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66 pages 2 hours read

Sabaa Tahir

A Reaper at the Gates

Sabaa TahirFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018

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Part 2, Chapters 11-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “Inferno”

Part 2, Chapter 11 Summary: “Laia”

Four weeks have passed, and Laia and Darin walk into Adisa alongside other Scholar refugees. Laia thinks about defeating the Nightbringer and tries to solve Shaeva’s prophecy. Darin reminds her a man has been following them for the past three days. Darin and Laia plan to lose him when they are at the city gates, since there are large crowds of people there.

Laia turns invisible near the gate while a soldier asks Darin if he has a guarantor in the city. The guards explain if Darin does not have a guarantor, he will have to go to the Scholar refugee camp. Afraid of being recognized, Laia urges Darin to leave. Laia thinks how her mother led the northern Resistance to Adisa 25 years ago with help from King Irmand.

Laia and Darin see a wanted poster for themselves at the camp. While they wonder why King Irmand is looking for them, Mariner soldiers arrive. The soldiers ask about Laia and Darin and threaten the entire camp. The pair decides to turn themselves in, and they learn they are wanted for conspiring against the Marinn kingdom.

Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary: “Elias”

Elias meets with the Kehanni, or storyteller, of Tribe Nasur. He asks about Mamie Rila, and the Kehanni tells him she is recovering. While walking, Elias worries about failing in his duties as Soul Catcher.

The Kehanni takes him to meet Aubarit, the Tribe’s new Fakira. Elias tells Aubarit that Shaeva is dead, and he is the new Soul Catcher. He does not know how to use magic to help the souls pass on at the Waiting Place, and she warns him he must do his duties. Elias asks him if there are books and scrolls that he could consult, and Aubarit tells him that only Fakirs and Fakiras know about the Mysteries of death. Since Tribes have Fakirs and Fakiras to guide their dead into the afterlife, these souls often do not need the Soul Catcher’s assistance to cross over.

Aubarit assures Elias that the forest will show him what he needs to know, but Elias worries that his magic cannot help him speak to the forest. Aubarit explains that the forest and the trees are different entities.

Aubarit has asked Shaeva for help because Fakirs and Fakiras are being killed and she cannot commune with dead spirits. Elias orders her to tell all the Tribes to protect the Fakirs and Fakiras, paint their wagons to blend in with the caravan, and ask other Fakirs if they are also struggling to commune with the dead. The chapter ends with Elias realizing that the ghosts are trying to get out of the Waiting Place.

Part 2, Chapter 13 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

Helene, Harper, and Dex are approaching Navium, which has been attacked by Grimarr, a priest from the Karkaun Clans. Harper explains that despite Admiral Lenidas’s defense, Grimarr has been winning. Grimarr hit the Southwest Quarter, mostly inhabited by Plebeians. Keris, who killed Lenidas on grounds of negligence, is in charge of Navium and is planning an attack the Karkauns. Helene is shocked since Lenidas was a very dutiful man and one of the few Paters her father trusted.

The Nightbringer materializes on the dock. Helene does not want the Nightbringer to know about Livia’s pregnancy and recalls the mind shielding exercises Harper showed her. However, when she stands in front of him, the Nightbringer congratulates Helene on becoming an aunt.

Part 2, Chapter 14 Summary: “Laia”

Three people visit Laia and Darin in the Mariner prison: a captain, a soldier, and a Nikla who thinks Laia is in Marinn to stage an uprising, which is untrue. She tries to warn Nikla about the coming danger, but Nikla dismisses her. Captain Eleiba, however, believes Laia.

Nikla threatens to send Laia and Darin to the Tribal lands, as they did with the Skiritae; in the previous book, the Skiritae were Laia’s allies. Nikla proposes that Darin make Serric steel for the Mariner army to save himself and Laia from the Tribal lands, but Darin refuses. Nikla reiterates her offer and leaves.

Darin refuses to talk about making weapons and asks Laia how they will escape. A stranger, Musa of Adisa, offers to get Laia and Darin out. He is a Scholar who wants Darin to make Serric weaponry for the Scholars while Laia resurrects the Scholar’s Resistance, a group working to free the Scholars from the Empire’s oppression. Laia refuses since the Resistance betrayed her in the past, and Musa assures her he knows about the Nightbringer’s betrayal. Darin and Laia, despite being impressed by Musa’s knowledge, still refuse to trust him.

