The Hurricane Wars

Talasyn had dreamt of finding her family for all the 19 years she was an orphan, wondering if they would love her, if they would embrace her as their own. She never dreamt that she would be the lost daughter of the Crown Prince of the Nenavar Dominion. Talasyn feels angered that she was abandoned as a baby when her family clearly had the resources to take care of her.

Elagbi explains that when Talasyn was a year old, his brother Sintan attempted to take over the throne of Nenavar, which can only be held by women as the society is matriarchal. The current queen, Urduja Silim, and Talasyn, whose birth name is Alunsina Ivralis, were sent out of the Dominion on separate airships. Talasyn was supposed to reach her mother Hanan’s country of the Dawn Isles, but she never made it, despite being sent with members of Lachis-dalo, or royal guard. They searched for Talasyn after the war ended and Elagbi killed Sintan, but they never found her. Hanan died of a sudden fever shortly before they sent Talasyn away.

Talasyn asks Elagbi why Sintan staged the coup and whether it was connected to the Cataclysm, as both were happening at the same time. Before Elagbi can answer, the Lachis-dalo enters the room to announce that Alaric has escaped. Talasyn runs after him and feels the Lightweave return to her when she’s far enough away from the sariman cages. Alaric has his powers back and has injured some Nenavarene soldiers, but he does not kill them to avoid causing political conflict between the Night Empire and the Nenavar Dominion. A soldier fires a purple Voidfell blast at him and Talasyn, and they both react. Alaric creates a shield while Talasyn throws a dagger at the blast, but when the Shadowforge and Lightweave touch, they merge into a protective bubble that surrounds Talasyn and Alaric. The Voidfell washes over the bubble, killing the grass around Talasyn and Alaric while they remain safe. Elagbi and the others are shocked by this.

Alaric continues to his ship to fly away, and Talasyn jumps into her own ship to chase him, as the Nenavarene troops and Elagbi look on, stunned.

Alaric found Talasyn’s anger at him amusing at first, but now he finds it troubling. They battle in the sky as Talasyn tries to shoot down his ship. He thinks about going back for his own ship instead of the Dominion ship he’s stolen, but the Dominion ship flies so smoothly and deftly that he thinks it’s valuable technology for the Night Empire to study. Dodging Talasyn, he makes his way back to the Night Empire.

Talasyn thinks about her new title as Lachis’ka, the heir to the Nenavarene throne. She knows the only thing to do is return to Sardovia.

When she gets back to the Wildermarch, she immediately tells Khaede about her supposed royal lineage. Khaede also tells her that Darius was the one who gave the information about her journey to Nenavar to Alaric and defected back to the Night Empire. In a meeting with the Amirante, Talasyn discusses her experience in Nenavar. The Amirante also does not know why Talasyn’s power was able to combine with Alaric’s. Though Khaede thinks Nenavar would join the side of Sardovia because of Talasyn, the Amirante disagrees. Talasyn wants to go to the Dawn Isles to find more Lightweavers like her and her mother, but the Amirante has more immediate concerns, since it would take over a month to reach the Dawn Isles. The Night Empire is amassing forces near Sardovia for a coming attack, and the Amirante wants to focus on preparing for it.

Talasyn and the Amirante have not been able to replicate the merging of Lightweave and Shadowforge. After a month of relentless attacks with stormships, the Night Empire has fully destroyed the Coast and the Heartland, taking over all of Sardovia. Talasyn fights with all her might to stop the Night Empire, but the Sardovians are outnumbered and outgunned. The Amirante is viciously stabbed by the same legionnaire Talasyn nearly killed during the battle in Frostplum, and this time Talasyn kills him.

The Amirante is badly injured, and Talasyn distracts the Kesathese forces while they spirit the Amirante away to the rendezvous point. She’s intercepted by the twins and Sevraim, who try to attack her before Alaric arrives and stops them. Alaric and Talasyn spar, and Alaric says he has to kill her. However, after a column of rocks almost falls on them, they combine their power to create another circle of protection. While inside the sphere, Talasyn realizes that Alaric was far enough away from the stone column that he would not have been hurt. He used his power to save her, which she finds confusing. Alaric asks her to come with him to the Night Empire to study their powers together. Talasyn is shocked by his invitation, and she reminds him that his father Gaheris would never allow it. Alaric lets Talasyn go, as he decrees her cause already lost.

Aboard the Summerwind ship, Talasyn watches the Eversea below as the remains of the Sardovian cause flee the Continent. Talasyn helps Bieshimma tend to the wounded, though she struggles to help with the disposal of the dead. The Enchanters try to find other ships on the aetherwave radios, but when the aetherwave signature goes dark, Talasyn knows the others are lost. Talasyn is worried about Khaede, whose morning sickness made her reveal her pregnancy. Taken off the front lines, Khaede was helping with the civilian evacuation, but Talasyn hasn’t seen her since. Talasyn scans the aetherwave signatures for Khaede but cannot find her. Both Talasyn and the Amirante fear for Khaede, but they hope for the best.

The Summerwind heads for Nenavar, as it’s the only possible place for the Sardovian Allfold to seek refuge. Talasyn is worried. She manages to rest for a while, until she’s woken by a message from the Nenavar Dominion, stating that the Zahiya-lachis—or Dragon Queen—has cleared an unarmed delegation of Sardovian representatives to meet with her.

The flagship of the Nenavar Dominion arrives, and Talasyn and Bieshimma think it looks like a floating castle. Two gigantic dragons appear beside the ship, confirming the rumors that Nenavar has access to dragons.

Talasyn cannot comprehend the sight of the massive dragons. Talasyn feels immense rage and grief, as the dragons could have ended the Hurricane Wars and saved the Sardovian Allfold. The Amirante clearly has the same thoughts, so Talasyn forces her face to become neutral. The Nenavar ship demands the unarmed delegation board their ship soon, so Talasyn and the Amirante board the ship.

Elagbi greets them with the same Lachis-dalo troops that Talasyn met during her interrogation. Talasyn doesn’t know how to greet her father, but he quickly approaches and takes her by the hand, expressing joy at seeing her again. He is respectful to the Amirante as they discuss how the Night Empire destroyed the rest of the Sardovian Allfold. The Amirante advises Talasyn to keep her temper in check when they meet the Dragon Queen.

The Dragon Queen Urduja Silim chastises the Amirante for bringing the Hurricane Wars to Nenavar. The Amirante asks Urduja to help hide the Sardovian fleet while they rebuild to continue the fight against Kesath. Talasyn demands she help them, and Urduja challenges her, revealing that Talasyn’s mother Hanan started the civil war in Nenavar. Hanan was the one who sent the Nenavarene flotilla to support Sunstead and protect her fellow Lightweavers. Sitan then argued that Urduja was weak and should be usurped. Talasyn still presses for the Sardovian cause, and Urduja agrees to hide the Sardovians in the Storm God’s Eye, a stormy area of islands where Kesath will not find them. In exchange, she demands that Talasyn return to the capital of Nenavar and assume her role as Lachis’ka, or heir to the throne.

The Amirante is angry that Urduja came up with the bargain so quickly, as it was clearly her intention to lure Talasyn back. Elagbi claims to not have known about Urduja’s plan. It’s clearly coercion; if Talasyn refuses, she’ll have to live with the knowledge she doomed the Sardovian cause. She agrees to Urduja’s terms.

Alaric does not know why he let Talasyn live. In his father Gaheris’s office, he looks in the dim light at his father, who looks far older than his years because of his experiments with shadow magic and aetherspace. Gaheris tells Alaric that he has plans for Nenavar, plans that he now leaves to Alaric, and he names Alaric as Emperor.