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He tells Poppy how Ires was lured from Iliseeum some time ago and drawn into the mortal realm with Nektas’s daughter while everyone slumbered. He informs her they cannot look for Ires without being summoned, and while Ires has not called to them, he knows he lives.

Nektas says that Ires was fond of taking the form of a large, gray cave cat, much like Malec, and is surprised to hear that Poppy saw Ires and knows he’s in the Blood Crown’s clutches.

Poppy tells him Isbeth’s claim of being a god because Malec Ascended her, and Nektas laughs. He tells her that gods are born, not created, and that she, like the Revenants, is an abomination of everything godly. He then tells her that her enemy is truly an enemy of theirs.

As talk turns to Malec once more, Nektas tells her that anyone entombed by the bones of the deities would simply waste away but they would not die. They would exist in a place between dying and death, alive but trapped.

He then tells Poppy to speak the words and receive what she came to Iliseeum for. When she does, he tells her they are hers from that moment to the last and then calls her the Queen of Flesh and Fire.

Just as Poppy goes all Primal at the Bone Temple, Nektas arrives and takes out the dakkais on the Rise. He reveals that Reaver took Malec to Iliseeum after the stabbing and that he’s alive—for now. He then says that Jadis is alive and in the mortal realm.

When they talk about what happened with the mass resurrection, Nektas tells them that Poppy didn’t bring everybody back to life, the Primal of Life aided Poppy, and Nyktos captured their souls before they could enter the Vale or the Abyss. But he warns there must always be balance.

Poppy announces that the Consort is the true Primal God of Life and Nektas replies that the Consort is the heir to the land and the seas, the skies and the realms. She’s the fire in the flesh, the Primal of Life, and the Queen of the Gods. She’s the most powerful Primal. But then he adds, “For now.”

He tells them briefly about Eythos and Kolis and their true roles, relays the story of Sotoria and the aftermath, and states that Nyktos is a Primal of Death but not the true Primal. He was never the Primal God of Life and Death. There’s never been one, and he would never have answered to that title.

Poppy argues that it’s nonsense that no one can talk about—or really even know about—who the Consort is. She calls it sexist, patriarchal bullshit. Nektas tells them that it was the Consort who chose for it to be that way. She wishes to remain unknown, and Nyktos honors her wishes because of everything they did and sacrificed to prevent what just happened at the Bone Temple.

Nektas adds that if Poppy chooses to have children, they will be the first Primals born since Nyktos. If Kolis hadn’t stolen Eythos’s essence, Nyktos would have become the Primal of Life, and Ires and Malec would have been born Primals, but only if a female was born first.

He tells Poppy not to apologize for existing and adds that Malec and Ires were already well on their way to being born when the plotting that led to Poppy started. What was done to stop Kolis meant that Malec and Ires could never risk children, but Malec did it anyway. The risk, creating the cosmic restart, would allow for what was done to Kolis to be undone.

He then tells them that Callum knew what speaking the Consort’s name would mean. They realize the Revenant is missing and agree that he must be dealt with.

Nektas says that Poppy is the Primal of Blood and Bone, the true Primal of Life and Death, and adds that the two essences have never existed in one being.

When Poppy reveals that she knows where Ires is, he tells her to take him there. He then sees that they all think they’ve stopped things and tells them they’ve stopped nothing. What happened at the Bone Temple freed Kolis, and they’ve only slowed the inevitable, preventing Kolis from returning to flesh and bone and power, but he will rise if left unchecked.

Nektas tells them they must kill Kolis, though he doesn’t know how—I assume they can now since Poppy is the balance of life and death. For now, Nektas says he needs to get to Ires, find Jadis, and return to Iliseeum.

He mentions that the Consort and Nyktos no longer sleep, which means other gods will awaken, too, and not all are loyal to the Primal of Life.

War has just begun.

Nektas leaves to take Ires home, knowing he will return for his daughter.

REAVER

Draken

Court: The Shadowlands

Click here to see a full-size image of Reaver by art.bymikki.

Hair: Blond. Shoulder-length.

Eyes: Crimson with vertical pupils in the time of the gods. Blue with vertical pupils in recent times.

Body type: Long legs.

Facial features: Sand-colored flesh. Sharp, strong, chiseled jaw. Wide-set eyes tilted down at the inner corners. Full, bow-shaped lips. Not classically handsome but interesting and striking.

Distinguishing features: Faint but distinct scale pattern on the skin.

Preternatural appearance: Purplish black scales. Large but not as big as Nektas. Smooth, black horns starting in the middle of the flattened bridge of his nose and rising up to the center of his diamond-shaped head. The ones around his eyes are smaller but lengthen into sharp points that jut out from his frills as they travel up his head.

Other: Gruff voice. Can change his teeth and breathe fire while in his god form.