A Light in the Flame

“You may feel fear, but you are never afraid, he’d said and then pressed the hilt of the dagger into the palm of the one who had once sworn to use such a weapon against him.”

Early in the novel, Nyktos gives Sera a dagger, the first genuine gift that she has ever received. The gesture moves Sera, especially since Nyktos had confiscated her old dagger. Sera notes the irony that Nyktos—whom she has spent her life training to kill—is the one who now willingly arms her. Further, Nyktos acknowledges that Sera’s anxiousness does not mean that she lacks courage. Nyktos’s actions and words show how he is a thoughtful romantic hero and also illustrates the deepening understanding between him and Sera.

“Coughing as a gust of smoke moved over us, I shut myself down as I started forward. They weren’t my people. They never would be. I found the veil of nothingness welcoming as it settled over me. Then, I felt absolutely numb. No intense urging of the embers. No pinching guilt that stung my skin with each new scream. No agony of seeing Davina. No dread of others being hurt or worse. No fear of Nyktos being wounded or curiosity about why I was so worried about that and the concern that fostered. I fell into the controlled madness of battle and became what I’d always been.

A killer.

A monster.”

Throughout the novel, Sera often uses the metaphor of the veil of emptiness or nothingness to describe the numb state in which she has willed herself all her life. The numbness refers to a shutting down of her thoughts and emotions, which is necessary for her to operate as a weapon or a label. As she fights the intruders in the Rise, she becomes numb again; however, the fact that she refers to herself as a “monster” shows that she wants to break out of the veil and acknowledge her complicated emotions. This desire to break out links to The Quest for Identity and Self-Acceptance.