Darkstalker

Lionfish, Fathom’s bodyguard, kills the assassin. Everyone stares in shock when they realize that there is no blood on Darkstalker. Darkstalker claims that the assassin missed, but Listener insists that the spear should have pierced his heart. Thoughtful identifies the attacker as Quickdeath, a professional killer.

Clearsight feels a surge of dread as the future branches into dark, uncertain paths. Darkstalker vows to find whoever hired Quickdeath. Fathom starts to worry as Darkstalker increasingly reminds him of Albatross.

After leaving the jubilee, Clearsight immediately questions Darkstalker’s invulnerability, and Darkstalker becomes defensive. Fathom uses the soul reader on him and sees that while Darkstalker remains mostly good, more evil creeps into his soul.

Darkstalker flies home, frustrated that his conversation with Fathom went nowhere. Even with the scroll, Fathom still thinks that Darkstalker’s soul is at risk. Darkstalker still believes that Arctic tried to have him killed. When he arrives home, he finds Whiteout sitting quietly on the couch. He asks if she wants to know her future with Thoughtful, but she refuses. Whiteout’s speech patterns change, and both she and Darkstalker worry about it.

Darkstalker finds Arctic in Foeslayer’s room and confronts him about the assassination attempt. Arctic denies any involvement, and Darkstalker, reading his mind, believes him. Darkstalker notices that Arctic wears a shielding earring, which protects him from attacks.

Darkstalker then takes out the scroll and writes a spell to reveal who hired Quickdeath.

Clearsight wakes from a night of terrible visions. Queen Vigilance and Allknowing visit her, pressing her for information about her visions of Vigilance’s death. Clearsight insists that those visions are too far away to matter. The queen then asks about Darkstalker’s future, but Clearsight struggles to see it clearly. Allknowing states a prophecy that Darkstalker will kill Vigilance. Clearsight protests, but the queen accuses Clearsight of being too enchanted by Darkstalker to see the truth.

Clearsight unclips her earrings, and horrifying visions flood her mind. She realizes that the earrings clouded her powers and that Queen Vigilance tried to kill Darkstalker. The queen confirms that she hired Quickdeath based on Allknowing’s prophecy.

Clearsight escapes the queen’s guards and warns Fathom that Darkstalker plans to kill Vigilance. Fathom remains hopeful, reminding Clearsight that Darkstalker forgave Indigo. Still, Clearsight confronts Darkstalker, refusing to let him kill the queen.

They argue, and Clearsight accuses him of enchanting the earrings to control her visions. Darkstalker reveals that he also made himself immortal. Before they can resolve anything, both dragons see a vision: Arctic is taking Whiteout to the Ice Kingdom.

Darkstalker, Fathom, and Clearsight flee the Night Kingdom and find IceWing bodies littering the border. Clearsight explains that Darkstalker’s shield spell kills any IceWing who enters.

As they pass through the Kingdom of Sand, Darkstalker enchants a dagger to stab Arctic and stop him. When the dagger initially fails, he enchants a beetle to steal Arctic’s shielding earring. Then, the dagger springs into motion, and they follow.

When they catch up to Arctic and Whiteout, Arctic explains that Whiteout is supposed to marry an IceWing prince. Although Whiteout says that she is going willingly, she acts strangely, and Darkstalker, Fathom, and Clearsight sense that something is wrong. Arctic claims that he is acting to save Foeslayer, but Darkstalker argues that Foeslayer is already dead. Arctic eventually admits that he only wants to return home.

Darkstalker enchants Arctic to obey his every command. He forces Arctic to lose his voice, abandon his magic, stay imprisoned, and release Whiteout from the mind spell. Clearsight and Fathom exchange worried glances, realizing how far Darkstalker has gone.

Darkstalker grows angrier as Fathom and Clearsight criticize him. He refuses to look at timelines with Clearsight, and they all return to the Night Kingdom.

There, Darkstalker gathers the NightWings and forces Arctic to confess his planned betrayal. After humiliating him, Darkstalker commands Arctic to kill himself. After Arctic’s death, Darkstalker searches for Clearsight and discovers that she stole his scroll. Whiteout tells him that Clearsight is waiting for him at Agate Mountain. Furious, Darkstalker flies there.

Clearsight warns Listener to flee the Night Kingdom and tells her to alert Clearsight’s family to do the same. She visits Fathom and asks for his help.

Fathom refuses to use the scroll against Darkstalker directly but agrees to help in another way. Violating his oath, Fathom uses his animus powers and enchants the bracelet that Darkstalker gave Clearsight. She then prepares to leave, knowing that she may die if her plan fails. Clearsight instructs Fathom to hide the scroll, not destroy it, so that Darkstalker’s magic will remain trapped inside it.

Fathom reads through the scroll, finding both kind and cruel spells. He eventually discovers some hidden spells written in invisible ink. He learns that Darkstalker enchanted the goblet to make Fathom stop loving Indigo and return to using animus magic. He also finds that Darkstalker trapped Indigo inside the carving that Fathom made.

Fathom uses his animus power to free Indigo from the carving. Indigo comforts him, saying that just using magic does not make someone evil—however, evil actions do make them evil. The two reaffirm their bond and fly away together with Blob and the scroll.

Darkstalker meets Clearsight at Agate Mountain, and Clearsight warns that an earthquake will strike soon. Darkstalker dismisses her, believing that he can change the future.

When Clearsight compares Darkstalker to Arctic, he lunges at her. She quickly clips the enchanted bracelet onto him, causing Darkstalker to collapse into darkness.

Clearsight drags Darkstalker, who is now under a sleeping spell, into a cave under the mountain and seals the entrance with rocks. She waits until the earthquake buries him completely. She then gazes into her futures and realizes that she cannot return to the Night Kingdom. She decides to leave Pyrrhia entirely and explore the unknown continent.

Fathom and Indigo watch their dragonets—Clearpool, Cowrie, and Ripple—play on the beach. Once Queen Pearl dies, they plan to take their children to the Kingdom of the Sea someday.

They live happily near the Rainforest Kingdom, trading with the RainWings. No one knows what happened to the NightWings, who have disappeared.

A comet passes close to Pyrrhia. Earthquakes shake the land, snapping the copper wire on Darkstalker’s bracelet. Then, Darkstalker awakens.