Dark Age

Lysander is imprisoned with Alexander and a few other Golds whom the Gorgons have captured and tortured for information. Badly injured, Lysander gives them a false name—Cato au Vitruvius, a pseudonym prepared for him in case of emergency—and he tells them that Heliopolis hasn’t fallen yet.

Xenophon takes Ephraim to the ship Sefi is giving Ephraim, which he names Snowball after his nickname for Volga. Ephraim then joins a ceremonial hunt for a drake in the South Pole. Pax rides with Sefi, managing her bow, but Sefi is unable to draw the bowstring during the hunt. Freihild intervenes, fighting the drake, and Ephriam shoots the drake.

The drake is ceremonially butchered and shared, with Pax, Ephraim, and Freihild shown honors for their roles; however, several Obsidians blame Pax for Sefi’s inability to pull the bowstring. Ephraim scolds Pax for not wearing his harness while hunting, reminding him to wear it at all times and telling him of his new ship.

At night, another ceremony is held: Ozgard reads the drake’s bones, and Ephraim feels a sense of family and simplicity among the Obsidians. Later, he talks with Valdir, warning Valdir that Sefi knows of his affair with Freihild.

Ephraim and Freihild attend Ozgard as he takes the drake skull to the Valkyrie Spires. Ephraim talks to Freihild about her and Valdir, and she insists that she has tried to end the affair but loves Valdir. She departs to search for nightgaze, and Ozgard confesses that he has lied to climb his way to his esteemed position. Despite his lies, he has had a vision of a red-stained griffin.

When Freihild doesn’t return, Ephraim searches for her, finding a patch of nightgaze and waking Ozgard to show him the sight. They notice that something seems off and then find Freihild’s body. They are then confronted by the Ascomanni. Volsung Fá stabs out Ozgard’s eye and foretells that Ozgard will stab his other eye. Fá sends a message to Sefi through Ozgard and Ephraim: “[S]he is now prey” (390).

The Obsidians hold a funeral for Freihild. Valdir cuts off his hair—a symbol of his valor—wrapping Freihild’s bones in the hair. Many of the Obsidians, along with Xenophon, do not believe Ephraim and Ozgard about the Ascomanni. Inebriated, Valdir verbally attacks Sefi, accusing her of having Freihild killed out of jealousy. Sefi mostly ignores him, ordering music to drown him out.

Pax and Ephraim discuss the Ascomanni. They and Electra are then taken to meet with Sefi. Sefi questions if Ozgard might know Fá, but Ephraim doubts it. Pax confirms that the Ascomanni and Fá are real, having heard of them through Virginia. Electra suggests that Sefi give Pax to Victra in return for assistance against Fá.

Valdir slaughters Godeater, Sefi’s griffon, and is imprisoned. Learning that Valdir acted under the influence of a psychoactive mushroom and believing he may be working with Fá, Sefi ostracizes Ozgard. She then shows Ephraim the fatal “yellow death” infection—the result of poison—that is taking her arm and that prevented her from pulling the bowstring. She elicits Ephraim’s help in getting Volga to replace Sefi, as Volga, like Sefi, is a rightful heir. However, Ephraim refuses.

Lyria receives another letter from Volga discussing Volsung Fá, Ephraim, and her childhood in captivity. She signs each letter, “Your friend,” but Lyria refuses to return the sentiment. Lyria starts gathering supplies to write to Volga when the door to her cell opens and Figment—a freelancer hired by Victra—enters. Figment reveals that the room is a puzzle, not a torture cell, and then sends Lyria to prepare for transfer to the Alltribe.

Lyria is taken along with a restrained Volga to be cleaned for the swap, and one of the guards tells Lyria that Virginia is dead. Suddenly, the ship is under attack by Ascomanni.

Figment, Lyria, and Volga flee from the violent Ascomanni, who are savagely attacking the ship. The ship is torn open, exposing Lyria to the vacuum of space: “Blood boils in my eyeballs” (416). The hole is sealed by an emergency system, and Volga is knocked unconscious.

