Ep 4 Brimstone: Chapters 21-28

Summary

Fantasy Fangirls – Ep 4 Brimstone: Chapters 21–28 (Quicksilver Deep Dive)

Episode Date: December 22, 2025
Hosts: Nicole & Lexi (two sisters and fantasy deep-dive pros)
Book Covered: Brimstone by Callie Hart (Quicksilver trilogy)
Chapters: 21–28

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Overview:

In this episode, Nicole and Lexi dive deep into chapters 21–28 of Brimstone, continuing their signature blend of detail-rich analysis, wild theories, and laugh-out-loud sister banter. The sisters explore major developments for beloved characters (especially Carrion, Kingfisher, and Cerys), unpack worldbuilding and lore threads, and speculate about the ominous events pointing toward the trilogy’s climax. They also feature their beloved recurring segments: “Lorreth’s Ballad” (a poetic chapter recap), “Stepping Through the Quicksilver” (insights, character, and theorycraft), “Rusarius’s Library” (a lore deep-dive), and “Prancing Through the Snow with Onyx” (favorite moments).

⚠️ Note: Spoilers for the entire Brimstone book and bonus chapters from both Brimstone and Quicksilver.

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Lorreth’s Ballad: Poetic Chapter Recap

(07:25–11:43)

Nicole delivers a brisk, rhyming summary of each chapter—combining humor, key plot points, and foreshadowing. Notable highlights:

• Ch.21: Kingfisher wakes fully healed; Carrion’s pain remains—hidden longing in his sketches.
• Ch.22: Cerys has a very steamy dream, and her magical runes begin to glow; Foley sets a test before Cerys can seal her runes.
• Ch.23: Hayden arrives, devastated, believing (thanks to Madra’s propaganda) that Kingfisher has killed Cerys; the boys dodge wanted posters and citywide hysteria.
• Ch.24: In the Blood Quartz Forge, Cerys confronts the Hasrax, forging with memory as a price, and navigates the politics of magical bargains.
• Ch.25: Chaos as the group rushes through the Third; Elroy’s secret quicksilver pool is discovered.
• Ch.26: Cerys plunges into the quicksilver pool for a harrowing magical trial—risking all but her mate.
• Ch.27–28: Elroy reveals centuries of secret knowledge; Cerys encounters Orias with Belacan’s threat and shows her new power, joined at the last moment by Kingfisher.

Memorable moment:

• “Out of the Quicksilver, Kingfisher comes climbing. Together they end this crew. And Fisher is ready to torture Araya. Slow and steady. It's Cerus, in the end, who says to let him go…”

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Stepping Through the Quicksilver: Deep Insights, Analysis & Theories

(11:48–73:17)

Zelvarin Sequence: Kingfisher, Carrion, and Hayden

• Carrion’s Bedroom & Oracle Theory:

  • Carrion’s room is full of detailed sketches of his home realm and family.
  • Nicole suggests Carrion might be an oracle, putting clues together from similarities to Adina’s journals and drawings of people and creatures he shouldn’t know (including possibly Ishabel).

    Nicole (14:15): “What if this is actually a future battle that he's drawing? Maybe he is an oracle?”

  • Lexi is skeptical, leaning more toward Carrion being a meticulous memory-keeper and war-prepper.

• Carrion’s Grief and Growth:

  • Lexi highlights (25:03): “This scene is a turning point for Carrion—his longing for a home, for belonging, is finally acknowledged by Kingfisher.”

• Hayden’s Role & Propaganda:

  • Hayden, Cerys’s brother, is tall, blond, “a petulant, spoiled little shit” (42:20), and devastated by Madra’s lies that have painted Kingfisher as a murderer.
  • The hosts discuss recurring references to how little Hayden and Cerys resemble each other—leading to fun but ultimately dismissed theories about different parentage.

• Madra’s Propaganda Machine:

  • Madra blames Kingfisher for destruction, claims Cerys is dead and a traitor.
  • Wanted posters saturate the city; everyone is incentivized to betray the “enemies of the crown” for a year’s worth of water.

    Nicole (34:42): “Nothing starts a fight in the streets more than the promise of survival.”

  • Kingfisher is traumatized by reminders of his past and is set off witnessing teen girls being rounded up for “cleansing”—leading him to massacre 50+ guardians in the square and trigger a citywide blackout using his shadow magic.

• Elroy’s Forge Secrets:

  • Elroy, Cerys’s mentor, reveals his family has long secretly collected and stored quicksilver in a vast, hidden pool.
  • His ancestors were tasked (likely by Fenrin) with this secret duty; there’s a multigenerational legacy of madness from proximity to quicksilver.
  • Nicole speculates Elroy is an alchemist (“…no way we have lines like madness and voices without them being alchemists,” 64:35), Lexi posits he and his forebears may possess only traces of alchemical ability.
  • The pool, now transformed by recent magical events, is finally ready—a “back door” to the quicksilver for the team.

• Kingfisher’s Solo Plan:

  • Kingfisher debates sneaking into the palace to kill Madra before being interrupted by the quicksilver pool “awakening”—alerting him to Cerys’s peril.

Amon Traith Sequence: Cerys’s Magical Trial

• Runes & Magical Foundations:

  • Foley, the grumpy mentor, pushes Cerys to learn true magical partnership rather than domination.

    Lexi (82:32): “You must respect the magic, Seras. …stop acting like you’re too good for this. Especially when you have been craving information on alchemy for a book and a half…”

  • First explanation of Tria Prima—the three “primes” of alchemy: salt (body), quicksilver/mercury (spirit), and brimstone/sulfur (soul).

• Tour de Force at the Forge:

  • Cerys forges a relic, bargaining with the quicksilver by giving up a (forgotten to the reader!) mundane memory involving Hayden.
  • The Hasrax appears, demanding the right to observe Cerys in exchange for a (potentially dangerous) annual favor.

    Lexi (99:00): “I am convinced that the Hazrax is a God… this is how it can walk the continent and watch.” Intense debate as to whether the Hasrax is a god, demi-god, or something stranger—Nicole is adamant (“I refuse to get behind ‘God but not a God’,” 103:00), Lexi pushes for a broader definition.

• Quicksilver Sealing Trial:

  • Cerys, pushed to the limit by burgeoning magic, enters the quicksilver pool without a relic—the only way to keep from exploding and taking Amon Traith with her.
  • Endures a harrowing psychic test from the quicksilver entity, standing firm in her desire to sacrifice all but her mate, Kingfisher.

    Nicole (122:24): “Proud of Sarris and how strong she is in this moment.”

  • Seals her rune and emerges vastly more powerful, but warned: “In the end, it will be your end.”

• Showdown with Belacan’s Agents:

  • Orias, Belacan’s seneschal, enters with a deadly offer: bring Everlane and kill Kingfisher, and Belacan will “protect” Cerys from the rot.
  • Cerys refuses, fights off soldiers wielding null blades meant to counteract her magic, and discovers she can split Solace, her god sword, into two fully-powered swords.
  • Kingfisher bursts through the quicksilver portal in time to help—prompting Nicole (134:22): “Top tier book boyfriend status! ‘Do you need me?’ implies that Sabrus is strong enough to handle this all on her own, but should she want help, he can offer it. Three cheers for Kingfisher.”
  • After defeating the threat, Cerys chooses NOT to torture Orias but to send him home—a controversial decision debated by Lexi and Nicole (139:02–141:18).

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Rusarius's Library: Lore Deep Dive – Alchemical Runes and Magic System

(150:33–158:22)

Runes in Alchemy (Host: Lexi):

• Runes are vessels connecting magic, element, and alchemist.
• Unsealed runes = dangerous, build to explosive magical surges.
• Sealing a rune, especially quicksilver, requires true partnership—not domination—with the element.
• Complete mastery: Marrying all three Tria Prima (salt/body, quicksilver/spirit, brimstone/soul).
• Projected shield: Each alchemist’s is unique (“like a fingerprint”)—Cerys’s is most complex ever seen.
• Other magical runes: Markings seen on Kingfisher (vengeance, justice, sacrifice), demons, and more.
• Hasrax grants Cerys a unique “breaking” rune as a stabilizer.

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Foreshadowing, Worldbuilding, and Theoretical Debates

(143:11–150:11)

1. Oracle Watch:

• Carrion’s drawings may signal future events—potential introduction of new mystical creatures or connections in Book 3.

2. Evenlight Holiday:

• Both hosts are convinced Evenlight will have huge plot significance in Book 3, touching on magic siphoning and possible rot-related consequences.

3. Hasrax and the Gods:

• Hasrax’s ambiguous identity (god, lesser deity, or entity beyond current understanding), with wild theories as to which god it could be (Kirin? Malleus?).

4. Sacrifice Themes:

• Both Kingfisher and Cerys are primed for sacrificial acts, but the hosts agree neither will die—Lexi: “I see her sacrificing herself and surviving the sacrifice.”

5. Null Blades:

• These anti-magic blades can disrupt even godsword magic. Possible threat later given their proliferation in Belacan’s army.

6. Memories and Magic:

• The memory Cerys gives to quicksilver may play a role in Book 3 (Nicole: “maybe Hayden actually gets to be helpful!” 94:44).

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Favorite Quotes & Moments

(Throughout – Key Examples Listed Below)

• On Cerys’s Growth:

  “You must respect the magic, Seras. The only way to truly master the magic is to be partners with it.” — Lexi (82:32)

• On Sacrifice:

  “Do you need me?” — Kingfisher to Cerys, symbolizing trust and partnership (134:22)

• On Character Growth:

  “This scene is a turning point for Carrion… wanting, he doesn't want Carrion to lose it like he did.” — Nicole (23:47)

• On Foreshadowing:

  “Receive this gift all in fear and trembling. In the end, it will be your end.” — Quicksilver to Cerys (123:08)

• On Sister Banter:

  “I, I it has legs. I love the part about theory. I do think yes. Yeah, this theory has some legs.” — Lexi on Oracle Carrion Theory (18:06)

• On Hayden:

  “A petulant, spoiled little shit who hasn't had to deal with hardship a day in his fucking life.” — Nicole (42:20)

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Mythology & Magic System Exploration

• Tria Prima: Salt, Quicksilver (Mercury), Brimstone (Sulfur) – tied to body, spirit, soul. Book 3 may focus on “Salt” as the symbolic element.
• Alchemy & Shields: Sealing runes is an act of inner and magical harmony (see “Rusarius's Library” above for details).
• Gods and their Roles: Heated sister debate: Is the Hasrax an actual god, a demigod, or “godlike”? How broad is Callie Hart’s mythos?
• Null Blades: New anti-magic threat able to impact Cerys and possibly god-tier powers.

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Prancing Through the Snow With Onyx: Best Moments & Banter

(158:22–161:58)

• “She’s not my girlfriend!” recurring joke from Kingfisher—hosts riff on it for comedic effect.
• Carrion’s sarcastic banter with Fisher (“I’m rubbing off on you…”).
• Reba McEntire references, unplanned but perfect for Cerys’s “I’m a survivor” moment (115:32).
• “Top tier book boyfriend status!” awarded to Kingfisher for “Do you need me?” (134:22).
• Running joke: Nicole’s “Goat Watch” for every mention of goats.
• Ranger Rosie and “the only home Abe Lincoln ever known” (161:05).

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Noteworthy Timestamps

• Lorreth’s Ballad (Chapter Recap): 07:25–11:43
• Carrion Bedroom/Oracle Theory: 13:29–18:06
• Madra Propaganda and Water as Reward: 33:14–35:21
• Kingfisher's Blackout: 48:19
• Elroy's Secret Pool: 59:58–69:02
• Debate: Is Elroy an Alchemist? 64:35–68:17
• Rest Sequence: Cerys & Foley: 75:06–77:18
• Sealing the Quicksilver Rune: 112:48–119:13
• Cerys vs. Belacan’s Agents & Kingfisher Returns: 127:51–135:29
• Hasrax: God or Not? 99:00–104:09
• Rusarius's Library (Runes & Magic): 150:33–158:22

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Closing/Next Episode Tease

(162:40–164:35)

• Preview: Next week covers chapters 29–36, including yelling at Hayden and the mystery of the book/stargazers moment.
• Shoutouts to new fan club members and researchers.
• Reminders to follow on social, review, and join the Fantasy Fangirls fan club for extra content.

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Takeaways

• Major character confrontations and breakthroughs for Carrion, Kingfisher, and Cerys.
• Worldbuilding expands: ancient family obligations, hidden pools of power, anti-magic technology, and the nature of divinity.
• The sisters' depth of analysis, running in-jokes, and willingness to debate make this a rich, accessible resource for fans eager for deep lore and character insight.

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“We can do hard things.” — Cerys (paraphrased, 117:03), and the Fangirls themselves—facing both fearsome magic and the creative adventure of deep fandom.

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If You Missed the Episode…

This summary brings you up to speed on all critical lore, character arcs, plot developments, and the fandom/fan theory context. Perfect for anyone catching up or prepping for Book 3!

Transcript

[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

Foreign. Welcome to the Fantasy Fangirls podcast where two sisters dive deep into beloved fantasy lore. Character themed series and more.

[Lexi]

I'm Lexi, older sister and fantasy lore nerd.

[Nicole]

And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart.

[Lexi]

And today is episode four of Brimstone by Callie Hart, where we are covering chapters 21 through 28. So please, oh please listen closely to our spoiler warning for these Brimstone episodes. Spoiler. Spoiler. Spoilers for all of Brimstone. Yes, even up to the last sentence of the book. We may also reference any of the bonus chapters from Quicksilver or Brimstone.

[Nicole]

Elroy is back and Homeboy has quite the secret. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then please, oh please, oh please go finish the book. We will be here when you're done.

[Lexi]

Next, we have Fantasy Fangirls are adults who say adult things about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast is.

[Nicole]

Rated R. Do you want to know something shocking, Lexi?

[Lexi]

What?

[Nicole]

We don't have a sex scene today.

[Lexi]

It's okay, we do next episode.

[Nicole]

But don't think for one moment that that's not going to make this episode rated R. So please be mindful of those little listening ears.

[Lexi]

Additionally, we are so excited to see you at upcoming live events.

[Nicole]

Lexi and I are stoked to be part of the Fantasy Fangirls live Stream on Monday, December 29th. But there's a twist to this char livestream. We are going to be playing a game of ttrpg. Like a tabletop role playing game. Think Dungeons and Dragons as we do the stream and if you donate you might just be able to influence the way the game itself plays out. It's going to be so much fun. Our proceeds go to Reading Is fundamental.

[Lexi]

And on March 6th through 8th in Dallas, Texas, we will be podcast partners at Dreamers and Readers festival.

[Nicole]

Then on April 8th we are partnering with the Denver Nuggets and Rebecca Yarros for a very special fourth wing themed basketball night at Ballerina.

[Lexi]

Plus. We have a very exciting something on April 19th in Seattle. More details coming very soon on that and we will be back at the Dragon Gauntlet in Boyne City, Michigan on September 11th through 12th.

[Nicole]

Check out our website or the links below for more information to most of these events, including a promo code for dreamers and readers. Also, in case you missed it, welcome, welcome, welcome fantasy fan favorite fellas to the Fantasy Fangirls Media Network.

[Lexi]

Our very own executive producer Hayden and booktok star Steven Walker just wrapped up season one of their new podcast where they dive deep into Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn.

[Nicole]

Hayden is the expert in all Sanderson's Cosmere and has already read the Mistborn.

[Lexi]

Series but Steven has not, so each episode only includes spoilers up to the chapters covered as Hayden takes Steven and many readers through their first time reading Mistborn.

[Nicole]

All episodes are available on the Fantas Fan Fellas podcast feed, so be sure to give them a follow. Link is in the show Notes.

[Lexi]

Last thing before we jump Into Brimstone Episode 4. If you love Fantasy Fangirls and want more events, more content, more community and so much more, please check out Fantasy Fan club.

[Nicole]

We have three membership tiers that you can join. Number one, the Hive Mind which includes access to our BoP and Discord live Q&As from Lexi and I. Upload Book club, often featuring the authors themselves for a live Q and A. Community Events promo codes for live events plus 20% off and access to exclusive merch. That is all for $6 a month. Or you can join the Spice Watchers which includes everything from the Hive Mind plus early access to ad free episodes, our full episode outlines and special voting privileges. Be on the lookout very soon, that is for $10 a month. And last but not least, we have the Feral Fans which includes everything from the previous two tiers plus more behind the scenes content, a welcome gift, giveaways, private Discord channel, and your name shouted out on the podcast. That is for $25 a month.

[Lexi]

Join the party at fantasyfangirls.com fanclub. The link is also in the show Notes and really and truly, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting us as we've turned this podcast into a dream come true. It is all because of you and we appreciate you so, so much.

[Nicole]

And now it is time to unlock our alchemy and shield. And I can only imagine Power Rangers going like Power Rangers Assemble.

[Lexi]

To start off every episode. Nicole does us the honor of summarizing this stretch of chapters, so gather round as we sing Laura's ballad to discuss what happens in chapters 21 through 28 of Brimstone. Oh my gosh, this is a jam packed episode. Take it away Nicole.

