The Hurricane Wars

Talasyn and Alaric hike to the Belian Light Sever to train. The air is tense after their last argument, and Alaric cannot stand the heat of the jungle. They encounter a swamp buffalo, and Alaric falls into the mud in fright. After they fight off the beast together, Talasyn laughs at Alaric, as he looks ridiculous covered in swamp muck. He relishes the sound of her laughter, though he is irked it is directed at him. He cleans himself off in a creek, and they stop for lunch. As they eat, Alaric apologizes for how he treated Talasyn aboard the Deliverance. Talasyn apologizes in turn, and they both express their willingness to work together to prevent the Night of the World-Eater. Alaric still finds himself inexplicably drawn to Talasyn.

Talasyn and Alaric reach the temple near the Sever by sunset. Talasyn explains the various mythological beings depicted in the temple, from the Tuani, or nature spirits, to the grandfather trees that house the souls of the unburied dead. After exploring the Sever, they rest for the night. Early in the morning, Alaric wakes Talasyn for training. She spends the early part of the day feeling close camaraderie with Alaric as they meditate together. Talasyn is surprised when Alaric reveals that his grandfather Ozalus was the one to train him with the Shadowforge.

By the afternoon, Talasyn still cannot summon a shield. Alaric coaches her to think about building a physical shield while summoning, and she almost summons a complete shield before she loses it. Alaric praises her, and Talasyn hugs him. She nearly pulls away after he inhales sharply, but he tugs her closer and hugs her back.

Alaric cannot recall the last time anyone held him. He and Talasyn remain in each other’s arms until the sun sets, until their bodies become uncomfortable. They pull apart and Talasyn thanks Alaric for being a patient teacher. Before they fall asleep, they discuss the story of Bakun, the World-Eater. He was one of the first dragons in Nenavar, and he fell in love with the first Zahiya-lachis, Iyaram. Dragons live longer than humans, so when Iyaram died, Bakun was consumed with grief. He tried to destroy the world, but Iyaram’s people fought him off. Now, every thousand years, he tries to destroy the world again. Alaric prefers the Kesathese version of the story, in which the sun god’s hungry lion ate the moons, because it doesn’t involve the loss of someone so beloved.

The next day, Talasyn still has difficulty with the shield, though she is getting better. Alaric finds an amphitheater for them to spar in. They fight, clearly in tune with each other’s bodies, and as Talasyn brings her dagger down on Alaric’s shield, they kiss.

Alaric and Talasyn kiss for the first time, neither with any experience. The kiss is passionate yet violent, but they pull away from each other when the Light Sever discharges. Alaric tells Talasyn to enter the magic as it spills out into the temple, even though she’s afraid. She lets the Lightweave wash over her, and memories of her past come rushing back to her: her mother singing her lullabies, the feeling of starving on the streets, moments with Khaede and her Sardovian friends, fighting with Alaric. She feels she’s betrayed her people by kissing Alaric and enjoying it. As Alaric watches the Lightweave surround Talasyn, he thinks she’s beautiful. Though Lightweave killed his grandfather, he admires the beauty of the magic. Talasyn is able to make a shield, and she spends the rest of the day making various shields of different shapes and sizes.

In the evening, as they get ready for sleep, Alaric tells Talasyn that he felt lonely as a child: His father treated him coldly and demanded that he constantly study in order to become perfect. Talasyn understands his loneliness, as she too lost her mother. Talasyn, though, feels guilty for bonding with Alaric while her comrades suffer in the Storm God’s Eye. She tells Alaric about Khaede and her unborn child, lost to the wars. Alaric is speechless with sadness, and Talasyn no longer wants to talk, not even about their kiss. She calls the kiss a mistake and aberration, which hurts Alaric.

In the morning, Alaric kicks himself for opening up to Talasyn, and he makes them leave early to return to Eskaya.

Talasyn takes a soothing bath when she returns to Eskaya. While Talasyn and Alaric were gone, the Nenavarene Enchanters invented a new device using the ethically harvested blood of sariman birds: an amplifier. When Talasyn and Alaric enter the amplifier and combine their power, they can cast a protective sphere that covers the entire atrium, instead of only their immediate surroundings. Alaric thinks that this kind of progress shows what would have been possible if the nations had worked together instead of launching into the Hurricane Wars. Talasyn thinks the same, but she also remains tempted to kill him to avenge her friends. Nonetheless, she is drawn to him and knows she needs to work with him to stop the Night of the World-Eater.

Talasyn and Alaric prepare for the wedding, as Urduja and various court officials explain how the newly wedded couple will leave the feast early for the consummation. Afterward, they will move to Iantas, a large castle on a small island nearby. The castle is Talasyn’s dowry and Alaric and Talasyn’s official residence. In the days before the ceremony, they rehearse every step of the formalities, and Talasyn attends endless dress fittings.

On a walk through the corridors, Talasyn runs into Rajan Kit Gitab. He escorts her to her rooms, expressing his relief that the Dead Season may be averted by Talasyn and Alaric. Regardless, he informs Talasyn that her great-grandmother, Urduja’s mother, prepared Urduja for the Dead Season, and if Talasyn and Alaric fail, Nenavar will still survive. Urduja’s line, the Silim line, will fall regardless, as when Talasyn becomes Dragon Queen the Ivralis line, her mother’s line, will reign. Gitab also offers her his support, implying that like Surakwel, he would support the Sardovians against the Night Empire.