The Lion & the Deathless Dark

Septimus leads Kyrene back to her bedchamber in a fortress. He reveals they are not in the House of Blood but on Glaea, an isolated island kingdom where the gods have limited sight, making it a safe place to hide her. Queen Sylina, the blindfolded human seer who rules Glaea and practices Acaeja’s magic, arrives. Sylina performs a magical ritual, sacrificing a rat and adding powders to a fireplace. She then grabs Kyrene’s hand and forces it into the enchanted flames, plunging Kyrene into a vision.

In her vision, Kyrene sees a warrior, implied to be herself, killing the goddesses Shiket and Srana, followed by the god Kajmar. The vision ends with Ysria, the celestial home of the gods. Here, the warrior destroys the gods’ seat of power, the White Pantheon.

Sylina explains this was a “threadwalk,” a vision of a possible future. Septimus reveals that he wants Kyrene to kill enough gods to bring down the White Pantheon. He explains he has been planning this for over a decade and implies he played a hidden role in the sun’s fall by manipulating others to act. Kyrene agrees to the job, demanding payment in riches and protection. Privately, however, she forms her own plan: She will kill the gods, then Septimus and all other vampires, culminating with the goddess Nyaxia, before finally killing herself. Zefiah remains traumatized by killing her mistress, Shiket, and worries about the consequences. Nevertheless, she pledges loyalty to Kyrene.

Septimus informs Kyrene that she must train before she can hunt more gods. He leads her to an armory in the Salt Keep, a former temple of the goddess Acaeja, explaining that they must hide from other divine beings who are now hunting for her. He gives Kyrene a new weapon forged by the goddess of machinery, Srana: a metal staff that can transform into a spear, a scythe, or an axe. Kyrene then meets her instructor, a horned vampire named Atrius, who is Septimus’s cousin and the King of Glaea. Kyrene overhears Atrius express skepticism about whether she is equipped for the task ahead.

Without warning, Atrius attacks Kyrene to test her capabilities. While she uses Srana’s new weapon, she is outmatched by his speed and strength. Frustrated, Kyrene reaches for Zefiah and quickly gains the upper hand, cornering Atrius against a wall. As she moves to deliver a fatal blow, Atrius unleashes powerful blood magic, which inflicts agonizing pain on Kyrene and immobilizes her. The magic causes Atrius to lose control, as the Bloodborn curse takes hold. His eyes turn crimson, and he becomes wild and animalistic. Atrius’s wife, Queen Sylina, quickly intervenes, using her own magic and blood to pacify him. A visibly shaken Septimus ends the session and escorts Kyrene away.

Kyrene endures a punishing training schedule, sparring constantly with Atrius while Septimus watches. Septimus develops a habit of sitting in her chambers at night to read, claiming he is protecting his “investment,” and calls her by the nickname “dove.” Kyrene is plagued by nightmares about the deaths of her friends, and one night Septimus overhears her crying out in her sleep. 

Growing impatient with the endless training, Kyrene mocks what she perceives as Septimus’s weakness, observing that he uses others instead of carrying out his ruthless plan himself. She cuts her palm open, tempting his vampiric hunger. As Septimus loses his composure and raises her hand to his mouth, licking the blood from the cut, a loud crash shakes the entire fortress. Zefiah warns Kyrene that “they have come” (140), referring to the gods.

The Salt Keep is attacked by an army of mechanical automatons created by the goddess Srana. They are led by Lukon, a cyborg general who accuses Septimus of harboring the “god slayer” and demands the return of Srana’s stolen metal staff. Septimus tries to negotiate, but Kyrene interrupts by killing and decapitating Lukon. She hurls his head from the balcony and taunts Srana, daring the goddess to face her.

