"Blue Flame" by Alexey Pekhov, summary Automatic translate

"Blue Flame" is the second book in Alexey Pekhov’s epic fantasy series of the same name, published in 2015. The novel continues the story of three fugitives who set out to search for the legendary rebel mage Tion in a world torn apart by the Cataclysm, filled with living myths and dangerous magic. In 2015, the novel won the "World of Fantasy" award in the "Fantasy Book of the Year" category.

In addition to this novel, the Blue Flame series includes Letos, Taloris, White Fire, Weaving Darkness, and Apple Blossom. This book is the second in the series.

Blanca Erbet’s Revenge

The events begin in the north, at the estate of Yazev Erbet. His daughter, Blanca, is a clever and cruel woman. She once poisoned her estranged husband, framing his death as a conspiracy. Now her own home is empty: her father and brothers were brutally hacked to death. After interrogating the surviving servant, Anna, Blanca learns that the killer is a single, blue-eyed southerner. Together with the Alagor bodyguard, Grenn, she travels to the mansion of Thomas Veont, a longtime enemy of the Erbet family. Blanca gives him control of the city and agrees to a sham marriage with his feeble-minded son. In exchange, Veont shares information: the killer is named Shrev, and he is closely connected to the Night Clan. Blanca resolves to find him and take revenge.

Learning that Shrev is searching for someone who speaks the Old Tongue, she hires herself as his translator, concealing her true identity. However, Shrev quickly deduces her plot. He kills Grenn, and his loyal apprentice, Segu, permanently blinds Blanka. The mercenaries take the helpless captive away.

Winter Pass and the Attack of the Dead

Meanwhile, Theo, Laviani, and the pointing Sharon are sheltering from a snowstorm at an inn at the foot of the Mouse Mountains. Sharon is suffering from a severe fever after using the gift on the island of Taloris. Theo nurses her and accidentally encounters the southerner Milvio de Roveri, armed with the bastard Fenico. Laviani distrusts his new companion, considering all southerners overly talkative. That night, Laviani and Milvio are attacked by a pack of wolves. Suddenly, the predators reanimate from death: their eyes begin to glow with a pale light. Laviani, with his spear, and Milvio with his sword, barely destroy the dead.

In the morning, Sharon confesses that, due to her illness, she lost control of the necromancer magic she pent up within herself and unknowingly raised the beasts in her sleep. The heroes hastily leave the inn, as "hunters" — wild mountaineers who have violated a long-standing peace treaty and are killing everyone in their path — are breaking through to the city. The party splits up in the snowy forest. Sharon and Milvio go ahead, while Theo and Laviani encounter a shaut. The demon has possessed the body of the dead jay, Klero. The creature does not attack, but merely warns the travelers of danger and other demons prowling the forest.

Horrors of the Path of Love

The companions reunite on the Path of Love, a colossal mountain fortress built during the time of the United Kingdom. Inside the gloomy galleries, they encounter a trinity: the bandit Quir, the archer Marge, and the convict Bukh-Bukh. That night, Quir attempts to rape Sharon. She desperately resists, and both fall into a bottomless shaft. Quir falls to his death. Sharon is saved by the protective magic of an ancient Tauvin warrior’s sword, abandoned at the bottom.

Trying to find a way out of the labyrinth, Milvio and Laviani stumble upon a tomb where the great wizard Kam awakens, transformed into a living corpse. Armed with a heavy halberd, the giant presses the heroes. Laviani burns away all his tattoo-talents, unleashing his full might upon him, but Kam remains undeterred. Sharon arrives just in time to help and scorches Kam’s remains with white flame. Taking the slain wizard’s golden medallion, the companions reach the surface.

Circus and White Rapids

Descending to the Nakun Plains, the heroes join the traveling circus "Joyful World." The troupe’s owner, Irvis, accepts them. Theo returns to his beloved tightrope walker and becomes close with the young acrobat Myi. Laviani and Sharon perform a deadly act with throwing knives. Life seems peaceful, but Theo is plagued by nightmares at night. The Hollow mark on his back grows, threatening to turn him into a soulless monster.

One day, the circus is attacked by malgs — pale, man-eating monsters with sharp teeth and tattoos on their faces. The performers hastily build a barricade from wagons. Milvio, Theo, and Laviani bear the brunt of the attack, wielding swords, spears, and throwing knives. The monsters break through the defenses and kill many of the performers, including the singer Velina and the strongman Alina. Seeing her friends die and realizing the troupe is doomed, Sharon violates her order’s strict prohibition. She enters a trance and uses necromancy, possessing the bodies of her recently killed comrades. The dead performers rush at the malgs, clawing at them and tearing them apart with their bare hands. The remaining monsters flee in panic into the forest.

