The Primal of Blood and Bone

The plot of The Primal of Blood and Bone, the sixth volume in the From Blood and Ash saga, dovetails with the prequel series, Flesh and Fire. In the Flesh and Fire saga, which takes place thousands of years before the current timeline, Ethyos, a powerful, early Primal of Life, hid his essence in the human Miriel bloodline to save it from his brother, the malevolent Primal, Kolis. This led to a chain of events causing Sera Miriel to become the first mortal Primal of Life. Married to Nyktos, the son of Ethyos, Sera learned  the ancient prophecy which foretold her female descendant rising to great power and causing the destruction of the world.

Sera also learned that she carried the soul of Sotoria, a woman whom Kolis hunted over several lives. Sera defeated Kolis, removed Sotoria’s soul from her being, and hid it in the Star Diamond. To keep the prophecy from coming true and prevent Sotoria from being reborn, Sera and Nyktos forbade their twin sons, Ires and Malec, from choosing heartmates, hoping the bloodline would cease there. As the series ends, the Primal Gods go to sleep for thousands of years.

The Blood and Ash series shows how the efforts of the older generation could not stop the prophecy from coming true. By a twisted series of events, Sera’s descendant is born as Poppy, and raised in Solis to be the Maiden, a young woman chosen to aid in an Ascension Rite. The Rite involves chosen mortals being nearly drained of blood and then turned into vampire-like Ascended, the elite of Solis. The Ascended live on mortal blood, using the humans of Solis as fodder.

Over the course of the first few novels, Poppy discovers the truth about the sadistic practices of Solis, falls in love with the Atlantian prince, Cas Da’Neer, and marries him. Although she was raised to hate Atlantia, Poppy realizes Atlantia is a just, fair land and the Atlantians are the closest beings to divinity in their world. In later novels, Poppy and Cas travel to Ileesium and wake up Nyktos, and the draken who are the guardians of the gods. Poppy also learns shocking facts about her parentage: Her mother is none other than Isbeth, the Blood Queen, the ruler of Solis. When the cruel Isbeth frees the soul of Kolis, Poppy kills Isbeth in a rage and frees Ires, her captive father.

Poppy and Cas become the rulers of Solis, since the reign of the Blood Crown (Isbeth and her husband, King Jalara) has ended. Sending Ires to Ileesium with the draken Nektas, Poppy faints. In A Soul of Blood and Ash, the fifth book of the series, Cas sits with Poppy in a chamber as she slumbers in stasis, the deep healing sleep of the gods. Recalling Nektas’s advice to talk to Poppy so she does not forget her memories, Cas decides to tell her their love story. Cas’s narration recaps the events of the series, but also contains developments from the current timeline, such as Kolis slowly regaining strength and the Revenants (an accursed, nearly immortal form of life) multiplying.

As the book ends, a Revenant sneaks into Poppy’s chambers and tries to touch her. An enraged Cas transforms into a cave cat and rips the Revenant to pieces. A sign appears above Poppy’s bed, signifying that she has become the Primal of both Life and Death.