Book 2

Book 2 of the Grim Dream Series is titled The Songblade.

Book 2 introduces the Ostergauen characters Fox Hohenzorn, Malzadrian, and Nimfaeti who teach Mikoa about grim dreaming.  Together, they pursue the mythical Songblade, in an effort to defeat Sinthrall.

## Tentative Summary

Book 2 picks up where Book 1 left off, with Mikoa Lothaen, Fiorah, Samurrian, Thorn, and Arron Silverspear in Trevi, shortly after the eruption of Mount Sinthrall.  Itaebi Fellstaff and Furion Windtrail are in Lo'eil Ailin.  King Beauregaerd, Prince Grumdar, and the Lothaen family are missing, presumed dead in Bruhinn.  Khazr is missing, presumed to be in hiding.  Nazagorn is still trapped in the Between.

Sinthrall haunts Mikoa as she slips into and out of her dreams.  He survived the eruption of Mount Sinthrall, but is badly weakened.  Mikoa studies shadow magic with Thorn, looking for a way to fight Sinthrall.

Solasfyra Sunscar arrives in Trevi, investigating suspicious activity among the royal entourage of Prince Fox Hohenzorn -- particularly morbid experiments being performed by her former Navigator, Franz "Mutter" Moller.  She suspects that Mutter is the infamous Suul Barat, in disguise.  Nimfaeti confronts Solasfyra and kicks her out.

Mikoa floats in the river to commune with Nazagorn.  Sinthrall tries to take revenge on them and Mikoa's companions.  Fox saves the day.  He takes Mikoa and her friends under his care at the Governess's Palace.  Mikoa meets Nimfaeti.

Solasfyra continues her investigation, finding evidence of wizrada. Something mysterious is murdering vagrants in the street and draining their blood. Locals report seeing wraeth and ghosts. Solasfyra suspects it is an animal. She gets a scene to prove what a badass assassin she is.

Fox enjoys talking with Mikoa.  They observe the famous panameris and orrery at the Chapel of Doves. They see the great Duerghen Forge, which ignited for the first time in recorded history when Mount Sinthrall erupted. The Governess is tooling the Forge to mass produce weapons and armor to equip the armies of kin against the woespawn, positioning Trevi to be the future manufacturing center of the war effort.

Two of Fox's entourage are mysteriously, gruesomely murdered, and the mood turns eerie and suspicious.  Fox is alarmed, and the Governess's Palace is locked-down.  During the lockdown, Fiorah, Samurrian, Arron, and Thorn separately discover suspicious activity among Fox's entourage -- Mutter's "zombie" assistant and bizarre experiments, Nimfaeti's bloodletting, and a clandestine meeting between Fox, the Trevian Governess, and a group of Jeceau clerics.  Mikoa learns more about Fox from Nimfaeti. Thorn identifies a vampyr panther prowling the Palace walls and rooftops.  The murders are investigated, and Mutter's zombie looks like a suspect. Mikoa's companions suspect that the victims were both *ziraduun* and that Mikoa isn't safe here.  When Mikoa is suspected by the Governess, Fox defends her. The Governess, wanting to woo Fox, is getting jealous of Mikoa.

Mutter and Mikoa have a tense exchange.  Mutter discusses life-extending magics (shadow transference and deathlock) and the theory that Suul Barat deathlocked a dragh'kin to give himself immortality. Mutter is enthralled by the power of deathlock.  He tells the legend of the lost Songblade.

Thorn sees the vampyr panther through the eyes of birds above the Palace. Mikoa and her companions decide to leave, and they plan their escape route. Arron arranges for passage on a boat to Bau Trelling.

Solasfyra finds proof that Suul Barat is alive, in disguise, and that he is collecting other *ziraduun* to help him pierce the Barrier.  She sends for urgent help from Lo'ail Ailin, specifically asking for Itaebi Fellstaff, specialist in fighting grim magic.

The night of her planned escape, Fox tricks Mikoa into a ritual she afterward recognizes as a Trial. He explains that he is also *ziraduun*, taught by Malzadrian. He shares his plan to use the Ellisais Conclave to create a safe haven for *ziraduun* to battle the rising woespawn. He brought Malzadrian to Trevi to study the orrery and find the Songblade, which can be used to kill Sinthrall. Mikoa is torn. She warns him that battling Sinthrall is madness, but she agrees to stay.

Solasfyra ambushes Mikoa and recognizes her as the Witch Princess. Nimfaeti rescues Mikoa. When Solasfyra is overcome, she warns them that Suul Barat is manipulating them to pierce the Barrier. Solasfyra escapes. Mikoa tends Nimfaeti's wounds, while Nimfaeti explains her gift and defect.

Mikoa debates with her companions about staying with Fox. Fiorah suspects that Mikoa is falling in love.