[Nicole]

Chapter 21 Waking up in Sylvarin Things don't quite add up. The boys both had injuries that needed quite the COVID up, but this morning Kingfisher is in perfect condition. Why couldn't Carrion have his own sexy healing expedition? Carrion's bedroom is covered in old illustrations showing the longing he's had for his own fallen nation. Up goes the defense from Carrion so quickly, but Kingfisher knows what it's like to miss A place so dearly. Chapter 22 Damn, that dream couldn't have been hotter. Someone get serious. A bath of cold water. Don't worry, Serious. Lorath has a plan to work out the extra magic before she blows up the land. Away in the library, Serious admires the paper birds while Lorath and Foley exchange some harsh words. We'll deal with that later. Cerus's hands have started to glow. Hey Foley, care to share with the class all that you know? As it turns out, Cerus is far from ready to seal her runes and make her magic more stiff. Steady. Ceres is ready to fight and get her way. But a little bird decided on violence today. Chapter 23 Hayden is here, and he's not happy to see Kingfisher and Carrion walking around carefree. Come on, Hayden, use your thinker. You fell for Madra's lies hook, line and sinker. I'm sorry, Karion, you had to find out this way. Losing Gracia has left him in pure dismay. The boys have journeyed to the Third, where they find posters of lies. Taking it as a challenge, Kingfisher uses his shadows to comply with 12 plus 40 more. The square is now littered with guardians and gore. With a horde of Guardians gone, it's time to get the fuck out. Using his shadows, Kingfisher causes a city wide blackout. Chapter 24 the Blood Quartz Forge is unlike any other. But the Quicksilver is still sassy, as Seiros discovers. This time, as she works with the metal in hand, she gives it a memory as it demands. The Hasrax appears and it drops some hot tea about bargains and blood magic and alchemy. But the Hasrax has more insight to glean. It wants to watch her in exchange for a yearly favor for the Queen. Well, ouch.

[Lexi]

Her hand.

[Nicole]

Sarah sprints down the hall. She's one sneeze away from blowing up more than just the wall. Chapter 25 as they race through the streets of the third in the Daze with it all in the dark. This ward has to be such a fucking maze. He knows just where to go on through. But the Forge Master is ready. Let the chaos ensue. Well, well, well. Elroy's known all along from Carrion's identity to Cerus powers so strong. Deep below his workshop, a secret cavern lies with the largest quicksilver pool ever surmised. Chapter 26 in the bowels of the palace, Cerys greets the Quicksilver in stride. It's now or never, or this realm is fried. She's one Step in. There's no going back now. As the Quicksilver covers her body all the way to her eyebrows. It's time for the test. Will she pass or will she fail? How far will she go to stop the Darkness and Prevail? Serious is willing to risk all but her mate. And Quicksilver approves her choices with no debate. Chapter 27 Elroy knows far too much shit for someone who doesn't seem to care about it one bit. His family was tasked with the knowledge of the Fae and refining rogue quicksilver metal day by day. But this Quicksilver pool is a blessing in disguise. No need to plan a path through the palace. This is a major win, you guys. And what perfect timing. Now the Quicksilver flows back to his mate and enraged Kingfisher goes. Chapter 2028 One rune is sealed, but Cerus finds the Quicksilver still awake. Who the fuck is trying to enter through this liquid silver gate? Arias is here at Belacan's behest. He wants to strike a deal that Cerus detests. Bring Everlane and kill Kingfisher to start the exchange. And Bellacon will protect Cerus from the rot. How deranged. Obviously Cerus says no. Fuck that. Arias just shrugs and tells his soldiers to attack. Their arrows are easy to deflect away, but the gnoll blades they pull out are pure foul play. But guess who has perfect timing. Out of the Quicksilver, Kingfisher comes climbing. Together they end this crew. And Fisher is ready to torture Araya. Slow and steady. It's Cerus in the end who says to let him go. To go tell Bellicon and let them reap what they sow. Dun dun dun.

[Lexi]

That was a really good one. Thank you.

[Nicole]

And I say thank you, Brooke. Thank you.

[Lexi]

It is time to dawn our relics and step through the Quicksilver to explore key insights, character analysis, lore, foreshadowing theories, and oh so much more. Reminder that we will start this episode in Zelvarin and then the second half will be Amon Traith. While our main characters are still split up. So we're still in Zelvarin, specifically safe and sound and Carrion's home. Waking up after his sexy dream rendezvous with Ceres, Kingfisher finds himself fully healed. Yes, his badly broken hand is miraculously all better. As well as the gash in his leg where the big stinger got him. And he is reeking of sex. All while poor Carrion is absolutely covered in itchy welts from the scorpion stings. And he certainly does not smell like sex in a good time. Fisher even still has the tattoo of a dagger on his leg that Saris gave him from the cottage Sexipates.

[Nicole]

Quick fit. Watch. Because as they're going back in the open streets of Zolvarin today, they need to blend in. Especially because they're going to the third, where there's a lot more guardians. Kingfisher's lack of a tan is already not helping them. So sorry, Kingfisher, you gotta wear off white today. I love that he's like, no, I will not. I don't. Like, he doesn't even know the last time that he wore anything but black or dark green. But that would be hot. Not like hot like ooh, hot like ow. Oh my God. The sun's rays are absorbing in the color hot in Zolvarin. So I'm so sorry, Kingfisher, you cannot risk depleting your magic for a new dark outfit. I can't even picture him in off white. That is so weird. Yeah, yeah.

[Lexi]

We get a peek into Karine's home and especially what is in his bedroom. Yes, a bed large enough for three people. But far more importantly, he has sheets of paper hanging up on the walls. And on these papers are drawings of Carrion's homeworld and people. So real quickly, I'm very curious what his bed companions, because he has had quite a few of them, what they have thought of all these sketches of Faye. But I'll skim over that. Fisher recognizes drawings of Carrion's mother, Emilia Dianthus, the former queen of the Yuvellian Fae, and of his father, Ruik Dianthus, as well as other members of the Fae that Fisher doesn't know. Drawn in exacting detail. Landscapes that show pieces of Yuvelia as well. Not just the Winter palace, but also the whole realm.

[Nicole]

Lexi, I have been waiting four episodes to talk about this. So I think that this is a huge Easter egg, that Carrion is actually an oracle. Let me explain my reasoning immediately. When Kingfisher sees the drawings, he equates them to his mother and the oracle drawings that she did in her journals last book. Carrion was mighty intrigued about Idina's journal and that she was, you know, the one that she was drawing in. This is when Ceres came through the gate. He was flitting through the book and he was like, hey, do you want to see this? And she was like, now? And he was just continuing to flip through it. Is that because he recognized some of the similarities between the two of them? We also get A few mentions of the people that he drew. Amelia Dianthus with a heart shaped face is done with surprising precision. It sounds a lot like Adina drawing Sarus and then his father. But he's only drawing half of his face. I do wonder if this is actually him seeing a picture of his father like on a coin in the book that he was given through Finryn. That's what I was thinking, but I digress. That does not align with this theory, so hold please. Carrion also draws members of the Fae that Fisher doesn't even recognize. He draws fire sprites, dragons, all sorts of creatures. Also tropical coasts along the beaches of Lycia. Remember, Carrion has a book called the Fae Creatures of the Golorian Mountains. That is further north, not Lycia.

[Lexi]

That is a really good point. I had not caught that. Though I do think the book would have had a map of the whole realm. And I would also say probably have to include some from the Winter palace too, because he draws that in exacting details. Yeah, you're right. The subject matter doesn't specifically match up in a way that you would expect. Everything that he has access to here would be in that book. But that is an assumption as well. Remember the note that we believe Finren wrote on the first page? Quote, Never forget monsters thrive best in the dark. Commit all you read here to memory. Prepare for war. So we are seeing Carrion drawing warriors. They with bows slung across their backs or mighty swords held over their heads. So committing what he reads to memory by then drawing and letting this world he's been to detached from come to life. And he is preparing for war. I love how there's that mention of the illustrations of dragons and fire sprites, because those are both creatures of Brimstone, which is necessary to prepare for war against this rot.

[Nicole]

So that's what I'm saying. What if this is actually a future battle that he's drawing? He's drawing dragons. He's drawing these creatures we don't even know of yet. Maybe we might meet them in book three. He's drawing fire sprites, who like you're saying, are going to be huge when it comes to destroying the rot. So what if he is drawing literally a battle that has yet to happen because he is an oracle? My final point is Kingfisher sees a drawing of Emelia, but something looks off about her. Her eyes are too far apart and the end of her nose is upturned. So this caused me to go through both books just to see if there was anyone else who matched this type of description. And you know who I found? I found someone. Someone with Carrion's red hair. Someone with blue eyes like we see in the dianthus line and an upturned nose. It is Ishabel. So Ishabel would not have been in one of these books that Finryn sent back from Evilia. How would he have seen her if he was an oracle and he saw Ishabel and drew her long before he met her. What if.

[Lexi]

Okay, I, I it has legs. I love the part about theory. I do think yes. Yeah, this theory has some legs. So let me ask you this question as well. Do you feel like there is any other hint of carrying being an oracle anywhere else in the book?

[Nicole]

I have yet to deep dive the rest of this book, so I will let you know on episode seven.

[Lexi]

Okay. Because I do think that this can be explained away by him looking at these drawings and all of this stuff. By him looking in the book and really making it come alive in a new way for himself. That was definitely my takeaway. If I had to make a bet right now, I would probably bet against it.

[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

Anyway, Carrie's understandably self conscious of Fisher seeing this peak into caring's yearning for his home world. He always tries to have this front. Words like oh, like I don't care, like I don't want to be air, like oh, like I just happen to be in this world. But we see here how much he's longed for it for centuries and centuries. And I'm not surprised that he's a little defensive because after all, Fisher tends to assume the worst in Carrion. Like we discussed a lot last episode and how we discussed all about his mate last book. Because this is probably what Carrion tells himself in his darkest moments. That he's stupid and obsessive for longing for home like this, that it shows signs of weakness. So he typically puts up that wall where he's always so easygoing and unfazed. But behind the scenes, Carrion just wants to belong somewhere sweet.

[Nicole]

Carrion. The best part is that Kingfisher is not thinking these thoughts at all. Before Gilthry, Kingfisher was one to dream and hope very often. Then he was taken into Malcolm's maze and he ached for his family and his friends and his home for a long time. And after a while, much of that light and that spark within him was snuffed out to the point where he couldn't even bring himself to think about those friends, family and home. It was overshadowed completely by this hopelessness and closing himself off to the rest of the world. So looking around here at Carrion's drawings, Kingfisher recognizes a similarity between the Dianthus heir and himself. Someone who longs for people and places that are calling him home. And that hope, that passion, that wanting, he doesn't want Carrion to lose it like he did. This is one of the first times I think Kingfisher really sees that Carrion, I'll call it, is a realistic option for the Evelyn Fae, where he actually takes Carrion seriously because he sees that there's this want for his homeland deep down and deeper down than even that. Carrion is willing to admit to wanting to be like that. You're saying that belonging, even though he puts on the front, that he doesn't give a shit.

[Lexi]

This scene in chapter 21 is one of those quiet moments that Callie told us about in our pre Brimstone interview where yes, it might be quiet, but there are so many layers within it. Like you said, this part really feels like a turning point for Carrion where we see how much he is hurting and longing for home and how much more there truly is to carry in that we're beginning to truly see in this book. I just love his arc so much in Brimstone and I think he will really shine in book three. This was a great bridge book for Carrion from kind of being like just super silly and quicksilver to like this big reveal. And now in this one he's kind of like working through that whole air reveal and then in the next book I think he's really going to claim it for himself. Okay, so task one for the Zelvaran boys trip is complete. Task two is to get Hayden, who has apparently been in the second ward. I thought it was the seventh ward after carrying got him situated before he was kidnapped to Evilia last book. And Hayden says how difficult it is to move between the wards. So I'm also curious how he's still seeing Elroy as often as he does, who is quarantined in the third. But anyway, to absolutely no one's surprise, Fisher is unimpressed with this human boy. Hayden is taller than Sarah's, which, remember, she is tall for a human. So that means Hayden most definitely is very tall for a human. He has blonde and curly hair, which is a common trait here in Zelvarin. Fisher notes that he keeps his hands in his pockets, which Fisher finds absurd because Hayden clearly has no concern for being attack ready. He's just like nonchalant, like, la la la. And Fisher's just like, oh my God, like, why is he not in defensive mode? And Fisher can smell only the hint of Hayden's blood connection to Cirrus. Fun fact we learn. Familial blood smells weak between humans, which was something Fisher forgot or maybe even didn' note because he met so few humans in his youth. Which means that there were humans in his lifetime in Yvelia and after the Blood Curse, as where as they were in that realm.

[Nicole]

Okay, raise your hand if you think it's weird that it's mentioned multiple times through multiple chapters that Hayden and Seiris don't look or act anything alike. Aggressively raises my hand. You're not aggressively raising your hand, are we? What? I'm.

[Lexi]

Okay, so it has absolutely crossed my mind. So that is where I put like a little hand raise. But I also do think that there is a different reason for why this is so on the page.

[Nicole]

Okay, so I think that this is where we actually do align. Thank God. If anything, this Makes me want to triple down on what we said during our Quicksilver coverage where Serous was supposed to be born Dianthus. But then Zarath did change it. This is like an actual Xarth gone rogue on the page. In doing so though, the changes weren't. I'll call it fully altered. Meaning that's why there's some similarities, but very, very, very few. Unless Serious and Hayden had a different father, which isn't out of the question. And if that is the case, I would lean towards Serious having a Fae father.

[Lexi]

Okay, so like you said, we are definitely maybe a little bit more aligned than we thought. I will also say there are other mentions in Brimstone and Quicksilver that there are similarities when you really look between the two siblings. So I take this as further distinguishing the Stark difference in these two siblings in every which way, from personalities to values to how they look. And so yes, I am sticking to my Sarahs is supposed to be Diantha's theory, but she and Hayden are indeed siblings from the same parents. So it's just like a nice little nod without any bigger repercussions to that, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

[Nicole]

I think that if there was only one mention, but then Kingfisher saying like that the familial smell between humans is much weaker. If it was just like a one to one, I'd be like okay, cool. But it is like five and spread out from multiple chapters, so that's where.

[Lexi]

Also in those same descriptions then there's also always something about how they are related too.

[Nicole]

I think it's too stark. I think it's too Stark.

[Lexi]

I think it is a show don't tell way of distinguishing these two siblings as extremely different in every which way. But Hayden isn't completely unaware, apparently because he runs off and then tries to sneak up on the two Fae looking for him by almost stabbing Carrion, who I love. But yes, Karen, you should have more spatial awareness. Like come on, Hayden just snuck up on you. Because from Hayden's POV would the the fuck is this smuggler doing with the traitor Kingfisher of the Azen Gate?

[Nicole]

Skr. How do you know who Kingfisher is? What's happening? The gasp. We gasped when we read this for the first time. I was like, what does Hayden know? There's a lot more to this guy. Don't worry, he still is knows nothing. Yesterday, after barreling into Zolvar and causing major damage to the tallest tower, which is being labeled as an explosion, Madra started Working, spreading propaganda about this Butcher of Zulvarin and his evil deed, evil deeds, and that he's here only to cause all kinds of ruckus.

[Lexi]

All I can think of here is Geralt, the Butcher of Blaviken and how it's such a Geralt kind of fisher line when he scolds Hayden. It's customary to get to know a male before you judge him, boy.

[Nicole]

God, I miss Geralt of Rivia. Oh, my God. Mattress lies include sharing how Kingfisher used magic to break into the palace and that he's a political zealot from the South. He then killed a bunch of people, including children, who were about to be pardoned and released from the cells real quickly.

[Lexi]

Do you think anyone has ever been pardoned and released from the cells?

[Nicole]

No, absolutely not. And one of the of those people, Hayden believes, is Saris. So he believes that the Butcher of Zilvarin, Kingfisher, has killed his sister. Magic turned Saras into a martyr after she was taken from the Third. This also included that Sarris was tattling on those in the Third. To Madra, I'm. Oh, I'm livid for this is like, you know that, like petty middle school, high school rumors that you just want to, like, shake someone. You're like, that's not true. I never did that. That this is that on steroids.

[Lexi]

Oh, it's gonna be so heartbreaking for Saris once when we get to that next episode. We'll go way more into all of that then.

[Nicole]

But, oh, who else has been working overtime? That is Madra's artist, who has been drawing pictures of Kingfisher and Carrion to some levels of accuracy.

[Lexi]

And here all I can think of is Flynn writers wanted posters and how none of them could get his nose right.

[Nicole]

Right. I love Flynn Rider so much. Such an underrated dude.

[Lexi]

I don't think he's very underrated.

[Nicole]

He's underrated in my heart because he's not number one. And all the people of the Third, who, as Kingfisher has put it, want someone to blame for their hardship. That is easy for them to put said anger into. They all, as a result, ate up this lie, Hayden included. Here, however, we see that the youngest feigned sibling is fully in the camp of Kingfisher equals evil Kingfisher equals killed Saris.

[Lexi]

According to Hayden, Madra was in the process of pardoning Sarys and Kingfisher slit her throat. Then the Guardians drug her body through the Third to show everyone what Kingfisher did to her. So of course we're all thinking, oh my God. Madra was of sacrificed a poor girl who looked just like Saris to make the story believable, even to Sarah's own brother. But then we see how big of an I dot Hayden really is. Like, we kind of knew it before. And this is just like, oh my God. Because he didn't actually see this thing that he is extremely convinced of, but he knows that it must be 100% true because. Wait for it. Madra handed out drawings of the horror.

[Nicole]

This is like when you're on Instagram and you see something absolutely crazy and you believe it as 100% truth, but you don't. Don't fact check it. Check your facts, friends, always.

[Lexi]

I'm with Fisher. I don't know whether to laugh or cry here. And it feels very fitting that he literally has to turn away from Hayden and tell Carrie to deal with the boy because he's, quote, too fucking stupid to deal with directly.

[Nicole]

This is you.

[Lexi]

This is everything I wanted out of Fisher with the Hayden meetup. And no, I have patience. I just save it for my children. But back to those posters the Guardians have been handing out all morning since yesterday's commotion with the hall of mirrors and the bell tower. Like Nicole was saying, there are wanted posters on the walls of the Third. These posters show Carrion and Fisher and read, Danger Enemies of the Crown Wanted for unauthorized magic use. I am definitely talking like dungeon crawler Carl right now. Excuse me, everybody. Unauthorized magic use, murder, theft, and intent to incite violence after their offenses. There's also a reminder that harboring criminals is an offensive punishable by death. That magic is a disease. And finally, the slogan Keep Salvarin safe. The reward to catch Kingfisher and Carrion. A whole year's supply of water for the household of the person who comes forward with information that leads to their capture. And in a place where water is a very, very sacred and precious resource, that is the biggest possible motivator that they could have.

