THE CITY OF DUSK Recap!

Since The City of Dusk released over a year ago and its sequel, The Midnight Kingdom, comes out within a couple months, I thought it would be useful for readers to skim through an overview of book one before jumping into book two.

Below, refamiliarize yourself with the characters, plot points, and world of TCOD!

PREVIOUSLY, IN THE DARK GODS…

There’s a king, who sucks. There are also four noble Houses descended from the four gods of four separate realms, who not only have cool powers, but also royal blood, which puts any and all of them in contention for the throne (since the king has no children).

Dante Lastrider, the heir of House Lastrider (shadow magic), thinks the king sucks, because he does. He wants another form of leadership, and thinks if the Houses can work together to undo the Sealing—an incident from centuries ago when the gods withdrew and closed the portals—they can garner enough support to do this. A once-in-a-century event is approaching called Godsnight, when the realms align perfectly, and this could be the perfect moment to force the portals open.

Taesia Lastrider, middle child of House Lastrider with middle child syndrome, thinks Dante’s tactics of using Conjuration (an old, forbidden magic related to the summoning of demons) is kinda sketch, but she agrees to help him because she wants out of her current role as a noble heir.

Risha Vakara, another House heir, is a necromancer who’s busy handling the restless spirits of the dead, since the path to the realm of death has been closed to them for years. There might be people in the city using Conjuration to mimic necromancy, which is very uncool, and she wants to stop them.

Angelica Mardova, yet another House heir, is an elementalist who can’t actually access her elements without the use of musical instruments, which is a source of shame and embarrassment. Her House in particular is gunning for the throne, so her mother constantly sucks up to the king (who, again, really sucks), and expects Angelica to do the same.

Nikolas Cyr (you guessed it—another House heir) has the power of light, but his magic has been oddly weak for the past few years ever since his younger brother Rian died. When he asks for his god’s blessing he’s left on read, which his abusive father finds humiliating for their House. Despite this, the king asks Nik to be in charge of a special new task force to take down the people who are experimenting with Conjuration (which, unbeknownst to Nik, includes Dante).

However, Prelate Lezzaro—a religious authority in the city of Nexus, where the portals of the Four Realms meet—states that he wants to give these Conjurers clemency, which people find strange. Dante and Taesia go speak with him about this, only to discover that the prelate’s ancestor wrote a grimoire about his discoveries of Conjuration—which includes demon summoning. He thinks they can be the key to unlocking the portals, which would be super cool if true, but still weird. Also, they find their aunt, Camilla, has been working with the prelate on this matter, which is also weird.

When Dante comes back to discuss something with Prelate Lezzaro, he’s shocked to find the prelate in the middle of being murdered—by a demon. The Conjurer in possession of the demon corners Dante, convincing him to go along with their plans.

Meanwhile, Nik struggles with leadership, and Taesia is wary of him seeking out Conjurers, considering what her brother is doing. The two of them are in a relationship, and have been for the past couple years, which they keep a secret in order to avoid gossip, but things are strained lately—especially since they’re being pulled in different directions.

Then disaster hits: Dante is arrested for the death of Prelate Lezzaro. He’s imprisoned in the Gravespire, a notoriously difficult place to escape from, while the Lastriders—and all the Houses—reel from this shocking turn. Taesia is determined to pick up where he left off, and to find a way to clear his name. But even though she tells the other heirs about Dante’s plan to reopen the portals, the other three are unsure or dismiss it entirely, leaving her on her own.

Risha runs into the so-called necromancers, who are just Conjurers experimenting in the necropolis. She speaks to one of them, who tells her that she can help them with their goals, which she shuts down immediately. A little later, an important heirloom of House Vakara has gone missing: a necklace made of the founder’s fingerbones, which, when worn by a necromancer, can greatly increase their powers. Risha finds this extremely troubling.

