Midnight Tides/Chapter 25

When the gods of dust were young
They swam in blood.

Whiteforth's Dream on the Day of the
Seventh Closure
Fever Witch

Letheras

Shurq Elalle is worried about Gerun Eberict going after Tehol Beddict. She finds Ublala Pung in the crypt. Ublala says he loves her. Shurq drags Harlest Eberict out of his sarcophagus and they head towards a cemetery.

Rhulad Sengar continues to scream without Udinaas to comfort him. Trull demands the slave be hunted down. The Warlock King tells the emperor that Udinaas has betrayed them, that he can only trust the Tiste Edur. Rhulad says the Letherii are nothing and orders Hannan Mosag against the Letherii soldiers. Uruth tells Trull of Mayen's disappearance and Trull orders Theradas and Midik Buhn to find her. The  Warlock King has destroyed the remaining Letherii soldiers, and he says it will be a day of suffering.

Iron Bars arrives then at the Azath Tower, where he tells the Seregahl that he has killed The Pack, and then battle begins.

Bugg moves towards the Azath, sensing a Convergence there.

One of Gerun Eberict's soldiers has killed two of Tehol Beddict's bodyguards. The Letherii then see Mayen running down the street. Gerun's soldiers attack some Edur, but Gerun pursues Mayen, hoping to capture her for his own violent ends.

Tehol's final bodyguard warns him, and Tehol heads across the street to hide.

Eberict grabs Mayen, but before he can do anything she stabs herself in her chest. Gerun is shocked, but then is grabbed himself by a mixed-blood Nerek/Tarthenal, who takes his time beating him to death. His killer is Unn, the boy whose grandmother's funeral Bugg presided over.

Tehol watches Mayen stumbling forward, and then fall dead. Then Edur warriors rush in killing his last body guard. They are shocked by what has happened Mayen, and do not believe Tehol's protests of innocence. They begin to beat the man bloody.

Hull Beddict sees the beating, and worried about who it is, starts to move towards it. A Nerek youth stops him though, and Hull recognizes him as one of Buruk the Pale's servants. The Nerek says that Hull's heart has been poisoned because forgiveness is not within him, then the Nerek stabs Hull from behind. Killing the man.

Chalas tries to tell the Edur what happened, that Mayen stabbed herself but it is no use. He covers Tehol's body, but Chalas is beaten as well, and in the end his skull is stomped to death.

The Errant tries to guide the Warlock King's sorcery, and thinks of Mayen. He watches Iron Bars, and then begins to move towards the Eternal Domicile.

Ublala finds Corlo outside the Azath Tower, breaks a tree branch off, and then goes in to fight his gods.

Udinaas is embattled and bloody, kept alive by the Wyval and Wraith as he gets to the Azath Tower. He enters the barrow of the master the and Wyval crawls free of his body.

Kettle sits on the bank of the swamp, and Udinaas' body lies on the bank now. The Wyval crawls into the water, and the wraith tells Kettle that drops of her blood will revive the slave.

Iron Bars struggles against the Seregahl, but Ublala helps him.

Bugg finds the Edur attacking Tehol. The manservant violently kills them all instantly, sending the last one into a magical portal to Bugg's warren. He picks up Tehol's body and walks away.

Nearing the entrance of the Eternal Domicile, Trull thinks about power and arrogance, and then they begin to enter. The Warlock King and the K'risnan leading.

Brys Beddict watches the Edur approach, and then Turudal Brizad speaks to him, saying that Moroch Nevath is dead, that Gerun Eberict pursues a women. Brys asks the man what his true identity is, and the First Consort says he is but a witness. Observing the Ceda, Brizad says the entire power of the Cedance will pass through him.

The Warlock King approaches the Ceda then. Kuru Qan calls on him to find his sea demon, but he can not. The Warlock King is enraged but the Ceda bombards him with sorcery. The other Edur are blown back--the Warlock King will fight alone. The Ceda's power is terrible, and the power of the Cedance may consume the entire Edur people.  The Warlock King starts to quiver, shaking into deformities, chaotic sorcery rending his flesh and muscles. The Ceda knocks away Mosag's attack and fire lashes towards Mosag.

Fear Sengar sees the Edur failing, and urges Trull to intervene. Trull steps forward in the shadow of the pillar. Feeling he has no choice, he launches a spear and strikes down the Ceda.

Brys steps forward, but it is no use. Kuru Quan is dead.

Udinaas is healed by Kettle, and she speaks with Wither. The Azath prisoner aiding Kettle then crawls up out of the swamp, and takes his swords. Wither introduces himself to the man, who he names as his lord Silchas Ruin, before diving into the swamp to help the Wyval fend off Sheltatha Lore.  