[Nicole]

I will give Madra this. She is one fucking smart dictator by offering up a reward, giving them the promise of a whole year of water, which is like you're saying is a whole year of life that will cause even best friends and neighbors to become enemies. Nothing starts a fight in the streets more than the promise of survival. Nothing is easier to control than people who are wanting to get this reward. Like, she has them changing their focus on looking at who is causing them to suffer Madra. And instead putting their energy into finding the perpetrators who might just give them a chance for another year of living.

[Lexi]

Also my heart hurts for carrying here because like Sarah's, this has been his community for so long. Much longer than it's been Sarah's community a thousand years. And now he can hear people turning against him saying that there was always something wrong with that carrying guy. Even those who don't believe Madras rants about magic, they are willing to entertain her antics for the reward. Like Nicole was saying once again, we of course have the even late holiday being brought up how every even late madre gets extra worked up about all this make believe. So it's my understanding that yes, the Even Light Festival has not happened yet, but shit's going down with it. But I am willing to dramatically die on a hill that shit is going to go down with it it in book three. I know I initially said that for book two, but now I'm really putting all my eggs in the basket for book three.

[Nicole]

I will die dramatically on that hill with you. I will catch you and then simultaneously.

[Lexi]

Fall over right after. I also believe that even Light really does play a significant role in how Madras siphons magic and stores it from the city and how this even light will have far reaching consequences with the rot and infected feeders who are coming from Zelvarin. Before Fisher and Carrion can bring Hayden to his sister in a different realm, there is some very sad news for Carrion. Gracia, Carrion's fake grandmother who was the last of the Swift line, just passed away. She was an elderly human in the Third whose family for centuries was tasked with hiding the Fae heir. It was her great great great great unknown amount of great grandmother who protected Carrion right after Fenryn brought him through the quicksilver a thousand years ago. Her name was Orlenna and she was a slave of Madra's and she escaped with baby Carrion. From then on through the generations, the Swift women have watched over Carrion and protected his secret of being the at this air, waiting for the quicksilver to open back up so he could finally return to his homeland. Gracia in particular was the most no nonsense person you'll ever meet. She was an engineer go women in STEM and was charged with ensuring new buildings in the Third were built on stable foundations. Carrion has known her all her life and for decades Gracia has been the one person in his entire life who knew the truth about him. They were family and also sadly, this is the inevitable that happens more than once a century for Carrion as he outlives everyone he's ever met before coming to Euvelia.

[Nicole]

There is a woman who is somewhere deep in the desert who is singing a sad, eerie song. And you know who that woman is? Lexi.

[Lexi]

The same woman from the hall of Tears in Amitreus.

[Nicole]

The Gasping Woman. Thank you very much. I agree. You cannot convince me otherwise. There is just this woman who keeps bouncing from hall to hall to room to room to. To realm to realm. And she is just gasping. She's singing, she's crying, she's wailing. And you know what? She is the unsung hero of this series.

[Lexi]

Nicole, I am so, so glad that you brought up the Gasping Woman, because we got not a single sliver of mention of a gasping woman in this book. Are you going to concede that bet that the Gasping Woman from Quicksilver, not only that she was important, but that she knows Cirrus is of royal lineage? Because that is another thing we also did not get a hint of in this book.

[Nicole]

I don't know if I'm willing to concede it, because I just saw what you have to. What I have to do if I.

[Lexi]

What is it? What do you have to do, Nicole?

[Nicole]

I would have to wear every single Henry hat and make it flow within the context of what we're saying in said episode.

[Lexi]

You know what, listeners? You hear that.

[Nicole]

For the content, for the good of the content, I will concede this bet. You win, big sister.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

So you just have to tell me what episode. And you have to bring me all the Henry hats, because I don't have them.

[Lexi]

That's right. I don't even give you a lot.

[Nicole]

Of Henry hats again.

[Lexi]

I can put them over at your place. And they don't have to live in the closet anymore.

[Nicole]

My house is so much smaller than yours now anyway. In Zelvarin, it is customary to sit with the dead as they burn on the outskirts of the city in for 72 hours straight. And it's been a tradition for centuries.

[Lexi]

Oh, and not even Carrion, who has been around for a thousand years practicing this very tradition.

[Nicole]

He doesn't know why it's like that, but Kingfisher does. This is just one more connection between Evilia and Zilvarin. In Evilia, they sit with their dead as they burn to ensure that they do not rise and return as a feeder. So after three days, the possibility of them transitioning ends and they are safe.

[Lexi]

It is so fascinating that these traditions span across realms. It makes me wonder about other realms too. Though I am starting to think more and more that there was a particularly close link between Zelvarin and Yvelia. And that is not including Madra and the Triumvirate. Something even before that, at Gracias pyre outside the Third. Remember, this is the only reason those quarantined in the Third are allowed to leave is to dispose of their debt. Carrion throws his beloved book into the fire, the one he has held onto as his only connection to his homeworld all these centuries in Zelvarin Fae Creatures of the Golarion Mountains. Oh, this is so symbolic of Carian's end here in Zelvarin and being protected and cared for by the Swift women. And it's also marking the beginning of truly being in his realm. He knows the book front to back by heart. He learned what he has to from it. And now it. It's time to truly live it and embrace it. Gracia has safeguarded the book and Carrion all her life and all the Swift generations before. And now that time of Carian's life has finally, officially come to an end. With the quicksilver opening and with Gracia's death. This is another one of those quiet moments in the book that shows a lot on the page about Carrion's close relationship with death and how he processes grief and the budding friendship and understanding Fisher fear feels toward him. Because Fisher hugs Carrion in a moment that Carrion is trying to be strong, but just truly needs a hug from someone else who is still there for him, reminding him that Gracia and the Swift line may be gone. But Carrion is by no means alone. And Fisher knows how important it is to feel that love and support in order to keep moving on and keeping your head held high. Which is exactly what Karion needs here. A meaningful hug and a good cry. And then he can pick himself back up to keep moving forward.

[Nicole]

Keep moving forward to find the hidden silver and stop at another one of Carrion's apartments. While in the tunnels, Kingfisher's quicksilver is restless. This is the quicksilver in his mind. It's urging him this way, this way. When they are moving in the direction his quicksilver wants, it's happy. But the moment they go off course, it throws a teeny, tiny quicksilver tantrum. We can assume that this is urging Kingfisher towards the quicksilver pool in Elroy's basement, urging him closer and closer to that discovery. Thanks for being helpful, Quicksilver in these.

[Lexi]

Tunnels we see on full display. And Fisher sees too, just how spoiled of a brat Hayden is. Would I also complain about wading through a sewer tunnel that stinks and is infested with rats? Yes, but that is beside the point, because moving through these tunnels is normal for survivalists like Seras and Carrion and even Vorath Shah. But Hayden. Oh no, serious. Has made sure her little brother does not have to live the same way. She has not wanted him to know this side of Zelvara and survival because it's hard and it's gross. And while there's no doubt that is well meaning from one big sister to another, I totally get it. It has turned hating into, as Fisher so eloquently puts it, quote, a petulant, spoiled little shit who hasn't had to deal with hardship a day in his fucking life. Just imagine being Fisher, who has dealt with the horrors that he has in his life and is always doing everything for other people. And that's also something he admires about his mate too. She is fired despite the oppression she faced all her life. And then there's fucking Hayden here whiting about rats and smell. Best part is how Fisher scares Hayden unconscious.

[Nicole]

I can see this so clearly.

[Lexi]

Like he actually scares him unconscious.

[Nicole]

They almost make it to Carrion's other apartment because yes, he has multiple. When a flash of gold dances across the shop front below Karion's bedroom window. Thank the gods. Madra decided to, you know, fit her Guardians in the most flashiest metal fit watch and makes it really easy to spot. So grabbing Hayden, Kingfisher and Carrion plan to get out unnoticed.

[Lexi]

But it's too late.

[Nicole]

The Guardians rush out of the alley that they were hiding in and they are in a bit of a pickle because, you know, being Fae, Carrion and Kingfisher can easily outrun these weighed down with metal foot watch Guardians. But Hayden, sweet, sweet Hayden cannot. Hayden is not used to being useful. Shocking. But they take off anyway, sprinting as quick as they can with Hayden in tow. Barreling through the streets of the Third. As they're running, the Guardians start shooting at them with iron. Iron tipped arrows. And they're narrowly missing them. The Guardians don't even care that there are civilians everywhere in the Third. As one shot literally meant for Fisher misses and clips a woman in the throat. Not the gasping woman. No, it's not her. Don't worry guys, she's fine. I take this as twofold. She's living in the Hub. Don't worry, I got eyes on her. I take this Guardians not giving a flying fuck about the civilians of the Third as twofold one. This just shows the attack them at all costs instruction that Madras surely told all of her Guardians. It also just hammers in how little they give a shit about the people of the Third and how they are expendable. And yet they will believe Madras propaganda even as they are getting shot at in the Third. Wow. Shocking.

[Lexi]

All the while Fisher can hear the Quicksilver continuing to whisper to him. Him urging him to go in the wrong direction. Again, we will find out that this is the Quicksilver trying to get him to go toward Elroy's secret quicksilver pool. But for now, this quicksilver whispering is building up that who There is Quicksilver here in the Third, what could it mean?

[Nicole]

Running away from the guardians and into the square. In the third, Kingfisher sees a sight that makes his blood boil. A group of 12 teenage girls. Girls stand in front of two guardians with already a few of the girls knocked out and limply laying on the back of a horse drawn cart. And it's Carrion who shares what it is. All of the women who turn 14 are rounded up, sedated, and then 7 out of 10 of them are taken to the palace to be cleansed. Remember how last book Kingfisher had a very, very visceral reaction to this happening to Sayris after they have sex for the first time? Time because he could not stand the idea that a choice this monumental was taken away from his mate. I love the moment that he sees one of the teenage girls who's defiantly staring up at the human who's sedating them and spitting in his face and how it reminds him of Saras. So Tldr Kingfisher sees this and is livid. Rightfully so.

[Lexi]

So there went his plan to sneakily take these guardians, chasing them down. Because Fisher is ready to now cause a scene after seeing what Madra's guards are doing to these girls. This corrupt system didn't just take away his mate's ability to have children. It took away her right to choose for herself. And not just her, all the other girls in the ward who are also sterilized. And he's ready to make the corrupt system pay. The second the Guardians run into the square after them, Fisher calls every last drop of magic he has. And this time it does not manifest as shadows, only shrouded in darkness. No, no, no. This time Kingfisher makes knives made of shimmering shadow magic itself, going straight at the guardians. And they're dead. Even as the other Guardians in the square turn to attack Fisher he has them dead before they even know what's happening. But again, more and more Guardians rush into the square, but Kingfisher kills them, each with an ease that just further solidifies how powerful he is. With their efforts on the ground being futile, the Guardians take to the rooftops and attempt to shoot Kingfisher down with arrows. But it is still not enough. And uses his shadows to wrap ropes around their arms, ankles, and other parts of their body to pull them off the roofs. When some of the Guardians turn to flee, Fisher does not let them. These men treat women like possessions, use them for sex, violating their bodies and stealing their rights. And Fisher is lost to the rage and bloodlust of emotions that these thoughts bring on. By the time Carian finally snaps Fisher out of his haze, the square is piled high with bodies, the sand soaked in their blood. There's more than 50 guardians dead now. But the fire burning within Fisher is demanding that he claims every last one of Madra's troops for their cruelty against the people of the city.

[Nicole]

With Madra's larger army approaching, Kingfisher knows they've gotta hide. And what better way to remain hidden than in complete and total darkness? So, reaching inward, Kingfisher is quite surprised that he. He still has magic. The source may feel so far away, but he feels it ready to immediately answer his call. Calling to his well of magic, Kingfisher unleashes, quote, a tide of glittering black sand and shadow. The shadow that Kingfisher sends out doesn't just cover the street that they're on, or even just the third. It covers the entire fucking city of Zelvarin. And for the first time in history, ever, the shining banner of the north falls into complete darkness. This is so cool.

[Lexi]

I love the little detail of how Fisher gives Carrion the sight to see in his shadows. Because remember, in last episode, Carrion was not able to see his shadows either, and Fisher could see it only with monochrome. Now, Fisher says that makes four people in existence who can also see through his shadow shadows. I wonder who the others are. Like, I imagine Renfus and Lorath, because that would come in handy with fighting.

[Nicole]

Yeah, maybe Danya, maybe.

[Lexi]

Yes. Like, I don't know that he's given Cirrus at least yet. Maybe it's just an automatic thing. But anyway, just a fun little fact there.

[Nicole]

Yeah, that's cool. So I'm actually curious because during this whole action scene, Kingfisher is very surprised that he still has magic left over and that he's able to pull more and more shadows, literally. To the point to come cause a citywide blackout. I'm guessing this is threefold. One, he's pissed off about seeing the women who are about to go get sterilized. And I guarantee you he's feeding off that anger and that's helping fuel his magic. Two, I do wonder if because they're back to the circle, because they're in a circle, he could be pulling from that circle magic of Zilvarin. But if that is the case, I would bet anything that Madra would feel that drain. And then she would also probably look outside and be like, why is it. Is it pitch black outside? I've never seen it like this for the first time ever.

[Lexi]

Oh, I love this thinking because I was noticing the same about how Fisher has way more magic than he ever thought he would have here. And it's like this endless well in the city because of all the magic stored up here for the past 1000 years. So yes, I do think that he is literally tapping into all of that magic that is still here in the city. I agree.

[Nicole]

I think it's. I think it's that, yes, to get.

[Lexi]

Out of this hot mess of killing 50 plus guardians and sending the city into complete darkness. Remember how he was initially trying to be sneaky? Carrying takes initiative and takes them somewhere they will be safe from prying eyes. Which also makes the Quicksilver happy because now they are heading in the direction it's been trying to take Fisher. So they enter their new secret hiding spot and why.

[Nicole]

Hello.

[Lexi]

Welcome back to the story. Elroy.

[Nicole]

Yay.

[Lexi]

Fisher accidentally released the glamour on him and Carrion and in the square while he was going crazy with the Shadow magic. Now in their original Fae forms again, Fisher is a lot taller, which is a good thing for his entrance into Elroy's forge as the human tries to defend himself from Fisher and hit him over the head, only to hit his shoulder blades instead, which. Ow. I cannot express how excited I was when I first read that they are back with Elroy. And oh, so many surprises in store. Similar to what we actually did predict back in Quicksilver.

[Nicole]

Meet the Family continues. Because Kingfisher has heard so much about Elroy as this man who was her mentor, as this man who took care of her. And not surprising, he made the deduction that Elroy would be a decent fella to be around. And no, but to be fair, it's hard to like someone right after they just try to cave your back in with a fire iron. I do think it helps that the moment Elroy Is like, of course serious isn't dead.

[Lexi]

Like, she.

[Nicole]

She's serious. A, he's fighting back against Madras propaganda and B, he's commending Sarus for the fighter that she is. It is this moment for Kingfisher to be like, oh, I see it. I see this. I see the connection here. But that doesn't mean that this protective girl. Dad. Is happy that she's fallen into it with this man. This Fae warrior skirt.

[Lexi]

Yep, Elroy knows about the Fae. He has always known about the Fae. He understood immediately that the Shadows must have come from Fisher. And yep, he has also always known about Carrion being a Fae in hiding. He is not surprised whatsoever to see Carrion barge into his forge now in his full Fae form.

[Nicole]

I feel so bad for Carrion here because he's like, you knew. This whole time, you knew. And Carrion's just. He just wanted to belong. Wrong so badly. I know.

[Lexi]

And when Elroy's like, it wouldn't have changed anything. And Carrie.

[Nicole]

What?

[Lexi]

What? Begged to differ. Yeah. On a emotional, personal level, yes.

[Nicole]

So why couldn't Elroy spill the beans that he knew that Carrion was Fae? Because there are rules, damn it. Don't tell anyone about the Fae. Don't talk to Carrion about the Fae. Don't tell anyone about the magic users. He's come across things like. Like that. Hold the fucking phone. Because this implies that there's other Fae. There's other magic users that Elroy has come across that Elroy knows about.

[Lexi]

I wonder if he interacted with some magic users who were part of the rebellion back when Elroy made weapons for them.

[Nicole]

Ding, ding, ding. I think you. Yes, I think you're so on the money there. But where did he hear these rules from? And learned them like gospel. He heard them from his father and then his father heard them from his father. More on that in a moment. It turns out that the Swift line was not the only one charged in handing down information about the Fae. So I've got a question for all the gamers out there. Are you seriously going to miss out on Alienware's biggest gaming sale of the year? I mean, these are Cyber Monday prizes we're talking about, so it's not just another sale. I took look a look and this is some pretty big bang for your buck. You know, it's Alienware with some of the most advanced engineering out there with systems at the top of reviewers lists. And what about a nice gift for yourself gifting yourself a new Alienware 16 Area 51 gaming laptop. I mean this thing's got performance at the absolute next level with Intel Core Ultra processors. And even better, you can get it during Cyber Monday. Plus you can save on all kinds of displays and accessories like Alienware 32 4K QD OLED gaming monitors for ultimate visual fidelity. These really are incredible deals on PCs with otherworldly performance. So we recommend visiting alienware.comdeal soon and grabbing whatever you can before the lowest prices of the year go dark.

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a.

[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

Here'S my big question. One of my big questions. Who charged Elroy's ancestors with collecting the quicksilver? Or Lena Swift took Carrion in because she was right there when Fenren came through the quicksilver with him and he charged her with carrying for the baby like that. Mind to mind speak there. So technically no one but Fenrin and the Swifts know that Carrion is Fae. That he is even here in this realm. And Elroy even knows about Solas, the God Storm Sword stealing the quicksilver. But if someone told his ancestors that Carrion was Fae, then it would make the most sense that Fenryn escaped Madra's clutches and came up with these rules for Elroy's metal working ancestors.

