A Day of Fallen Night

Dumai spends her time fighting Taugran and his army with the dragons. She finds that the stone allows her to give Furtia her full strength, and she establishes her court in Mayupora Forest, hidden away from the plague and the wyrms. Dumai plans to hide people in former dragon sanctuaries until the comet arrives and quenches the wyrms. Dumai’s focus is on saving the people of Seiiki rather than starting a civil war by fighting for the throne. One night, Nikeya arrives in their camp, close to death.

Glorian and her retinue are housed at Stilharrow, but her advanced pregnancy and the threat of attacks necessitate a move to a new location. She decides alongside the Virtues Council to move to Hollow Crag, a series of caves that offer protection.

Nikeya introduces Dumai to the story of the Mulberry Queen, who protected a mulberry tree imbued with siden. As she was dying, the Mulberry Queen sent Clan Kuposa to infiltrate the court of the Nozikens, who had immense abilities through sterren, to check their power. Nikeya explains to Dumai that she has siden, and that Dumai possesses sterren, which is why she can summon light through the stone. Nikeya proposes that Dumai take her as her consort in order to rebalance their two families and unite Seiiki. They will raise Suzumai to be Dumai’s heir, eliminating the need for Dumai to bear a child. Dumai agrees and is finally able to admit to Nikeya that she fully trusts her.

Wulf bids farewell to his new family at the Priory and tells Tuva that he feels so lucky and proud to be her son. After he leaves, Tuva goes to the orange tree, where she lets her emotions out, grieving their lost years while accepting that she can finally begin to move on.

Dumai and Nikeya move ahead with their plan and consider themselves married.

Canthe visits Tuva and asks to see the Tomb of the Mother. Tuva refuses, but Canthe uses magic to control Tuva, forcing her to unlock the tomb and bring her inside. Under her spell, Tuva helps Canthe open the tomb, where they find Cleolind, perfectly preserved. Canthe is looking for another stone and finds the keyhole for Tuva’s mysterious third key and a white stone that matches Dumai’s blue one.

Esbar enters the tomb, breaking Tuva’s trance, and though Tuva grabs the stone, Canthe bewitches Esbar, making her live through nightmares. Canthe admits to making Tuva dream of Esbar killing her and tricking Hidat into killing Anyso, all to drive a wedge between Esbar and Tuva. Canthe needed Tuva to trust her and lead her to the stone. Canthe is the Witch of Inysca, and Tuva realizes she is the one who stole Wulf and killed Meren. With Hidat’s help, Esbar and Tuva kill Canthe before she can retake the stone.

Glorian’s arrival to Hollow Crag is chaotic; Hollow Crag is under attack by Fyredel’s forces. Glorian’s party breaks into the caves, and she convinces them that they can make a stand here with their limited supplies and soldiers. That night, Glorian’s water breaks, and the baby’s birth is assured.

Unora comes to Dumai’s tent and is shocked to find Nikeya sleeping beside her. She tells Dumai that it is Nikeya being a Kuposa, not a woman, that shocks her. She comes bearing news that her father’s trusted advisor, Epabo, arrived in camp, with news that Suzumai is in danger.

The Priory arrives in Nzene, where Gashan tells them more of the coming star. Esbar meets with King Onjenyu, who tries to taunt her into being mad enough to kill Dedalugun, the wyrms besieging the city.

The birth is proving difficult, and Glorian finds herself hating Galian Berethnet for dooming his descendants to suffer like this, generation after generation, while he was spared the pain.

Outside, the battle rages as the soldiers protect the caves. Wulf arrives from the Priory and immediately joins the fight, finding Thrit in the carnage.

Epabo informs Dumai that the River Lord intends to follow the story of the Nameless One and sacrifice Suzumai to Taugran just as King Selinu sacrificed Cleolind. Dumai is determined to reach Suzumai before she is killed. Unora begs her not to go, telling her that her wish to Pajati all those years ago must have woken the sterren in her Noziken blood.

Glorian finally delivers the baby after a long, hard labor. She gives birth to an heir and turns 18 in the same night, ascending to her full powers as the Queen of Inys. She sleeps in fits, and when she wakes, she orders a horse.

Wulf and Thrit fight, and Wulf expresses his feelings for him. Glorian rides out from Hollow Crag with her newborn child. She hoists her in the air, inspiring her troops and joining them in battle. Wulf rides to join her, and she gives him their daughter and tells him to flee. She says that she is finally free, and she plans to lead her people against Fyredel.

