Chapter Thirty-Five
Spoiler Warning: This page reveals major story events from Chapter Thirty-Five. Read on only if you are current with the book.
Summary
Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian, battered and exhausted, spot the Depth Charger rising from the sea, with Tharion emerging to wave them down. The three angels land harshly on the ship. Ruhn, frantic, points toward the distant cliffs where Lidia is trapped, begging Tharion to help her. Seeing the angels are too injured to fly again, Tharion strips, shifts into his mer form, and dives into the water to reach her. Hunt joins Baxian in a prayer to Ogenas and silently blames himself for the entire disaster.
On shore, Lidia in her hind form races up a mountain path, pursued by Mordoc and two other dreadwolves, Vespasian and Gedred. She reaches a narrow ledge high above the sea, a dead end. Shifting into her humanoid body, Lidia is cornered at the cliff’s edge. Mordoc mocks her, echoing the words she once used against Sofie Renast: “Are you faster than a bullet?” The wolves intend only to lame her for a cruel return to the Asteri. Lidia snaps off her silver torque—the collar of Asteri servitude—and flings it aside, declaring “Go to Hel.” She sprints for the edge, dodges a volley of bullets, and leaps. A gunshot strikes her chest midair. She dies seconds later with a choked, bloody laugh, having chosen freedom over capture.
Key Events
- Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian reach the Depth Charger and board with Tharion’s help.
- Ruhn desperately begs Tharion to rescue Lidia, and the mer sets out at once.
- Lidia, as a hind, is chased up a mountain by Mordoc, Vespasian, and Gedred.
- She becomes trapped on a cliff ledge with no way down.
- Cornered and facing a slow death from torture, Lidia shifts to human, removes her slave collar, and runs for the edge.
- She evades the dreadwolves’ bullets but is shot in the chest as she leaps to her death, laughing as she falls.
Character Development
Ruhn – His raw panic over Lidia’s peril reveals the depth of his bond with her; he is willing to beg and demands Tharion act, even though he is maimed and barely standing.
Hunt – Hunt’s internal guilt intensifies. He absorbs the pain as deserved punishment and believes that stopping Bryce earlier could have averted everything, showing his tendency to shoulder responsibility for events beyond his control.
Tharion – Without hesitation, he embraces the “heroics,” stripping and diving into dangerous waters. His swift, pragmatic decision highlights his courage and loyalty to the group, even when the mission is nearly suicidal.
Lidia – The chapter pivots entirely on her final act of defiance. Faced with the same sadistic game she once played with Sofie Renast, she rejects the Asteri’s authority by removing her torque and choosing a free death over a tortured captivity. Her leap—and the laugh as she dies—complete her transformation from oppressor to martyr.
Mordoc – He embodies vicious vengeance. By repeating Lidia’s own taunt from the past, he underscores the cycle of cruelty, but his rage and taunts ultimately fail to break her.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Freedom and Defiance: Lidia’s torque is a literal and symbolic collar of Asteri control. Flinging it away before her leap declares that she dies on her own terms, not as a slave.
- Echoes of the Past: Mordoc deliberately reenacts Lidia’s interrogation of Sofie Renast. The parallel emphasizes how Lidia has become what she once persecuted and how she now seizes a different ending.
- Sacrifice and Atonement: Lidia’s fatal jump is both an escape and a reckoning for her earlier complicity. Her choked laugh suggests acceptance and perhaps relief.
- The Sea as Salvation and Death: The water represents hope for the shipbound angels, but for Lidia, the cliff and the waves below are the pathway to deliverance from a worse fate.
- Guilt and Blame: Hunt’s inner monologue ties his physical agony to moral culpability, framing the whole operation as a failure that might have been avoided.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter Thirty-Five delivers a brutal emotional peak. Lidia’s death—self-chosen, defiant, and directly mirroring the cruelty she once inflicted—closes a long arc of complicity and redemption. Her sacrifice allows the remaining rebels to escape with the Depth Charger, but at a devastating cost. The chapter cements the Asteri’s forces as relentless and sadistic, while showcasing the desperate courage needed to break free. It also leaves Ruhn and the others grieving as they flee, setting a tone of loss that will color the chapters ahead.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Lidia remove her silver torque before jumping?
The torque symbolizes her enslavement and obedience to the Asteri. By removing it, she reclaims her identity and rejects their ownership even in her final moments, choosing to die as her own person rather than as their property.
2. How does Mordoc’s taunt about Sofie Renast affect the meaning of Lidia’s leap?
Mordoc forces Lidia to relive the moment she treated another captive with cold cruelty. Her decision to run for the cliff rather than wait to be crippled mirrors what Sofie likely would have done, turning the scene into a form of poetic justice and personal atonement.
3. In what ways does Hunt’s reaction on the ship contribute to his ongoing character arc?
Hunt internalizes all the pain and failures around him, believing he could have prevented them. His prayer alongside Baxian and his self-blame underscore his struggle with guilt and responsibility, reinforcing his pattern of shouldering burdens that are not entirely his own.