[Nicole]

Ding ding ding ding ding. I think it can only be Fenrin. That is the only logical option here.

[Lexi]

Like by what I just said. Yeah.

[Nicole]

No one knows about Carrion. No one yet.

[Lexi]

Elroy will mention drawings like of this Fae God Sword and I assume a lot more about Quicksilver and I'm betting even alchemists that could damn him and Ceres. Especially when Fisher wonders what in the papers could have damned Ceres. But he has an idea. He never elaborates on that idea or shares it. So I'm just going to assume that he is thinking alchemy at the very least. Or it's another plot line that we will get to in book three. These papers are not around anymore. Most of them perish in a house fire when Elroy was 15. And then Elroy himself burned all the rest of the evidence. Five years ago when Saris's power was getting stronger, Elroy knew that she needed him to look after her. And again those documents were very damning. So he had to get rid of all the evidence. I'm so curious how his ancestors got these papers. I got to bring it back to whoever set the rules for them. We know Finran likes providing information in books. He made sure Carrion had a book about his heritage so it wouldn't be out of the question that he would also provide some of these kind of documents to too. Just saying.

[Nicole]

Yes. Yes to all of this. This is fucking amazing. We knew.

[Lexi]

Maybe even Adina told him you need to bring all like he she sent him a whole a bag to go to Zelvaran being like okay honey, my oracle self is telling you you need to Bring these and go do this. And then he makes sure that it all happens because he's a good husband.

[Nicole]

I was also thinking that, but then I was like. But she also thought that Sarus was Fae. But then like we talked about last book, she. She knew Sarus was going to be turned Fae. So I actually. I think you might be right. I think Idina. This is yet again, puppet master Idina at work. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

But Elroy's like, you know what? It's better just to show you what me and generations of my metal working family have been tasked with. Behind a rug that hangs on the ceiling like a tapestry is a secret door. Dun dun dun. Kingfisher can feel that there is a teeny tiniest bit of magic cleverly woven to hide it. When Elroy pricks his finger and dabs a drop of blood against the wall, the heavy blocks of sandstone move to reveal a staircase.

[Nicole]

Wait, hold. Is this blood magic then?

[Lexi]

Yes. Not unlike what Idina has with the paper birds.

[Nicole]

Oh my God. This like actually could have been Idina. Literally. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

Or not Adina per se.

[Nicole]

But like her working the. The strings to make Finran do this to then pass along the information to Hoobity Blue.

[Lexi]

I will say yes. And this form of blood magic is not uncommon by any means too. So I do think that anybody would be able to. Maybe not anybody, but a powerful Fae would be able to do this. But that is the point here. That means that a magic user created this in the first place a long, long, long time ago. Not saying it was definitely Finryn, because there are lots of other possibilities, but obviously he is the first person I think of to create that key lock. Who is bestowing this upon the metal working family. Getting this all set up in the forge. Like it just makes sense to me. And these stairs go on forever. Or precisely 1223 steps. And at the bottom is a super secret basement. These stairs have smooth granite walls instead of sandstone like everywhere else in Zolvarin. It's the kind of structure that is designed to withstand time and all of the shifting sand that sits above it. The cavern at the bottom of the stairs has pillars that hold up an arched ceiling with stacks of discarded pieces of armor, coins, chalices and trunks that are overflowing with an assortment of metal goods. At the center of this cavern is the largest quicksilver pool Kingfisher has ever seen. Remember how the Winter palace has the largest quicksilver pool that can transport armies? Yeah, that one is smaller than this quicksilver pool. In Elroy's baseball. Holy shit. This pool is recessed into the ground with steps leading down to the solid quicksilver.

[Nicole]

For years, every time a piece of metal laced with quicksilver came into the forge, they, meaning Elroy and his ancestors, refined it and then brought it down here. Until recently, this was all just little teeny tiny pieces of metal. But when Sarus opened the portal by pulling out Solace last book, it turned all of those, you know, little separate pieces into a liquid, and they fused into this giant quicksilver silver pool. Why on earth would Elroy put himself in this kind of danger, though? Especially given that he was this, like, larger than life rebel fighter. All this kind of stuff with, like, making weapons for the rebels. And then he did a hard pivot 180 and serious viewed that as him giving up. Well, we get a little bit of backstory here. Elfride knew that Sarah's power was greater than she could ever have fathomed. Even when she was a young warthog, the tools would rattle on the walls in the forge. So while he knew his family's responsibility was to collect the quicksilver, he actually stopped doing that because he saw that Sarris needed him, especially after her mother died and she and Hayden didn't really have anyone else. So he stopped collecting quicksilver so that she and Hayden could be safe.

[Lexi]

Elroy explains that he took serious in as his apprentice when she was young so he could keep an eye on her. He had known her mother, he was in love with her. And he would come to their house house to fix things and take care of Iris when she got beat up by her clients. What I bet happened was that Elroy sensed Serris's power back then when he would come to their house. And then he took her in as an apprentice at the forge as soon as she was old enough. Yes, because her mother did not want her to follow in the footsteps like Seris said back in quicksilver, but also because Elroy knew Seris had a lot of magic. Her power was greater than she knew, and she was terrible at hiding it. However, after her mother died, Elroy could not have serious at the forge all the time, because if one of the Guardians had walked into the forge and felt how strange it was in there when she was around, they would have immediately taken her. That is how outward her magic was that anybody would have been able to feel it. He knew she needed him in this world because she did not have anyone else to look after her anymore, like Nicole was saying. And that is when Elroy stopped refining the quicksilver and added it to his collection. That is when he burned the remaining papers that would damn her and him. He was trying his absolute, absolute best to protect her, keep himself sane and alive to be there for her.

[Nicole]

We need to talk about why Elroy was tasked with this from his father and his grandfather and why his whole family line was been had been tasked with this. Because Elroy mentions quote, my father was fond of an afternoon whiskey or five. It was the only thing that helped with the voices. The second he said the voices, that solidified that Elroy's father was an alchemist. Because we know that alchemists used to go mad from the voices we learned this last book with Rosarius. Also, Elroy says that working with quicksilver only leads to madness and death. Quote, I saw what it did to my father. Convinced. I am convinced. Madness and yes, full stop. Also, how did Elroy know when something was laced with quicksilver, though I was under the impression, based off of last book, that it is only an alchemist who could know based off of how serious mentioned. She's able to feel the different vibrations through metal.

[Lexi]

Also that alchemists usually could only feel if something had quicksilver in it. If there was more than 5%.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

And saris is an anomaly because she can feel even the tiniest little trace of it. Way less than 5%.

[Nicole]

So that's why I'm saying, is Elroy an alchemist? I think his ancestors are for sure. But is Elroy one? Because if he's able to feel it, that would lead to him being an alchemist. Right.

[Lexi]

So I think that you do bring up a really good point. And I do have one gigantic hole to poke in this. Alchemists can turn quicksilver. They can turn it from solid to liquid. And Elroy clearly cannot do that. And none of his ancestors could either, because they probably would have done that. That. So I'm going to say no, they're not alchemists. He and his family don't seem like they can manipulate it or anything, just hear the quicksilver and are able to pull it out of the original item it's in which in and of itself might be enough to make them go mad, maybe. And this is what I'm going to go with. They were taught to identify quicksilver by whoever set these rules for them, and they pass it down generation to generation of metal workers.

[Nicole]

How interesting. Because I think that they are alchemists. But as we know with Seirit, she A didn't know how to turn a liquid into a solid until she was literally forced to do so with the quicksilver in her hand when Kingfisher put it in there.

[Lexi]

But also, that's not necessarily true, because when she drew solace out, she did turn it then, too.

[Nicole]

Oh, no, wait.

[Lexi]

She just. Nobody would have been able to. Wait. Okay. No, you're right, because his family would not have been able to turn it or anything like that because it's in there. I see now. And also, that would mean that now he. He could be able to turn it.

[Nicole]

Yeah. But also, Sarah is taught how to turn, and she's practiced and practiced and practiced. If she never was practicing those things, she is extremely powerful, so she probably would have, you know, eventually done it on accident. But maybe Elroy and his family are not as powerful as Saeris. They have a lot less of that. Like, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. You need to turn this. Or, like, your magic's gonna explode or something like that. I think that they definitely are alchemists. They're just not as powerful as, say, because there is no way we have lines like madness and voices without them being alchemists.

[Lexi]

I think that there is a middle ground in this situation.

[Nicole]

I thought we were so aligned on this. I am shocked right now.

[Lexi]

I think that there is a middle ground where they would not be classified as alchemists by any means, but there is, like, almost like that. Traces of it.

[Nicole]

I think that is a sick, safe answer, Lexi. I think that's a safe answer.

[Lexi]

I think it is what it is. Yes. Yes.

[Nicole]

That makes all the sense in the world. No, I think that they are alchemists. I want to ask Callie now, with.

[Lexi]

All of these revelations, there is one big takeaway for what to do now with this giant pool of quicksilver. Yay. No more need to sneak back into the palace and have to access the quicksilver pool in the hall of Mirror. This is a very good thing and way less risky. Now, when they go back to Sarris, they can use this one. Easy peasy. Except Fisher absolutely still plans to break into the palace. He has a queen to kill, after all. But you know what? This does make it much more easy. With his two companions, they can go through this quicksilver pool. And that means Fisher is free to go on his own to the palace and finish what he came here to do.

[Nicole]

Like we've mentioned for two episodes. Episodes, Kingfisher has this sneaky, sneaky little secret plan. It is to first go to the palace and kill Madra finally.

[Lexi]

And Fisher is on a mission to figure out if and how she is sending the feeders from Salvarin to Yvelia, which that was on their to do list here in Salvarin, to be fair. And while he's at it. Yes, absolutely. He will make sure to end this evil queen and her oppressive reign over Sarris's people.

[Nicole]

I'm gonna call Fisher out. His sacrifice rune is showing. And don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing with it.

[Lexi]

I was gonna say I think this.

[Nicole]

Is a good idea. I think it's a great idea. Now luckily this self sacrificial plan does not get to take shape because the quicksilver pool explodes. It splooges.

[Lexi]

I was just gonna say splooge.

[Nicole]

Splooge.

[Lexi]

I don't know. You say luckily I was all for Fisher going to the palace for his mission impossible. If anybody can do it, it's Fisher.

[Nicole]

Okay, here's what I will say. Like yes, I agree. If any anyone can do it, it is Fisher. And they have iron tipped arrows. Fisher is not indestructible with iron tipped arrows. He just depleted a whole fuck ton of his magic by making the entire city blacked out.

[Lexi]

But he also has much more. Like he could lay low for a little while and then go.

[Nicole]

That is extremely true. It's Fisher. He wants to get back to his mate. He would go straight there. I also. He just does not know what he's walking into. So don't get me wrong. Do I think. I think it's smart to get more information? Yes. Do I think that Kingfisher's typical barge in and up is maybe not the best plan right now? Yes. They don't know what they're. There are these feeders. Eight of them killed 114 soldiers. Do you think that there aren't more in the palace he could.

[Lexi]

I know.

[Nicole]

I don't think that there are more. Okay, we have getting so sidetracked right now. You don't think there's more?

[Lexi]

If there were, they would not be let loose or anything like that.

[Nicole]

What if they're being turned?

[Lexi]

Then great, he can help figure it out and stop it.

[Nicole]

He doesn't have brimstone with. He doesn't know what kills them.

[Lexi]

He could easily be on an information seeking mission.

[Nicole]

That's what I'm saying. I'm saying an information seeking mission is fine. Do you think that he's on information stats?

[Lexi]

I think he would take his opportunity to kill. Kill Madra.

[Nicole]

Okay, please continue. We are not going to agree on.

[Lexi]

This, but when the quicksilver pool awakens 12 hours early, Fisher goes on high alert. Cirrus is the only alchemist they know of who could have opened it. And yes, it is indeed her when she is sealing the quicksilver rune, which we will get to shortly in that part of today's episode. But Fisher cannot think of any good reason his mate would open the quicksilver early, which must mean only when thing his girl's in danger. Quick side note, I wonder if in book three we are going to have the quicksilver turn liquid and it was not serious and we will finally learn that there are other alchemists out in this universe. But anyway, scratch the Madra Kill plan. Seris needs Fisher and this pool could close at any moment. So it's now or never.

[Nicole]

Right before they go into the metal pool, Kingfisher says that it looks like they're going to have have to leave Elroy. To which the old man said. I also love that he calls him old man. I just think that's so funny.

[Lexi]

Especially because he is so much older.

[Nicole]

So much older. Oh my God. Elroy says, quote, oh, I'm sure I'll be hearing from you soon enough. So my question for you is, do you think we're seeing Elroy again in this trilogy? Yes. Okay.

[Lexi]

Absolutely. 100% yes.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

Fisher thinks to himself that Elroy is right because he does plan to come back and kill Madra. Yeah. That is still a very big plot line that needs to happen at some point in this trilogy. I am leaning toward Elroy's big contribution to the story is this Quicksilver pool and his family having this job over the generations while the Swifts had theirs. So I don't think that Elroy is going to play like a huge role with, let's say, like the Rebels and all that kind of stuff that we were theorizing in Quicksilver. But I do think that he will certainly have a little bit more of a part to play.

[Nicole]

I am really excited for that. Not in the way that I was excited for Hayden and Sarah's to reunite. I'm stoked because it's like that's her father figure. I just can't wait.

[Lexi]

Yeah, I worry about Elroy making it out of this series alive.

[Nicole]

Same.

[Lexi]

I believe we'll learn more about what happened in Silver and historically before Madra and with within the past 1000 years of her reign and Elroy's family's role within all of that. And you know what? I will actually go ahead and say I am still holding out hope that he will aid the rebels or become a leader of the people. Revolting against mantra when Fisher's focus is taking her down. So like, Elroy will kind of be in charge of like the people and his community and rising up, while Fisher really creates that opportunity for all of them to do it in the first place. Because right now that is not even on their radar. Except for the rebels. Yeah, Elroy knows that this all isn't over yet and that it's really just beginning. It's making me wonder again how this is all going to wrap up in one more book of the trilogy. And that's it for our time in Salvarin. For the rest of Brimstone, let's back up and turn our sights on Amon Traith, where Ceres wakes up to find two puncture wounds on the inside of her thigh. Would you look at that? The cottage was definitely real. And so is the delicious ache Ceres has with from their cottage adventures. And she also smells like sex. Having rested has done wonders for Sarah's in the training room with Laureth. She is quicker today and with, quote, stunningly fast reactions, she's able to predict where Lorath is going to be three seconds before he gets there. And she is landing blows hard ones. She's stronger than she has ever felt before, to the point where by the time these two are done training for the day, it's not just Saris sweating and sweet sore. Lorath is too. Huzzah Sarah. She finally slept after becoming half Fae, half vampire, and now she is tapping into her new strength and senses after recharging her battery. Now to our listeners, this is a nice, friendly reminder to rest and get our sleep. I know firsthand how hard it can be. Trust me. And please prioritize it as you can. I see you, my fellow tired friends.

[Nicole]

Well, Sarah slept, so that hopefully means that everyone's gonna be in a good mood, right? Right. Well, not really. Foley is one grumpy motherfucker, but to be honest, he's been shoving himself away for 800 years, so I don't entirely blame him.

[Lexi]

I absolutely agree with you. And Cerus will not be wrong in her observation that he wallows in being a victim.

[Nicole]

Absolutely 100%. But just because he agreed to help Cerus with all the alchemy stuff, it doesn't mean he's willing to be nice to her, going as far as to call her weak, naive and vulnerable. Listen, I know that Foley does not like vampires and therefore has a lot of anger towards them and thus to Saris, I would not be I would have handled this much worse than Cerus if someone said those three words to me.

[Lexi]

I'll say this, I am very glad that Fisher was not in the room right now, because Foley would definitely be out the window if you again.

[Nicole]

But the truth that Sarah sees is that he is afraid. Underneath all of this hardened Foley exterior. Is he afraid of being around the living? Is he afraid because things are changing from his self isolation without him being ready? Especially because he's found an angry, victimized comfort here in the library and he's convinced himself that this is what he deserves? Is he afraid that he's now tasked with remembering a lot of information about alchemy and that's some powerful shit. Is it? D All of the above.

[Lexi]

And he's not exactly impressed with Ceres, an inexperienced former human from another realm where she didn't know anything about magic.

[Nicole]

Yes, exactly. No matter what, this is all manifesting in Foley being quite the grumpy mentor. And you know what?

[Lexi]

I love it.

[Nicole]

I love a grumpy sunshine trope. Even when it's mentor mentee rather than lovers. I freaking love it. But I also want to point out this show Don't Tell Tell that he pulled a bunch of books while she was sleeping. I interpret this that while he was up for a while or while he wasn't sleeping, it was because he was maybe not excited, but he was passionate about something. Again, like we talked about last episode, it's this feeling of him having that zest for life even though he's being this grumpy motherfucker. I'm so happy for him.

[Lexi]

It's like he is so excited to meet back in in with all of this and whatnot. But he's got serious as his mentee and he's like, oh man, she's not a very good one. She doesn't know anything.

[Nicole]

She might have killed my best friend, but like she said, they say that she didn't, but I'm not convinced as.

[Lexi]

What is becoming a common occurrence, especially when she's worked up, Sarris's runes begin glowing again on her hand.

[Nicole]

After a quick inspection, Foley notices that one rune is specifically inflamed. Named it is the rune for quicksilver. And we finally learn what this rune looks like. It is a circle with an arrow bisecting it. And because it's the rune that Seiros has been tapping into the most, it makes sense that it's the most burning of the Hottest, which I take to mean as it is the close to I'll call it bursting. Foley, however, is not surprised that the Quicksilver rune is hurting the most. According to record, it is always the first to awaken when examining the rune.

