Today's Reading
LAST TIME, IN THIS DARK DESCENT...
All Mikira Rusel wants is to breed enchanted horses, keep her family safe, and, one day, compete in a real race. But with an unofficial embargo on the Rusels' enchanted horse business courtesy of Rezek Kelbra, heir to the city of Veradell's richest house, sales are dwindling. When Rezek discovers Mikira's father is an unlicensed enchanter, a capital crime in the land of Enderlain, he offers her a deal: If she can win the Illinir—a series of four vicious enchanted races—on an uncharmed horse, he'll pardon her father. If she loses, their fabled horses become his, and her father remains trapped in Rezek's employ.
Without the funds to enter, Mikira secures sponsorship from Damien Adair, a furtive house lord with a vendetta against Rezek. Damien promises her an undetectable enchanted horse made by Arielle Kadar, an unlicensed enchanter practicing illegal Kinnish magic that enables her to create golems in place of enchanted animals. In exchange, he agrees to get Ari an official enchant license.
After an incident with her magic left her grandfather dead, Ari fled to Veradell, where she uses her Kinnish spellbook to create golems, instilling them with physical, behavioral, energy, and ethereal charms using the four gemstones and magic found in verillion plants. But as she works on the golem horse for Mikira, her magic becomes more unwieldy, a presence inside her growing that she dismisses as exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Mikira trains for the race with the help of Reid Haldane, Damien's best friend, medical expert, and all-around pain in the ass. Her time spent with them slowly breaks down her walls, giving way to friendship.
As an attraction grows between Damien and Ari, so does the presence in her mind, and she seeks Damien's help. He suspects her spellbook is a Racari, a book of magic from the four Harbingers, the gods of the Kinnish religion. They were taken by the Heretics, enchanters who caused the Cataclysm, a magical eruption that destroyed the kingdom of Kinahara. Together, Ari and Damien discover bloodstones, which enable magical bonds. Realizing that a Heretic bonded to the Racari last, they suspect its soul remains and is influencing Ari through her magic.
As their connection grows, Damien reveals that he's in the midst of an ascension battle with his siblings, Loic and Shira. Whoever can deal the greatest blow to a rival house will become head of House Adair, and Damien has a bet with Rezek: If Mikira wins, Damien gets the Illinir rights, but if she loses, he turns over all of House Adair's racing assets.
Meanwhile, Mikira fights her way through the Illinir's dangers with the help of her long-lost childhood friend, Talyana, who claims Damien is a murderer. Mikira won't turn on her new partner without proof—but when a body washes up on her property clutching Damien's house ring, she's not sure whom to trust.
Racked with indecision, Mikira risks telling Talyana about the ring—only to discover that she's a sergeant investigating Damien, and she wants the ring as evidence. As Damien is arrested, Rezek kidnaps Ari, torturing her for answers about how Mikira is winning the races. Ari holds out until she's rescued by Reid, who knows about Mikira's admission to Talyana, and takes the ring from her.
With tensions running high, the final race arrives, and it takes all of them working together for Mikira to win. With her victory, Damien secures the rights to the Illinir and submits them for his family's Ascension. Shira all but forfeits the competition, while Loic makes a desperate attempt to win by killing Rezek's father. But their father names Damien heir, and Loic is arrested.
Broken and humiliated, Rezek retreats into seclusion, unbeknownst to Mikira, who attends the final Illinir ball in hopes of cornering him to free her father. There, Talyana introduces her to Princess Eshlin, revealing they're part of a growing rebellion that wants Mikira to join. And when Damien discovers that Mikira is the one who caused his arrest and excommunicates her, Mikira agrees to hear out the rebels.
As the ball ends, Damien uses the royal boon granted to the Illinir winner to replace House Kelbra with House Adair as a greater house. But Ari isn't fully present to witness it, as her body is no longer under her control. She finds herself taken to an alcove with another Racari, where Rezek Kelbra awaits, his eyes bright white, and there she realizes the Heretic she thought was bonded to the Racari is actually possessing her—and there's one controlling Rezek too.
PART 1
In the end, the Heretics destroyed everything the Harbingers had built.
Lyzairin's schools crumbled to ruin;
Rach's observatory was left to rot.
The wisdom Skylis imparted was lost to time,
and Aslir's once vibrant hope & withered.
Humanity was lost.
...