Srana appears and easily overpowers Kyrene, impaling her with sharp metal limbs. She partially severs Kyrene’s sword arm before pausing, as though noticing something unexpected about her opponent. Septimus attacks Srana with her own spear, wounding her and creating a crack in her breastplate that oozes god blood, though wielding the divine weapon injures his hands. When Kyrene tries to fight back, targeting that crack, Srana strikes her down again. Just as Srana prepares to finish them, Queen Sylina appears on the roof and summons the vampire goddess Nyaxia. The arrival of a rival goddess forces Srana to shift her attention. Seizing the opportunity, Sylina and Atrius open an aethergate, a magical portal, below the balcony. Septimus grabs Kyrene and pulls her with him as they jump through the portal to escape.

Kyrene has a brief, painful dream in which a young Valentina warns her that something is “going to hurt” (156). She and Septimus then emerge from the aethergate in a swamp, finding themselves in the territory of the vampiric House of Shadow. Septimus gives her medicine to help heal her arm but stays at a distance to resist the smell of her blood.

Soldiers led by the house’s ruler, Queen Egrette, surround and capture Kyrene and Septimus. To save them, Septimus pretends he has brought Kyrene as a gift for Egrette and Nyaxia.

Though skeptical, Egrette accepts the “gift.” Kyrene’s blade, Zefiah, is taken from her, though not before its divine power burns the hands of the guard who touches it. To prevent Kyrene from seeing their territory, Egrette orders her soldiers to place Kyrene in a magical trance for the journey.

After nearly two days of travel, Kyrene awakens from the magical trance inside Kastivai, a horrific Shadowborn prison where humans are kept captive as “livestock” for experimentation. Her arm has been crudely bandaged, and she fears it is permanently damaged. As they are led through the prison, Septimus pauses at a thick iron door and appears unsettled; Kyrene asks Zefiah about it but learns only that “dark things” are behind it. Egrette taunts Kyrene with the sight of the suffering prisoners while leading her toward a high-security cell. Septimus, appearing weak and worn, quietly tells Kyrene to be ready. Just as they approach her cell, the prison is suddenly attacked by a swarm of winged Nightborn vampires that descend from the sky.

Septimus confesses that he orchestrated the Nightborn vampires’ arrival. The Nightborn army has been hunting him for years, and he activated a magical tracking device to bring them to their location. In the ensuing chaos, Kyrene reclaims Zefiah. Spotting two teenage Oketian machinists in a cell, she breaks them out, but the girl is killed by a stray arrow moments later. Kyrene takes the frozen boy by the shoulders and urges him to run for his life; Septimus also shoves him forward. Before they flee, Septimus directs Kyrene to break down a high-security prison door with Zefiah. He bows his head, mutters something inaudible, and tosses a match inside as horrific, inhuman screams erupt. 

As they reach an aethergate in the fortress's lower levels, Kyrene and Septimus are confronted by Oraya, the Queen of the Nightborn. Kyrene wounds Oraya, who seems surprised by Zefiah’s power. Septimus quickly redirects the aethergate, and they escape just ahead of Oraya’s pursuit.

Kyrene and Septimus arrive at a Bloodborn outpost, where Kyrene realizes she is covered in the dead girl’s brains. A vicious argument erupts when Septimus dismisses the fate of Kastivai’s prisoners as “likely” dead, which enrages Kyrene. Later, Septimus comes to Kyrene’s room to treat her injured arm with more medicine.

Unable to remove her blood-caked shirt herself, Kyrene allows Septimus to tear it off, and he gently washes her back and hair. In a moment of shared vulnerability, they discuss their lost companions and mutual desire for vengeance. Septimus admits he was wrong to assume Kyrene cared only about her own survival. He also defends his ruthless actions as necessary sacrifices to advance his plan, revealing that years ago, he ordered his friend, Angelika, to kill herself in the vampire tournament called the Kejari. She unquestioningly obeyed. 

Septimus announces their next target is Kajmar, the god of illusion, and gives Kyrene a new nickname from the Old Bloodborn language: “Lyri,” meaning “lioness.” Later, Zefiah warns Kyrene not to trust Septimus or show him any weakness, fearing he will ultimately use it to betray her.