Musa promises that he can get Darin and Laia to the Beekeeper. Darin tells Laia not to trust Musa, but Laia argues that they need to get out of the prison and start helping their people. Darin and Laia go with Musa, who subdues a man named Eleiba to get them out.

By the time Laia, Darin, and Musa escape, it is dawn, and Laia demands to know who Musa really is. Musa admits he is the Beekeeper.

Part 2, Chapter 15 Summary: “Elias”

Two weeks have passed, and Elias still cannot pass the ghosts over to the other side. He goes to Shaeva’s cottage in the Waiting Place to escape the ghosts’ cries, but cannot rest since he feels guilty about failing. He decides to ask a ghost named the Wisp what he is doing wrong. She tells him that pain harbors memories, and Elias deduces that she is talking about the jinn. They must understand the magic of the Waiting Place.

Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

The Nightbringer tells Helene that the Paters in Navium want to see her, and Helene puts aside her worries for Livia. Walking through the destroyed Navium, the Nightbringer and Helene talk about the importance of hope in times of war. He also declares himself Keris’s master. Helene is shocked by the inaction of the Martial army and feels sorry after seeing the body of Lenidas, who died a painful death.

Inside the watchtower, Helene asks Keris and the Paters why the Southwest Quarter is on fire, and why the Martial army has not been fighting back. Keris blames the unpredictable weather, and Helene assures the Paters that she won’t launch a fleet without their approval. However, she emphasizes that they need to ensure the Plebeians’ safety. Keris and Helene talk about strategy, and Helene decides that they will launch a naval attack on the Karkaun ships. Helene wonders if she is falling into a trap set out for her by Keris.

Four hours later, when the Martial army is at sea, a storm rolls in. Everyone waits for news about the fleets, and Helene asks Keris about Grimarr. Keris knows a lot about Grimarr, and informs Helene that one must know one’s enemy well. As time passes, everyone can hear the Karkaun fleet getting closer, and Keris advises that they should put up sea chains to protect the Navium. Helene finally accepts to Keris’s advice.

When morning comes, everyone realizes that the Martial fleet is gone. The Paters blame Helene for not listening to them, but Helene realizes that Keris must have colluded with the Nightbringer to destroy the Martial army. Keris welcomes Helene to Navium.

Part 2, Chapter 17 Summary: “Laia”

Musa takes Laia and Darin to a safe house close to the refugee camp. Laia realizes that Darin has no choice but to build weapons now while she must negotiate with Musa about the Scholar’s Resistance. Downstairs, Laia notices Darin and Musa talking about making Serric steel while the smith, Zella, and her daughter, Taure, introduce themselves to Laia. Taure implores Laia to not believe what the Mariners say about her mother, the Lioness.

Musa confesses that he orchestrated Laia and Darin’s arrest to test their loyalty to the Scholars, and they passed. Laia tries to use her magic against Musa but realizes that he has his own magic. Musa wants Laia as his ally in taking down the Nightbringer and in helping the Scholars. In exchange, he will give her information on the jinn and the Nightbringer.

Unfortunately, Musa’s spies don’t have any news about Elias because they don’t go into the Waiting Place. Laia wants to go to the Great Library to find information on the Nightbringer, but Musa says that anyone with magic is barred from the Great Library. He will go, and in the meantime, Laia will resurrect the Scholar’s Resistance.

Laia feels useless because she spends her days helping Darin and hiding from the Jadunas, who can detect magic. Musa keeps introducing her to refugee and Adisan Scholars, and Laia continually recounts her story for them. One night, Musa tells Laia that the Nightbringer is in Navium with the Commandant, and that there is conflict between the Blood Shrike and the Commandant. This is not information Laia wants, however.

Frustrated, Laia turns invisible and sneaks out that night. While roaming, she is dismayed by the poverty and hardship of the Scholar refugees. Laia overhears people talk about her: Some people praise her, and some people criticize her, Musa, and the Lioness. Following some children, Laia goes and listens to a Kehanni’s story about ghuls and the jinn. Suddenly, she realizes that the secret to the Nightbringer’s defeat may be in one of the Kehanni’s stories.

