Ruin and Rising

Alina “sees” the Darkling having a wound tended by a magical healer. Once the two are alone, the Darkling asks her if she regrets not staying with him. Alina admits that he tempted her because she felt he understands her and her power. He taunts her about both Mal and Nikolai, and Alina finds herself in his arms, attracted despite herself. However, the Darkling turns hostile, telling Alina that he will be taking one of the Grisha, David, back from her and that he’s going to travel across the Fold to destroy West Ravka, using notes that David left that will help him use the Fold against West Ravka. Then, he warns her, he’ll come for her and Nikolai.

Alina ends the connection and gathers her companions, questioning David as to what he might have left behind that the Darkling could be using to survive in the Fold. David admits that he had designs for a glass ship that could contain liquid fire—which requires sunlight to create—that would keep the Fold’s monsters at bay. Alina tells the others that the Darkling might have enough of her light-summoning power from their battle in the previous book to create the weapon. The group anxiously tries to think of a way to stop the Darkling before he can get to West Ravka.

Alina, Nikolai, Mal, and the Grisha strategize about meeting the threat of the Darkling in West Ravka. Nikolai decides to try and mobilize an army of soldiers who are loyal to him and any militia that have deserted the official Ravkan army. Reluctantly, Alina decides to reach out to the Apparat and the soldiers who were training for her underground. Nikolai sends an airship to warn the West Ravkans of the Darkling’s potential attack.

Alina goes to visit Baghra to try and get any other information out of her about the Darkling and his power. Alina learns from Baghra that Morozova was Baghra’s father, making the Darkling Morozova’s grandson. When Baghra was young, she accidentally killed her non-magical sister in a fit of rage. Morozova resurrected his daughter, but his power angered and frightened the townspeople in the village where he lived. They restrained Morozova and his resurrected daughter in chains and threw them off a bridge. Baghra never saw her father or sister again—though she suspects they may have survived the attempted drowning—and she and her mother were thrown out of the village. Alina wonders if Morozova’s second daughter might also have been Grisha, and, if the child did survive, if she herself might be one of her descendants. Alina also realizes with disgust that this would mean she is related to the Darkling, making her attraction to him even more humiliating.

Nikolai finds Alina and takes her up to the fortress’s upper floor, with a ceiling of glass, to watch a meteor shower with the others who are staying there. Mal, also excited about the shower and coming to find Alina, finds her arm-in-arm with Nikolai and quickly becomes somber. Heartbroken, Alina tries to rally her spirits for Nikolai and convince herself that she can’t be with Mal. Nikolai makes a more explicit offer of marriage if they survive the campaign against the Darkling, even though he knows of Alina’s feelings for Mal. He says that he would send Mal away to eliminate suspicions that any children he would have with Alina would be illegitimate, and he is hopeful that he and Alina could learn to love each other. Alina doesn’t make a definite promise to Nikolai, and the two continue watching the meteor shower.

As Mal’s party prepares to leave the Spinning Wheel, the Darkling and the monsters he has created attack them unexpectedly, led there by the Grisha who Alina arranged to have reassigned away from the action. The Darkling infects Nikolai with darkness that turns him into one of the shadow monsters, and distraught, Nikolai flies away from the fortress. The Darkling is in the process of having the monsters attack Alina and Mal, when Baghra, who has emerged from the Spinning Wheel, uses her own powers to stop them. Then, she jumps off the side of the mountain from the fortress, killing herself and the monsters who are attracted to her because of her magic. The Darkling dives after her, and in the confusion, Alina and Mal run to an airship, where they fly off with some of the Grisha.

Alina and the rest of her companions fly the airship south for several days to an abandoned mine near where the firebird might be. As they go, they tend to the wounds they’ve sustained during the battle. Alina tries not to answer too many questions about the Darkling, Baghra, or Nikolai, finding it too painful. When they land at the mine, the group gets some sleep. When she awakens and climbs out of the mine to collect firewood, Alina sees the transformed Nikolai in the forest. He looks at her and flies away, which makes Alina scream with heartbreak and fury. She feels the Darkling summoning a connection with her but rebuffs him.

Later, the group makes plans for the following day and tell stories about Baghra, who trained all the Grisha back at the Little Palace. Alina feels a rush of connection to and gratitude for her companions.