[Lexi]

On Ceres right hand. Foley is in awe, calling the rune remarkable and the most intricate alchemy shield he has ever seen. Even the Hasraks will later agree it is the most complex shield this realm has ever seen. And the Hazrax will say it'll be a formidable weapon. You know, if it doesn't kill her before she can seal it. Which boy oh boy is it right? Later in the book, after seeing Sarris Seals a quicksilver rune, she is able to project out the shield and use it as both a shield and weapon against Bellicon. She's able to launch a pulse of energy out of it, obliterating his guards into a fine mist of blood and meat. And then, of course, we'll also see it at play here. Towards the end of this episode here, when Saris is fighting Bellicon's guards, when Orias comes through the quicksilver, an alchemy and shield is a rune that solely belongs to the alchemist who seals. Every alchemist has one, but no two alchemists have the same shield. Think of it kind of like a fingerprint. There might be other shields that are similar, but this one is solely Ceres. I interpret the shield to be the word for how serious magic gets funneled into or through so she can use it. And I will be honest, this is all a little bit confusing because the.

[Nicole]

Shield is pretty painful and probably gonna blow. It's important that she seals this shield rune 8 ASAP. So Foley pulls an exercise from a book that he pulled for Saris last night. And the exercise is as such a failing must open themselves up to the energetic flow of the quicksilver. It can be quite overwhelming of a sensation, but they should embody the Quicksilver's energy, align themselves both in the mind and the body. This should all be done before they transmute it from a liquid to a solid. After they've successfully done that, they must alter the quicksilver repeatedly until the skill is as easy as breathing. And they have a good rapport with the quicksilver. Only once they mastered it in that way will they be able to, quote, set their affinity for the magic of the quicksilver and thus seal the rune. I'm not gonna lie. I would be serious in this situation. I'd be like, yeah, I've already, you know, aligned myself with it energetically. I'm able to, you know, transmute it from a liquid to a solid state. I've got a rapport with the motherfucker. So I'm going to go ahead and just seal the. Seal the rune.

[Lexi]

I agree with you. Because I would also think that initially, and then once when fully explained it to me, then it'd be like, oh, okay, that makes sense. Oh, I would be like, you don't know me. Yes. And please don't take it personally when I'm about to get into get upset with you.

[Nicole]

Compare me to one of your toddlers. Lexi, I will log off off this call.

[Lexi]

I'm not comparing anybody to toddlers at this time. Anyway, not so fast. Sarah's thane fully explains the huge difference between what Cirrus has been doing and what will really make her ready. Shockingly, turns out Cirrus is very impatient and more than happy to wrangle her magic, make the quicksilver submit. Because what's the difference when she gets the results? All the difference, Saris. It makes all the difference. Friends. She really hates having to learn something new. Huh? She just wants to cut corners and expedite. And because she has no patience and she doesn't like being a beginner at something.

[Nicole]

Okay, I feel personally victimized by you right now. Excuse you?

[Lexi]

This was all written in here before. You said that you were like that.

[Nicole]

I did not hear you just denying that.

[Lexi]

Bottom line is, that is not how things work with magic. You must respect the magic, Seras. The only way to truly master the magic is to be partners with it. Work with the quicksilver. Accept and respect that it is a give and take. Instead of trying to bend it to her will, she should know oppression never turns out well for the oppressed. They will want to rise up against, like, what the rebels are trying to do. As Aaron Bottom line, Seras, you are a beginner magic user. So, yes, you need to learn the basic foundations of your craft to keep building on your skills and abilities. Stop acting like you're too good for this. Especially when you have been craving information on alchemy for a book and a half. Now you are getting everything you need, and you're like, oh, I don't like this.

[Nicole]

Because it means that going backwards. I get it.

[Lexi]

I know you do.

[Nicole]

Which brings us to the first mention of the Tria Prima. The Tria Prima is comprised of the same basis. Salt, quicksilver, and brimstone. The uses of each are varied, but they can be combined do we ever learn what happens when they combine? No. Book three anyone? God, I hope so. There is a note however, about it being unorthodox to combine this Tria Prima. But again, we have no further concept context. In the Elemental Runes and Their A Comprehensive Guide to Alchemy, we learn that during the first stages of ascension, equilibrium must be found. I take this to mean that in order to seal her first rune Ascension, one must be fully equal with the substance they're trying to seal. We will soon see how Serous does this to seal her Quicksilver rune. One of the Tria Primas. Every alchemist has an affinity towards a certain, certain path, either Quicksilver, Brimstone or salt. And without the appropriate guidance and training, the path will claim them. So I do wonder if this has ever happened with a previous alchemist and that's what's caused them to go mad. They must marry the Tria Prima into one within themselves if they are fully to master this three part power. Also, we learn from Adina that historically alchemists shy away from the second Bow of the Tree of Prima AKA they shy away from the Brimstone Ship shield. Not only because it's too powerful and very difficult to wield, but because the product of it only seems to be linked with death and destruction. Unfortunately for all of us, she does not elaborate on how else it can be used, but we obviously can assume that this is going to be sealed hopefully early next book to help eradicate the rot.

[Lexi]

To state the obvious, two of the three Tria Prima are very important for our story and titles of the book books so far. Because remember, this is a trilogy. Does that mean book three will be titled Salt or something similar that represents Salt and Slash? Or what is the significance of salt for the rest of our story and series? In real life, Tria Prema is known as the three Primes of Alchemy. Sulfur, Mercury and Salt. Or in this world's terms, Brimstone, Quicksilver. And then of course there's salt. Again, salt is considered the best base matter. And interestingly, it was the final and last of the three principles added to the Tree of Prima. These three principles are more like combinations of the elements. So salt is a combination of earth and water and it represents the body. Mercury, or Quicksilver is a combo of water and air and represents the spirit. Sulfur, AKA Brimstone is a combination of air and fire and represents the soul. How interesting that it represents the soul when there is so much soul mentioned here in this book. This alludes to the phrase mind, body and spirit, which represents our existence as humans within these three dimensions. Zooming back out. Does the real Tria Prema have a one to one representation to the Tria Prema here in this book? No, not necessarily exactly the same, but definitely. Kali certainly was heavily influenced by it. Thinking about Salt in particular, if it is indeed connected to the element of Earth, you know who that immediately makes me think of? Carrion and his interesting elemental magic with the blooming plants. Salt also represents stability and purity that go with this earth's material essence. Huh, that sure sounds useful for the third and final book of a series where the land is being infected by rot. I think once Viserys seals the Salt river, it will be the necessary foundational component to her magic to become the ultimate master of it. It will give her mastery of the Tree of Prima, after all, and it will also be able to help her heal the world. I don't think it'll necessarily be like plant magic exactly like Carrion has, but very closely tied to all of that there.

[Nicole]

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a paper plane bird. Let's talk about one of our favorite elements of the book, the stargazers. When Serious first enters the library, one particular paper plane bird is extra curious about Ceres, poking and prodding at her, which I assume this is the same stargazer that later comes up to her after her encounter with Foley, which. Let's go over what happens with that bird as she's leaving the library. There's a zing of pain that hits Serious on the back of the neck. Ouch. Paper cut. One of the stargazers hovers just a few feet away, clearly trying to get serious attention as it watches Seiris despite having no eyes. I do want to make a reference so badly right now, but I won't. But those who know, know there's. I know what you mean. I know you know.

[Lexi]

Foley has warned Cirrus about these little magical paper birds, though. He says that they like to steal strands of people's hair for their neck chests. But in the wrong hands, hair can be someone's undoing. A fell witch would do terrible things to lay their hands on a strand of your hair.

[Nicole]

Huh?

[Lexi]

Oh, like algot, the birds are pure and trusting. They can be compelled to do something without realizing the bad intention. So this makes me wonder. The same thing I brought up last episode about what Tao said about these stargazers. Does Foley actually know this? Or is this an instance of an unknowing unreliable narrator later, because I'm kind of leaning, I guess, actually kind of both in this situation. I think Foley knows Owlett is fully capable of trying to take advantage of the birds in this way, and they are indeed trusting and innocent. But I think this is also him assuming thinking the worst. Rightly so, in this case about owl get. However, I don't think this is foreshadowing that I'll get will have one of Ceres's hairs, because it doesn't seem like the paper burn birds ever did take her hair.

[Nicole]

Correct. I think they just got a little nudge of her blood, but that was just to confirm her identity so that she had the exact code.

[Lexi]

Exactly.

[Nicole]

Saeris doesn't see any of her hair in the stargazer's grasp, so that's good. As she starts to walk away, this bird's like, nope. And it flies at her, cutting her cheek with its wings. Here is that Adina blood magic at play, trying to get her blood to see if it is indeed serious and thus the rightful owner of the journal. Just as the bird gets her cheek's attention, it falls out of the air, motionless. We know on a reread that this is because Seiris walked out of the parameters of the library, and thus the magic of the little paper bird doesn't work anymore. But rather than just leave the little bird on the ground, Ceres feels, you know, a twing of sadness for it. And thank God she does does, because she slips that paper bird into her.

[Lexi]

Pocket and then later puts the folded piece of paper on her nightstand in.

[Nicole]

Kalash, which will later then be found in her dream state in order to save Fisher. One of my favorite parts of this particular scene on a reread is realizing that this bird that's trying to test her to see if she is indeed serious and get her attention. This is the piece of Idina's journal that has Kingfisher's Channel True name on it. Can you imagine, like, right here in this moment, Sarah's just, like, grabbed the bird out of the air, unfolded it, and just read it? Because I would have.

[Lexi]

I would have, too.

[Nicole]

And I would have been like, oh, that's anticlimactic.

[Lexi]

At the beginning of chapter 24, we get a paragraph out of one of the books that Saris is reading. Nicole brought this up already, but because there is so much to all of this, we're going to go over it again. This book is called Elemental Runes and Their Purposes. A Comprehensive Guide to Alchemy. Dang. This is quite the useful book for this alchemist. The passage says, equilibrium must be found at the first stages of ascension. Every acolyte has an affinity toward a certain path which can claim the acolyte if they don't receive the proper guidance. They must, quote, marry the Tria prema into one within themselves if they are to truly master their path power. And lastly, but most importantly, the enlightened alchemist walks all three paths. Okay, so what this says is balance is required to begin ascending. And while I'm not exactly sure what it implies by path, my guess is the path is one of the alchemical components like quicksilver, brimstone, or salt. But that is only my guess. When Seras seals her quicksilver rune, she is letting the quicksilver in. She is inviting it to become part of her her, which is how she will master its power. And what this says is that if an alchemist does this with all three seals of quicksilver, brimstone and salt runes, then they are considered enlightened. Like a master alchemist. I will also die dramatically on the hill that this happens to Sarris.

[Nicole]

In book three, we also get an update on numbers sent from the war camp. Total known dead is now 1976. This is 603 more than the last update, which was yesterday. Total known infected is 2409, 744 more than yesterday. And the estimated infected land Mass is 8162 or 31.5 square miles, or 81.6 square kilometers. For reference, San Francisco proper is about 46 square miles. So this land mass of infected rye is 2/3 the size of San Francisco or I wanted to do this. Florence, Italy is about 102 square kilometers, or 39 square miles. So this infected land mass is a little bit smaller than Florence.

[Lexi]

And going off of what we were equivalent to last episode, now it would be twice as big as Manhattan versus what was at a third of the size of size before.

[Nicole]

A third of the size is a little smaller. So Manhattan is in the low 20s and this is 31. So it's like a Manhattan and a half. But to go from 7.87 square miles to 31.5 square miles in one day is terrifying.

[Lexi]

Yes, indeed.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

In the Amantraith Forge, Sarris is ready to get to work creating relics to keep forth with their plan to evacuate everyone. Everyone but the bad guys from Yvelia. I just love how this was such a huge theme in Quicksilver, and now it's like, okay, I can do this. Now, like, look at her growing. But a quick moment to highlight what's strange about this forge. There's no fire here. Aha. Yes, because fire makes vampires go whoosh up like kindling. Or like I have written in the outline here, like Kendall, not the Kendall. The forge only has more even light, which does still work like fire at.

[Nicole]

This forge, like each time that Saras makes a relic, the quicksilver will wants something in return. So far it's wanted a song, a joke and a secret. But this one, it wants a memory. Now, with the joke and the secret and the song, Sayers was able to still remember these after she gave them to the Quicksilver. Yes, the song she was only able to remember because she was the one who made the deal with the quicksilver. But everyone else forgot it. As every other bargain that she's made, though, we can assume everyone still remembers it. But this time, it seems that the quicksilver wants the memory for the taking.

[Lexi]

Alright then, Quicksilver, we'll give you what you want. Serious reaches for her most painful memory. The one where she witnesses her mother dying, her throat being sliced open. It makes absolute sense that this is the first memory that Serious thinks of. She wants to not remember her most painful memory. However, at the last second, Serious changes her mind. That memory may be extremely painful, but it helped shape her into who she is today. It's her last memory of her mother. And. And as horrible as it is, she needs to hold on to that memory, because without it, she doesn't know who she would be. Instead, Serris selects a different memory. One that is on a morning like any other, where she's counting money in their hidden loft above the tavern where they were living. And she is telling Hayden something. She forgets what the memory was before we readers get to find out what it was, what it is. First of all, I love how this was written. So, so cool.

[Nicole]

This has to come back into play, right? So I could see in the future Hayden talking to Sarah about this mighty important conversation they had. Maybe where she was telling Hayden something about her mother or their father or Elroy and Hayden will bring it up to her in book three and she doesn't remember. But I am. I'm trying and I'm struggling to figure out how exactly this would, I'll call it, create tension and shake up the story. But maybe I have a another idea. Maybe she learned something from Edina that connects Evilia and Zilvarin. But Serious doesn't remember it. So it's Hayden who actually Says it to the group and then congratu fucking lations. Hayden, you actually get to be helpful for once.

[Lexi]

So I would be leaning toward the latter if it comes back into play. But I don't think that Serious would think that it is a very important conversation because she offers it up in the first place as just another ordinary conversation. I love the idea, though, that ends up being important. And Hayden saves the day by remembering this little bit of information that is not available to Sarah anymore that she would never even imagine would have any importance to their lives. Now, I guess from like a storytelling.

[Nicole]

Standpoint, I would feel really bummed if this cool mystery where we're left out of something as a reader happens and then it just never comes back into play. You know what I mean?

[Lexi]

I do. And that's kind of the point in this, is that it's not supposed to be an important memory. So I could see it going one of two ways. One, that it does come back in a small way where it kind of helps them collect a little bit more information to be able to get more to their next point. I could also see it simply being this is what it is, because again, there are so many open plots going into book three that we can't close everything. And I would consider this to probably be one of those, I'll call it a loop that I could see staying open.

[Nicole]

I unfortunately think you might be right.

[Lexi]

Now that the memory has been given, the only thing to do is to seal the relic with blood, and the quicksilver will be made into the relic ready to go. Ah, yes. Everything always comes back to blood, doesn't it?

[Nicole]

So the only other time that we've seen the quicksilver want blood in order to seal itself into a relic is right before sabers had her, like, one ring to rule them all moment from quicksilver. But rather than last time, where the blood is absorbed right into the ring, this time it hisses. And Sayris thinks, huh, that's new. So I'm not gonna lie, I didn't really think twice about a liquid going into a crucible with metal in it and then hissing. But I realize she doesn't say it's melted metal. In fact, it's actually not, because it goes straight into the ring. So maybe she's curious. Or she's says it's new because the crucible is hissing or because the blood is hissing when the crucible is not hot, in which case, yeah, that would definitely be new. But I wonder if this is actually because it's silver and it's vampire. Because silver and vampire don't mix very well. So it's almost like the vampire in her blood hisses at the silver. I really feel like real quickly, on.

[Lexi]

A biological standpoint, her blood blood is not technically vampire part because she has living red blood and that's not vampire blood.

[Nicole]

So then it wouldn't be hissing for the vampire. Unless there's like something laced in there that does make it vampire. I'm grasping at straws. I want to know why it was new.

[Lexi]

Yeah, I think it's simply that she's now very different because she has been avoiding doing this because she did not know if the quicksilver would accept her. And so it's almost like it's recognized that she is different. But then it still works. And that is when it's like, oh, like, okay, it still does work. You know who else comments that Saris is surprised? The Hasrax. Oh, hello. Welcome to the Forge. Remember that the Hasrax is one of the Lords of Midnight, but is a creature entirely different and not of this world and definitely is not a vampire. Also, big deal alert that the Hazrax is talking to Ceres as the Keeper of silence. It is known to be silent. It chooses to speak to very, very, very, very, very few people.

[Nicole]

I've been waiting to talk about the Hasbracks because like many people on the Internet, I.

[Lexi]

Are.

[Nicole]

You are. Is this a. We are convinced.

[Lexi]

I think we have different versions of this. And you're gonna get mad at me that I think I'm playing it safe, but I definitely think it's.

[Nicole]

I am convinced that the Hazrax is a God and of some kind, and this is how it can walk the continent and watch. Especially given how it says that this body of its is a vessel and how its power is raw and ancient.

[Lexi]

It also sees avenues and pathways, possibilities, not unlike the threads of fate and the tapestry of the universe that Zarath refers to.

[Nicole]

And how it can also hear the quicksilver, something we have strongly related to the Gods, considering their concern connection to it. So this can only mean one thing. Which God?

[Lexi]

None that we know of. And that it is a different kind of God in a way that is not literal to what we know of so far.

[Nicole]

You're right. I am mad at you because you are playing it safe. So I'm gonna go through the Gods that we do know and equate which one it most likely could be. It could be none that we know of.

[Lexi]

I think these are all fun theories.