Corlo is worried Iron Bars will die soon, then Shurq and Harlest appear. Ublala kills one of the gods, and Iron Bars is knocked down. Silchas then emerges, and kills the remaining gods.

Rhulad enters the throne room, dragging behind him large sacks. The Warlock King drew sorcerous powers from the sacks, and inside he reveals is Queen Janall Diskanar and Prince Quillas. Both of them are terribly deformed by magic. Rhulad orders the King to yield the throne, but he refuses. The King takes wine from the Nifadas, the First Eunuch, and they both drink a cup.

The King orders Brys to step aside, but the King's Champion refuses. He will duel Rhulad. Rhulad gladly accepts, but is quickly cut down. Brys moves swiftly and sleeves his tendons, ligaments, and muscles. Rhulad falls to the ground in defeat and in agony, but still living.  He begins to scream, begging to be killed. Rhulad begs his brothers to kill him, and begs Trull to end his suffering.

Brys Beddict by Shadaan

The King orders Brys to kill but he will not--this is what the Ceda said to do. Brys takes a goblet of wine for himself to drink it. Trull notices the queen laughing when he does this. He recognises that the champion is Hull's brother, but sees that the King and the First Eunuch are dead. Trull should have warned Brys against drinking the wine, but is too late. Brys staggers down, poisoned and dying.  Trull says somebody has to kill Rhulad, but the Warlock King says no, they shall not.

Tehol wakes up, and is in a crypt under a river. Bugg speaks to him about what has happened, about being in charge. Bugg is revealed to be Mael, the Elder God of the sea. Bugg offers to magically make Tehol forget this, but Tehol refuses. He asks Mael why he disguised himself as a manservant and why he let Lether fall. The god offers only a few answers in return.

Fear Sengar crosses into the city and thinks of himself as a coward, having the same doubts as Trull, but never voicing them. He finds Mayen's corpse, and identifies the daggers as Udinaas'. He thinks the slave killed her.

Trull covers his ears, Rhulad's weeping is too much. The Warlock King rests on the throne. Rhulad tells his brother he wanted to be included, and the Warlock King says he wanted to be respected.

Then the guardian from the sea, the Guardian of the Names enters. He asks if Brys was influenced into drinking the poison, and the Errant avoids the question. Rather, Brizad asks if Mael has sent him. The guardian says no, and takes Brys, saying he will go to Mael soon. Before he leaves, he kills Rhulad out of mercy. Trull stands and throws the Warlock King off the throne and then goes to find Fear.

Out of the Azath's barrow climb the Wyval and Wither. Wither carries with him Udinaas. Silchas says he has things he needs to take care of. Kettle asks if she can join, and Shurq persuades him to agree. Iron Bars suggests that Seren Pedac could guide them out of the city to avoid the notice of the Edur.

The Sea Guardian finds Bugg, who notices it is Tehol's Brother who has died. The Guardian takes the names of the forgotten gods and gives them to Tehol, and then takes Brys into the water to be another Guardian of the Deep.

Feather Witch enters the throne room, and sees Rhulad on the throne. The Chancellor Triban Gnol has sworn fealty to the Edur and takes notice of Feather Witch. She spies and gathers Brys' severed fingers, thinking there is power in that.

In her house, Seren waits alone and then suddenly, Fear and Trull knock at her door.

A bit earlier, Trull had found Fear and they speak of Rhulad. Trull thinks they can guide Rhulad back to sanity together, but Fear rejects him. Fear thinks the only way they can save their people now is by going to find the spirit of Scabandari Bloodeye. He seeks Seren Pedac to guide him out of the city. Trull is worried though, because he feels some force guiding them to her house.

At her house, Fear says he needs Seren's help and Trull thinks romantically about Seren. Trull says though that he will not go with Fear on his quest, that he will await his return. Trull offers his sword to Seren, who takes it, thinking the gesture is meaningless now. Then Trull says goodbye to his brother and wishes him well.

Fear and Seren are about to leave when they are found by Kettle, Udinaas, and Wither. Wither explains that Udinaas is innocent, that he did not betray Rhulad or kill Mayen. Silchas is disguising himself. After a moment of deliberation, Seren says she will guide them all out of the city together.

Shurq climbs back onto Tehol's roof to find the man and his manservant. One of Tehol's eyes has turned blue. Tehol still plans to crash the economy, and says that Shand, Hejun, and Rissarh are best sent to those islands. Shurq Elalle says her goodbye and leaves to become a pirate.

Tehol then says he is grateful that Bugg did not alter his memory, it will let him grieve.