Sorrow and Starlight: Zodiac Academy 8

Tory, Max, and Xavier traverse the hidden passageways, heading for the throne room. However, Max is drawn toward a wave of pain and fear coming from the amphitheater outside. Realizing that prisoners are being held there, he decides to break them out before Dante’s impending lightning strike on the palace inadvertently kills them. Despite Xavier’s reluctance to leave Tory alone, she insists that she cannot abandon her twin and forces them to go.

Tory then makes her way to her sister. She finds the cage where Darcy and Orion are held but is told that Orion is still bound for two more months, and Darcy refuses to leave over fear of her curse. They give Tory the book, the Memoriae crystal, and Francesca’s ring, and they tell her to leave and take Eugene with her. When Tory refuses to go without her sister, Orion knocks Darcy unconscious so that she can take her. Before Tory can escape, Darcy shifts into the Shadow Beast and attacks.

Xavier and Max head for the prisoners trapped below the amphitheater. Once freed, however, they refuse to flee. Instead, they rally together to storm the amphitheater while Max and Xavier chase after. When they all reach the amphitheater, they see Lionel surrounded by 200 Dragons bonded to him through the power of the rift and thus forced to do his bidding, including Mildred. Max fires a Phoenix-fired arrow at Lionel, and one of his Bonded soldiers throws himself into its path and dies instead. A chained Gabriel warns them to run before being dragged away by Vard. Lionel then commands his Bonded army to turn the amphitheater into an inferno.

Dante flies toward the amphitheater to rescue Gabriel from Vard. However, Mildred forces Dante to focus on fighting her, letting Vard drag Gabriel away into the palace. Dante injures Mildred with a blast of lightning and spots Juniper and her sons in danger from the fire. He swoops in, carries the four of them to safety, and then returns to rescue Leon as well. As they retreat into a storm, four Dragon Guild warriors pursue them. Dante realizes that the battle is lost, and their only hope now is to escape and regroup.

Darcy, as the Shadow Beast, lashes out at Tory, forcing her into a frantic defense. Orion, still chained in the cage, attempts to distract Darcy, but his pleas fail. The Shadow Beast overpowers Tory, sinking its teeth into her shoulder and unleashing a storm of shadows that rip the magic from her soul. Tory tries to use a tiger’s eye crystal imbued with protective energy to summon her last reserves of strength through Ether magic, but it’s not enough, and she blacks out.

Orion watches in horror as Tory is mauled and tossed aside by Darcy, who then turns her focus on him. He experiences a sudden, telepathic connection to Caleb, seeing through his eyes as Caleb and Seth rush through the palace tunnels. Orion commands Caleb to get to them immediately. The connection snaps as Darcy attacks, slicing Orion’s chest open. Before she can kill him, Caleb tackles her using his Vampire strength and traps her in an earth dome. He then frees Orion and heals Tory’s wounds as best he can, though she remains unconscious. Orion asks him to take her and escape. Though reluctant, Caleb takes Tory and leaves. Once alone, Orion seals the doors with ice just as Darcy breaks free and lunges for him again.

Caleb races through the palace corridors with Tory in his arms, the Shadow Beast’s venom leaving her dangerously weak despite his healing. He bursts into the secret passages, where he finds Geraldine and Seth waiting. Geraldine uses her Cerberus saliva to slow the venom’s effects, but she can only be healed with Basilisk anti-venom. Geraldine takes Tory beyond the palace wards where they can teleport to safety, while Caleb and Seth go to look for Max and Xavier.

Xavier kills Cyril, one of Lionel’s allies, by stabbing him and setting him on fire. He then charges toward Lionel, intending to kill his father even if it means his own death. Just as Lionel’s flames are about to consume him, Max’s hand pulls him back. He hits Xavier with freezing water to douse the flames, and then the two flee into the palace. While running through the dining hall, Xavier spots his severed Pegasus wings mounted on the wall as a trophy, and Max helps him retrieve them.

While Xavier searches for a hidden passage out, Max uses his Siren powers to force the Bonded Dragons to relive their worst nightmares. Before more Dragons can arrive, a door opens into a grand ballroom, and they hurry through. Another door opens itself to reveal a hidden stairwell. At the bottom, they finally reach the hidden tunnels beneath the palace, where they reunite with Caleb and Seth. Caleb conjures a sled with a harness, pulling them all through the tunnels. Just as Lionel’s Dragons close in, they burst through the palace’s magical shield, allowing Seth to cast stardust over them.

Darcy struggles her way back from the void that the Shadow Beast nearly forced her into, only to be forcibly shifted back to her Fae form by Lavinia. Orion rushes to her side and tells her that Tory is still alive and that Caleb has taken her away for healing. Darcy is horrified that she nearly killed her twin, and Orion tries to reason with her, reminding her that it wasn’t her fault. Lavinia then summons them to a demonstration for Lionel and the Bonded Dragons. There, she presents Tharix, Lionel’s “heir”: a creature possessing all four Elements and shadow magic. To test Tharix’s loyalty, Lionel orders him to break three of Orion’s ribs. Darcy tries to intervene, but Lavinia holds her back with magic. Orion retaliates by stabbing Tharix in the head with an ice dagger, but the creature recovers unnaturally fast. Lionel is pleased, but cautious, not yet granting him his full approval.

Tory is healed with Basilisk anti-venom, and the war council argues over what to do after the failed strike on the palace. Frustrated, Tory gives them Eugene and the objects that Darcy had sent with her. She goes to leave, only to be met by Dante. The two blame each other for the people they failed to save in the attack, and Max blames the Celestial Councillors for failing to stop Lionel sooner. Tory then forces her way out and returns to her room. There, Rosalie visits her and tells her that she believes the bond between Tory and Darius still exists. She urges Tory to follow the fire, as there may still be a way to bring him back. Tory returns to the Book of Ether and finds a spell “To Raise the Trees of the Damned” (879).