Laia hears someone whisper her name and realizes that the Nightbringer is spying on her. She calls him a monster and asks him to show himself, but the Nightbringer laughs and disappears. Laia returns to her room, where she blacks out and has a vision of a woman is standing in a cell and singing about a star. Escaping from the vision, Laia tries to think about Elias, but the Nightbringer’s face haunts her.

Part 2, Chapter 18 Summary: “Elias”

Elias asks the jinn to help him bond with the magic of the Waiting Place. The jinn tell him that, like the power-hungry Keris, he is too connected to those he loves. Elias refuses the comparison, stating that he is not a murderer like the Commandant, but the jinn force their way into his mind to show him Keris’s past.

He sees Keris touching him as a newborn baby gently, and then again when he is four years old with Tribe Saif. He had wandered off into the desert, and Keris rescued him. In another vision, an older Keris drops a sculpture of a mother holding her child into the fire and breaks a man’s neck.

Elias accuses the jinn of lying, and they warn him that they weakened the borders of the Waiting Place, allowing ghosts to escape. Elias windwalks to the borders but finds them strong. However, Elias later sees ghosts escaping toward the Tribal camps and hears the people screaming.

Part 2, Chapter 19 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

Livia sent a coded message to Helene explaining that she is struggling to hide her pregnancy while Marcus continues to act mad, and that he only has Plebeian support. Helene surmises she has to defeat the Commandant soon.

Lieutenant Dex tells Helene that Pater Tatius refuses to see her, blaming her for the loss of their fleet. Keris must also be offering them something to gain their favor; Grimarr has attacked Navium twice in two weeks.

Helene tells Dex to gather information on the Paters to extort them. Alongside Harper, Helene searches for Quin, who has information on Keris. On the way, Harper informs her that someone sneaked into the Commandant’s room twice, leaving a statue of a mother holding a child. Helene suspects that Cook, a person enslaved by Keris, must be doing this.

Harper and Helene meet Quin and his men in the forest, and Quin takes Helene to the tunnels where he has been hiding. Quin asks why Helene has not killed Keris yet, and Helene tells him that she is not easy to kill. Helene updates Quin on the war and asks how she can defeat Keris.

Quin talks about Keris’s tragic childhood; her mother, Karinna’s death, how Blackcliff was challenging for Keris, and how she allied herself with the Nightbringer after graduating. He tells Helene that Keris cared about Elias’s father. Helene knows that Arius Harper, Harper’s father, was Elias’s father too, but Quin doesn’t. Helene asks Quin about Arius, and he explains that Arius was a Plebeian Centurion Commandant known for his kindness toward students. Keris’s colleagues killed him.

Helene does not think knowing Keris’s past can help her defeat her, but Quin argues that it can help Helene understand Keris’s motives. Keris only cares about getting power, and Helene must understand that to defeat her.

Part 2, Chapter 20 Summary: “Laia”

Laia wants to see the Kehanni, but Zella and Musa warn her that Jaduna patrols are searching for her. Frustrated, Laia goes outside, and she and Darin talk about the Nightbringer.

Darin’s new blades hold up against his mentor, Spiro Tuleman’s blades when they fight, which means he made Serric steel. Musa congratulates Darin, and Laia demands they go see the Kehanni from the previous night. Musa tells Laia the Tribes have left to fight against the Martials, and that Tribe Sulud’s Kehanni will demand traditional gifts like silk or gold, which they don’t have.

Laia explains they will trade with the Serric steel, which the Kehanni will not refuse. Musa and Darin don’t agree with Laia since the Tribes are killing innocent civilian Martials too. However, Laia informs them she must trade since she needs information that only the Kehanni has.

Part 2, Chapter 21 Summary: “Elias”

Elias tells Afya and Aubarit to hide and realizes that Gibran, Afya’s little brother, has been possessed by a ghost. The two fight. Gibran almost chokes Elias, but Afya hits Gibran with a pan. Elias starts hitting Gibran in the head, shouting at the ghost to leave. Finally, Gibran loses consciousness and the ghost leaves. Elias tells Afya to take Gibran and the others and go to the river since ghosts hate water. However, a ghost possesses Afya.