[Nicole]

You couldn't have just waited two minutes. What was that you were saying earlier about patience? Lexi, I'm so sorry. Okay, I'm ruling out Zarith, Bal, and Mithin. Also, I'm ruling out Styx, because my brain simply refuses to believe that he could also be another fucking person. I also feel like the Hasrax would have interacted more with Kingfisher if it was Styx. So those four are out. Which leaves three others. Kirin, God of Secrets. Highly probable. Now, after doing a little bit of digging, I found that Kieran is actually a medical device company. With what specialty? Lexi? Blood Culture Collection. What does the Hazrak say about blood magic? Blood magic is artless and requires no true skill, and the Hazrax has no need for blood magic. So I can't tell if this would be be a nod towards Kieran or a nod against Kieran, the God of secrets. Also, I love how this show is not sponsored by collection. Also, the Keeper of Silence and the God of Secrets are similar enough. Now, we do know that Tal is the keeper of secrets, but I do feel like if the Hasrax was the Keeper of secrets and the God of secrets, that would just be too obvious. So next we're going to go with Nichinai, the goddess of masks. Maybe, but I'm really leaning towards Nichinai being Madra if she is anyone. And last but not least, we have Malleus, who is the God of Dawn and New Beginnings. This is my second choice behind Blood Culture Collection committee. Side note, I think what Algot says about calling Cerus last episode, like the title of Day's End and the Last Tide. I could see Malaeus being tied to this because of the names that Sayrus got from Owlgad, which means that this might be actually one of the more possible ones for the Hazracks, since it's watching her. But that does, in my opinion, feel like a reach. And I'm assuming and Lexi's too. Sadly, we don't know much else about these gods and their names, so I'm not ready to say with 100% full certainty that the Hasrax is blank God, but I'm 99.999% certain that it is is a God.

[Lexi]

Am I allowed to talk yet?

[Nicole]

No, I really don't see it. No, that's your part. You go for it.

[Lexi]

I hear you on all of that and I commend your research. I also don't see the Hazra being a God that has a name that is a deity that this realm worships. This universe is so much bigger than these seven gods. I don't think the Hazra is a God per se, but has godly like qualities. So don't give me that look.

[Nicole]

That's so boring.

[Lexi]

So could it be considered one by like definition with its characteristics and ability to zoom out and experience this universe?

[Nicole]

How is that not a God?

[Lexi]

But it's not actually a God. Especially with how we conceptualize the seven gods and it is its own entity. Because this universe is so full of. Full of so many different magical possibilities that I think we have to think much bigger of what the Hasrax is than what we readers and Sarah Snow.

[Nicole]

I agree that this world is so much bigger and I totally could see it being a God that we do not know. But it being a God, not a God is something I refuse to get behind. Because the second things are blank. Not a blank is when I throw up my hands as a deep diver and I know nothing, just Jon Snow.

[Lexi]

But like, that is part of world building though, is that it's not putting things in these boxes like that. And there is so much room for other possibility. And that is what the Hasbrox is.

[Nicole]

I agree that there is room for other possibilities, but there's a difference between room for other possibilities and saying it has godlike qualities. But don't worry, it's not an actual God. Those are two different things.

[Lexi]

I am getting so fired up to go work on my story.

[Nicole]

That just breaks the rules of magic in my mind.

[Lexi]

No, it doesn't. It expands it. It expands it.

[Nicole]

No, it doesn't. If I say I am connected to a dragon and I have powers from said dragon. But don't worry, it's not a signet. Would you be pissed if we were Empyrean?

[Lexi]

That's a Griffin rider, right? That's a Griffin flyer right there.

[Nicole]

No, they are not. Not as powerful.

[Lexi]

Oh my God. Anyway, the Hasbrax has a reason for being.

[Nicole]

Wait, I'm not done. I'm not done. Okay.

[Lexi]

We were doing so well in this episode.

[Nicole]

Were we? This brings me all to another option. Because the Hasrax mentions being one with the wind. Here's the a new crack theory, Lexi, that aligns with your your, your. It's a God but not a God situation. What if it is actually one of the four wins? What if my wind watch has actually been on track the entire time?

[Lexi]

The Hastracts does make some kind of comment about, oh, you know how I hear the wind? Does that make me won with the wind? And it Was proving her point that no, it's not one with the wind. Because just because she can hear the quicksilver does not mean that she is one with the quicksilver. Yet the Hasrax has a reason for being here in the Forge and talking to Sarris. Though it proposes the same deal that it had with Malcolm. The Hasrax was allowed to observe Malcolm and in return, Malcolm was permitted one favor for each year that it, the Hazrat, remained here. And this favor would be whatever was in the Hazrat's power. If it could do it, then it was done. And remember how powerful this creature is. It has immense, far reaching power. Stop looking at me like that, Nicole. Which I know I said this in episode one too. It makes me really curious what kind of favors it granted Malcolm and how it contributed to Malcolm's powerful reign that.

[Nicole]

We can agree on. I also wonder that I just needed to declare that we can agree on something.

[Lexi]

So the Hasrax requests, but actually demands that Ceres make a deal with it, preferably the same one to observe her and she receive one favor per year. It is threatening in its statement that it must remain here. And my question is why?

[Nicole]

Because it's a God and it has to watch over the people of the realm.

[Lexi]

Okay, so I have such a big question mark next to the Hazrax, the favors it has granted and especially why it needs to stay here. I have lots of questions here. Maybe we can agree on some of them. I don't think.

[Nicole]

I don't think that's possible.

[Lexi]

Is it something special about the vampires in this Blood Court amontrae it that requires the Hazrat to be here? Because it is very specific that it has to be here in Amon Tree. Or because the deal is to watch over the crown of the vampires. Is it directly related to the crown? Whoever it was might be. If the Hasrax is some form of God, is there some reasoning that is connected to its bigger purpose? See, look, I threw you a bone there.

[Nicole]

Okay, well, I'll throw. I'll throw another bone in here. What if this God, the Hazrat God, is like. I'll call it like an outcast God. And it's watching over the way that things are playing out. Because remember, the other gods up in the sky were not. Not for Kingfisher and Sarus continuing on the way that things were. They wanted to just like burn the world and see what happened. So I do wonder if the Hasrax is here so that it can watch over to. I'M not going to say change things, but to watch the way things are panning out. Yes. Okay. Look at that. Look at us go. I. I do think that there's some bigger reason than just just Sana's roth that the Hasrax is watching over. Because it travels to different places. It goes to Kalish in that dream state. It goes to Azhin sky when it needs to cure on or help Sarah's cure Onyx.

[Lexi]

I think that it maybe even has been waiting for something like this rot to happen now. And now that it is happening, that is why it's like no serious. We still need to have our deal. Because it's like I'm not going to get out of the this after I've been waiting for so long.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

So I could see that definitely being part of it. And it also was not planning to come and appear when Sarah's called it and in fact kind of scolded her. It's like you're not supposed to be just asking me to come out whenever you want. So again, watching her, watching the Blood court, watching what is happening here with this power dynamic.

[Nicole]

Yes, yes. With the Hazra being terrified and so other serous worries that what would happen if she pisses it off or she denies the bargain. But it's also serious. So she does want to, I'm going to say manipulate, but I'm going to put it the Sarah spin try to manipulate it. So it's in her own benefit. Which leads her to making it only yearly contracts with the Hasrax. It has permission to stay and observe Nerve note. She does not say where in exchange for a favor of her choosing. And she can renew the bargain each and every single year. Sadly. Oh Savris, you're doing so good. Sometimes. While Savers is learning from those Fae bargains, there is still that loophole she's not seeing about where. So this actually brings me to a thing that I'm convinced that failings are taught. And it's the five W's. Who, what, when, where, why? Because I feel like whenever a bargain is checked, it's all of those boxes are checked. Who, what, when, where, why? And honestly, I feel like if you cover the five W's in a Fae bargain, that covers a lot of your bases. So honestly, I'm going to keep that in mind for my own Fae bargains in the future. And I will say this.

[Lexi]

It's all those Fae bargains that we plan on having.

[Nicole]

Honestly, you're. You're nice bets are basically a Fae bargain. I was gonna say, I think you.

[Lexi]

And I would actually be pretty darn good at this. Although every single best thing, we still have issues. And I am going to start pulling out the recordings of some of these because, for instance, yes, we are in a separate realm for one chapter. And then it's literally one sentence of another one. And what did I say? Why did we even agree to it being two chapters? Nicole, I want to.

[Nicole]

Why not say I answer the question.

[Lexi]

Silent. Answer the question.

[Nicole]

No, I have the right to remain silent because I have not seen the recording and I want to make sure I see the recording first.

[Lexi]

Okay, let me explain what happened then. So it was literally me saying, okay, I don't think that they are going to spend a lot of time in another realm. And we were trying to define what a lot of time meant. And so our conclusion was, if they are in another realm for like the spread of more than two chapters, meaning.

[Nicole]

Like, is that or more chapters?

[Lexi]

I am never letting you write down our bets ever again. Because you take it the way you want to hear it.

[Nicole]

I will say this, going back to what we're actually talking about, it is a good thing that Seiris agreed to this bargain in this way, because boy, oh fucking boy, does she need the fairy God has racks to come into play for both Kingfisher and Onyx's sake.

[Lexi]

As we wrap up this interaction with the Hasrax, I want to point out a few more interesting observations. When it holds the relic that Ceres has just created, it burns the hasrax, though it doesn't seem to hurt it at all. I wonder if it has to do with her blood that she just sealed the relic with, or the quicksilver that it. Again, it doesn't hurt the Hazrax, but it's like the Hazrax also has the relic hovering in the air, spinning extremely fast. And after the Hasrax leaves and Seras reaches for for the suspended spinning relic, the relic stops and drops into Sarris's hand. And the moment she touches it, the world pitches on its side. Blinding white light flares behind Ceres eyes. Pain is tearing her soul apart. Her quicksilver rune is blazing. Oh no. It's activated. There's nothing holding back her power as it blazes through her. Oh shit, this is bad. Before we move on to what serious has to do about this. Before her power blows, Abomitre, this timing of right when she touches the relic, is it like her power is activated after the Hazrax had some magic on the Relic to keep it midair. Did it plan for this to happen? Its magic activates Sarris's power? Or is it because she touched the relic that is now imbued with the quicksilver and her blood? Maybe a little column A. Maybe a little column B.

[Nicole]

Yes, I'm going with a little of column A, little of column B.

[Lexi]

Look at us.

[Nicole]

Okay, I was doing that to annoy you because I was trying to play it safe, but I actually do agree with that. All lit up like a Christmas tree. Sarus books it to the Amon Traeth Quicksilver Pool. She is one wrong move away from destroying literally all of Amantre, everyone inside herself included, maybe even Santos Roth, too. Her power is growing more and more and more, just itching like it's about to explode out of her. So she sees this as, holy shit, I have to seal this rune right now, or else I'll die. Everyone else around me will die. With her nerve endings on fire and the magic building inside of her, she is completely out of options. She knows that she needs to enter the Quicksilver pool. But there's, you know, one small problem. She does not have her relic on her. She left it back back in the forge. Kingfisher believes that her alchemist blood protects her from the Quicksilver's negative effects. But that hasn't exactly been tested yet. And there's really only one way to find out. Before we get beat by fucking beat of a walkthrough through this, I do want to note this really quick similarity between the Quicksilver and what it says to Kingfisher and Zilvarin at this exact moment of what it's saying to Sarris in Amon Treeth. It's saying, you came, you came, came, you came, you came, came, came.

[Lexi]

Funny.

[Nicole]

Dinner. Quicksilver first. Jesus. I love this. Because while it could be, I think it is talking to both Kingfisher and Seirus individually, it also could be Kingfisher hearing what the Quicksilver is saying to Sarris, or vice versa. I just love that it's this parallel moment between the two of these. And we've seen this before. In the Huntsman Cottage, Kingfisher notes how at the same time that he punched a hole through the tower, Seirs explodes a hole through the library. I feel like this is definitely a mates thing, where in even different realms, they have parallel moments in their lives with each other. That's a really good catch. Yay.

[Lexi]

Good job, Nicole. At the Amantreith Quicksilver Pool, Ceres knows the only thing to do is to enter the pool. Yes, even without a relic, it could be the only thing that will save her from exploding. And this is something she has to do to bond with the quicksilver to show that she trusts it. Or, you know, maybe she'll die in the process. Won't find out until we try. For the first time ever, Ceres takes a moment to willingly let her power in. Looking her power in the eye feels like staring into a black hole. It is so vast, it feels immortal. And yes, this immense power she has within her, it scares her. And she has shied away from letting it swallow her whole. And ah, yes, as she is diving into its depths within her herself right now, it feels like way too much. But as she reminds herself she is Sarah's Fane.

[Nicole]

Damn it.

[Lexi]

The little Zolvarian girl without a chance. A victim of circumstance, the one who ought to give up but she's just too hard headed. A single sister who thieves for jobs who loves her brother and never stops. With alchemist hands and a heart of a fighter. She's a survivor.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

Reba.

[Nicole]

Oh my God.

[Lexi]

Everybody, I sincerely apologize. I do not have the singing skills as Reba, but as I was doing this, I was like, oh, Cirrus is a survivor. And then like, the song just suddenly came up and I was like, wait a second. Oh my God, I could have fun with this.

[Nicole]

And this is one of our first moments of fantasy fangirls and fantasy fanfellas, true crossover moments, because Hayden made a perfect Reba McIntyre.

[Lexi]

Did he really?

[Nicole]

Did you not know that? I thought that's why you put this in here.

[Lexi]

No, I didn't know that. I think that was one of the episodes that I wasn't able to listen to.

[Nicole]

Determined and high on, Reba Saris knows that if she continues to fight against the wave of overwhelming, terrible power, she will be swallowed by it. She repeats to herself yourself, quote, this isn't something to be afraid of. This is a part of you, a part of yourself that you hadn't gotten to know yet. You can do this. I'm not gonna lie. I nearly teared up when I was doing this part for the outline. How often do we say something like this to ourselves in the face of fear? I know I rarely, if ever do.

[Lexi]

It's funny you say that because this has had to become my mantra since we've been doing ffg. I will always remember the day, it was sometime in 2024 that you asked me if something, something. Although I cannot remember What?

[Nicole]

It was some live event, I think.

[Lexi]

Yeah, it was out of my comfort zone, and I just laughed and said my whole life is out of my comfort zone now. But it's so amazing because even though things do feel out of my comfort zone all the time, it still feels so vital and so part of me. And it's something that I'm getting to know about myself that has always been within me, and it's facing it and embracing it and reminding myself that I can do hard things, that I can live outside of, of my comfort zone and get to know myself all at the same time.

[Nicole]

It's so funny you say this, because I feel like I so regularly live outside my comfort zone. I was actually saying this to Brett this weekend. It's like I feel like I'm constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone, but I so rarely pause and give myself credit for getting out of my comfort zone, because I'm always so. What's next?

[Lexi]

What's next?

[Nicole]

What's next?

[Lexi]

It's almost like it's normalized for us now.

[Nicole]

It's completely normalized. And one of the things that I love about this line right here is this is a part of you, a part of yourself you haven't gotten to know yet. And just that reminds me of just the importance of slowing down and getting to know yourself in new chapters of life, especially those chapters where you are doing hard things.

[Lexi]

I think that's been probably one of the hardest things over the last two years for at least me, is getting to know this side of me while still being a mother, while still being a woman, wife. And it's been interesting. Yeah.

[Nicole]

Yeah, interesting is a good word for it. So this is a friendly reminder to us all that maybe the thing we are scared to do is actually just a part of ourselves that we haven't gotten to know yet. And above all, we can do this. The moment Serious stops fighting against her power, magic zips up her body, and all she feels is raw, raw, divine energy. And her shield slasher rune begins to flare blue, ready to be summoned, as if it was easy as breathing.

[Lexi]

Oh, my God. Step one, Complete summoning. The quicksilver is effortless now because, yeah, girl, it's figuratively a part of you now that you've accepted it and opened your whole self to this power. But now it's time to become literally part of the quicksilver and, you know, still hope that she doesn't die. Stepping into the quicksilver pool feels like ice around her ankles. The liquid metal is churning Violently sloshing and bubbling like boiling water. Cirrus has to fight her instinct to run, that this is a massive mistake. And as she stands there, the quicksilver begins to form small streams that climb up her body. At this point, the quicksilver is now touching her skin. Remember how big of a. No, no, that's supposed to be? And she's not wearing a relic. It's moving on up her arms, her neck, talking inside of her head. It is everywhere. Serious notes that the Quicksilver feels like an alien, agile presence. It doesn't sound fractured like it normally does, though. Serious calls it a primitive power, older than the universe itself. And now its attention is solely focused on her. So, real quickly, here we were talking a lot at the end of Quicksilver about how Zarath was kind of like, channeling himself through the quicksilver, so sometimes. And Saris even was like, oh, like, I think this is the voice that has actually been speaking to me this whole time. I don't get Zarath vibes right here, per se, but definitely that otherworldliness, of course, that the quicksilver is and represents there is how I really interpret it.

[Nicole]

Yeah, same. I. I don't think that this is Zarith, necessarily, but that otherworldly. I call it larger than life.

[Lexi]

Yeah, Sentient like that. Sentient.

[Nicole]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

[Lexi]

Also, fun fact, in this moment, Fisher is at the Quicksilver pool in Elroy's basement, and he can feel she's only inches away. So the Quicksilver pool is not liquefied for everybody quite yet, right? I think that's correct.

[Nicole]

Correct.

[Lexi]

But he can feel that she is close by.

[Nicole]

Yes. As Seiris is in the Quicksilver, second thoughts start to nip at her heels. After all, what are the only experiences she has with people who have interacted with Quicksilver without a relative relic? Heron is one, and things did not go very well for him after, you know, Quicksilver infiltrated his eyes, his mind, who knows what else, and who knows if Homeboy's even still alive. And then, of course, there's Kingfisher, who nearly went mad from it over the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. But Serious does know she's different. For one, she's an alchemist. She knows that the Quicksilver in her inner act differently. And technically, she's been in the Quicksilver before, when Xerath called her to the God Realm, and that was without a relic. But the last time, the Quicksilver did not test her the way that it is now almost as if it's trying to make sure that her mind is strong enough to withstand the negative effects. And it starts fighting back on every statement. She says to the point that she tells the Quicksilver her name and it's like you're a blight curse worker. You don't deserve to live. And she. She's like, the fuck I do. She says she's more worthy than any of the others because she is the one who stands before the Quicksilver now. I am so proud of Saris and how strong she is being in this moment. It's so good.