Lyria uses a breathing mask on herself and Volga until oxygen returns. They follow a trail of Figment’s blood and find Grays and Golds. Lyria tells them the Ascomanni are all over the ship; she saw them when she was almost sucked into space. Fá approaches, offering Volga “Stains” and killing the Grays and Golds while Volga and Lyria flee. They find Figment, and Victra announces an evacuation. Figment offers to lead them to a special emergency pod.

Figment first takes Volga and Lyria to her room, where she grabs a mysterious orb; she then leads Lyria and Volga to Victra’s personal escape pod. Lyria dives in first and is hit by Victra. She wakes after they have crashed on Mars. First, she finds Volga, and they search for survivors. Lyria finds a dying Figment, and a strange parasite comes out of Figment’s face and crawls into Lyria’s nose, telling her that she (Lyria) is Figment and not to report to duty.

Lyria returns to Volga (saying nothing of the parasite) and leads Volga to Figment’s body. Volga takes Figment’s eyes to trade for a bounty, horrifying Lyria. They take Figment’s bag, finding the orb. Then Lyria hears a strange sound and follows it to a trapped Victra. Lyria aims to shoot Victra, but Volga stops her and frees Victra.

Volga wants to stay with Victra, but Lyria refuses, setting out on her own. However, she soon sees the Red Hand (the extremist group that killed her family) and returns to the others. They run away, with the heavily pregnant Victra leading the way and Lyria struggling to keep up. Pausing, they see Harmony, leader of the Red Hand, and then move forward looking for a means of communication or escape.

Ephraim is wandering and pondering Sefi and Volga’s circumstances when he learns Pandora, the Julii’s ship, was attacked. Although Alltribe ships were used in the attack, Ephraim realizes Volsung Fá is framing them. Fearing for the children, Ephraim takes them and escapes on the Snowball. As they are escaping, he feels a sharp pain in his chest, and Electra removes a heartspike (a device implanted in the aorta so that a person can be killed) from his chest while Pax flies the ship. When Ephraim wakes, Pax and Electra declare that they are searching for survivors from the Pandora attack.

Lilath keeps Virginia alive and uses the psychoSpike to look into her memories and find protected information; however, Virginia has security measures in place, including false memories and a self-destruct device. She wakes, though she has been temporarily paralyzed and dosed with oxytocin and dopamine. A hologram displays the executions of the survivors of the attack on the Citadel, including Theodora. Afterward, Publius and others enter the room, and Publius lectures Virginia; “waxing grandiloquent,” he explains that he is different and will eliminate crime.

Virginia is tried in front of a People’s Tribunal while she is paralyzed and drugged: “I stare at them, finding it difficult to frown. They hold themselves with such ludicrous self-importance” (462). The tribunal is attacked first by Sevro and the Howlers and then by Lilath and the Boneriders—Adrius’s personal fleet of soldiers. Lilath reveals she has been controlling Publius and forces him to don a dog collar. Then a 10-year-old clone of Adrius—the Abomination—emerges from behind Virginia, greeting her as his sister.

Adrius explains to Virginia and the now-captured Sevro how he left instructions about cloning him in the event of his death. Lilath carried him and has been raising and teaching him. Adrius brags that bringing down the Republic “was so easy a child could do it” and that he spied on Virginia through pachelbels (468). He burns several Howlers after Sevro threatens him. In retaliation for Sevro’s prior attempt to assassinate him, he plans to manipulate Sevro’s memory and cause him to forget his family. Meanwhile, he will keep Virginia alive.

The Boneriders party, violently killing people, while the remaining factions of the Republic fight and dissolve. Virginia quietly observes Lilath and Adrius, noticing Lilath’s obsession with Adrius. She assumes (correctly) that Lilath has withheld information from Adrius, revealing to him that Lilath stole the puzzles that the original Adrius made for Virginia. Once Adrius orders the puzzles restored to Virginia’s office, she and Adrius speak together. Virginia argues that he is not Adrius and that they do not need to be enemies; she then hands him a flower.

