An Ember in the Ashes

The third trial pits Elias’s platoon against Helene’s in a battle to the death that will end when Elias or Helene defeats the other. Elias orders his people to injure only, but when he heeds his own command, one of his men starts to choke for no reason. When the rest of his platoon is overcome by similar afflictions, Elias realizes that “every time one of my men shows mercy to the enemy, one of their comrades falls” (336). Shaking with rage and sorrow, Elias orders his men to kill.

Elias hates himself as he kills Helene’s platoon—men he’s known since they were children starting out at Blackcliff. Finally, he faces Helene, who comes at him with reckless abandon. Something snaps in Elias, and battle rage floods him. He knocks Helene to the ground, and the chapter ends with him bringing his dagger down toward her neck.

While the third trial goes on, Laia, Izzi, and the cook tend to their chores, and cook tells an old story about the jinn. Long ago, the jinn lived apart from humans and concerned themselves only with learning. As humans grew more powerful, they longed for the knowledge of the jinn, but the jinn steadfastly refused to share.