Possessed, Afya attacks Elias and kills a small girl. Elias, furious, can finally feel the magic of the Waiting Place within. He exorcizes the ghosts from Afya and the others. However, when he goes to help Afya, the magic leaves him. Elias apologizes to Aubarit for failing in his duties when he hears the jinn laugh. The jinn taunt him, and Elias realizes that with help from the efrits, they burned Shaeva’s cabin, his only sanctuary in the Waiting Place.

Part 2, Chapter 22 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

Grimarr attacks Navium again. Helene has been barred from planning the counterattack, and frustrated by the suffering of the Plebeians, she makes a plan. Helene tells Dex, Avitas, and Janus Atrius to transform the Black Guard barracks into shelters, and Gens Atria’s house and Aquilla manor into infirmaries for injured Plebeians. She tells them to let everyone know these places opened by the Blood Shrike’s orders.

The bombardment stopped at midnight, and Helene visits Aquilla manor to ensure everything is alright. An angry mob outside demands to see family and friends, and Helene assures everyone the injured are being treated. She also promises them that they will stop the Barbarians.

After dispersing the crowd, Helene goes to the children’s ward and heals the children with her magic. Exhausted but unwilling to disturb her friends, she walks back to the barracks by herself. On the way, Helene is attacked. The chapter ends with Helene unable to move and bleeding heavily.

Part 2, Chapter 23 Summary: “Laia”

Musa and Laia leave early in the morning to find Tribe Sulud, but crossing Adisa takes all day, and it becomes dark. Laia feels she’s being watched, but Musa assures they are safe. Laia fears she will lose Musa if they become friends, but they still talk. While walking to their new mounts, Laia has a recurring vision about the woman singing about a star.

Laia is slapped awake by Musa, who has been trying to wake her up for an hour. He asks her if her visions are an effect of the magic, and Laia explains the visions are new. Laia asks Musa about his magic, and he tells her that he can manipulate and communicate with “lesser creatures” (172). He gives Laia a scroll that explains Helene’s injuries and why the Paters dislike Helene. Laia wants information on the Nightbringer, and Musa comments that Laia sounds like an ex-lover. Noticing Laia’s embarrassment, he reveals he was unfortunate in love too.

Musa promises to find out which Paters spent the most time with the Nightbringer. Laia realizes she can communicate with the wights, or reanimated corpses, who act as their guides, and Musa reveals the wights are his spies. Laia starts to trust him, and Musa tells her he wants her to lead the resistance. He wants Laia to bargain with King Irmand, Nikla’s father, for the refugees since the King was the Lioness’s friend. However, they have to act before Nikla becomes queen.

The wights lead them to Tribe Sulud. The Kehanni advises Musa to forget lost loves and asks Laia what presents she has brought. Laia offers the Serric blades, asking the Kehanni to use them in defense, not to kill civilians. The Kehanni accepts, offering Laia temporary protection and help.

Laia asks her about defeating the jinn, but the Kehanni knows that Laia’s real target is the Nightbringer. She explains that the Nightbringer cannot be killed but can be stopped. Since she has to prepare herself to tell stories, she asks them to come back at night. Musa and Laia return to the inn, where someone is waiting for her inside her room.

Part 2, Chapter 24 Summary: “Elias”

Elias, who thinks he is dreaming, sees an injured Helene who apologizes for hurting Mamie Rila in an interrogation. Helene asks Elias if he is there to take her to the Waiting Place, and Elias tells her to live and take revenge on whoever hurt her. While helping Helene, he slips into another reality.

He finds himself in Laia’s room at the inn. Elias thinks he is dreaming, but Laia assures him their meeting is real. Laia and Elias talk about everything that has happened to them, sharing their struggles and journeys, and the two of them become intimate when Elias acknowledges that somehow, the jinn brought him to Laia.

Suddenly, Laia is possessed by Mauth, the magic of the Waiting Place, who tells Elias to go back. Mauth warns Elias that the jinn are using Elias’s weaknesses against him. Elias must return to the Waiting Place, and no one will remember Elias visiting them. Mauth also warns Elias to embrace his duties and find out the jinn’s secrets.

