Chapter 95
Chapter 87
Overview
A powerful predator who hunts Princess Kyzari arrives at the Velvet Snog inn in Bothaim with escorts and a traveling companion, Terros. After a meal and dismissing his Arithian escorts, he retires to his sleepsuite with a hired woman—who is revealed to be Fire Lark, a legendary survivor of the Pits of Khindard, hunting him in revenge. She stabs him with an iron pin, traps him in the locked room, and renders him unconscious.
Summary
The narrator, a ruthless tracker, arrives at the Velvet Snog in Bothaim with two Arithian escorts and Terros, a Dhomm male whose Moltenmaw dragon mount he plans to steal after murdering him. He despises his former mount Líri, a Moonplume, and is fixated on hunting Princess Kyzari, whom he believes secretly desires him. At the bar, he orders a meal for Terros as a courtesy before killing him, and hires a whore to his private room. One of the Arithians requests a debrief about intelligence gathering, but the narrator dismisses him, claiming they failed their mission and will speak in the morning. In his sleepsuite, the woman he believes to be a hired prostitute reveals herself through cryptic conversation about the Pits of Khindard. When he jokes that she must be Fire Lark—the legendary sole survivor of those pits—she attacks. She stabs him with an iron pin concealed as a poker, destroys his daggers by throwing them into the fire, and locks the door with razors embedded in the handle. As he attempts to escape, she strikes him on the temple, and he loses consciousness.
Characters
- The NarratorA ruthless hunter tracking Princess Kyzari who arrives at the inn, plans to murder Terros for his dragon, and is attacked and incapacitated by Fire Lark in his sleepsuite.
- TerrosA Dhomm male whose Moltenmaw dragon the narrator covets; he travels with the narrator and shares a meal with him at the bar before retiring.
- Arithian Escort 1One of two Arithian soldiers who accompanies the narrator; requests a debrief about intelligence gathering in Dhomm.
- Arithian Escort 2Second Arithian escort who accompanies the narrator and removes his silver cloak at the bar.
- BarmaidServes drinks and food at the Velvet Snog; arranges for the hired woman to go to the narrator's sleepsuite.
- Fire LarkLegendary survivor of the Pits of Khindard who infiltrates the inn disguised as a hired whore to hunt and attack the narrator, stabbing him and trapping him in his locked room.
- PahReferenced only; the narrator recalls being whipped by Pah in his past, which taught him the importance of manners.