Chapter Nineteen: Sundering the People

Ivin prepares to read the Mercies’ scroll publicly, hoping Meliu’s deliberate mispronunciations will nullify its soul-sundering power, though doubts gnaw at him. Meliu, staying distant at Ivin’s insistence, watches as the scroll’s diamond ink flares, forcing Ivin to speak its words perfectly, unleashing a magical surge that distorts reality and weakens the crowd. High Priestess Sedut, wielding the false Sliver of Star, intervenes, slaughtering Hidreng forces and shattering the scroll, saving Ivin from death but leaving him bloodied and unconscious. As chaos erupts, Meliu, channeling unprecedented Light and Dark, aids the Silone, crippling Hidreng ranks with terror-inducing prayers, turning the battle’s tide. Sedut’s relentless carnage and a mysterious boy’s appearance—likely Ulrikt’s Face—haunt Meliu, but she presses on. Ivin is captured by retreating Hidreng, and Polus, gravely wounded, urges Meliu to save him, though she heals the Broldun instead, unsure of Ivin’s fate. Exhausted but unscathed by prayer overuse, Meliu surveys the devastated camp, noting the Ravinrins’ prior departure and the Silone’s desperate scavenging. With Ivin gone and no clear path to rescue him, Meliu resolves to follow the fleeing Silone to the Blooded Plain, grappling with guilt over the dead and the uncertain future, as the Hidreng’s inevitable retaliation looms.

ToP Chapter 18 — The Mocking Fish
ToP Chapter 20 — A Deal Touched
Trail of Pyres - Main Chapter Listing