A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- alwayswandering
- Dec 27, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 27, 2024
Princess Seraphena (Sera) Mierel of the mortal kingdom of Lasania has spent her life preparing to become the Consort of Nyktos, the Primal God of Death, and ultimately kill him. This act, she believes, will stop the Rot—a devastating disease destroying lands and causing droughts. However, Sera’s understanding of herself and Nyktos is shattered when she discovers she possesses the embers of life, a rare and divine essence that grants her the power to heal wounds and resurrect the dead. These embers make her a potential Primal of Life, the highest among gods, but they are also slowly killing her.
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The only way to save Sera is through Ascension—turning her into a god—but Ascension requires the love of Nyktos, who has ensured he is incapable of love. To protect her from the other gods, particularly his uncle Kolis—the false King of the Gods who usurped the embers from Nyktos’s father, Ethyos—Nyktos hides Sera in his realm, the Shadowlands. Kolis, who stole the title of Primal of Life, cannot discover another secret: Sera’s soul harbors the reincarnation of Sotoria, the mortal woman Kolis has obsessively pursued across countless lifetimes.
The revelation about the embers shifts Sera’s focus: the god she must destroy is not Nyktos, but Kolis. Only his defeat can stop the Rot. When a group of gods attacks Nyktos’s fortress in search of Bele—a goddess Sera resurrected—Sera realizes her presence endangers those she cares about. She flees Nyktos’s palace to confront Kolis alone, but Nyktos intercepts her and extracts a promise that she will not face Kolis until after her coronation as his Consort.
Before the coronation, Kolis sends the Primal Attes to the Shadowlands, forbidding the union until Kolis himself approves of Sera. Despite their unease, Sera and Nyktos know they must comply to avoid provoking the wrath of the King of the Gods. As they await Kolis’s summons, Sera and Nyktos grow closer, embracing honesty and intimacy. Though Nyktos insists he cannot love, Sera accepts their connection and encourages them to fulfill each other’s desires without shame.
Sera forges deep friendships with those in Nyktos’s court, including Nektas, a draken; his daughter Jadis; her draken friend Reaver; and the gods Bele, Aios, Saion, Rhain, and Ector. However, this harmony is disrupted when Sera finds Nyktos in an intimate encounter with Veses, the Primal Goddess of Rites and Prosperity, who sensuously drinks his blood. Feeling betrayed, Sera confronts Nyktos, who reassures her that his relationship with Veses is not sexual but refuses to elaborate.
Tension lingers as Kolis summons Sera and Nyktos to his court. Nyktos warns Sera they must present a united front against the cunning and cruel Kolis. In Dalos, Kolis’s opulent and corrupt city, Sera is horrified to see Kolis creating monstrous zombie- and vampire-like creatures. Kolis expresses his displeasure at Nyktos choosing a Consort without his approval and demands Sera prove her worth by killing Thad, a young draken from Attes’s court. Though repulsed, Sera complies, and Kolis deems her worthy.
Afterward, Sera persuades Nyktos to visit Attes’s court, where she resurrects Thad, earning Attes’s allegiance. Back in the Shadowlands, Veses provokes Sera, and a battle ensues when Veses nearly kills Reaver. Nyktos imprisons Veses, and Rhain later reveals that Veses had long known the secret of Sera’s embers. In exchange for her silence, she demanded Nyktos allow her to feed on his blood, an act Nyktos found neither enjoyable nor voluntary. Reassured of Nyktos’s loyalty, Sera reaffirms her desire to be his Consort.
Nyktos crowns Sera as the Consort of the Shadowlands, bestowing her with two crowns—one for her role as the Princess of Lasania and the other for her position as his Consort. The pair seek answers from Delfai, an oracle, about safely removing the embers from Sera. Initially, Delfai prophesies that there is no way to save Sera and that her death is inevitable. However, after surviving an unexpected attack, Delfai suggests that his visions may not be absolute, leaving Sera and Nyktos confused but hopeful.
Upon returning to the Shadowlands, they find the kingdom under siege by Attes’s forces. Sera feels betrayed by Attes and is devastated to see Aios and Ector impaled on pikes. She resurrects Aios, but Ector is torn apart by dakkai—monstrous hound-like creatures—before she can save him. During a brief respite in the battle, Attes approaches Sera and proposes to end the war if she surrenders herself. Sacrificing her freedom for her friends and Nyktos, Sera agrees.
Attes takes her to Dalos, where Kolis reveals that he has always known about the embers. Believing Sera to be the prophesied mortal Primal who will challenge the gods, Kolis has waited for her to fulfill the prophecy’s conditions—being crowned with two crowns and resurrecting a draken—before killing her and taking the embers for himself. As Kolis attempts to strangle Sera, Sotoria’s voice speaks through her, accusing him of her repeated deaths. Distracted, Kolis falters, and Sera catches sight of a wolf outside—a sign that Nyktos has come to fight for her.
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