A Light in the Flame

Despite the heavy reliance on elements of prophecy and divination, free will, choice, and love are presented as forces strong enough to change destiny. Free will and destiny interact in complex ways to build reality. For instance, Sera is prophesized to be someone who will “remake the realms” (586). However, aware of the prophecy, Ethyos deliberately placed the embers in her bloodline, thus fulfilling the prophecy with his choice. Further, every choice that Sera makes, such as willingly opting to be Nyktos’s consort and risking her life to resurrect that of others, ends up fulfilling the conditions of the prophecy. These events show that the circular way in which fate and free will operate is difficult to parse and that individuals are free to exercise their own choices.

The role of the Arae or Fates shapes the universe of the novel. The Arae are primordial entities who predate even the Ancients, the first-generation Primal gods. Nyktos describes the Fates as not even having a form for the longest time, existing as a part of everything. Holland, an Arae, tells Sera that the Fates can see every possible outcome of a scenario play out and tend to facilitate the scenario that is the most beneficial or least harmful.