[Lexi]

Definitely Serious passes the Quicksilver's next test. She is willing to kill or die. But she is not willing to give up Fisher, the one most dear to her. Her. To which the Quicksilver says something mighty interesting. Quote. Every alchemist must have something they are afraid to lose. But then after it begins retreating, after the pathway is clear and Saris's quicksilver rune is sealed, the Quicksilver says, quote Receive this gift all in fear and trembling. In the end, it will be your end. Okay, I take this as the gift is her Quicksilver rune being sealed. She has mastered the magic, but it is extremely powerful and her immense power will end up being her end.

[Nicole]

Yes, that is also how I take this. But I will also throw out that this is going to be added to the list of things that make me very, very nervous going back to that last Tide Days end. The names that Owlgot called Seras. What if this also ties back in We've talked about endlessly. Kingfisher and is hard on for sacrificial act. But Serious is also very, very similar. So do you see a world in which she will attempt to. I'll call it sacrifice herself for Fisher. And that is what will be her end. What the Quicksilver is talking about here.

[Lexi]

Yes. And I don't see it actually being her end. I do not think that Ceres is going to die in this series. I think her being so powerful will help her out to survive ultimately. Like maybe that can help be when she becomes the master of the Tree of Prima or something like that. So yes, I do see her sacrificing herself and her surviving the sacrifice after this big moment with the Quicksilver and successfully connecting with her magic, sealing her Quicksilver rune and becoming one with her power. She accidentally opens the Quicksilver pool and the Winter palace is all too happy to take advantage of the newly awakened Quicksilver. Out emerges, purges Orion Bellicon's seneschal. Or as Orion calls him, King Belacan. Now if you're like who the hell is Orion and what the fudge is a seneschal? Allow me to explain. Or was briefly introduced early on in Quicksilver. When Ceres goes into the Winter Palace's grand hall before Belacon. And when Fisher was presented and going all crazy from the quicksilver. Orias is the Hand of the King, so to speak. A loyal, creepy, gaunt, unhealthy looking older male without any power of. Of his own, I might add. But yes, that is basically what essential is an advisor to the King. He attends to matters on behalf of the King that are beneath the King. And since we know Belacan's a bad guy, Orion sure is too. Getting some bad vibes with the five soldiers who come out of the Quicksilver with Oraya's arrows knocked in their bows. But I do want to note the way that the soldier's pupils are dilated. I wonder if they are under some kind of control right now.

[Nicole]

Yep, yep, yep, yep. Same, same, same, same. Arias is here on Belacan's orders to offer Sarus a bargain. You see, Samusroth is a barren wasteland. And the Blood Court is comprised of high bloods who only want to drink blood and party. So who will be quick to anger and devolve into monsters the second their blood runs out. Or the second maybe their queen starts to deny them their source of food. Is serious. Prepared to deal with that aftermath? Probably not. Then there's the rot. It's spreading across the southlands, swallowing the vegetation and. And infecting the wildlife. We've been saying this with our Hector Math for two episodes. Belacan believes that it's too late to save the infected lands. Hmm, sounds pretty sus there, my guy. So instead he's willing to provide shelter and protection from the spreading rot. Again, sounds pretty sus. He offers safe harbor in the Winter palace for Cerus. In exchange, Serous will become Belacan's alchemist and join his court with all the fine foods, the wine, the clothes she could ever want. Want. But that's just a small part of it. Savas must also return Everlane to Belacon. And then Kingfisher has to be shackled and publicly executed. And a few small other acts as a sign of good faith. Sabers would need to swear an oath before the Fear in Stone. And she must hand over Solace. This is very weighted on one side.

[Lexi]

Especially because it's like he's like, oh yes, well, we can protect you from the rot. So first of all, we agree with Sarris, and no, he cannot. The rot has a mind of its own. Yeah, or he could actually protect them from rot because he has a hand in it.

[Nicole]

I think it's door number two. That's where I'm leaning.

[Lexi]

Ah, how interesting that Belacan demands Sarah swear in front of the Fear and Stone and become an oath bound Fae. He certainly would want her to do this. Because when you become an oath bound Fae, you're not only bound to to your word where you can never lie, but you are also bound to serve the Winter Palace, AKA to serve Belakan. If Serris becomes oathbound now that she's half Fae, Belakan can force her to his will. Because as king, her oath is technically to him. Which we can only imagine how bad news bare that is with how hungry for an alchemist he is. But unfortunately, this is a very good reminder that her friends and mate, Fisher, Remphist Lorath, everyone in the army, they are all oathbound to Belacon. He cannot reach them when they are in Kalash, thanks to Fenrin's old wards, and there has to be some proximity in order to order them. Although we will get to the actuality of this later in the book. When Fisher is called to Belakan right before or in the Shadow Gate.

[Nicole]

When Cerus does not agree to Bellakon's terms, Orion orders Belacan soldiers to attack. They shoot iron tipped arrows at Ceres, but having just sealed her quicksilver rune, she is easily able to reach out and mentally, with very little thought or effort, redirect the arrows before they're even halfway across the room. Instead of piercing Seiris like a pincushion, the arrows are now embedded in the ceiling. Seirus notes that this is literally as easy as nudging a leaf floating on top of flowing water. Ah, this is so cool.

[Lexi]

Ditching the arrows, the soldiers pull out blades made of a strange alloy that Seras is not able to manipulate like other metals. When she tries to shove these blades with her mind, they barely move and they really kind of don't feel good for her. These blades are called null blades, and Belkan discovered that they can limit an alchemist's magic. Even though alchemists have not been around for a long time, Belkhan remembers how dangerous they are and believes that no power that vast should ever be gifted to a one group of people. And to this day, every soldier in Belcon's army is equipped with a null blade. The day they complete their training to Ceres. These blades feel unnatural. There is nothing particularly special about them from the outside. So we can gather that, yes, these null blades are made of some kind of metal that counters the Alchemist's power because the air shivers and distorts around the metal like it is being pulled into them. And the closer the blades get, the more serious skin crawls. I will point out too, that Tal will feel this way about the null blades as well. So it's not only Saris, but if these soldiers are having to keep these on their person all the time, you wouldn't think that they would affect them in that same way. Because Tal is like, I can't even have this in the same room as me.

[Nicole]

Are you sure Talladeus is not an alchemist?

[Lexi]

No, because he's just very, very powerful. So what I'm saying is, I wonder if these null blades react to the very powerful. Yes, that does include alchemy, but it also includes other kinds of magic as well. Including Tal, because he is so powerful.

[Nicole]

With her super awesome, totally cool new heightened quicksilver, alchemy and magic. Seris, who's not been enjoying the heaviness of Solace because of how it's been, you know, very difficult for her to wield, decides it's time to make things a little easier. Placing both of her hands on Solace's hilt, she pictures the sword becoming. Coming to. And you know what? When she draws her hands apart, it's two brand new short God swords. This is so cool.

[Lexi]

Ceres has two swords.

[Nicole]

Not the two hands.

[Lexi]

Two hands make two swords.

[Nicole]

Each have super cool Fae magic running along the blades, which we later come to learn are really that say Arimar, which means mercy, and Selenir, which means honor. This is the coolest use of alchemy and magic we have freaking seen. Because it's not only half of Solace's power in each sword, each sword has full powers, which means twice two. Two God swords, two powerful godsword powers.

[Lexi]

Seeing the mastery and huge change in how she wields metal now and is one with the quicksilver, it's so cool. Like how she's like she could just think and they become swords. Like she's like, I never need to use a forge again. I'm so interested to see what will happen when she masters Brimstone. It's like all I can think about is the Lava Queen from Moana.

[Nicole]

Yes, that's exactly where my mind goes to. Yes.

[Lexi]

One of the soldiers comes at Saris, and when his null blade clatters, with her God Sword, she feels a very unpleasant, pleasant sensation. These null blades impact all kinds of magic, right? Huh? So these null blades are also impacting God swords too. Again, that goes back to. I'll call it magic and how they just counter magic. Serious is fighting all five of these fuckers. She spins and sinks her short sword into one of the male's chests. Huzzah. One down, four to go.

[Nicole]

During this battle, Cerus thinks to herself that she knows where the attackers are going to be before she sees them. This is now the third time we have seen Sarah's have an ability to see the very, very, very near future in battle. The first was at the fight at the darn last book. We never got an, you know, explanation for that. And then previously, it was also when she was training with Lorath earlier on this exact stretch of chapters. So this is not when she's only wielding Solace, because she wasn't wielding Solace when she was training with Lorath. So I still feel like it's the God Sword power that comes with Solace, but that doesn't make any sense.

[Lexi]

I think I'm leaning into it being a description to show how much better she is getting, that her senses are getting that much better, her reactions are happening before they're even happening kind of thing. You know, she has the best reactions possible because it's almost like she's reacting to acting before it even happens.

[Nicole]

I think you might be right. But then what is Solace's God power?

[Lexi]

I don't know if we know exactly what it is. I mean, like, we could even argue. We don't know what Nemrall's power is, and we certainly don't know what Simon's is. So I think that Vizio is the only one who has a very clear power.

[Nicole]

That's true. That's true. Well, with one down, it's time to take the other four out. After one breaks her hold and cut sabers aside a little open, it gives her an opening to take her right God sword and slit his throat. Three left to go. One kicks at Ceres's knee, trying to break it. No, sir. Bad. No joke. This is how I would go down in battle if someone tried to kick my knee out, and that would just happen instantly. But luckily Seras is fast and she slams her elbow into his face. The next two run for her, and she's able to drive whatever of her swords into one's gut. But she's still surrounded and needs a little assistance.

[Lexi]

Hello, Nicole. Do you hear that? It's the sound of her mate coming through the quicksilver from Elroy's basement and the first thing Fisher does is throw out his magic as glittering black sand ropes, wrapping it around the throat of the closest soldier to Sarris and ripping his head off of his body and then chucking said body out of the way away. Fisher is pissed. He just spent 2.5 days on a boys trip with Carrion only to come home to find his mate being attacked. After all, he was worried she was in danger and that's why he ditched his kill Madra plan to come back through the portal to help her.

[Nicole]

I want to point this out because this is one of my favorite moments between Kingfisher and Savus's relationship. Because during this exchange Kingfisher asks Sabrus a if she's all right and then he asks quote do you need me? This right here is top tier book boyfriend status. If you've been listening to the show for a while, you know what I'm about to bring in. I love it when a partner in a book stands to the side or behind the other partner. Not because they don't want to protect their partner, it's because they trust them to handle it themselves. And this question right here is, is the standing to the side or even behind equivalent for Kingfisher? This do you need me? Implies that Sabris is strong enough to handle this all on her own, but should she want help, he can offer it. It's her choice. Three cheers for Kingfisher. Do you? I love the theme of choice. If you listen to our Acotar coverage, you know I'm hot on it. This almost almost negates some of the elves I gave Kingfisher last book.

[Lexi]

Kicking ass. Serious slams her two short swords together to become one again.

[Nicole]

Solace.

[Lexi]

She throws her right hand up and out in front of her, projecting a giant blue icon form in the air. Okay friends, this is Ceres's shield. It is how she physically channels this immense amount of power. The interlocking runes in the giant icon are identical to the runes on Ceres hand. And so runes are part of the shield and shield is like the overarching magic of a person that they have, if that makes some sense. And while most of the lines of the interlocking runes are dull, AKA not activated, one in particular is blazing with magic, just waiting for Seras to fully tap into it. And yes, friends, you guessed it. It is her quicksilver rune that she just sealed the magic she has mastered this rune and its Symbol projecting in the shield is a circle bisecting a cross with a line cutting through it at the top. This is a very similar symbol to mercury, which is also called quicksilver in real alchemy. So I love how she really took a lot of those influences there. Cirrus can even see that her veins are now silver. Holy. But remember, this is not a bad thing. Like the quicksilver in Fisher's eye. This is. This is a sign of her being one with the silver partners with it. Now that she has sealed this rune, as Sarah spreads her fingers and twists her hand, it's like the quicksilver rune is a key locking into place. And the moment it does, a wall of energy explodes from her, hurling the two remaining guards across the tomb and snapping their necks. They dead. Holy shit. Now, how is this energy field and blast connected to the quicksilver? I don't know. Simply put, like, this wall of energy is not the exact same as, you know, manipulating the quicksilver and having that kind of relationship with the liquid. Right. But I think that overall, it's really just tapping into her raw magic. I guess I'm a little bit confused on all that. I do want to note, though, that in real alchemy, quicksilver or mercury means transformation and communication, which I just love, because transformation and communication are what the quicksilver is all about in this world.

[Nicole]

World with five men now down like trees, Arias is like, well, hi, King Fisher. And while Kingfisher is all ready to torture the motherfucker, even though it is more of a threat, I do want to point out that this is foreshadowing, because later he will threaten to torture Ishabel for the stunt she pulled at the Blood Court. And serious, just like here is not about it, she lays down the law that they do not torture people. So why, when these types of people who have a lot of information, who really, really, really suck, why would they let them go? As Serious puts it, they have to send Arias back because he now knows what Cerus is capable of. And he best bet his butt that he's gonna go tell Bellacon and put some real fear in his eyes. And because if they keep him and torture Arias, they are no better than the other side. Cerys grew up under Madre's reign who was the type of person who. Who would torture and get every ounce of information out of people because of her own fear and paranoia. And Cerus is determined to be better than her. To quote Lexi from a few episodes ago, the bar is fucking low. And she also wants to be better than Belacan, who tortured her mate for years. So I do commend Cerus for taking the high road. There's other things that I want to say, but I don't know if it's very nice. It's okay. I'll say them.

[Lexi]

I realize how this is going to sound, so I accept this being probably a terrible take, but I don't think sending Oras back to Bellacon was the best move. Seras wants to show her cards to Bellicon, and she thinks that now that she's got her Quicksilver rune sealed, Bellacon won't mess with them or won't want to mess with them. Now he will actually be able to plan more strategically around this new information. So I'm not saying, yay, let's torture or is, but could we at least lock him up? Bellicon would figure out that they came here and never returned. Pretty quickly anyway.

[Nicole]

This is the equivalent of an evil villain download at the end of the book. But then the other people get away, like the good guys get away. And now they know how to tackle the evil villains better. Yes. Flip it around. And Sarah's just gave them all an evil villain download with a showing of her magic. And now Oriss can go back to Bellicon and be. No, I will stand next to you. I will stand by, torture him to.

[Lexi]

Kill him or anything like that. I'm just saying to Velicon, I would.

[Nicole]

Say he also probably has some very interesting information on the way that Bellicon's court runs. And he can't lie because he's sworn to the fear. And.

[Lexi]

Well, hold on. Because she actually challenges him on that and he doesn't answer, so I wonder if he's not with that. Yeah. Oh. But I do think that if he never returned to Bellicon, that would send its own message, but it would also have, like, this air of mystery and it would mess with Bellicon. Is Sarah's that powerful? Did she stop him? Are the vampires unruly now and they ate them? It would keep Belacon on his toes in a way that would not be a terrible thing for your enemy to be on their toes. That's all I'm saying.

[Nicole]

I both commend Sares for taking the high road and being the better person, not wanting to be like, the tyrannical ruler that she grew up under. And you make really good points. Just saying. I do love, though, that we get this moment of Kingfisher literally kicking or is in the back butt right into the Quicksilver and he goes bye.

[Lexi]

Could we have taken his relic and then sent him back through the Quicksilver? I mean, like, I don't know.

[Nicole]

Oh, that would have been good.

[Lexi]

That would have been its own form of torture, I guess. I. I apologize everybody. I swear I'm a nice person.

[Nicole]

I don't.

[Lexi]

Since this was so much of a battle sequence and really cool magic that Sarahs was wielding Nicole. And it didn't really touch much on how insane it is that Belacan did send his advisor and five guards ready to kill into Amon Treth. Orion clearly had orders that Serious would either bow to Bellicon's insane and long list of requests including executing Fisher. And she did not bow to those requests. Then the order was to kill her. I take this as Bella contesting the waters. Making up an excuse to try and take Serious down when he believes that she's weak in this moment. It's not like going to all out war with Seras. But he is 1000% seeking to gain the upper hand. Threaten to take away the blood supply for the vampires. Because yes, it is heavily implied he is behind making sure these tens of thousands of vampires get their living blood fix. And he's threatening Seras that he has the Oathbound card to use in his pocket. Bellacon is testing to see how ballsy she is or how scared she is. But what now? Now we know not to reopen the Quicksilver pool except right away again to send Hayden to Kalish and many more times after that. Honestly, I am very surprised that nobody else appears in any other Quicksilver pools that we know of.

[Nicole]

Yeah, same.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

I'm also surprised that a lot like not all other Quicksilver pools have guards around them like they do at the Knights of Aristian. Like that just makes sense.

[Lexi]

Sense. And where are the other alchemists in the whole universe who also have this capability? You would think that they'd be a little excited that they can now do anyway. That they can now, you know, use their magic. Yes, I agree.

[Nicole]

That makes a lot of sense.

[Lexi]

Let's step into our Inner Oracle and turn our full attention to important foreshadowing moments for the rest of this book and speculations for book three and beyond. Nicole, you know what's back that I didn't think we were ever going to see in this deep Dive series.

[Nicole]

I knew this was coming.

[Lexi]

Pirate watch.

[Nicole]

There it is.

[Lexi]

Fisher had a bad run in with a pirate a long time ago. And now I am so curious to know more about the Yuvellian pirates. Who are probably in Lycia. Maybe we'll go there in book three and meet some pirates.

[Nicole]

I don't know if I want to go to Lycia. Lycia sounds scary. That woman is scary.

[Lexi]

But it's all, like, sunshine and beaches and all of those things that you love so much.

[Nicole]

I do love it. But you know what? I don't love? Evil, evil queens.

[Lexi]

It's just known to be immortal.

[Nicole]

She was Malcolm.

[Lexi]

No, no, we don't know that. That was somebody making that assumption. That was me making that theory. Oh, never on the page.

