Shield of Sparrows

Evie is just outside the gates with a bow and a quiver of arrows, wanting to be a monster hunter like her father. Cathlin finds her first, and when they return Evie inside the walls of Ellder, Cathlin warns Zavier and Ransom that if they cage Evie, they will lose her. When Ransom claims keeping her safe is more important, Cathlin tells him he must find a way to do both. Odessa later asks Ransom if Cathlin is his mother, which he denies. When he asks what occurred with the High Priest, Odessa tells him that their magic is uncomfortable and it physically hurts when they touch her. She learns that everyone else, including Ransom, can’t feel Voster magic at all.

Ransom visits Odessa’s room later that night and gifts her a blade that belonged to him as a boy. Odessa shares a theory with Ransom—that the monsters are drawn to her. The bariwolves seemed intent on her in particular during the last attack, and before that, the tarkin in Treow turned back to attack Odessa when she climbed down from the tree. Ransom begrudgingly admits that he has the same theory, though they don’t know why the monsters would be drawn to her. When Odessa suggests that they test the idea, Ransom objects because he wants her to stay safe. Ransom admits the depths of his feelings for Odessa, which she reciprocates, and they have sex.

The next morning, Odessa questions Ransom about Allesaria, correctly guessing that he cannot tell her about it because of a blood oath. She shares her suspicions that someone created Lyssa there and implies her distrust of the Voster. Ransom vehemently insists that the Voster are trustworthy, so Odessa drops the subject.

Zavier visits to inform Ransom of a pack of bariwolves spotted nearby. They leave for a hunt, and Odessa goes about her day. A man injured in a recent attack, whom Tillia ordered to be brought to their infirmary, breaks free and attacks Odessa. She is nearly strangled but manages to free her blade and slash him across the throat, killing him. He bleeds green, signifying that he somehow contracted Lyssa.

When Odessa next wakes, Tillia is tending to her. She is instructed not to talk while her injuries heal. While Tillia leaves to make tea for Odessa, Luella enters the room to check on her. Based on her advice, Odessa deduces that Luella has extensive knowledge about recovering from strangulation and correctly guesses that Luella is Ransom and Evie’s mother. Luella tells Odessa that she would do anything for her children, which is why she’s stayed relatively close when it would be safer to flee further away from Ramsey.

When Ransom arrives, he is angry and concerned. Though he berates himself for not being there to protect Odessa, she assures him that she is fine and that the man is dead. At this, Odessa emotionally breaks down, finally acknowledging her first human kill. Ransom comforts her and tells her about his first kill—Zavier’s stepfather, who attempted to kill Ransom hoping that Zavier would become the heir in his place.

Ransom spends the next two weeks with Odessa as she recovers. Cathlin has been providing Odessa with reading material from her hidden inventory, and inside an encyclopedia-like journal, Odessa finds entries about leaves and roots. One on cave ginger catches her attention: It is known for its rancid smell and its healing properties when ingested. The green shade of the cave ginger matches the green blood that Lyssa-infected creatures bleed.

Odessa questions Zavier and Ransom about the man she killed, and they reveal that the man had no bite scars, only an injection site, as if someone has been purposefully infecting people. Odessa assumes someone is trying to replicate the Guardian. She begins to suspect that Cathlin knows more than she’s letting on and seeks her out. Through questioning, she learns that Cathlin has taken a blood oath not to speak of it. As Odessa and Ransom are in conversation with Cathlin, Luella returns with cave ginger in her hands. Odessa accuses her of starting the Lyssa infection, and Luella is forced to admit to everything.

Luella has been working on a way to reverse the infection but has not yet found a cure. She claims the infection began by accident. She was working with alchemists to develop an elixir that could help people, especially her own children, survive the crux migration by enhancing humans’ natural abilities. While they found some success, using the elixir to heal dying patients, they could not perfect the recipe. Nevertheless, when Ransom got hurt one day while training, sustaining a slice to the leg that was bleeding too quickly, she administered the elixir to him. He got bitten by a bariwolf shortly after, and the bite activated something dormant in the elixir that transformed both the Guardian and the bariwolf, creating Lyssa.