The flower that Virginia gives Adrius shoots out poisoned spines. Lilath comes in, fighting Virginia, but Virginia escapes through a hidden chute that takes her to a bunker. She tends to her wounds and contacts Kavax, who, given Virginia’s injuries, advises her to eject rather than go back to help the others. She is evacuated and taken to Kavax’s ship, the Reynard.

When she wakes, Deanna is with her, and she cries while Deanna holds her. Later, Kavax and Holiday visit, catching Virginia up on the current political circumstances. They discuss plans, including plans to save Darrow and Sevro, but they do not have the necessary forces and decide to retreat to Mars. However, Kavax has already sent someone to Mercury for Darrow.

Darrow enlists Glirastes to build an electromagnetic pulse device to disable the enemy so that the Free Legions can escape. However, Glirastes is finicky, demeaning, and frustrating to work with. Thraxa does not trust him, but Harnassus argues that Glirastes is under too much surveillance to successfully betray them.

Darrow goes to Sevro’s booby-trapped room on the Morning Star, though the trap reverses when Darrow presents his DNA, which it recognizes as belonging to Sevro’s friend. He visits Sevro’s armory, taking supplies. Looking at Sevro’s memorabilia, he decides that he will focus on being a husband and father if he gets the chance.

Lysander is tortured by Gorgons, though he continues to successfully use his pseudonym. He is taken to Atlas. As they speak about Seraphina’s death, Atlas remarks that Lysander has distanced himself from the brutality of war. He tells Lysander that Ajax is sleeping with Atalantia and that she is planning a chemical attack on Heliopolis—a plan Atlas disagrees with. Atlas therefore lets Lysander disable him, and Lysander escapes with Alexandar and the remaining Arcos Knights.

Carrying an unconscious Atlas, Lysander and the others escape through tunnels using a map from Atlas’s office, though they are pursued by Gorgons. After leaving the tunnels, they find gravBikes. Alexandar calls for reinforcements, which arrive as they approach Heliopolis.

Darrow sees Alexandar, who has lost both ears, several fingers, and all his teeth. He carries Alexandar to the medical bay, where he is rushed into surgery. Angry, Darrow confronts Atlas but controls his temper and leaves instead of injuring the Fear Knight. He wants Virginia to interrogate Atlas, hopeful that if Alexandar is still alive, then she might be, too. Darrow tells Thraxa to isolate “Cato” and interrogate him. Darrow is allowed to visit Alexandar after surgery.

Glirastes (who knows Lysander’s secret identity) demands that Cato be released to him; otherwise, he will stop working. After investigating Cato, Darrow agrees to Glirastes’s request, though he remains skeptical.

Lysander successfully lies under interrogation, maintaining his persona of Cato. The persona had been crafted and memorized years before, for which he is grateful: “Thank Jove Grandmother was paranoid of assassination” (526). Darrow interrupts the interrogation, which is conducted by a robot, talking to Lysander but not noticing his true identity. Lysander is released to Glirastes.

Darrow is unsure if he should trust Cato, so he has Cato monitored.

Lysander moves into Glirastes’s home, and they maintain the façade of Lysander’s false identity. With only four days until Atalantia’s attack, Lysander feels rushed, remarking, “[M]y clock is ticking” (534). Assuming he is being watched, Lysander continues to act like Cato when alone while also trying to uncover information.

At dinner, Lysander pretends to dislike the wine a servant brings him and goes to the wine cellar, where he meets with Glirastes. By lying about being in Tyche when it was destroyed by the Storm God, he convinces Glirastes to betray Darrow. Late at night, Glirastes comes to Lysander, having disabled the technology tracking him, and leads Lysander to a secret office with a model of a space city—Oculus. He tells Lysander about his work with Darrow, and then a member of the staff, Exeter, comes in to swear loyalty to Lysander. Lysander sends Glirastes to find more supporters in Heliopolis.