Angelica is training with a mage at the university to help her access her powers without instruments, but each lesson leaves her frustrated and furious, especially because she hates the mage (finding him patronizing and also creepy around young girls). On her way out of one of these lessons, she finds Nik and his new task force studying a Conjuration circle that’s appeared at the university. A famous statue has disappeared, which they chalk up to a prank, but Angelica senses something weird about the circle and takes a sketch of it with her.

After the prelate’s death, his collection of things is donated to a museum. This includes the grimoire. Taesia needs it if she’s going to continue Dante’s work, so she enlists the help of Angelica to find a thief to steal it. They find one, named Cosima, who’s happy to do the job (but mostly fascinated by the people who are paying her, especially Angelica). Once Angelica has the grimoire, she reads through it and is utterly shocked by what she finds: that there were once five realms, and that this fifth realm—and its god—have been forgotten entirely. It was called Ostium.

Julian Luca is a Hunter, a division in charge of the eradication and control of beasts and monsters. He has a special ability that allows him to read the minds and emotions of these beasts, which makes him uniquely qualified for the job, but he’s always felt uneasy about this ability, since no one else has it and it cannot be explained. He’s been put on Nikolas Cyr’s task force in the event they have to deal with demons. But so far all they’ve been dealing with are odd Conjuration circles popping up in the city, from the missing statue at the university to a disappearing bridge over the river. When Julian touches or gets close to these circles, he feels strange, which Nik makes note of.

While on patrol, Julian runs into Taesia, who’s searching for a tool that can help her with Dante’s research: the bones of an astralam, a beast from the shadow realm with unique properties related to portals. At a black market, they encounter a dubious bone dealer and Taesia is forced to use her powers—only now, with the astralam bones in hand, they’re magnified, allowing her to make a small vortex. She ruins the bone dealer’s whole career (ie kills the shit out of him) while Julian watches on, awed and horrified by this woman (and yes, a little turned on).

Risha’s family is setting up an engagement for her, despite her desire not to marry. This will help position her for the throne, which she does not want, but she goes along with it so as not to disappoint her family. Thankfully she’s distracted when Nik calls on her to help him investigate a bone dealer shop. There, she reads the last memories of the dealer’s corpse and is shocked to find Taesia was the culprit. She tells Nik, and the two of them wonder what’s happening to their longtime friend.

In honor of the upcoming event of Godsnight, a gala is held in the weeks beforehand, which all the Houses attend. Even the disgraced Lastriders, who show off Taesia as their new heir—which she absolutely hates. But at least she gets to show off her powers, which impresses the crowd as much as it unnerves them. She speaks to Don Soler, one of the king’s right hand men and spymaster, and also the one who arrested Dante. He mentions that Dante has confessed to killing Prelate Lezzaro, which can only mean one thing: he will hang. Taesia reels.

When she goes to speak to Nik, Taesia finds that he’s treating her oddly. He confronts her about killing the bone dealer, and about what lengths she’s going to—fearing she’ll end up like Dante. The two of them break up. Taesia then tries to go to Risha, who similarly expresses her disappointment and that she can’t take part in Taesia’s plans, as it would be a disservice to her House.

Then Angelica rounds them all up. She’s on edge after reading the grimoire, and when she tells the others about the fifth realm—the fifth, nameless god—they wonder what this could mean. While Dante had a plan to use all the House heirs during a Conjuration ritual at Godsnight to open the portals, it would ultimately be useless, since now, apparently, there have to be five heirs—and they only number four.

Before they can speculate further, the ballroom is attacked by the undead. Skeletons and corpses spill out of the royal mausoleum below to wreak havoc, which the heirs and their families attempt to subdue. Julian, on patrol for suspicious activity, is ordered to help the soldiers out in the courtyard. He notices Taesia running there as well. He’s feeling odd around the palace, like he does when he’s too close to the Conjuration circles.

