Sunbringer

The second book in the Fallen Gods trilogy, set in the fantasy kingdom of Middren where gods are outlawed and godkillers hunt them, picks up immediately after the events of Godkiller. The narrative follows four point-of-view characters whose separate journeys converge as civil war and foreign invasion threaten the realm.

In the capital city of Sakre, King Arren nearly dies when Hestra, the hearth god secretly sustaining him where his heart was destroyed years ago, crawls out of his chest. When Knight Commander Peta discovers the wound and reacts with awe rather than disgust, Arren seizes the moment, spinning a narrative of willing sacrifice. Hestra returns at dawn, and his guards kneel and pledge loyalty. Peta names him "Sunbringer." Arren resolves to cultivate this myth, aiming to become a god himself. He plans a victory march to Lesscia, the wealthy inland port city ruled by Lord Yether, where he intends to break the last independent power opposing him.

Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Inara Craier, her bonded god Skediceth (Skedi, god of white lies), and the wounded former knight Elogast (Elo) arrive in Lesscia. They bring devastating news to Kissen's adopted sisters, Yatho, a worksmith, and Telle, a deaf archivist: Kissen died fighting the fire god Hseth. Elo reveals that Arren offered his life to Hseth in exchange for power and that Kissen sacrificed herself so Elo could survive and stop the king. Elo insists Inara stay behind in safety while he pursues his mission, a decision that devastates her.

On the Talician coast, however, Kissen is alive. Osidisen, the sea god of her childhood, delivers a warning: Talicia is preparing a full invasion of Middren, and Hseth's followers are working to resurrect the fire god before the shortest night of the year. When Talician ships attack Osidisen with briddite, a metal deadly to gods, Kissen saves him and escapes through the cliffs. She witnesses a resurrection ritual where priests chain children to Hseth's cracked bronze statue and pour molten metal over it while soldiers chant war cries against Middren. Kissen destroys the statue and rides south, vowing to tear down every shrine she finds.

In Lesscia, Elo works to build a rebellion. He confronts Canovan, an innkeeper who harbors Lethen, god of lost travelers, within his own body. Elo meets the other rebels: Naia, a teacher and trans woman whose life was changed by a god of new beginnings, and Ariam, head of the inkers' union. They resist armed action, preferring education, but Elo argues that Arren's march will crush them regardless. He secures the support of Lord Yether, the shrewd old lord of Lesscia, and Yether's guard captain Faroch.

Inara, desperate to understand her mysterious powers over gods, secretly enters the restricted god archives beneath the cloche, Lesscia's great archive tower. She discovers a reference linking Skedi to Yusef, the god of safe haven, and suspects Yusef may be her father, which would explain her supernatural abilities. Scian, the patron god of Lesscia, briefly manifests but cannot answer Inara's questions. When Telle speaks at the archivists' forum about protecting the god manuscripts, Inara's trespass is exposed. A riot breaks out, an apprentice is killed, and knights invade the archive grounds.

Kissen's weeks-long campaign to destroy Hseth's shrines across Talicia proves futile; every shrine is rebuilt by government edict. After accidentally killing a boy soldier in a mountain ambush, she is summoned by Aan, the ancient river god, to the god's source high in the Bennite mountains. Aan reveals that Talician armies are marching through the mountain passes while fleets sail for Middren's coast. Aan asks Kissen to do the unthinkable: save the king, because only an intact Middren can resist the invasion. Kissen sacrifices her last briddite weapon and is launched into the sky by Faer, the wild god of mountain wind.

On Scian's Day, the founding holiday of Lesscia, Elo leads a coordinated strike against the king's knights. The barracks are captured and the gates seized, but Canovan makes a blood sacrifice to Lethen that drives his fighters into a killing frenzy. Ariam dies trying to protect Canovan. Elo severs Canovan's finger as punishment. That same night, Inara, Skedi, and archivists led by Telle smuggle the god manuscripts out by barge. Scian erupts in fury but relents when she senses the city's prayers, deciding to walk her streets one last time.

Arren's army arrives at Lesscia's closed gates. Inside the city, Beloris, Lord Yether's zealous son, murders his own father on Arren's behalf and demands Elo's arrest. Faroch gives Elo a coded opening to escape. Canovan reveals that the rebellion in Lesscia was always a diversion; the real fight is a siege of the Reach, the king's fortress in Sakre, planned by a coalition of noble Houses.

Faer carries Kissen not to Lesscia but to Sakre, where she finds the siege already underway. It is led by Lady Lessa Craier, Inara's mother, whom everyone believed dead. Kissen delivers her warning about the Talician invasion, but Lessa refuses to listen. When Kissen mentions Skediceth by name, Lessa recognizes the god and inadvertently confirms that Inara's father is Yusef. Lessa imprisons Kissen, desperate to keep her daughter's divine heritage secret.

In Lesscia, Inara separates from Skedi, believing he no longer needs her, and runs alone to find Elo. Skedi follows their bond and finds her. They reconcile, and Inara cuts off her entire braid as a massive offering, scattering her hair through the city and calling every remaining god to fight the king's advance. Roses fill the streets, canals flood with colored ink, shadow demons attack the army, and citizens riot.

Arren orders his veiga, trained godkillers serving in his army, to destroy the gods. They kill Makioron, the rose god, and the inker god Maira. Canovan falls riddled with arrows. The roses catch fire, spreading flames through the city. Veiga break into the cloche vaults to kill Scian. From a high window, Inara shoots and kills Risiah, the Gods Commander, but Peta picks up his briddite sword and executes Scian.

Arren walks toward Elo with open arms. They fight a brutal duel, and Elo drives his sword through Arren's chest. But the figure is a twig-and-fire effigy created by Hestra; the real Arren never left Sakre. The effigy wraps Elo in burning branches, and Skedi dives down with Inara. All three are transported through Hestra's fire to the Reach.

They materialize in Arren's private strategy room, where the real king sits. Lessa's forces blast through the fortress walls, and she enters with sword drawn. Behind her, battered but alive, is Kissen. Inara screams and Kissen pulls her into her arms. Kissen stops Elo from killing Arren, insisting they need the king alive, while Inara uses her will to seize Hestra in Arren's chest. Kissen crushes a vial of Aan's hair in her bloody hand, making an offering to the river god. Water surges across Arren's map, forming visions of Talician armies pouring over the mountains and fleets landing at Daesmouth, a Middren port already burning. Aan's voice thunders into all their minds: Middren is being invaded.

At Kissen's pleading, Inara releases Hestra and spares Arren's life. All of them must confront the truth: While they fought each other, the real enemy arrived. In the epilogue, flames rise across Middren's eastern border as Talician soldiers chant Hseth's name. Within the fire, an armed woman takes shape, a heart of bridle, blood, and flame already beating in her chest. The god of fire is reborn.