Ransom grapples with anger about what his mother did to him without his consent; he also struggles with the role he unwittingly played in the creation and spread of Lyssa. Luella informs Ransom that one of her alchemists has betrayed her and informed King Ramsey of the elixir. The king has been administering it to his militia in attempts to recreate the Guardian and build an elite army. However, he has thus far failed because he doesn’t know about the bite’s activation of the elixir. They all agree that no one can ever find this out because it would be catastrophic if the illness spread as far as the crux, making them even more powerful and dangerous. Just before Ransom storms out, Odessa notices the symbol on one of Luella’s research journals—the same winged emblem from the necklace that she found in her closet back in Quentis 13 years prior.

Odessa spends hours searching for Ransom before he returns to her room. They take a walk, during which Ransom shares his plan to return to his father in Allesaria. He plans to try to convince his father to stop his testing on his militia and refuses to take Odessa into danger with him. She discovers that if he fails to convince his father, Ransom will try to kill as many of the infected men as possible before being killed himself. However, while Ransom doesn’t have an army to fight his father, Odessa’s father does, and she is willing to beg her father for help.

Ransom spends three more days in loving bliss with Odessa before he packs to leave for Allesaria. He says that he will be taking his mother with him, as she’s finally ready to confront his father. He asks Odessa to look after Evie and to take her to Quentis if something happens to Zavier and Turah devolves into further chaos. However, before Ransom and Luella can set off, his father arrives at the gates of Ellder with an army at his back.

Odessa is shocked to see Banner and some Quentin soldiers alongside King Ramsey. Banner has bargained to take his fiancée back to Quentis before the migration. Odessa is further shocked and betrayed to learn that Brielle is Banner’s fiancée and the secret lover she heard about Banner having while he and Odessa were engaged. Most upsetting, however, is Jocelyn’s presence among their ranks; she apparently acted as a spy for Odessa’s father and even told King Ramsey about Luella hiding among them in Treow and Ellder.

Ramsey delivers news that a lone crux scout was spotted two days ago. The people begin to panic, as this suggests the migration will happen next year; no one is prepared for it to happen so soon. The king orders everyone to evacuate to the city by tonight if they wish for protection. He then has Luella dragged out from hiding. When it becomes clear he intends to kill her, Odessa steps between them and raises a sword to his neck. Their interaction is cut short by the arrival of the lone crux, who lands in the courtyard and begins killing her way through the soldiers.

Everyone attempts to flee, but many are killed. Jocelyn is immediately cut in half as Ransom attempts to fight off the crux. Tillia’s husband, Halston, loses his leg attempting to help, and Tillia risks her life to stay and stanch the bleeding rather than run for safety. Luella is killed, and Ransom begs Odessa to find and protect Evie.

Odessa finds Evie but is intercepted by Banner before they can make their escape. Banner has decided to kill Odessa, hurting Ransom to avenge the murder of his brother. Odessa’s training allows her to survive long enough for Zavier to arrive and save her, but he sustains a near-fatal knife wound to the abdomen. Odessa must carry a screaming Evie away from Zavier at his request. She then shares a passionate goodbye with Ransom, who intends to kill the crux while Odessa and Evie escape through the migration tunnels beneath Ellder. In the tunnels, Odessa is found by Brother Dime, who gives her a horse and leads her and Evie away. He is careful not to touch Odessa and implies he knows something about her mother.

Ransom helps collect the bodies of the fallen with the help of Cathlin, who survived the attacks. Tillia is with Halston and Zavier in the infirmary, as both are currently fighting for their lives. Ransom sets off to find Odessa after examining the body of the crux he’s slain, which has transformed into the body of a young woman with vibrant red-orange curls exactly like Odessa’s.