’s “favorites,” she went through abuse similar to what Sera experienced. Despite how affected she is by it, Sera insists she is fine.

After Aios leaves, Sera looks out over the balcony. The land used to be overwhelmed by the Rot, a disease that destroyed crops due to the imbalance among the Primals. Sera’s Ascension healed the land, but Sera is nervous it will not come fast enough to bring crops before winter.

When Ash returns, he tells Sera that the gods are ready to meet with her for the first time as Queen. He reassures her that she will be the Queen that the Shadowlands need.

When Sera enters the chamber, the gods bow to her. It embarrasses her while reminding her that she is now the Queen. She orders them to no longer bow while she enters a room. She also reminds them that Ash is now King and her equal, an idea that brings surprise to the others. However, they agree with her decision.

The conversation then shifts to Kolis. Several of the gods wish to attack him. They are convinced that he will start a war to maintain control of his kingdom. Sera insists that Kolis is smarter and more calculating than they give him credit for; she believes he will not start a war that will risk losing supporters and that he knows he cannot win. However, Ash disagrees with her, believing that Kolis will react irrationally to the threat of losing his power.

Sera reveals her plan to call the other Primals for a council about forming a democracy. Although a few of the gods point out how unique the idea is, everyone seems to support it. Of the 10 Primals, they are sure that Keella and Attes will side with them, while they are certain that Kyn and Veses will remain loyal to Kolis.

After the council, Sera goes with Ash, Rhain, and Lailah to the Valley of Blood. They look out at their 42,000 soldiers who, to Sera’s surprise, bow to her. Kyn has the largest army, followed by Phanos and Embris, whose armies are similar in size to Ash’s. The rest have armies smaller than 5,000. If they cannot convince both Phanos and Embris to join them, they will be outnumbered.

That afternoon, Rhain prepares Sera to address the citizens of the Shadowlands. As she tries to find clothes to wear, Rhain insists that she needs to dress elegantly. However, at Aios’s urging, she instead chooses a simple tunic. She wants to dress how she is comfortable—both for her and the people.

That night, as they prepare for bed, Sera has a realization. She wonders if she can use her powers to help bring life back to the rivers and the land to help crops grow more quickly.

Unable to resist the urge to try, Sera leaves with Ash in the middle of the night. They travel to the riverbeds, then Sera crouches in the dirt. Pulling on the eather, Sera “wills” water to appear. Slowly, it begins sprouting up from the soil. Grass grows quickly, as do poppies all around them, growing from new plants to fully bloomed in a matter of seconds.

In the middle of the night, Sera wakes up feeling sick. She goes to her bathing chamber and drinks water, then splashes some on her face. Looking in the mirror, she feels a “cord” of connection extending out of her body. Her reflection then changes to that of Kolis, flashing briefly in the mirror. She tells Ash that she now knows for certain that Kolis has awakened from stasis.

As Ash and Sera approach the City Hall, Sera is anxious about how her address to the people will go. The entire city, plus the new arrivals, totals over 100,000 people. However, Ash reassures her, and she finds comfort in his support.

Rhain announces Sera and Ash, then they take the dais. The crowd and the gods bow, then rise as Sera and Ash sit on their thrones. Instead of remaining on the thrones as they are supposed to, Sera decides to walk to the edge of the stage so she can be closer to the people. As she looks out at them, she is shocked to see “acceptance” and “devotion” on every face, without any fear or uncertainty. She tells them of her decision to rule alongside Ash as Queen and King, their promise to feed and house anyone who comes to their city, and their desire to treat everyone—including mortals—as equals. The crowd erupts in cheers around them.

That night, Sera has a nightmare of being in Kolis’s cage. She feels his arms wrap around her from behind and hears his voice whispering to her. She tries to yell out but realizes she has no voice. Ash’s voice pulls her from the dream. He soothes her and forces her to slow her breathing to calm down. She tries to apologize, but Ash insists that she has no reason to be sorry. He tries to talk to her about her nightmare, but she refuses.