[Nicole]

All the foreshadowing we get from the letters and how they miraculously missed folly, even though all of the Lupa Prolia members sent them. Even Danya. So you know what? I'm gonna start Lexi. God damn it, Savinia. Gfdz. It's close enough to gfdd. All the circle foreshadowing. Foley shares how a circle is the foundation of all powerful runes and sigils.

[Lexi]

It is a symbol of forever carrying magic on a loop, amplifying it and giving it strength. And it is the most important magical.

[Nicole]

Symbol there is, and thus the strongest magical symbol there is.

[Lexi]

And, friends, this is very, very, very important for us because literally, right after.

[Nicole]

That, it says, like, a wheel, which something we readers immediately associate with Silvaren, because that is the first line we get about Zolvarin in Quicksilver is that it's the shape of a wheel. Okay. We get a mention of Ceres father. It's a dead mention. And I'm still not willing to submit in the bet, though I've submitted twice in bets, but the more and more we read, I'm definitely thinking he might be dead.

[Lexi]

I'm sorry, will you repeat that? The mention of her father is a reminder of how he died.

[Nicole]

Yeah, but we do not get comfortable.

[Lexi]

Nicole. Nicole, I really hate to break it to you, but I really think you've lost this bet. Fine.

[Nicole]

I don't get to cuss in a single in an episode of Lexi's choosing, but she has to verbally tell me that this is the episode.

[Lexi]

I will have to remember it at the beginning of the episode.

[Nicole]

And every time I forget, it is an hour of babysitting.

[Lexi]

For each slip, we will have something that if by the end of the series and a bet, like, you can have, like, an extra good bet or something like that. Like. Or, like, an extra good. I'll call it reward if you end up being right, like, books later.

[Nicole]

Okay. Okay. Yes.

[Lexi]

But if that's the case, Then I have several lots that I get to cash in from Onyx, Storm and Iron Flame.

[Nicole]

Kingfisher mentions how after seeing even light torches in the Guardian's hands. This is in Zelvarin. They shouldn't have even light in this realm. Realm. But why would they not have even light and then have an entire celebration of even light? I cannot believe we did not get even light in this book. I'm just so mad.

[Lexi]

So as I interpret it is the Even Light holiday is different from even Light. Like the fire and stuff like that. Like, it's not a one to one correlation.

[Nicole]

It is the same word.

[Lexi]

Yes, I know that, but we are not going with that. Okay, so what if Malcolm gave Madra even light? Is there some kind of connection with the underworld? Feels like a little bit of a major stretch, but is even like an indirect way of connecting Madra with the rot?

[Nicole]

Maybe.

[Lexi]

Maybe. Yeah.

[Nicole]

I don't know.

[Lexi]

This is more like past shadowing. Or I guess it would be called hindsight. That's definitely called hindsight. The Hasrag Stack tells Saris her mate needs to be wary of new faces. I'm assuming this refers to Vorath Shah and what just happened to Fisher and Silver. And since that is certainly a new face that he should be wary of. But if it's not that and you are emphatically nodding your head, so you know what? I'm gonna jump on this train here with you. Something about the new faces he meets in Diaxis at the end of the book is actually what the Hasrax is referring to and that he needs to be wary of new faces.

[Nicole]

Hayden. Oh, Hayden. Hayden. He says that he let his big sister down the last time he saw her and he doesn't want to do it again. Spoiler alert. He will. And I just want to throw a grape at him. I'm so mad at this younger sibling. I swear to God I will say ever. Like, Hayden Fane, I need you to take a tennis ball and just boot me on the head and stuff it in my mouth.

[Lexi]

That is actually a really good point though, that Hayden, we get no hint that he does think that Seras is with Madra. And so he has really been living in like, oh my God, my sister is dead. And then as soon as he does like see her and like actually sees like what is really going on, I think that is when he really becomes bitter. And yes, he has had like that doubt in his head. Like he obviously is not getting beat up like Elroy is, because he does doubt her loyalty to the Third. And. And I think that he before that is also so worried that she actually is dead now and all that. And once when that all kind of clears, then his anger really does come to the forefront. Because then it's like you actually are the bad person that I thought you were since you're not dead.

[Nicole]

Yeah. Yeah, I could definitely see that. Serious mentions how Arias looks pretty damned unwell. What's happening to him? I mean, like there's no love lost here, but I'm still curious.

[Lexi]

So I was actually looking at when he was introduced in Quicksilver and he was described as looking very unhealthy at that time too. So I do think that it's just him. I also wonder if him having none of his own magic or powers plays into it too. Possibly. Yeah. Yeah. And last but not least, Nicole, I'm so sorry to say this, but I guess I will be the one to pick up gem. Watch now.

[Nicole]

I was saving it. Well, go for it.

[Lexi]

We gotta bring it up now because otherwise the masses will let you know again. I'm never letting you live that. I know you're not. Because we get mention of the Hasrax's Lord of Midnight ring. One of the rings that Malcolm had made for his Lords of Midnight that he imbued power into the Hasrax has a thick banded, bulky golden ring that has a large blood red ruby at its center. So rubies symbolize power, wealth and life force. That feels like it tracks for the Hazrics.

[Nicole]

Enjoy me going through every other Lord of Midnight signet ring. When we covered the Blood Curse episode, it is time to enter Owlgut's library with Guru the Shadow Cat where each episode Lexi guides us through a world building topic and gods. Do we need this one today to help us deepen our understanding of of this world and its magic.

[Lexi]

Today's all gets library topic is runes. Or at least as good of a library topic on runes that I can do here. First things first. What are runes? So runes are the connection between its corresponding elements, magic and the individual. Think of it like a vessel for the magic between them. Once marked with their runes, magic starts to flow into the alchemist with without stopping. Unless the runes are then sealed. There are of course other versions of runes as well. Like when Fisher made the rune in the demon trap in Zelvarin. And then his tattoos on his body are often referred to as runes. People tattoo runes onto them so it is a word that is used interchangeably with other magical and tattoo symbols and whatnot. But for today's discussion, we're going to focus on alchemical runes, like what Seras has, because that is what I understand the most. How are runes related to and used in alchemy? Sealing runes is vital to an alchemist. Without sealing a rune, its magic will continue to pour into the alchemist, building up, up, up, until eventually demanding to be released. The strength of the alchemist determines how detrimental this release will be. For someone as powerful as Ceres. An explosion of power would not only kill her, her and everyone around her, but, you know, it would also destroy the entire realm. So, yeah, sealing runes is extremely important. While unsealed, the magic also flares randomly, causing intense pain. Nicole. I was looking back through Quicksilver, and when she first gets her runes, she does feel like that blaze of pain. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I love the little foreshadowing moment there. Okay, so we know that runes need to be sealed, but how does one go about that one? Well, first things first. The alchemist needs to be well rested, as alchemy requires a lot of control, and the alchemist needs to be in the right headspace to seal the quicksilver rune, the Failing or Beginner needs to open themselves up to the energetic flow of the quicksilver and learn to embody the quicksilver's energy, aligning themselves with it body and mind, before they try to transmute the substance from a solid to a liquid liquid. For the first time every day, the Failing or the beginner are encouraged to alter the quicksilver repeatedly between its natural states until the skill becomes easy and they've built a rapport with the quicksilver. Only after they have mastered this skill are they ready to set their affinity for the quicksilver's magic and seal their first alchemical rune. So I am curious about what this looks like with sealing other runes. Is it similar, or. Because Quicksilver literally does have a mind of its own, it requires more of a partnership and connection than the others. So, for instance, I wonder if Brimstone, because it has more of a connection with the soul, like, it's a little bit more like, looking internally. And I could see even like, an Ouroboros moment where Seras really has to look into her own inner demons. That's totally just my theory, though. Back to the quicksilver runes, because, again, this is what we know the most about. To actually seal this quicksilver rune, the alchemist must open. Open themselves up to the energy of the rune, and the Quicksilver tests the integrity of the Alchemists once, when they pass this initial test, then that is when the individual goes into the Quicksilver. And it really is the ultimate sign of trust is to embrace the Quicksilver and to let it become literally part of them. Once they seal this rune, the Alchemist can wield the quicksilver. With just a thought working. It is as easy as breathing. Ah. And then we've got Tria Prima, which are the three Primes of Alchemy. And they are comprised of comprised of the same basis, Salt, Quicksilver and Brimstone. The uses of each are varied, but they can be combined. Although again, we don't know what happens in the real world. They are closely tied to the elements, how they represent the elements, and what they symbolize. Like I said, I have been going down some really cool alchemy rabbit holes as I learn all about these three Primes in the Elemental Runes and Their A Comprehensive Guide to Alchemy. I'm going to go through this one more time. We learned that dirt during the first stages of Ascension, equilibrium must be found, which is what I was talking about with the building rapport with the Quicksilver. Every Alchemist has an affinity toward a certain path. Quicksilver, Brimstone or Salt. And without the appropriate guidance and training, the path will claim them. So for instance, if Seras had not gotten the proper training, like what she ended up getting from Folly in the books, she would not have been able to seal that quicksilver. And it was definitely would have claimed her and the whole realm. The individual must marry the Tria Prima into one within themselves if they are to truly master their power. We learn from Fisher's mother, Idina, that historically, Alchemist shied away from the second Bow of the Tria Prima Brimstone, not only because it was too powerful and difficult to wield, but because its only purpose seems to be linked with death and destruction. Unfortunately for all of us, Idina does not elaborate on how how else it can be used, or at least Saris does not tell the reader. I have already mentioned this, but I'm going to say it again. I find it extremely interesting that in real alchemy, sulfur, which is the equivalent to brimstone, symbolizes the soul. And we have so many soul references, so I'm curious how that might come into play. Now let's shift over to Alchemy and shields and what we know of them. An Alchemy and shield is a rune that solely belongs to the alchemist who has it. Every alchemist has one, but no alchemist will ever have the same shield. Think of again. Think. Think of it like a fingerprint. From what I can tell, the shield on someone's hand is the word to represent all the runes they have. Their collective magic is their shield. And then the shield is what channels the magic. Like what Ceres did with creating her shield with the runes and then tapping into her quicksilver magic from it that then it goes boom. Ceres shield is described as the most complex shield in the realm. It covers the whole back of her right hand with bold lines that twist around one another, forming a variety of neck knots of interconnecting runes that are woven one on top of the other. After Seirs seals the quicksilver rune, she is able to project out this shield and use it as an energy weapon to blast her enemies. So, last part of this library topic is I want to go over some of the runes that we know exist. But I do want you to keep in mind this is not a comprehensive list. We know Ceres has the runes for light, dark, silver, steel, earth, air, fire, water, salt, brimstone, and quicksilver. It's my impression that she does not need all of these sealed, only the Tree of Prema. I do wonder too, because I see the four elements in there as well. Earth, air, fire, and water. Those are directly related to the Tree of Prema as well. Ceres will also be gifted a rune from the Hazrax for break and undo. This rune is not like a regular rune. The Hazrax calls it a silent rune rune, meaning it does not possess magic the same way the rest of them do. And it is already sealed to her soul and acts as a grounding rod for her current unsealed runes. I wish I could tell you more about what in the world that means. Now shifting gears here to the other kinds of runes that we see in this world. So not the ones like on an alchemist's hands, but kind of these other meanings of runes that we see throughout the series. Kingfisher has tattoos that I'm assuming assuming were gifted to him by the gods in some way, shape or form. Vengeance, justice and sacrifice. But remember what I said at the top of the section. Runes and tattoos are sometimes interchangeable words. Other runes we see or hear of are the runes on a Vizias blade, but we don't know what they mean. Kingfisher draws a rune for break in the Demon Trap. The Demon Trap also has a thousand other runes to create it into a demon trap in the first place. Some of the Feeders Others have runes on them which we can gather are from when they were alive. This was a big question that we had about these ones from Zelvarin and why there's a rune on one of them. Talina has the runes for harmony, longevity, and two child marks. These are her mating ceremony tattoos. They picked them out and got them. So safe to say these are just tattoos, not magical runes. And that is what I can decipher about runes for you.

[Nicole]

Let us close out this episode with Prancing through the Snow with Onyx, where we discuss our favorite moments from this stretch of chapters. My Goat Watch continues with our second goat mention. Carrion dreams that he was turned into a goat.

[Lexi]

We get another she's not my girlfriend. Okay. Mentioned from Kingfisher.

[Nicole]

I just love I need to post that video. I need to find it and post it. This is so on par with Carrion that he has a big enough bed for three huge humans. Oh, the things that have happened in that bed.

[Lexi]

I love how Fisher says Karion looks like he has the pox because of all the sting welts he has and then clarifies the kind you get from doing dumb stuff with dick. This is such a Fisher to carry in line and I love it.

[Nicole]

Carrion making fun of Fisher for using sarcasm, which according to him is the lowest form of humor. Then following it up with I'm rubbing off on you. Which brings one of my favorite exceptions exchanges where Kingfisher volleys back for Carrion to not use his name and rub in the same sentence. Also from that exchange, Carrion saying that Kingfisher is not his type, and then Kingfisher calling out on the lie. They're bonding. I love it. And then it proceeds. Carrion to actually say what his types are. And I love a bisexual King. Makes me so happy. Everything about Kingfisher meeting Hayden for the first time, specifically calling out that the boy was too fucking stupid to deal with directly. This is everything I wanted and more.

[Lexi]

The iconic Carrion moment where he puts Fisher in his place because Fisher was judging him and treating him like the court jester. And Carrion retorts back where he's like, if that's how you're going to treat me, that's how I'm going to act because you are not willing to look beyond and see who I really am. Quote, I survived here for over a thousand years. Do you really think I'd have been able to do that if I couldn't pull myself out of a fucking hole? If at any point you underestimate me, Then I'd say that was your mistake rather than mine, wouldn't you? I love that line from Carrion.

[Nicole]

So good. When Kingfisher and Elroy are having it out and Carrion picks up a hammer and holds it like a gavel and tries to make them have peace, and he's just not in the mood.

[Lexi]

He's like, I've had a really bad day, everybody.

[Nicole]

We are not gonna do this the.

[Lexi]

Way Elroy and Fisher both have never broken a promise to Seras. Both of them are fiercely loyal to her in very different ways, obviously. And Fisher convinces Elroy he is not evil by insisting he promised Seras he would bring her brother back. And then Hayden wanting to go to his sister, making that choice for himself when Elroy pushes back that at least he should have a say in leaving the only home he's ever known. And I also love the little tidbit where Sarah's now lives home.

[Nicole]

Well, while we're talking about the only home he's ever known, here's a little peek into Nicole's history regarding that line. Because whenever I read it, I burst out laughing. One time on a road trip with two of my friends, we randomly decided to stop in Springfield, Indiana, to visit Abraham Lincoln's old home. And Ranger Rosie was our girl. She was our guide. And over and over and over again, she kept saying, as you're doing a walking tour of Abraham Lincoln's home, that it was the only home Abe Lincoln ever known. And I swear 50 times at that exact cadence, she said it. And whenever I read anything even remotely close, all I can hear it is in a Ranger Rosie's voice. So thank you, Ranger Rosie, for sticking with me, even through Zolvarin.

[Lexi]

What?

[Nicole]

Then we have Cerus's inner monologue for Lorath during her fight with Belacan's men. And how she pictures Lorath saying, quote, come on, Fain, you're selling us both short. You don't think I'm worth five of these fuckers?

[Lexi]

Linarius is all smug about how Cerys can't even seal her runes and how she cannot contain pain or control her power. And then he sees her newly sealed quicksilver rune and he whispers.

[Nicole]

She's like, yeah, yeah, is right.

[Lexi]

I can visualize that so clearly, and I just get a really good chuckle out of it.

[Nicole]

Also, shout out to Stella Bloom and how she says, yeah, suck. Like, it's just so good. Oh, my God, I love her.

[Lexi]

And that's a wrap for today, friends. Thank you so much for listening to this Brimstone episode four.

[Nicole]

Next Monday will be episode five covering chapters 29 through 36. Let's go yell at Hayden and learn about Brimstone.

[Lexi]

And I think that's also the one where we get the book. The Stargazers become the book. Yes. You are not ready for me deep diving that part.

[Nicole]

I go absolutely feral. I'm so we are going to go beat by beat through that section. I'm so excited.

[Lexi]

We would love to give the biggest warm welcome, welcome, welcome to our newest Pharaoh fan in the fan club. Thank you so much for being here.

[Nicole]

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

[Lexi]

Katie S. Thank you so so so.

[Nicole]

Much for being here and joining the Pharaoh fans.

[Lexi]

And if you're like, hey, I want my name shouted out on the podcast and be showered with all this love too, join our fan club@Fantasy Fangirls.com Fan Club Link is also in the show notes.

[Nicole]

Thank you as always to our master librarian, AKA our content researcher Brooke, and of course our executive producer, the co host of Fantasy fanfellas and our sanity manager, Hayden.

[Lexi]

We are very active on social media with weekly trivia, book guides and lots more. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and slash our TikTok at fantasy fangirlspod. And if you're watching this on YouTube, pretty please hit that subscribe button to keep following along. And same goes for Fantasy fan fans to give them a Follow antasy fanfellas to keep up with what's next after season one's deep dive of Mistborn.

[Nicole]

While you're hitting buttons, do not forget to hit that five star button and rate this podcast on whatever podcast platform you are listening on. And last but certainly not least, share this episode with your fellow Brimstone fans. If you also want to throw a grape at Hayden, this is a great episode to see. Send the friend who you'd go to the grocery store and get some grapes with.

[Lexi]

All right friends, thank you so much for joining us today. Bye bye. Aha. Yes, because fire makes vampires go whoops up like Kendall, there's only even more. You mean kindling? Kindling? Yes, that's a kindle.

[Nicole]

Is cus prepared prepared to deal with that aftermath after recording? Nope. After.

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

Turning to iHerb, where wellness and integrity meet. Visit iHerb.com trusted wellness delivered worldwide.