Angelica fights off the corpses and saves her step-mother and step-sisters. In the fray, one of her instruments is destroyed, and she’s pushed to her limit—which makes her lash out and harm Risha by accident. Angelica has been obsessed with fire for years, what magic users call elemental addiction, and it impedes her powers in ways like this, to her shame.

Risha jumps down into the mausoleum and confronts the leader of the Conjurers. He’s wearing the missing fingerbone necklace. He tells her the work he’s doing is important, despite the chaos it creates, as it’s the best way to open the way to Mortri. This is also what Risha wants, but not at such a cost. She attempts to stop him, and in doing so realizes she can sense his heart—and stop it, if she wants to. The new knowledge unsettles her, and she spares the man. He tells her where to find him, when this is over.

In the fray, Taesia makes use of the chaos and goes after Don Soler. He badmouths the Lastriders and her brother, driving Taesia to fury. In her anger, she rips the man apart with her powers, finding satisfaction in his death. Julian later finds her battling a corpse, covered in blood, and again is awed and horrified by her. She confronts him, as it was his report on the bone dealer’s shop that led to Nik and Risha investigating it—and which led to them parting ways with her. When she demands how he’ll make it up to her, he says he’ll owe her a favor, which is likely a horrible idea, but look, she’s very hot and covered in blood, whatever you say gorgeous.

Fed up with his struggling powers, especially after the disaster of the gala, Nik goes to the refugees of the light realm who reside in Nexus for aid. On his way, he’s accosted by a thief, who claims Nik has his bracelet. He remembers, back when the prelate announced clemency to the Conjurers, Nik had found a bracelet on the ground and has kept it since. Not only that, but he recognizes the young man as a server during that party. But before Nik can ask the young man questions, he’s distracted and the thief slips away.

Taesia goes to her aunt, Camilla, for advice. Stunned by the news that there was once a fifth realm, Taesia is uncertain how to proceed with Dante’s plans, even though she now has the astralam bones. At hearing this, Camilla reveals something from the prelate’s grimoire she learned while working with him: that the gods are all tied to their realms by something called a fulcrum. Taesia wonders, if they can get their hands on the fulcrum from Ostium, if the ritual at Godsnight could be completed after all. And with her newly-acquired astralam bones potentially harboring the ability to create portals, that’s something she can do.

There’s a new curfew since the gala, which Taesia forgets. She ends up running into Julian after hours and hiding in his apartment—or rather, his mother’s apartment. His mother is chronically ill, but more than eager to shower Taesia with hospitality, which Taesia finds endlessly endearing. She and Julian also share a moment in which they both lower their guards around each other somewhat.

Meanwhile, the youngest Lastrider heir, Brailee, has been having strange dreams about a boy making Conjuration circles. Through a link in their power, Brailee is able to show Taesia what she sees, which is a hazy dreamscape where they can’t make out details. Only a boy, gaunt and weary, and the things he’s been collecting via the power of Conjuration: the missing university statue, and the bridge. Taesia tells Brailee to explain this to Nik; she can’t do it herself, considering their falling out.

Risha finds the Conjurers at the address where their leader, named Jas, told her. After thinking oh no, he’s hot, Risha stands her ground in condemning them for what they’ve done, which they concede was probably a bad idea—but they’re as desperate as her to open a pathway for the lost, lingering dead. They have loved ones who cannot pass on. It would be a great kindness. Risha can’t help but agree, but says she’ll help them only if they do things her way, not theirs.

That same day, Risha rushes home to meet the fiancé her family has chosen for her. She is appropriately bamboozled to find that the leader of the Conjurers, Jas, is her fiancé. He is amused. Risha does not know what she has done to deserve this.

After finding no answers with the refugees, Nik meets up with the thief/server again—who calls himself Fin—and learns that he’s a servant at the palace. Nik wonders if he can get any useful information out of him regarding the events at the gala, but during their conversation Nik has a panic attack, thinking about his deceased brother. Fin helps him through it, which Nik is grateful for.