Mikoa worries that Fox might be Suul Barat. She explores the orrery and talks with Malzadrian. He shares stories of Fox's youth and magical training. He teaches her about the Barrier and the schism between Cyrildrim and Suul Barat at the end of the Myriad. He tells her how the Barrier can be pierced by powerful *ziraduun*. The orrery doesn't seem to work.

Mikoa's companions encourage her to leave. Fox courts Mikoa. They spot the vampyr panther lurking and chase it off. She tells the story of her trip through the Snow Anchor and fight with Sinthrall from Book 1 and shares her feelings of guilt. He agrees to turn his *ziraduun* entourage west, into Bruhinn, to retake Snow Anchor and find Mikoa's family. He teaches her grim illusion magic, and they sleep together.

She dreams that Mutter's zombie beckons her to the orrery, where the spirits of the two murdered *ziraduun* are waiting. The zombie turns into a beautiful ethereal dragh'kin and joins powers with the *ziraduun* and Mikoa to activate the orrery, revealing the Songblade in Treth. The spirits beg for help, and Mikoa recognizes the dragh'kin as Nazagorn. Mikoa awakens in the Chapel of Doves, with Mutter, zombie Nazagorn, and zombie versions of the two murder victims. The orrery is dormant.

Mutter is enthralled by Mikoa's power, and he wants her as his deathlocked pet. A magical battle breaks out: Mikoa versus two deathlocked *ziraduun* zombies and Mutter. Zombie Nazagorn takes flight and leaves. The Chapel of Doves is destroyed. Fox, Nimfaeti, Thorn, Fiorah, Samurrian, Arron, and Fox's other *ziraduun* pupils join the fight. Mutter instantly overwhelms Fox's *ziraduun* (except Nimfaeti), deathlocks them, and adds them to his zombie army. The fight scatters throughout the Palace.

Solasfyra investigates the fight. She rescues the Ellisais Conclave, spots the vampyr panther, kills a zombie *ziraduun*, then finds Malzadrian on a terrace. She disables him with a dreamcatcher and questions him about Mutter. She says Mutter is Suul Barat and must be stopped. Malzadrian cowers until zombie Nazagorn arrives, in zombie dragh'kin form, and reams Solasfyra. He taunts her as she dies, saying that Mutter is not Suul Barat.

When the Palace battle against Mutter seems unwinnable, Khazr appears and turns the tide. When he kills Mutter, the remaining zombie *ziraduun* drop dead.

Khazr brings word from Bruhinn that Prince Grumdar is alive and leading the Bruhinnen army against the woespawn from Snow Anchor, with help from Prince Goddard and the paladins of the Holy Thlos. He explains to Mikoa about his whiterock ring, how he knew to rescue her from Mount Sinthrall, and that she is critically important to the fight against the Forgotten Gods. Even so, he fears he cannot protect her much longer. He laments that he does not have more time to teach her more shadow magic.

Fox laments that most of his *ziraduun* are dead, Malzadrian is missing, and the orrery was destroyed, meaning no one will ever know the location of the Songblade -- the one weapon capable of killing the Forgotten Gods. Mikoa says she knows and points out the location in Treth. Fox immediately starts preparing to go, and he asks Mikoa's party to come along. Mikoa is reluctant. Fox romanticizes about he and Mikoa joining forces as *ziraduun* King and Queen of a combined Ostergau-Bruhinn Empire, wielding the Songblade to stop the Forgotten Gods -- effectively proposing to her. She does not give him an answer, but reminds him that she is no longer a princess. He says the Ellisais Conclave can restore her title.

Nimfaeti tracks the vampyr panther, which puts her on the trail of Solasfyra in a game of cat-and-mouse. Following Solasfyra's footsteps, Nimfaeti learns that Khazr is hundreds of years old and might be Suul Barat. She also deduces that Solasfyra is dead and deathlocked. She takes this information to Mikoa.

Mikoa believes she can find Solasfyra's soul in the Between, like how she found Nazagorn. She arranges for her companions and Nimfaeti to guard her while she floats in the river. She enters the Between and finds Solasfyra in despair. She was killed by Nazagorn and deathlocked by Malzadrian, who is on his way to Treth. Under Malzadrian's compulsion, zombie Solasfyra is about to assassinate Khazr. She begs Mikoa to incinerate her body, to free her soul from deathlock.

Nimfaeti bleeds in the river so that Mikoa can magically talk to her. Nimfaeti leads Mikoa's companions to stop zombie Solasfyra, while Mikoa stays in the Between, talking to Solasfyra's soul. Mikoa tells Nimfaeti where to go via the magical blood-link. The link grows weak as Nimfaeti's blood dilutes in the water, but the companions save Khazr and apprehend Solasfyra. Malzadrian taunts Khazr through Solasfyra's voice, until Mikoa arrives and incinerates her.

Khazr is wounded but insists on getting to the Songblade before Malzadrian.