Part 2, Chapter 25 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

Almost unconscious with blood loss, Helene hears voices and thinks about her loved ones and all her mistakes. She regrets hurting Elias and his family.

Harper and Dex find Helene and try to help her. Half-conscious, Helene tells Dex he should be able to love whomever he wants and tells Harper to not let anyone see her. Dex leaves to get a physician. While Harper and Helene argue about going to the infirmary, the Nightbringer appears and tells Harper he will help Helene.

They take Helene to her quarters, where Harper refuses to leave her alone with the Nightbringer. The Nightbringer asks Helene to heal herself with her song, which is one of anger and love. She starts to heal herself, and the Nightbringer tells her to transfer her pain onto him. When Harper asks what the Nightbringer is doing to Helene, the Nightbringer shows him Helene’s healed wound. Helene asks why the Nightbringer is helping her, and he replies he is helping himself.

It is nighttime when Helene wakes up. Everything shakes, and she concludes that Grimarr is attacking again. Despite her pain, she tries to arm herself. Cook, who infiltrated Helene’s room, asks Helene why she is so eager to get herself killed. Cook also informs Helene that she killed the other attackers and sent Harper to Helene. Helene thanks her and asks her why she hasn’t killed Keris yet. Cook is not trying to kill Keris and asks Helene why she let the Nightbringer help her. The Nightbringer is preparing for a bigger war than the one between Karkauns and the Empire to take revenge on the Scholars for imprisoning the jinn. Helene should stay away from Keris and instead protect Livia. Cook warns that Helene cannot defeat Keris because she is not ruthless like Keris.

Part 2, Chapter 26 Summary: “Laia”

Musa bursts into Laia’s door, asking her if she is alright. The wraiths attacked Tribe Sulud, and he’s not sure if anyone is alive. He insists they leave, but Laia convinces him to find the Kehanni, who is the camp’s only survivor. She tells Laia to seek the Augur’s prophecy in the Great Library and dies.

The wights tell Musa the wraiths are returning, forcing Laia and Musa to leave. Laia feels guilty but leaves. Musa warns that it’s impossible to get into the Great Library, and Laia says, “Nothing is impossible” (201).

Upon returning, they find the refugee camp burning. Musa doesn’t think the Mariners are behind the fire, since they are helping the Scholars, and Laia despairs over her people always suffering. While they help the people, they notice that the Great Library is also on fire.

Part 2, Chapter 27 Summary: “Elias”

For two weeks, Elias prepares to interrogate the jinn. He collects buckets of rainwater, salt, and an ax. He makes rings of salt around the trees where the jinn are imprisoned and dips the ax into rainwater. Then, he strikes a tree with the ax. The jinn scream and warn him that if the tree splits, they will be free. Elias says they are lying and strikes again. The jinn tell Elias to come closer to learn their secrets. Elias does so and becomes immobile.

Suddenly, he realizes he is in the jinn city. Mauth guides Elias to a building, which used to house jinn children. When Elias touches the walls, he sees memories of how the jinn used to live.

The jinn used to have hundreds of Soul Catchers, who would patiently guide souls to the afterlife with love. The Soul Catchers used to have families, which gives Elias hope for his future. However, one day, the Scholar King arrived to meet with the Nightbringer, who was King of the jinn. Shaeva, who was one of the Nightbringer’s bodyguards, became infatuated with the Scholar King, who manipulated her to learn the jinn’s secrets. The humans attacked the jinn, destroying their cities and entrapping them in the trees. With the jinn imprisoned, the balance they brought to the world by guiding the dead was lost.

Elias, returning to the present, realizes why he cannot pass on the ghosts and why Shaeva was struggling. Soul Catchers must be jinn, and they shouldn’t be alone.

Part 2, Chapter 28 Summary: “The Blood Shrike”

Helene wakes up and sees Harper, who fell asleep guarding her. Harper becomes flustered when Helene gets out of bed naked, but Helene jokes that soldiers should be comfortable seeing each other naked. Harper tells Helene he’s never seen anyone like her, and Helene blushes. Unwilling to deal with her emotions, she tells Harper she is going to the beach. Harper asks about her gift. Noticing Helene’s reluctance to talk, he advises her to trust her allies, who wouldn’t know how to protect her otherwise. Helene tells the truth about her gift, and Harper promises to respect her wish for secrecy.

