The Prophecy

**The prophecy** is a reoccurring prediction seen throughout the Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire series. The prophecy is constructed in three parts: a beginning, middle and end. The ending of the prophecy is revealed in A Light in the Flame by Kolis.

## Background

The prophecy was the last dreamed by the Ancients. It is only to be repeated by descendants of the Gods of Divination, or the last oracle, who is of the Balfour bloodline. It was spoken by Penellaphe and is over 800 years old.

## The Prophecy

*"From the desperation of golden crowns and born of mortal flesh, a great primal power rises at the heir to the lands and seas, to the skies and all the realms. A shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, to become a fire in the flesh. When the stars fall from the night, the great mountains crumble into the seas, and old bones raise their swords beside the gods, the false one will be stripped from glory until two born of the same misdeeds, born of the same great and Primal power in the mortal realm. A first daughter, with blood full of fire, fated for the one-promised King. And the second daughter, with blood full of ash and ice, the other half of the future King. Together, they will remake the realms as they usher the end."*

*"And so it will begin with the last Chosen blood spilled, the great conspirator birthed form the flesh and fire of the Primals will awaken as the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction to the lands gifted by the gods. Beware, for the end will come from the west to destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between."*

*"For the one born of the blood and the ash, the bearer of two crowns, and the bringer of life to mortal, god, and draken. A silver beast with blood seeping from its jaws of fire, bathed in the flames of the brightest moon to ever be birthed, will become one. And the great powers will stumble and fall, some all at once, and they will fall through the fires into a void of nothing. Those left standing will tremble as they kneel, will weaken as they become small, as they become forgotten. For finally, the Primal rises, the giver of blood and the bringer of bone, the Primal of Blood and Ash."*

## Prophecy Interpretations

There are several interpretations of the prophecy that have transpired:

*1. "From the desperation of golden crowns and born of mortal flesh, a great primal power rises as the heir to the lands and seas, to the skies and all the realms,"* this is referring to Seraphena, as she is the Primal of Life. She was born from the desperation of the King and Queen of Lasania and of mortal flesh.

*2. "A shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, to become a fire in the flesh,"* Reaver says this is Sera's name in *The War of Two Queens*. These are also in the titles that Sera is given during her coronation in *A Light in the Flame*. Sera has the embers of life, given to the Mierel bloodline by Eythos. This is referring to sera's ascension, when a shadow in the ember becomes a fire in the flesh.

*3. "When the stars fall from the night, the great mountains crumble into the seas, and old bones raise their swords beside the gods, the false one will be stripped from glory,"* this probably refers to the future fight with Kolis, the false Primal of Life. Old bones might be related to Sera's guards, the skeletons she is able to summon to fight in her aid. In the first chapter of A Soul of Ash and Blood, Penellaphe's awakening is violent and causes parts under Wayfair Castle to collapse; it is noted the awakening of gods and Primals is a violent affair.

*4. "Until two born of the same misdeeds, born of the same great and Primal power in the mortal realm,"* these are Ires and Isbeth's daughters, Poppy and Millicent. They are both grandchildren of Nyktos and Sera, one of which is a great Primal. They are both born out of a sexual assault against Ires by Isbeth and were born in the mortal realm.

5. "*A first daughter, with blood full of fire, fated for the once-promised King,"* Millicent is the first daughter of Ires and Isbeth; the once-promised King is Malik Da'Neer, who was originally planned to be the King of Atlantia, but his claim was usurped by Poppy's bloodline.

*6. "And the second daughter, with blood full of ash and ice, the other half of the future King,"* this refers to Poppy, a second daughter, and Casteel Da'Neer.

*7. "Together, they will remake the realms as they usher in the end,"*-> foreshadowing of more battles?

*8. "And so it will begin with the last Chosen blood spilled,"* When Poppy's blood was spilled after she was shot and Ascended, her Culling started and the first symptom of her Primalhood emerged.

*9. "The great conspirator birthed from the flesh and fire of the Primals will awaken as the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction to the lands gifted by the gods. Beware, for the end will come from the west to destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between,*" Poppy was the one who awoke Kolis, so she is the Harbinger and Bringer of Death, like a messenger, not the real Destructor. Additionally, it says Kolis and Eythos were born in the mortal realm in the west& Kolis was entombed in solis(west). As said by miss Willa, Poppy is not the great conspirator, but one of two who will stand between what has awakened and the retribution it seeks. Probably referred to the first and second daughter of the prophecy, which makes millicent the great conspirator.

10. *"For the one born of the blood and the ash, the bearer of two crowns, and the bringer of life to mortal, god, and draken."*

Kolis believes this is Sera, she is a Princess of Lasania and is crowned Consort of Nyktos. She also restores the life to mortal, God, and draken. She was also born of blood and ash (life and deat). Touched by both life and death upon her birth. However, at the end of The Crown of Gilded Bones when Poppy meets Nyktos, he tells her, "You were born of flesh with the fire of the gods in your blood. You are the Bringer of Life and a Bringer of Death. You *are* the Queen of Flesh and Fire, due more than one Crown, one Kingdom."

*11. "A silver beast with blood seeping from its jaws of fire, bathed in the flames of the brightest moon to ever be birthed, will become one."* Several people think this is Nyktos and Sera producing heirs, who are Ires and Malec. Nyktos can shift into the form of a silver wolf; at the end of *A Light in the Flame*, Sera states that Nyktos in his wolf form is, "A silver beast. Bathed in the brightest moonlight. *Ash.*" Additionally, apart of Sera's Consort title is 'the Brightest Moon.'

*12. "And the great powers will stumble and fall, some all at once, and they will fall through the fires into a void of nothing. Those left standing will tremble as they kneel, will weaken as they become small, as they become forgotten."* The fall of most Primals into their slumber, the destruction of the mortal realms and the history being eventually erased and changed by the Ascended. In From Blood and Ash and A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, Casteel tells Poppy that the Ascended stole the gods from the Atlantians to further their agenda of the Rite and the Maiden; that first, second, and third sons and daughters have sacred duties to the gods, and that the Ascended are the direct descendants of these gods.

*13. "For finally, the Primal rises, the giver of blood and the bringer of bone, the Primal of Blood and Ash."* This is what Nektas calls Poppy at the end of *The War of Two Queens*. She is the heir of both the Primal of Death and Life, which are represented by blood (the life force) and ash (what remains after death).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kolis, Chapter 42 of A Light in the Flame (pg. 608, paperback)
2. ↑ A Light in the Flame, Chapters 44 and 47
3. ↑ *The Crown of Gilded Bones*, Chapter 41
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *A Light in the Flame*, Chapter 47
5. ↑ *A Light in the Flame,* Chapter 41