Chapter Twenty-Four

With war on the horizon—a war no one wants to stop—whose side will Maika choose? That of her friends, or her family?

## Plot Summary

### Maika

In a dream, Maika's mother defends her and Zinn against her father's claims of dominance. She tells Maika that she and Zinn must write their own future together.

Maika awakens in the forest outside the Doctor's sanctum, having slaughtered and consumed soldiers he sent as sacrifice, while Vihn left to find Kippa and Ren. Gull reveals there are three other old god hosts amongst the Cumaea and admits owing her life to Maika but refuses to reveal any more of their aims. Before leaving, she kisses Maika, who momentarily returns the kiss. She then whispers in Maika's reader (later revealed to the reader to be the location of the third mask fragment), then departs. Maika weeps. She entreats Zinn to speak with her, but Zinn remains in shock, suffering under the return of memories he had long since buried.

Continuing through the forest, Maika is reunited with Kippa, Corvin and Vihn - and Ren, whom she attacks. Her companions stop her from committing any real harm.

At camp that night, Maika demands answers from Ren, who shares a deal of backstory with the group. The Cats were watching both Moriko Halfwolf and the Shaman-Empress' bloodline (the Doctor) with interest, even up until the birth of Maika. Afterwards, Ren was assigned by the Dusk Court to watch over Maika personally, but he took a liking to the girl - up until Moriko spirited her away. The Doctor blamed him for this, although he was blameless, and demanded Ren's loyalty in return for his freedom. Ren then left, serving in the Human-Arcanic War before being returned to the Dusk Court as a prisoner. They eventually released him from prison, ordering him to find and follow Maika. This triggered his deal with the Doctor, and he was forced to hand Kippa over to Dia and Yafaela. Ren then insists his debts are cleared - both to the Doctor and the Dusk Court - although both now likely want him dead.

The group then discuss the current situation. They know the old god hosts are seeking to permanently sunder the Gaol, and that while some humans and arcanics seek peace, the Cumaea are agitating for war. Maika hopes to ignore these politics and focus on stopping the old gods by re-assembling the Mask of Power and then destroying it. But even this, Vihn notes, will not permanently stop their attempts to escape - only delay it (albeit for millennia).

Kippa, quoting Lady Dracul, insists they must not only stop the old gods but attempt to broker peace as well. She feels everyone is connected and is moved by her encounter with Lady Dracul, sensing the perilous state of the Known World, and the loss of the others.

Ren offers one more insight about the Baroness, but Maika rebuffs him.

Kippa's true sight then activates, and she sees Maika's true nature, a suggestion of symbiosis of old god and arcanic technology. She also sees Vihn, not even as an Ancient, but instead a being from another world - unlike both old god and dracul. Vihn won't reveal that nature or her ultimate aims but insists she has no ill will towards Maika. She shows the group a plan she stole from the Doctor while disguised as a Blood Court loyalist: plans for a weapon fueled by old god blood.

Kippa asks where the fox refugees fled to, and Vihn suggests they fled to Ravenna. Maika suggests they rest and decide their next course of action in the morning.

That night, in a dream, Maika and Zinn speak. Zinn says he has been untethered by the Doctor's spell. Maika notes that Gull revealed the third fragment to be in Federation territory, and Zinn agrees it is there but advises her against wearing the first two fragments in the future - a surefire way to attract the Cumaea. Zinn warns that if the Cumaea control three fragments, Maika's odds of failure will grow exponentially.

Maika is later awakened from sleep when Aurum is seemingly destroyed in a dark blast like the one at Constantine.

### Atena

Hearing word of Aurum's destruction, Atena is dismayed.

### Doctor

The Doctor receives a transmission from his other daughter, who reports delivering an unknown Boon to an unknown recipient. The sister offers to kill Maika, but the Doctor suggests Maika will return to the fold of her own free will as the hunger grows within her.

### Gull

Gull captures and kills Yafaela as she leaves through the forest. She begins to eat the oni but is interrupted when Aurum is destroyed.

### Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is quickly informed of Aurum's destruction.

### Sophia

Sophia enters a lab in Aurum, insisting the Federation prioritize preventing the emergence of more old gods, but her handlers instruct her to worry about making more Ilium-laced resurrection formula instead. All are silenced as Aurum is destroyed.

### Tuya

The Warlord dispatches her Grey Riders to hunt down and capture Maika Halfwolf alive. Tuya attempts to discern the Warlord's motivations but is rebuffed. Instead, she demands command of the air fleet. Tuya antagonizes the Warlord, noting that her spies have discovered much of the Warlord's generals have defected (unbeknownst to the Warlord, to the Blood Court). The Warlord is insulted and strikes Tuya; Tuya's eagle familiar responds by wounding the Warlord. Regaining ground, Tuya declares the stakes: the army is seen as weak, with only the mysterious destruction of Constantine allowing them to treaty after the last Human Arcanic War; and so the Warlord is being written off, her spies loyal to the Queen of Wolves instead of her, even while a war is coming. Tuya insists only the two of them working together can ensure a future for the arcanics, rather the aristocratic Courts. She reveals her knowledge of the Blood Court to gain the Warlord's trust and leaves her, reinforcing her request for control of at least half the Air Fleet.

Days after Aurum's destruction, the Warlord's Air Fleet is mobilizing for war. She is being blamed for the bomb but admits Tuya's spies were right about the Blood Court. Tuya decides to fly with the Air Fleet, insisting she can still broker a peace with the Federation. Meanwhile, she dispatches Tanno to find Corvin, noting that, "He knows what to do."