Summary of Nemesis Rising

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Prologue: Almost twenty-three years prior to the events of The Last Triumvirate, an older woman named Crissail is seen living alone far out into the woods. She makes a mistake that allows Magdalene to find her, and Magdalene then tries to get Crissail to come with her. They fight, and in order to escape, Crissail chooses to use her magic to immolate herself.

Years later, Cyra wakes to the news that the assassin locked in the dungeon of Tide’s End has escaped, and the gargoyles have been dispatched to find her. She and Bressen receive word from Samhail that he’s found the woman, but the message suggests he isn’t going to bring her back. Bressen reassigns Surgeon and Serise to find Samhail.

Bressen meets with Aidan but is shocked to learn Aidan is not preparing for war. Shocked and angry after the meeting, Bressen seeks out an old underground fighting ring he used to frequent. He’s put up again Ajax, the gargoyle Cyra rescued from being trapped in a necklace, and he loses. Badly. He wakes to an angry Cyra, who ‘punishes’ him for his lapse in judgement.

The next day, Bressen and Cyra visit the pregnant Glenora in Revenmyer. Glenora’s mental state is tenuous, but Cyra makes a deal with her for information against Bressen’s wishes. She promises Glenora that her child will one day hold a Triumvirate seat in exchange for information about Magdalene. Glenora doesn’t give them much, but she suggests she knows something about Raina’s mother, the woman with whom Ursan had an affair. As they leave, Glenora sings the song Cyra’s mother taught her.

Cyra learns Clarise is also in Revenmyre and insists on seeing her. Clarise also seems to be deteriorating mentally.

While at the prison, a small demoni takes a liking to Cyra, to Bressen’s chagrin. Before they leave, Cyra reinforces the wards in an attempt to keep Magdalene from getting in again.

Bressen is frustrated and angry when they return to Tide’s End. To burn off some energy, he chases Cyra and takes her aggressively when he catches her in the great room. They realize Axenus has seen them when he was drawn by Cyra’s cries. Cyra talks with Axenus to smooth things over.

The next day, Cyra is at the Citadel with Bressen. She’s doing research in the library when she gets an idea. Her seeker magic leads her to the Priory where Phaedrus brings her to a room that preserves old and delicate texts. They find that the text Phaedrus has been translating – the one that told them Cyra was a Hand of the Gods – also contains the song Cyra’s mother sang to her. Cyra puts Phaedrus to work translating it.

Cyra meets with her brothers at her new vineyard. She wants them to come work with her, but Jaylan breaks the news that they plan to rebuild the vineyard in Fernweh, which upsets Cyra.

Bressen meets with Axenus about the merman’s diplomatic mission to the country of Kern. Bressen apologizes to Axenus for what he saw, and they repair their friendship. Bressen expresses his concerns about Aidan to Axenus before he senses Cyra return, drunk, from the vineyard.

Cyra tells Bressen about Jaylan and Brix, then they have sex, after which, the little demoni appears in their bedroom. Bressen orders the demoni to leave, but it hesitates, making Bressen question his control over it. After it leaves, Cyra feels sick, and Bressen assures her he will always be there for her.

Bressen meets with the High Council in Polaris while Cyra visits with Raina. Jasper sends them a message, asking to meet, and they portal him over. Jasper expresses grave concerns about Aidan that Cyra conveys to Bressen mentally. Bressen creates a distraction by telling the High Council it’s time to ascend Raina to the seat of Polaris, then uses it to break into Aidan’s mind. In doing so, he learns Morland has suppressed Aidan’s consciousness and taken over his body.

Bressen breaks up the meeting in Polaris, then meets with Jasper and Maziren to come up with a plan to remove Morland from Aidan. They realize it will be more difficult, but they’re interrupted in their planning by the return of Surgeon and Serise, who found Samhail and the assassin but were unable to bring them back.

Bressen finally hears back from Samhail the next day, but it’s to learn that an encampment of soldier from Rowe has been found in Derridan. They travel to the encampment, and while Samhail takes Aidan, Bressen, and Maziren to see the camp, Cyra talks to the assassin, Talyn, while she heals her wounds. Cyra figures out that Talyn and Samhail have had sex, and she helps Talyn burn the evidence. They find the one lone soldier who survived the slaughter.

Back at Tide’s End, Samhail tries to explain himself to Bressen. Bressen breaks the news to Samhail that Morland is alive and has taken over Aidan’s body.

Talyn helps Bressen and Cyra set a trap for Magdalene and Sandrian, but things don’t go to plan. Bressen fights Sandrian while Cyra takes on Magdalene. Magdalene tells Cyra that she – Cyra – that was the one who killed Aramis, and she will also kill thousands. She tries to touch Cyra, but Cyra calls the demoni and Magdalene flees.

Talyn kidnaps Bressen as she leaves and takes him to Magdalene and Sandrian. When Magdelene breaks into Bressen’s mind, she jars lose a suppressed memory. Bressen remembers landing on an island after the storm when they went looking for the ship from Cyra’s vision. On the island they met two women who seemed suspiciously powerful.

