The Songbird and the Heart of Stone

Mische sits in a jail cell in House of Shadow territory, mourning the loss of her fire magic. Since being forcibly turned into a vampire long ago by the Shadowborn Prince—whom she’s been imprisoned for murdering—she has been abandoned by the sun god, and any attempt to use his magic leaves her with new burn scars. While imprisoned, Mische thinks of the confiscated letters from her House of Night friends, Raihn and Oraya, which she has been unable to read.

Egrette, the sister of the Shadowborn Prince Mische killed, visits her cell. Using the Shadowborn powers of mind magic and compulsion, Egrette searches Mische’s memories and confirms that Mische was responsible for her brother Malach’s death. As Mische protests that she is not a spy, Egrette silences her and implies that Mische will soon be handed over as a gift to her father.

Beaten and left to the darkness of her cell, Mische dreams of her childhood and her elder sister Saescha, who told her frightening stories about vampires as soul-devouring beasts. The dream is interrupted when an unknown figure appears and begins magically tending to Mische’s wounds. Soon after, Mische is prepared—dressed in white, her wrists chained—and marched into a grand ballroom filled with vampires. There, Egrette presents her to the King of the House of Shadow, Raoul.

Raoul’s birthday celebration is in full swing, and as he regards his gift from Egrette, Mische notices his erratic behavior. He seems cognitively impaired, forgetting that his son is dead and confusing the current Nightborn King with his long-ago predecessors.

Egrette, eager to win her father’s favor, offers Mische up as his son’s killer, hoping to have her executed in front of the court. Raoul uses his magic to sift through Mische’s memories, confirming her role in his son’s death. Though he is initially intent on killing Mische for this, his plans are interrupted when a mysterious man arrives, claiming he has use for Mische.

The man who interrupts Mische’s impending execution is revealed to be Asar, Raoul’s bastard son, whom Mische has long assumed dead. Asar is an infamous spymaster known for carrying out the king’s tortures, though he hasn’t been heard from in decades. Mische is struck by his appearance; his once-beautiful face is now marred by thick, black and luminescent blue scars, and his left eye is a cloudy, pupil-less silver.

Asar notes the burn scars covering Mische’s arms, caused by her attempts to wield Atroxus’s fire magic after becoming a vampire. Despite her efforts, she hasn’t been able to access the magic for a year. Beneath her scars lies a ruined tattoo of a phoenix, once a symbol of Atroxus’s blessing. Asar claims that the tattoo marks Mische as a Dawndrinker, a rare person capable of still accessing fire magic even after becoming a vampire—an ability most others lose. To save herself, Mische lies and claims she can still summon fire. When asked to demonstrate, she pleads to Atroxus for aid, and to her surprise, the god answers, allowing flames to appear in her palm.

Raoul, convinced of her power, decides to spare her life and grants her permission to assist Asar with a mission he’s received from Nyaxia, the Dark Mother and goddess of vampires. As Asar escorts her away from the ballroom, Mische continues to summon fire, grateful for the god’s blessing despite the painful burns that come with wielding the fire. Asar reveals that they are headed for Morthryn—“a prison created by the gods themselves […] long before vampires existed at all” (44). They don’t make it far before Asar uses magic to knock Mische unconscious.

Mische dreams of Saescha. Mische’s head lies in Saescha’s lap as they watch the sunrise, but when Mische suddenly catches fire and turns to her sister for help, she discovers Saescha dead, with her throat ripped out.

Mische wakes in Morthryn, a place of nothingness, and is greeted by a large wolf-like creature. The wolf beckons her to follow it through a maze of hallways, eventually leading her to a library filled with magical artifacts and books. As Mische admires the items, Asar enters, shirtless and covered in blood. He’s surprised to find her there; his wolf, Luce, brought Mische earlier than he’d expected.

Asar reveals that he has been the Warden of Morthryn for over a century. To ensure she doesn’t lose her way during their journey, Asar creates a magic anchor to Mische by placing a hand on her chest. Mische recognizes Asar’s magic as the same power that had healed her before she was taken to his father’s birthday celebration. Asar then leads her into another room, where a female corpse lies on a table in the center. Mische is shocked to discover that Asar is a necromancer.

Mische is both horrified and fascinated at the largely forbidden magic. As a scholar, however, she is intrigued by the rare and complex magic she doesn’t yet understand. Asar explains the five necessary elements to resurrect a person: the body, represented by a lock of silver hair from the deceased; breath, represented by a flute symbolizing the passage of time; psyche, represented by a gold necklace containing memories of the past; secrets, represented by a bloodstained blanket; and finally, the soul, which in this case will be provided by Mische. The woman on the table, named Chandra, was a devout acolyte of Atroxus, and so Mische can use a touch of Atroxus’s light to serve as the soul element.

Mische learns that Chandra was a prisoner in Morthryn, but Asar is unwilling to answer her questions about why she was imprisoned or why he needs to resurrect her. When Mische offers a piece of Atroxus’s light to a candle, she feels a burning sensation, which Asar notices and appears to disapprove. Mische presses Asar for more details about his mission, and though he is reluctant to give much away, Mische eventually deduces that Nyaxia, the Dark Mother, has sent him to the underworld to resurrect Alarus, the god of death, who was murdered by the White Pantheon in an execution led by Mische’s sun god, Atroxus.

Mische is returned to her cell, where she prays to Atroxus before falling asleep. When she wakes, Atroxus visits her. She is deeply grateful for his attention and, possibly, his favor once again. Atroxus explains that he cannot enter Nyaxia’s territory without severe consequences. He reveals details about Asar’s mission and the history surrounding Alarus, the god of death. Atroxus tells Mische that major deities, like himself and his siblings, cannot permanently kill their own kind, due to rules imposed on them long ago. Rather than killing Alarus outright, Atroxus and the other gods had to cut open his heart, dismember his body, and scatter the pieces.

Necromancy, however, does not require a complete body, so Atroxus believes Alarus can be resurrected. He also sees Alarus’s return as a source of immense power, which worries Mische. She recalls how destructive Alarus’s powers were when used against her friends, Raihn and Oraya—capable of toppling empires—and fears the devastation Alarus’s full power could bring. Atroxus tells Mische that Nyaxia plans to use Alarus’s power to wage war on the White Pantheon gods, destroying human nations in the process. Atroxus has a different plan: He wants Mische to ensure Asar’s mission succeeds. Once Alarus is resurrected, he will be vulnerable, and Atroxus wants Mische to permanently kill him in that moment, so Alarus can never return.

Atroxus explains that Asar’s journey will take him through the five Sanctums of the Descent, a treacherous path between the mortal world and the underworld. Each Sanctum contains a relic placed there by Alarus before his death, and while Atroxus could not directly tamper with Alarus’s magic, he locked the relics away with his own power. Asar needs Atroxus’s magic to claim them, which is why Mische is necessary for the task.

Atroxus also reveals that in the Descent Mische will encounter a weapon that is capable of piercing a god’s flesh. Though he cannot specify what the weapon is, he assures her she will recognize it when the time comes. He warns her to guard her thoughts carefully around Asar, for his Shadowborn magic can pry into minds.

Mische wants to refuse but knows she cannot say no to Atroxus. He senses her fear—her fear of falling again—and reminds her that he chose her years ago because he foresaw that her fate was tied to revelation, starting with her mysterious original mission to Obitraes. He assures her that this mission is a path to redemption. Mische accepts the task, even while knowing she has little choice in the matter. She promises to succeed, determined to not fail Atroxus again.