The surviving people stand frozen in horror and gratitude before Sharon’s terrifying power. Leaving the troupe with Kama’s gold medallion as compensation for the losses, the four friends leave the circus and sail down the River Brennus. On the river, they are overtaken by Shrev’s raft, which has forced the tracker Patch and his son, Crait, to act as guides. Marge shoots Theo, wounding him in the arm. The pain triggers the release of the dark magic dormant within the acrobat. The power of the astore shatters Shrev’s raft, throwing the killers into the turbulent White Rapids.

The Blood of Astore and the Duke’s Court

Meanwhile, bloody events are unfolding in the Mountain Duchy. Shoutts infiltrate the castle of Ruler Kivel da Montag, killing his two sons and dozens of guards. Chief of the Guard, Date, and his elite warriors prove powerless against the demons’ magic. Soon, the blind Mitten arrives at the palace, claiming that the blood of true Astore flows in her veins and that her patron is the Dark Rider, Wayren. That night, the shoutts attack again, killing the guards. Date unsuccessfully attempts to fight them with wooden stakes. At the critical moment, Mitten uses her staff and graceful, dancing movements. Avoiding the black tendrils of magic, she transforms the demons into pools of boiling silver mercury.

The Duke takes Mitten under his protection to save Erego’s last son. This alliance greatly frightens the neighboring states. The rulers of Fikhsheiz, Velat, and other countries begin amassing armies at the borders, intending to wage a holy war against the duchy that has sheltered the Astore. During the ceremonial entry into her native Eshandan, a mercenary archer wounds Mitten with a crossbow bolt. The woman pulls out the arrow herself and refuses a healer, trusting in the help of her god. Deith generously pays the city’s informants and prepares to defend the ruler in the impending bloody war.

Misty Forest Interchange

Sharon, Milvio, Laviani, and Theo reach the Misty Forest and enter Shoy-ri-Teyran — an ancient, abandoned city of the eywes. Enormous, thousand-year-old oaks intertwine with white stone buildings and glowing, multicolored crystals. In the square before the pool, a huge, horned, living eywe approaches them. The ancient creature recognizes Theo as a descendant of the Astore — the Dhenne. The eywe agrees to take the young man to the sacred forest pool so the acrobat can learn to control his deadly magic.

In an underground tomb hidden beneath the roots, Milvio reveals his true identity to his friends. He is the great wizard Vois. Tion is long dead and buried in a stone sarcophagus, guarded by a statue of Arila carved by Vois. Before his death, Tion voluntarily destroyed all magic within himself to save the remnants of humanity from further catastrophes and madness, and he transferred part of his life force to Vois for longevity. Vois explains that magic is gone, and no one can bring it back. Theo must descend into the font of the eyves, where the acrobat will either gain control of his altered nature or die immediately, saving the world from the emergence of a new monster.

Meanwhile, Shrev, who survived the whirlpool, Segu, Marge, and Blanca also reach the ruins. Shrev places the statue of Arila on a pedestal and orders Krayt and Patchwork to recite a spell from an ancient book, hoping to open the door to the world of the Shoutts and gain their power. Milvio emerges from the shadows and thwarts his plans. The Trettinian claims to have written these false instructions himself to capture power-hungry fools. A battle ensues. Laviani fights Shrev using throwing knives and greatly accelerates her movements with the help of her talent tattoos.

In the confusion, Blanca strikes. She plunges a hairpin laced with the Scarlet Quiet’s paralyzing poison into the leg of Seg, who had just killed Patch and Crait. The killer falls to the ground, conscious but completely paralyzed. The blinded woman fumbles for the dead boy’s dagger and promises Seg to slowly cut out his eyes.

Sharon uses the raised dead to attack Shrev, forcing him to retreat. Returning from the dungeons, Theo uses his newfound power of astore. The acrobat pierces his palm with a sharp oak branch, unleashing blue flame and the magic of that side. A blow of unprecedented power tears off Shrev’s face and sends the mutilated foe tumbling into the black waters of the forest canal. After the battle, Theo bids Sharon farewell and departs into the darkness to the First Oak to undergo the trial, while his companions remain to await the dawn on the threshold of the coming war and the beginning of a new era.