Chapter Twenty-Four: A Simple Execution[edit | edit source]

Solineus rides from the Eleris with a small Edan-led party—Inslok, Limereu, Lelishen, Glimdrem, and five Trelelunin—to prevent a Hidreng attack on the Silone refugees and secure their passage to the Blooded Plain. The Edan’s commanding presence and the Eleris’s serene control instill confidence, but Solineus doubts their plan’s simplicity as they enter Tek territories. Passing through Stiltir and Loekar without incident, they reach Hidreng land, where villagers flee or hide. Encountering refugee camps, Solineus urges them to wait for escort, and upon nearing Inster, they spot a Hidreng army confronting the Silone. Limereu, with uncanny precision, fires an arrow from Motu Ensa, killing a Hidreng priest from two thousand strides, halting Iro’s attack order. Inslok declares the Silone under Edan protection, and Iro, shaken, retreats, warning Solineus of future costs for aligning with the Edan. Meanwhile, Meliu, watching from a cliff, is confronted by Ulrikt’s Face, who reveals he saved her in Inster and urges her to rescue Ivin from the Tower of Markuun in Bdein. Offering a poison vial—implied to be Kotin’s killer—Ulrikt shifts forms, intimidating her with Angin’s visage, insisting she could save their people. Meliu, torn by his power and her own fears, accepts the vial but prays for strength to reject assassination, forming a risky plan to infiltrate Bdein and free Ivin, aware of the prophet’s manipulative omniscience and her precarious role in his schemes.

ToP Chapter 23 — Red Peacock
ToP Chapter 25 — A Tortured Man
Trail of Pyres - Main Chapter Listing