Lyria, Volga, and Victra find a town with a radio tower. Victra tells them she is in labor, and they break into the house of a father with a son and daughter—Cormac, Alred, and Brea, respectively. Victra is shown to a room, Brea is sent to her, and Cormac and Alred are tied up, though Cormac talks with Volga and Lyria good-naturedly and offers them food. Lyria stays with Victra while Victra gives birth. Later, she hears Victra performing a private naming ceremony, naming her newborn Ulysses.

Victra eats, and Volga is jealous that Lyria was present for the birth. Volga is unable to have children, as she was genetically manufactured without a womb. Volga goes out into the winter storm to call for support from the radio tower. Victra asks Lyria to get her snow, and when Lyria returns, Cormac—a member of the Red Hand—has escaped. The town is an old base.

Victra takes Ulysses and runs, but Lyria stays behind to help Brea, who has been injured. Brea dies, and Lyria wanders, searching for Volga. While wandering, she finds Ulysses deceased and nailed to a tree.

Lyria takes Ulysses, wrapping him in her jacket. She is taken in by Brea’s true parents, who have also brought home Brea’s body. They tell her that the Red Hand has been taking young girls as brides; first it took Brea, and now it has taken their younger daughter, Mora.

Lyria returns to Cormac’s house, which burned down, finding Figment’s orb and figuring out how to open it. In the orb, she finds a set of teeth and formulates a plan to help the girls who have been stolen. She returns to Brea’s family, asking Brea’s mother, Maeve, to make her look attractive.

Lyria finds some members of the Red Hand, including a young man named Duncan. Duncan takes Lyria to Picker, the person in charge of choosing wives, and Picker chooses Lyria, letting the youngest girl return home.

Once alone with the kidnapped girls, Lyria tells them she has a plan to help them escape. She pulls out a tooth with a pair of pliers hidden in her shoe, replacing it with one of the teeth from the orb. All but two other girls line up, undergoing the same process. Not knowing the girls’ names, Lyria refers to two of the bravest as Freckles and Lion (the latter is later revealed to be Mora). She threatens another girl, Tails, who refuses to take part.

The girls are transported to the Red Hand’s unimpressive “fortress,” where older women prepare them for the wedding ceremony. The other girls warn Lyria that Tails will betray them, so Lyria breaks Tails’s jaw. The girls are made to drink an inebriating wine and are then visited by Harmony, who talks about the great honor of becoming a wife.

The girls are led to a common room where, one by one, men in the Red Hand select their wives. Lyria is chosen by Duncan. The Red Hand holds a mass wedding and then a party. Lyria feigns disappointment with the Red Hand’s size and prowess as an armed force, convincing Duncan to take her to the mines to see captive Obsidians. They come across guards in the mine, and Lyria laces their beverages; while doing so, she catches sight of Volga, who nods to her.

Lyria and Duncan return to the party, but Lyria soon convinces Duncan to take her to his home. She breaks the false tooth in her mouth, spitting acid at Duncan and killing him. Leaving the room, however, she is captured by the Red Hand.

Lyria is tied to a table, and Harmony crushes her fingers while interrogating her. A man covered in acid bursts in and dies, and Harmony, hearing screams, leaves Lyria with Picker. Freckles then comes in, shoots Picker, and unties Lyria. They find Lion and several other girls who are hiding, the parasite seeming to aid Lyria. Lyria and Freckles send out a transmission seeking support.

From the Snowball, Ephraim detects Lyria’s message. He, Pax, and Electra boost Lyria’s message so that it reaches Mars.

Lyria has Freckles take a Gold breastplate and hide with the weapons, and she tells the Red Hand that she knows where Victra’s other children are. They capture Lyria, imprisoning her with Victra. When Harmony enters, Lyria breaks another tooth, spitting acid on Victra’s chains and releasing her. Victra tears her way through the Red Hand soldiers while Harmony runs away.

