A Shadow in the Ember is the first book in the prequel Flesh and Fire series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Although it takes place in the same world as the From Blood and Ash series, this fantasy romance series take place hundreds, even thousands, of years earlier.
This series follows Princess Seraphena “Sera” Mierel, the firstborn daughter of Lasania’s rulers, the first Maiden, and the Chosen. Sera is destined to become the Consort to the Primal of Death, Nyktos. But she carries a dangerous secret: she must make Nyktos fall in love with her so that she can kill him, ending the Rot that is destroying her kingdom.
Fate, prophecy, and the gods themselves intervene, placing Sera at the center of a war that will change everything.
A Shadow in the Ember should be read directly after A Crown of Gilded Bones. While the prequels take place a long time ago, the events directly impact Poppy and Casteel’s story in From Blood and Ash.
Read the full plot summary of A Shadow in the Ember below.
A Shadow in the Ember
Description
Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort.
However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.
Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.
Summary
Which series from From Blood and Ash universe is your favorite?
Which series from From Blood and Ash universe is your favorite?
A Kingdom at the Hands of The Rot
The Kingdom of Lasania is suffering from the rot, and is dying. Princess Seraphena “Sera” Mierel is Chosen to be the Consort of Nyktos, The Primal of Death. Sera’s ancestor, King Roderick has made a desperate deal with the primal of death stop the rot in exchange for one of her descendants becoming the Consort.
Sera’s real destiny, however, is something else. She is raised as a seductress and assassin as the only way to end the rot is to make Nyktos fall in love with her which is the only weakness a Primal possesses. Killing Nyktos is the only way to stop the slow demise of her kingdom.
On her wedding day however Nyktos arrives at his temple, he rejects Sera and disappears. Sera’s mother Queen Calliphe is disappointed and all but disowns her daughter.
Three years later Sera is a handmaiden to her mother, completely stripped of her titles. She acts as an assassin for her mother. When the Lord of Vodina Isles offends her mother she is tasked with tracking them down and dispatching his entire party.
On her way back to the palace, Sera witnesses a goddess using eather and kill a man and a baby. Poised to attack she grabs her shadowstone dagger but she is restrained by a stranger.
The stranger keeps her restrained, telling her she doesn’t stand a chance for the gods named Taric and Cressa. She realizes the stranger is also a god, judging by his silver eyes and hands. They kiss and go to their separate ways.
She enters the house the gods were in and runs into the unnamed god once more. He tells her murders have been happening and she should leave, given the divine nature of the events. Sera refuses and threathens him with her shadowstone dagger.
Sera practices with Sir Baylon Hollard who scolds her for getting into it with her cruel and irresponsible brother Tavius who is a monster. Sera, feeling guilty about not being able to fulfill her role as The Maiden and end the rot, tends to lash out.
She later visits her nursemaid who is sick and aging. Odette, tells her Sera is touched by both life and death, something only Fates can explain.
Sera runs into her mother who voices her disappointment in her. Hurt and angry she ventures into the town and walks into another murder scene where the victim has her eyes burned out. When someone grabs her arm, startled and panicked she stabs the stranger.
The god she stabbed recovers quickly and revealed to be the unnamed god from the first murder scene. The god tells her that not all souls are judged upon death and a burned body cannot cross the veil.
Sera smells stale lilacs, and the dead seamstress comes back to life revealing fangs and abilities. The god stabs her with a shadowstone weapon and she disintegrates.
Later Sera inquires about the dead coming back to life to Sir Holland but they are interrupted by Princess Ezmeria (Ezra), Sera’s stepsister. She asks Sera’s help in tracking a trafficker.
Accompanied by Ezra’s companion Marisol, Sera pretends to be looking for employment from the trafficker and kills him. On her way back she encounters a large kiyou wolf, a rare species wounded by an arrow.
Despite knowing it’s dangers, Sera reveals her hidden abilities and heals the wolf. Her power can also bring the dead back but differently than the seamstress.
She goes to her favorite place in the world, a private lake in the forest, to ponder the wolf but realizes she’s being watched.
Sera Meets Ash
Sera demands for the lurker to reveal itself who ends up being the silver eyed god. The stranger introduces himself as Ash, and although their attraction is palpable despite the mutual irritation, the stranger tells her they are about to be joined by company.
The company ends up being Gyrms, zombie like hunters, who are looking for something or someone. Ash tells Sera to leave but she refuses and fights. Sera is bit by a snake and loses consciousness.
When she comes to, she asks if the dead seamstress turned into a Gyrm. Ash says no, as Gyrms are mortal servants to the gods.
As they get to know one another by the lake, Ash confides in Sera that the person he had to kill was a friend and compares Sera to a beautiful, deadly flower growing in Shadowlands. They kiss.
Ezra tells Sera that a protest about rot turned violent. They begin packing food to take to the people who are suffering from rot. In the kitchens, they find the cook busy preparing for the Rite of Ascension where the Primal of Life, Kolis, ascends the Chosen (children born with eather).
When she takes the food, Sera realizes the rot is spreading father, and she smells stale lilacs again. She finds the entire farm family dead.
She returns to the palace, determine to plead to her stepfather, King Ernald about how while they live lavishly, the kingdom is suffering. There, she finds Tavius, who insults her.
Sera is lured to a small room by a maid who claimed to need help but realizes it was a trap. Surrounded by several guards who are paid to kill her, Sera fights and kils them all. Ezra thinks Tavius is behind the attack.