Taesia observes her sister Brailee have another dream about the strange boy collecting the monuments from Nexus. Shortly after, their villa is visited by High Commissioner Don Damari, who is looking into the murder of Don Soler at the gala, as he believes his wounds don’t track with those made by the risen corpses. Taesia remains unrepentant. However, during his visit, Don Damari reveals that Godsnight is not only going to be a celebrated holiday in which the Houses showcase their abilities, but also a public execution for Dante.

Don Damari calls on Risha to help him reanimate Don Soler long enough to ask him about his death. But the man’s death was traumatic and he can’t articulate well, although Risha sees his last flashes of memory, learning that Taesia was the culprit again. Although Risha refrains from mentioning Taesia’s name, Damari subtly threatens her into revealing that the death was caused by someone with shadow powers.

Julian learns that Damari is rewarding anyone with information about Don Soler’s death a good amount of money, which he needs to buy his mother’s expensive medicine. When he hears that it was likely the work of someone with shadow powers, he remembers the blood on Taesia’s dress that night. He goes to the Lastrider villa to confront her, which results in an intense (read: hot) swordfight in the sitting room. When they end up in a stalemate, Julian can’t proceed—he somehow just can’t turn her in. Ashamed and frustrated, he returns home only to find that someone has sent an entire crate of medicine for his mother. He knows it must have been Taesia.

Angelica goes to the basilica to speak to her god, which she’s done a few times in increasing desperation for answers—and in the hopes her god will grant her better access to her powers. There, she learns that any ritual they attempt at Godsnight will be pointless. The gods plan to inhabit their chosen heirs once the realms align and the barriers between them are at their thinnest. Then, they will battle to the death—and the winner will rule the entire universe.

Taesia goes to the refugees of the shadow realm to ask one of their blacksmiths to forge a sword out of the bones. When she returns later to pick up the sword, she’s awed by the power it exudes. That same night, Don Damari raids the refugee quarter in search of the one who killed Don Soler. Taesia, furious, goes to stop him.

At the same time, Nik follows Brailee’s advice and has his task force set up at various monuments throughout the city in case the boy from her dreams—which are more like visions, with her unique abilities—is actually stealing them. Julian is acting strange, though, which has Nik on edge. Suddenly, a Conjuration circle appears under the monument they’re watching, and it starts to disappear. Julian exhibits inhuman strength when debris falls on them.

Simultaneously, Risha helps the Conjurers draw dozens of spirits together to create a big enough force to open the portal to the death realm. But when the Conjuration circle by Nik goes off, the spirits grow agitated and escape, causing havoc.

Angelica, rattled by her god’s reveal, grabs the grimoire and goes to find the other heirs to warn them. She finds Nik in the middle of the monument disappearing. In a flood of hopelessness, Angelica screams, and the frequency of her voice cleanly cuts through the disappearing monument. She’s stunned, wondering if, like her other instruments, there’s some hidden power in her voice. (And is too distracted to realize that along the way, she’s dropped the grimoire, which Julian picks up).

With the refugees, Taesia faces Don Damari, whom she knows only did this to draw her out. In order to protect the refugees, and to satiate her own fury, Taesia uses her new sword—Starfell—to create a vortex that sucks up Damari like a vacuum. Everyone, including Taesia, is astonished in the aftermath.

After this hectic night, Taesia is now on the run. Risha gets a message from Angelica to meet with her, and is unsure whether or not to go, but is unexpectedly visited by Taesia. They both realize how far apart they’ve drifted, but they agree to go and see what Angelica has to say. Together—along with Nik—they learn about the war between the gods, and their parts as pawns within it. Taesia says fuck that and peaces out, but not after mentioning the idea of fulcrums. The others have no idea what they can do to stop this from happening. In her despondency, Risha forms a morbid plan.

