Chapter 60

Velaris comes under sudden attack by an invading force of Attor-like creatures armed with magic-repelling stone gauntlets, carrying Hybern soldiers. The golden-eyed mortal queen is killed on the bridge as a message from the Hybern king and Jurian. Feysand uses her newfound water powers to defend the Rainbow district, transforming the Sidra into wolves and later freezing soldiers mid-air, while Cassian and Azriel fight from above. The Attor escapes toward Hybern as Rhys calls out through their mating bond from across the territory.

Feysand and Cassian attend a Fae symphony concert and walk back across the bridge spanning the Sidra River. As they walk, Feysand advises Cassian about Nesta's nature—that beneath her rigid exterior lies deep feeling and loyalty to those she cares for. A disturbance ripples through the river, and moments later, a massive aerial force appears on the horizon: countless winged creatures bearing Hybern soldiers. Cassian creates a magical shield above Velaris, but the creatures bear stone gauntlets that repel magic and punch through his defense. One creature slams a body onto a lamppost—the golden-eyed mortal queen, her back arched, hair shorn, eyes plucked out, impaled through the torso. An Attor hisses that this is "regards" from the mortal queens and Jurian, then launches into the city. Cassian pursues the Attor while ordering Feysand to flee. Feysand runs for the town house but witnesses the systematic slaughter: soldiers ransacking buildings, the Rainbow district burning, and the city's wards apparently broken by the Cauldron. She witnesses a green-skinned shopkeeper defending her gallery alone against five soldiers. Feysand summons the Sidra River itself, transforming it into massive water wolves that hunt and drown the soldiers. She creates water-falcons and hawks that pursue airborne enemies, then freezes them solid with ancient, merciless ice, shattering them on the cobblestones. Amren, Cassian, and Azriel fight from other parts of the city. The Attor escapes skyward, fleeing toward Hybern. Rhys calls frantically through their mating bond asking where Feysand is; she responds that she is where she needs to be and winnows into the sky after the Attor, carrying bloodbane-coated ash arrows.