As Lyria takes Victra to Freckles and the hidden armor, Victra continues slaughtering the members of the Red Hand.

Lyria follows as Victra tracks Harmony to a tunnel. She stops Victra from shooting Harmony, instead suggesting that Victra throw her into a pile of pitvipers (mutant snakes), which kill Harmony. They rejoin the others, finding Volga and the surviving girls and wives attacking the Red Hand members. They can’t escape because they are sealed into a mine that is guarded by a torchShip (a large transport vehicle).

Over 300 ships from Mars arrive along with Ephraim’s Snowball. They destroy the torchShip and free Lyria and the others in the mine. Victra is reunited with Electra and Pax. When Volga doesn’t exit right away, Ephraim becomes nervous; however, she then comes out, hugging him rather than resenting him. She stops Victra from killing Ephraim for kidnapping the children, and Victra sobs.

Ephraim speaks with Volga, and they swap stories of what they’ve been through since parting, apologizing to and thanking each other. Pax joins, telling them both Virginia and Darrow are alive. Pax also has a holodrop proving Xenophon has been working with the Ascomanni. Pax asks Ephraim to return and warn Sefi.

Ephraim takes Volga to a statue of his deceased husband, Trigg, where he tells her that he needs to go to Sefi and tell her about Xenophon. Volga does not want him to go, fearing Sefi will kill him, but Ephraim promises to return: “You’re my tribe, Snowball. I’ll be back for breakfast. That’s a promise” (625).

Ephraim sneaks into the Alltribe, finding and waking Ozgard, who is still being ostracized. They enlist the help of the skuggi to free Valdir and to get Ephraim into Xenophon’s room. Ephriam sneaks in with a jamField (a device that blocks sounds and signals) and sees Xenophon watching a hologram of Atlas promising Xenophon that the Dictator will honor him. Ephraim reveals himself and distracts Xenophon to give the skuggi more time to free Valdir. Xenophon talks of how the Ascomanni are Gorgons under Atlas’s control, and Xenophon’s talking begins to make Ephraim nervous: “Xenophon’s bragging like the gun’s to my head” (634). Then, Xenophon offers Ephraim the chance to work with the Gorgons. Ascomanni arrive, Xenophon twists a dial, and Ephraim collapses, pretending to react to the heartspike that has been removed and altered.

Ephraim wakes on the floor with Sefi standing over him. He tries warning her about Xenophon, but she doesn’t believe him. He and Ozgard are taken to the main hall, where Sefi addresses the Alltribe regarding Ephraim’s “betrayal”; she believes Ephraim, working for Fá, has tried to depose her. However, when she gives Xenophon an order, he disobeys and challenges Sefi, introducing Volsung Fá.

Volsung Fá takes over speaking to the Obsidians, claiming that everything is his and that he is Vagnar, Sefi’s father. Fá argues that Obsidians have become weak due to being led by women. He challenges Sefi’s crown, and Sefi accepts the challenge. Sefi and Fá fight, with Sefi losing in under a minute. Fá says only the brave enter Valhalla and then begins to mutilate Sefi, smiling when she does not scream and finally killing her. Despairing, Ozgard stabs out his remaining eye, and Fá sends the Ascomanni out to pillage the area, instructing them to sexually assault all the civilians.

While the Ascomanni feast, Xenophon asks if Ephraim has considered his offer of joining them. He requests to see Fá. When he does, Ephraim lies that Volga is dead; however, Fá can smell her scent on Ephraim. Fá takes no interest in hiring Ephraim as a freelancer, ordering Xenophon to kill him. Ephraim, having extracted the altered heartspike from his shoe, detonates a bomb. Both Ephraim and Fá survive the bomb, and Fá kills Ephraim after stating he is worthy of entering Valhalla.