Dumai and Nikeya reach Suzumai as the star approaches. The River Lord is clearly infected and serving Taugran. He has gathered the remaining Noziken and murdered them, leaving only Suzumai, Dumai, and their grandmother. As he and Dumai face off, Taugran swoops in and grabs Suzumai, killing her. Dumai gives chase with Furtia and the other dragons, light shining from her.

Wulf flees on horseback from the battle, heading for a barrow where he knows they will be safe, pursued by three lesser wyrms. As they close in on him, the star appears, and Wulf summons lightning through his connection to Sabran to ward them off. He safely sneaks into the barrow.

At Hollow Crag, Fyredel arrives and offers Glorian a deal. He will take her and let the rest of her people escape. He believes that she is still pregnant and expects to end the Berethnet line. As he advances, the star appears and begins shedding pieces, killing the fire within him. He flees, promising to return in the future when the fire once again burns.

Dedalugun lands on a nearby mountain and demands that King Onjenyu come forth. The spear is still in his chest, and Esbar suggests they use it to break off a scale and kill him using the stone Tuva now carries. They lure him to Lake Jodigo, and Esbar, Tuva, and Siyu prepare to make a last stand. At first, Tuva is too weak to use the stone, but as the star appears, the stone wakes.

Siyu wrenches the spear free, loosening the scale, but Dedalugun strikes her, and she falls to the sand. With the combined strength of the star and the emotion of seeing Siyu fall, Tuva lifts the lake and plunges it into the wyrm’s mouth, drowning it and forcing the scale free. Esbar rushes forth and plunges the spear in the gap left open by the scale, piercing the heart and killing Dedalugun.

Furtia and Dumai chase Taugran as he unleashes chaos on the ground. The star appears and Furtia insists that they kill Taugran, or it will return when the fire rises anew in the future. With Dumai on her back and several other dragons at her side, she blasts it with starlight, extinguishing its flame. Dumai and Furtia fall into the sea, and when Dumai wakes on the beach, she sees Furtia dead beside her.

Pajati lands next to Dumai and tells her that with the star in the sky, she can use her power to heal herself. Dumai considers the civil war her survival will spark and her love for Nikeya. In her final moments, she sends a farewell to Glorian before letting her light go and slipping into darkness.

Wulf holds his daughter in the barrow and tells her the true story of Galian and Cleolind. He prays for her to have a good life even though he won’t be there with her, hoping to instill the same kind of love in her that he carried from Tuva. At Hollow Crag, Inys celebrates its triumph, but Glorian weeps as she feels herself severed from Dumai.

Tuva visits the site of Meren’s grave, and Canthe appears, explaining that she took Wulf because she did not believe a sister of the Priory would miss a son, but when she returned to Inys and was attacked by her enemies, she left him. Canthe wants the stone, but Tuva reveals that it is hidden and tells her never to return to the Priory while she is alive. The star weakened the wyrms and their offspring, and within three days, all of them disappeared. The sisters will hunt the remaining monsters.

Siyu joins Wulf and Thrit as they travel to Ascalun to be knighted. Siyu asks for help in obtaining a station in Glorian’s court. For his service, he is granted a favor by Glorian, and uses it to install Siyu in her court. Later that night, Siyu and Wulf go to the Sanctuary of the Sacred Damsel to hide Tuva’s stone. They say their goodbyes, hoping to one day meet again at the Priory.

Glorian visits her cousin, Einlek, in Hróth and revels in her body autonomy as she takes an ice bath, enjoying the pain precisely because she made the decision. When she returns to Inys, Guma confronts Glorian, lobbying to not marry her daughter off and confine her to a life dependent on her heir. Glorian refutes him, warning him against threatening her family again. In a panic, she rushes and grabs Sabran, falling as she runs out of her castle. She is picked up by Siyu, who promises to be a sister to them both.

Nikeya climbs Mount Ipyeda to return the stone to the Grand Empress, who recognizes her status as Dumai’s consort and names her as the next ruler of Seiiki. She never wanted to force her granddaughters to have children for the sake of the Noziken name. The Empress knows of Nikeya’s resistance to her father and believes that it is now time for fire after starlight: A Kuposa should rule in Dumai’s place.

Nikeya will rule as the Warlord of Seiiki to ensure that they will always be ready for the return of the wyrms. One of her first actions as Warlord is to allow those orphaned by the conflict to ride dragons, believing that no one family should converse with the gods alone. One night, in her study, Nikeya is visited by the new Maiden Officiant of Mount Ipyeda, as Unora retired to care for the Empress. The Maiden Officiant returns a comb that Nikeya once gave to Dumai. Before Nikeya can chase after her to confirm that it is Dumai, she is called to oversee the hatching of the first clutch of dragon eggs in Seiiki in hundreds of years.