Nik, certain that he is going to die on Godsnight, meets up with Fin again. The two share a nice night together, and Nik wishes he could have more of them. Fin also gifts him the bracelet that Nik had originally given back to him. When Nik returns home, his peace is shattered by a suicide attempt by his grieving mother, who never got over his brother Rian’s death, and his father is livid with them both. Nik takes his mother to get urgent care, realizing along the way that he can’t just face his death without a fight.

Angelica learns that her powers are so unstable because her god locked them away when she was born, knowing they were too great for Angelica to wield them with proper control. She also learns that the fifth god was murdered by the others so that they could consume their flesh and become stronger. Angelica is shocked by the truth, and more than ever needs the doors to her magic unlocked. In her desperation, she visits her mage tutor and kills him. She thinks that eating part of him will make her stronger, just like it did the gods, but in the end it does nothing more than disgust her. In the aftermath, she’s found by the thief, Cosima, who helps her.

Taesia visits the basilica of her god. He tells her that she was meant to serve as his general, which she violently refuses. With nowhere else to go, Taesia sits outside of Julian’s mother’s apartment, where he finds her and sits with her. She tells him everything that’s happened, which helps him gain more perspective on why she’s done what she’s done. But even though he says she can stay, she won’t put his mother in danger, and leaves.

That night, Julian reads through the grimoire that Angelica dropped, since it gives off the same feeling as the Conjuration circles. He’s unnerved as he reads about demons and their abilities—especially the demon called Azideh, who can read the minds and emotions of living beings, including beasts. Just like Julian’s own ability. His horror is cut short by the arrival of a cloaked woman and a demon, who attack his mother. He tries to fight back against the demon, realizing he can use his ability on it somewhat, and uses it to his advantage to escape with his mother—but allowing the woman to take possession of the grimoire.

Taesia sneaks back into the Lastrider villa and finds Brailee asleep. Wondering if she’s having another dream of the mysterious boy, Taesia joins her dreamscape. The boy is there, telling Brailee to kill him, but she refuses. When they wake up, Brailee is shocked to find Taesia, and they agree to search for Dante in Brailee’s dreamscape. There, he tells them that he was set up by their own aunt. She has a demon. She framed him. She killed the prelate because he was going to stop her from summoning the Ostium fulcrum to their realm—which will unleash a horde of demons on their realm, because the demons are the twisted life forms of those who once lived in that fifth realm.

On the morning of Godsnight, Angelica sings—something that she’s had trouble doing since her father’s death years ago—and is shocked to discover there is a hidden power in her voice, one that feels similar to Conjuration. She learns that a fourth monument has gone missing. At the site, she finds Nik and his task force investigating. Risha arrives as well, and the three of them discuss the ritual that will take place that day. Angelica tells them about how her god mentioned being unable to eat the fifth god, and that all she had left were remains. Risha pieces together some information to realize that the remains of the fifth god are within the palace. And Nik, drawing the sites of the four Conjuration circles on a map of the city, realizes that they all form equidistant points—with the palace in the very center.

Taesia confronts Camilla in her aunt’s home, horrified at the sight of the demon. Camilla tells her that the king is planning on taking out the Houses that day, alongside Dante’s hanging. Taesia knows she has to put a stop to it, fending off her aunt and the demon to escape.

Nik hurries to the palace to warn the king about the city-wide Conjuration circle. But on his way to the safe room, the guards accost him, which he isn’t expecting. He gets to the safe room and is bewildered to find Fin inside—dressed like a noble, not a servant. He learns that the king had a child after all. one he’s been keeping a secret to play the Houses against one another. Betrayed and terrified, Nik ignores Fin’s pleas and rushes out just as the realms begin to fall into alignment, increasing his powers. He forms wings, flying across the square to warn the other heirs.