Helene reveals her worries about a bigger war between the Nightbringer’s forces against the Scholars hiding in Marinn. She wonders what the Commandant will gain by siding with the Nightbringer, and Harper replies that maybe he promised Keris the Empire. Helene tells Harper to open more infirmaries for the Plebeians and goes to the beach.

The beach is well guarded, and she can’t get close. Harper follows Helene after giving her orders to Dex, and Helene tells him to create a distraction. Helene tells Harper is gone for an hour, and when she gets back, she tells Harper to reach out to Quin, since they will need all the help they can get.

A week after Helene’s attack, Grimarr attacks Navium for the last time. Helene hopes her plan against Keris works, otherwise, many innocent Plebeians will die. Cook stole Keris’s seal for Helene, who used the seal on a scroll. In front of the Plebeians, Helene pretends Keris sent her the scroll, telling her to not fight back against the Karkauns. Helene spreads rumors about the Paters’ corruption to stoke Plebeian anger against Keris and her supporters. Helene also plants trusted Black Guards within the Plebeian crowd, who agree with her and egg the crowd on. The Plebeians, feeling encouraged, soon join Helene’s campaign against Keris, and they all walk toward the tower where Keris and the Paters are hiding.

Keris tries to reason with Helene, telling her the situation is delicate. However, a runner arrives to tell Keris that Grimarr is burning Martials if they don’t swear fealty to him. Helene uses Keris’s momentary silence to take control of the situation. They all walk up the tower, and, seeing Harper’s subtle signal, the Martial fleet comes into view. Helene reveals that the fleet never died; Keris orchestrated everything to take over the Martial and Karkaun fleet to help the Nightbringer attack the Mariners. Once Grimarr attacks on land, she intends to destroy his forces and take his ships.

Keris tries to escape, but Helene’s guards stop her. Admiral Argus and Vice Admiral Vissellius, who were loyal to Keris, are dead. Now, Admiral Quin and some members of Gens Atria man the Martial fleet. Helene orders Keris to be taken to the interrogation cells and admonishes the remaining Paters for their betrayal. Harper informs Helene that Grimarr is fleeing. Unless they want to be humiliated, the Paters must swear fealty to Emperor Marcus and Helene and help them fight Grimarr.

The Martial army defeats the Karkauns, but Grimarr escapes; Helene predicts he won’t live for long. Back in her quarters, she finds a missive containing a pardon she requested for Quin. Dex knocks on her door, announcing that someone poisoned Livia and Helene must return to the capital immediately.

Part 2, Chapter 29 Summary: “Laia”

Musa wants Laia to help the Scholars, but Laia’s priority is finding the prophecy to defeat the Nrightbringer. Laia climbs to the third floor, where wind efrits are helping the fire spread. A Jaduna tries to get Laia away for her safety, but Laia refuses to leave. Laia saves the Jaduna from efrits. The fire spreads faster, and Laia crawls to look for books. Finally, Darin forcibly drags Laia away. When she protests, he retorts that her death will not help anyone.

They barely escape, and Darin scolds Laia for risking herself since she’s the only family he has. The Jaduna reappears, thanking Laia for saving her life. She cautions Laia about the consequences of using dark magic to stop the Nightbringer, but Laia refuses to listen. Before leaving, the Jaduna hands Laia a book, which contains information on Augurs, and tells Laia to ask for D’arju if she comes to Kotama. D’arju is the best teacher there.

Laia and Darin meet up with Musa, and Laia asks him about Helene getting attacked. Based on passages from the book of Augurs, they conclude that Helene has the last piece of the star in her family ring. The Nightbringer has been with Helene all this time because he wants it.

Part 2, Chapter 30 Summary: “Elias”

Still in the jinn city, Elias hears Aubarit calling him. Mauth does not want his Soul Catchers to have human feelings because feelings are volatile, and Soul Catchers must always be calm. Elias tries to ignore Aubarit’s pleading, but the Wisp warns him his family needs him. In response, Elias strengthens the borders with his magic and goes to the Tribal camps. Outside of the Waiting Place, he hears Martial drums.