Bressen is taken to the dungeon as he tries to recover from the shock of the suppressed memory. Morland, in Aidan’s body, beats him, along with some of the guards. Talyn comes to see him later, looking like Magdalene at first, and he vows to get answers.

Cyra learns Bressen has been taken and snaps. She opens a portal to Revenmyer, intent on torturing Clarise for information, but Axenus follows her with the gargoyle twins to stop her. Cyra kills Clarise when the woman touches Axenus, then she seeks out Glenora. Afraid that Cyra will hurt Glenora as well, Axenus attacks her, using his water magic to wash her out of the prison. He tackles her into the water where Cyra thinks he’s trying to drown her.

After having come to Bressen earlier to ask for help, Talyn returns to treat his wounds and give him a means of escape. Talyn explains her motivations and tells him she’s working on a plan to get them out of there with Aidan.

Axenus drags Cyra underwater, but she remembers how to keep herself alive using her air magic. She gives up and lets Axenus bring her to an underwater cave where they talk. They return to Tide’s End, but they still don’t have a plan to save Bressen. 

That night, Cyra dream walks into Magdalene’s dream and sees the death of Crissail. That morning at breakfast, she finally receives a mental message from Bressen, telling her to come get him.

Cyra, Axenus, and the gargoyles travel to the abandoned castle where Bressen is being kept and rescue him. He has Talyn with him. Bressen stops Samhail from killing Talyn, insisting that he owes his life (and body parts) to her. 

Later that night, Cyra and Bressen have sex after an exhausting day. Unlike their last time together, Bressen is gentle and slow, having promised himself that he will savor his time with Cyra after nearly losing her.

Bressen and Cyra travel back to the island to see the women Bressen remembered. They confirm that one of them is Praya, the lost Hand of the Creator. They ask the women to come back with them, but them initially refuse. Cyra learns more about how her powers work and about Magdalene’s history. Praya and her wife finally agree to come back, and Praya shares some concerns she has about Cyra with Bressen. She tells him it’s part of his responsibility to keep Cyra in check.

Back on the ship, Bressen becomes fearful when he thinks Cyra is contemplating suicide. She confesses to him that she herself was the one who killed Aramis, her father, by accident. He comforts her.

On their way back to Solandis, Bressen, Cyra, Praya, and Ariel stop at the battlefield where Morland is buried. Cyra realizes she can see the dead. They retrieve one of Morland’s bones but are attacked by reapers. Cyra uses the power of the Nemesis to send them away, but not before they learn that Ariel’s power is to make herself incorporeal. 

Back in Tide’s End with Morland’s bone in hand, Praya prepares to recreate Morland’s body in secret so that Talyn has something to kill when Cyra transfers his mind out of Aidan’s body. Cyra asks Praya to help her resurrect her father, showing her the piece of him she has in the form of the paper butterfly. Praya refuses. She tells Cyra they are righting a wrong with Morland, but she won’t take from the Nemesis what the god has already claimed. 

After killing Morland once and for all, Bressen takes Cyra to a pleasure house for some time together. Cyra chooses a woman to take to bed with them, then has her pleasure Bressen while she watches. They return to find that Samhail has claimed Talyn by the Right of Primacy and there’s to be a battle.

Phaedrus arrives with news of his translation, but Cyra slips and tells him about Praya. Bressen seizes his mind, but Cyra convinces him that Phaedrus can be trusted, and he swears Phaedrus to secrecy.

Cyra is about to go back to bed when she realizes she still has a way to speak to Aramis using her newly discovered spirit anchor power. She calls his spirit, and he arrives. She begs his forgiveness for killing him. He forgives her but tells her she can’t call him again. Feeling her anguish, Bressen arrives. He promises Aramis he’ll take care of Cyra. Cyra finally gets to tell Aramis she loves him and say goodbye.

Cyra, Bressen, Praya, and Ariel gather on the beach to get rid of Morland’s body. Right after, Cyra receives a message from Jaylan that Fernweh is being attacked. 

Bressen and Cyra arrive in Fernweh with Samhail, Talyn, and the twins to find everyone gone except Brix. Cyra tries to rush to him, but Bressen realizes something is wrong and holds her back. It’s revealed that Brix has been taken over by a symbiont. In her grief and rage, Cyra fully channels the power of the Nemesis and achieves her dormant form of a winged being…a true Nemesis Incarnate.

Epilogue I: Newly-freed Aidan faces a reckoning back home in Derridan, as he must answer for all the horrible things Morland did in his body. Both Jasper and the palace servants fear him, and he’s haunted by memories of being helpless while Morland hurt others. He injures his hand in a misguided attempt to punish the body that betrayed him.

Epilogue II: Raina meets with Bressen and Cyra. Bressen tells her he’s negotiated her ascension to the ruling seat of Polaris…on the condition that she marries a Prince of Kern to solidify their alliance for aid in the coming war. Raina agrees to it before Bressen and Cyra also reveal that Raina’s mother may be in danger at Glenora’s doing.