At the same time, Taesia shows up at the square where the hanging will take place and destroys the gallows, ordering the king to come forward. But Nik stops her, warning her about Fin, and Taesia realizes this is why the king plans to kill off the Houses. She tells Nik about her aunt’s plans and what she learned about demons. Nik thinks back to Julian’s odd powers and goes to find him, claiming that he is, somehow, tied to demons—and therefore tied to Ostium. Julian is the fifth heir they need to enact the ritual to break the barriers.

Meanwhile, Risha and Angelica are both possessed by their gods once Godsnight begins. They start an epic brawl in the middle of the city, driven by their gods’ desires to kill one another.

Dante, from his prison cell, thinks back to what his aunt taught him over the body of Prelate Lezzaro: how to summon his own demon. He goes through the process, using his own blood. He summons the demon known as Azideh, and because he does not have a proper offering, he instead offers his life as payment in return for power—power which he’ll use, in some way, to reopen the portals. The pact between Dante and the demon is sealed, and Dante escapes the Gravespire.

Nik is accosted by his father, who’s mad with grief, realizing that their god has not chosen either of them to possess. He attacks Nik, who lashes out in self-defense and ends up killing his father. But it doesn’t stop him from returning to the palace, where Angelica and Risha are battling. Fin shows up, but Nik is furious at him. And, when Taesia arrives, she sees how similar Fin looks to her aunt, and the pieces fall into place. Camilla and the king had an affair. They had an illegitimate child. Everything her aunt is doing for power isn’t for herself—it’s for her son.

Then a portal opens, and out steps the last person Nik expects to see: his younger brother, Rian, who died years ago. Except he’s not dead—and he’s very much become possessed by the god of light, Phos. He is, Taesia recognizes, the boy from her sister’s visions. The one who created the city-wide Conjuration circle. When Brailee herself arrives, it’s only to become possessed by the shadow god, and she and Rian start to battle.

Meanwhile, Risha and Angelica’s own fight is growing out of control. Risha starts to enact her plan, which is to gather the life force of everyone around her and sever them. It’s brutal, but to her, it’s the only way to ensure the gods don’t continue their war, and that they won’t remain pawns in it. But Jas interferes, telling her she can’t go through with it. He gets caught in the inferno of Angelica’s power and dies. In her wild grief, Risha lets go of everyone’s life force.

Angelica is spurred by her god to take Risha’s life while she’s distracted. But Angelica fights back, trying to rein the fire in. She starts to sing, relying on the new, unusual power of it, the same frequency with which the Conjuration circles sing. Just as her god launches an attack at Risha, Angelica’s voice opens a small portal that transports Risha away.

Camilla, with her demon’s power, attempts to summon the Ostium fulcrum. A doorway into the universe is created, inviting a horde of demons to come through. Julian digs deep into his unwanted power and eradicates them all, turning into something monstrous himself. Then, sensing that the woman who injured his mother is near, he sets off to hunt her down.

Brailee is defeated by Rian, so Taesia takes up the fight. Dante, who wasn’t able to stop Camilla in time, finds Brailee and gets her out of there. Taesia then tricks her god into possessing her after all, but she doesn’t use his power to fight; instead, she uses her sword and the god’s power to aim at the gaping portal above Nexus and close it, stopping her aunt from causing any further damage. Camilla tries to stop her, but Julian intercepts, harming Camilla’s demon to the point where they have to flee.

Angelica’s god drains out of her and she’s dragged away by her mother. She watches in horror as the Conjuration circle is completed, and the palace within its center—containing the fifth god’s remains—disappears.

Risha wakes in the realm of death with Jas’s spirit. She laments his death and marvels at where she is, but is determined to return them both home, somehow.

Taesia, Julian, Nik, and Fin realize they are now in the realm of shadow and eternal night: Noctus. Rian remains possessed by Phos, who takes over Nik’s body as well, turning him into an obedient puppet. He has dragged the fifth god’s remains here so that he can begin his campaign of eradicating the other realms and create new worlds in their place. And Taesia and the others will have their parts to play in it.

THE CITY OF DUSK Recap!

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