At the camp, thousands of Tribal wagons have gathered, making the Tribes a perfect target for the Martial army. Near Tribe Saif, Elias notices a specter-like being in the form of his Uncle Akbi. However, unlike his uncle, the specter-like says cruel things to Elias, leading him toward six dead bodies. Aubarit tells him that the dead are not staying dead. Instead, the spirits are driving the living mad with grief and death by suicide. Mamie Rila rushes into Elias’s arms, and Elias implores her to disperse the Tribes while he sends scouts to discover the army’s location. Mamie Rila refuses: The Tribes gathered for majilees, and everyone believes they are stronger together.

Elias realizes the Nightbringer is at fault, and he summons Mauth’s magic to fight him. He can now see the ghuls surrounding the Tribespeople’s dead bodies, which keeps their spirits from leaving. He instructs Aubarit and Mamie Rila to sprinkle salt around the bodies, which will disperse the ghuls and allow the spirits to leave. When Elias is about to leave, Afya informs him that 5,000 Martial soldiers will be at the camp by dawn. Elias starts to worry, and Mauth’s magic leaves him again.

Part 2, Chapters 11-30 Analysis

These chapters build on the themes introduced in the first part of the book while introducing new themes and characters. Characters, especially Elias, continue to struggle for balance. Elias is conflicted between his duties as Soul Catcher and his loyalty to his loved ones. However, Elias becomes increasingly aware of the importance of prioritizing his duties, especially after witnessing the trouble the escaped ghosts cause for the living. Elias’s magic serves a narrative role, as his visions replace exposition. His visions show how the jinn were betrayed by the Scholar King and reveal Shaeva’s history.

The Duality of Oppression and Resistance continues to be a central theme in the book, especially in Laia and Darin’s storyline. Their people, the Scholars, face oppression on different fronts in the novel. The Empire enslaves the Scholars while the Nightbringer wants to destroy the Scholars as revenge for imprisoning the jinn. Even though he cannot destroy them at this point in the narrative, he punishes them in other ways. The Mariners treat the Scholar refugees badly because Princess Nikla is under the influence of ghuls. The Nightbringer has commanded the efrits, wraiths, and ghuls to make life hard for the Scholars, just as he has orchestrated their suffering throughout the ages. Though the Scholars are victims now, their oppressive actions in the past nearly destroyed an entire people. From his perspective, the Nightbringer is enacting justice for wrongs the Scholars committed long ago. Another side of this conflict involves Laia, who is trying to defeat the Nightbringer for her own reasons. She is also reviving the Scholars Resistance though they betrayed her in the past. In this way, the novel shows that conflicts are never simple or one-sided.

One of the most important characters introduced in these chapters is Musa. Musa’s magic makes him a powerful ally, and he helps Laia and Darin in Adisa, giving them shelter and information that allows Laia to continue her fight against the Nightbringer. He is also the primary mastermind behind the revival of the Scholar Resistance. While in the beginning, Musa and Laia did not trust each other, as the two characters bond, they form a sibling-like relationship. The two also bond over their heartbreak: Musa had his heart broken by his wife, Princess Nikla, while Laia was betrayed by the Nightbringer. He often acts as Laia’s conscience, reminding her of her obligations toward the Scholars when Laia is blinded by her need to seek revenge.

Helene continues to be a dynamic character as she is faced with the consequences of war-making and waging political espionage against Keris. Tahir introduces two central themes through Helene’s perspective in these chapters: the brutality of war and The Corrupting Nature of Power. Helene has to confront Keris and the Paters’ thirst for power and deal with the corruption, which makes the war particularly brutal for the Plebeians. Since the Paters and Keris are primarily concerned with their own affairs, they are comfortable with thousands of Plebeians dying to fuel their own economic and political gains. The Plebeians face the brunt of the war against the Karkauns in Navium while the Paters allow the assaults on the city to continue. Helene, with help from Quin, manages to outsmart Keris and the Paters, exposing their corruption to the Plebeians. Helene also struggles with the desire for power and whether her motives are selfless or self-serving.

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