A god named Callum is visiting their castle from the Court of the Primal of Life. There’s also another god named Ector who is waiting for her and he gives her a shadowstone dagger. Sera realizes Ector was sent by Ash.
Odetta dies and Sera cannot attend her funeral because she feels ill. Sir Holland brings her some herbs which makes her feel better, but later Sera spits out some blood, coming from her teeth.
Sir Holland tells Sera the story of Sotoria a mortal girl who died after a mortal god fell in love with her.
She attends the Rite and finds the Primal of Life, Kolis, directly staring at her.
Later, Ezra comes to Sera in panic. Marisol, while helping some kids caught in the middle of the riots, has fallen and hit her head. She is dead. She begs Sera to bring her back to life.
Sera, realizing Ezra is in love with Marisol, agrees to help. When she begins using her powers she realizes she glows with eather. Marisol awakes and does not have fangs like the seamstress which is a relief.
Marisol tells Sera she is not a failure and the only person who can heal the rot despite the fact that their mother has given up on her.
Sera worries how her actions might attract the Primal of Death. Lost in thought she drifts off. She’s woken by Tavius. Tavius taunts her and when Sera reaches for her dagger, she realizes he has taken it. Tavius pins her down on the bed and tells them she has to respect him now that the King has died.
Tavius tells Sera, despite her failure as the Maiden, she still is the last Mierel alive and is a threat to his reign. Sera taunts him and says that he’ll never be a King, Tavius lashes out, telling her it’s treason.
He calls in his guards to drag Sera to the Great Hall and has her bound to one of the pillars to be whipped. Sera promises retribution and calls out Tavius as a weak and pathetic man. Her mother and Ezra enter the hall, both of whom try to intervene.
As Tavius about to start whipping Sera, the room shakes and Eather rises from the floor. The Primal of Death arrives.
Sera realizes Ash is the Primal of Death. As the humans all bow in the room, Ash, who introduces himself as Nyktos assesses the room. Accompanied by two gods of his court, Saion and Ector note that no bloods been drawn.
Nyktos, infuriated by Sera’s predicament, kills all the guards who assisted Tavius. Sera asks for Tavius herself, who Nyktos obliges. Sera kills Tavius and asks Ezra to take the throne.
Nyktos (or Ash) asks for the room and Sera tries to punch him. He reveals that he’s always known Sera’s identity. Sera calls him out on rejecting him and not fulfilling his end of the deal. Nyktos says he is here to fulfill it now.
Sera realizes Ash is taking her as his Consort. While Sera tells him she suffered because he rejected the deal originally, Nyktos says she got to keep her freedom. They are readying to leave but not before Nyktos threatens Sera’s mom for everything she’s done to Sera.
They talk about their mutual attraction and arrive at Sera’s lake which is a gateway to Shadowlands, Nyktos’s domain and the Court of Death.
Arriving at Shadowlands
Sera arrives at Shadowlands which exists in a perpetual state of twilight. Sera sees draken, dragon human shifters. Sera meets Nektas, Ash’s bonded draken. They arrive at House of Haides, his palace.
Sera is introduced to twin gods Theon and Lailah. She also meets a young draken named Reaver.
Ash assures everyone that she arrives as his consort and leaves with Rhain to discuss isuses leaving Sera with a red haired goddess named Aios.
Aios takes Sera to her rooms which is adjoined by Nyktos’s room. Sera steps onto the balcony which overlooks the city of Lethe and there she sees her first ever blood trees.
While Sera’s taking a bath, Ash arrives and offers to help with her wounds. He asks about Sera’s life the past three years, neglected and ignored. They argue and Ash reveals he can feel others’ emotions.
Ash reveals he could sense Sera was afraid to become his Consort and he wanted to give her a choice. She then asks Ash why he asked for a Consort if he didn’t want one, to which he brushes off. The share a passionate moment.
Afterwards, Ash reveals that his father was Eythos and the Primal of Death who made the deal with her ancestor, demanding the first female of the bloodline as Consort. When he died, his duties including taking Sera as Consort passed to him.
Sera ponders what she’s learned and despite warming to and respecting Ash for trying to preserve her choice, she still needs to kill him to end the Rot. Aios returns with food and tells Sera about godlings and culling, a period which a mortal person transforms into godhood.
A draken named Davina watches over Sera and tells her Ash is dealing with Shades, soulds refuse to move on. Later, Saion takes Sera to have breakfast with Ash who apologizes for keeping her in her room.
A young draken of 2 years old named Jadis arrives, immediately taking a liking to Sera. She falls asleep in Sera’s arms. Jadis is revealed to be Nektas’s daughter.
They discuss Sera being crowned as the Consort and Ash establishes some ground rules for her safety. Ash reveals that the rules are in place to protect her from the fate of her mother, Mycella.
Sera continues to experience headaches and spits out more blood.
Later she’s asked to stay in her room which she disobeys and sees Ash in a meeting with Veses, another Primal. Uncomfortable from seeing their interaction, Sera wanders and finds an injured silver hawk, which she heals with her gifts. While she is healing the Hawk, she doesn’t realize she’s surrounded by Hunters.
She fights them off but is overwhelmed. Ash arrives and kills the Hunters. Sera collapses and when she wakes she finds Nektas watching over her. Sera reveals she felt jealous about seeing him and Veses and wandered into the woods.
Ash reveals he’s never had sex with anyone before because he thinks it’s too dangerous to let someone in and put them in danger. Sera asks why he’s risking it now to which he replies, because he can’t stay away.
Aios and Sera are spending time together when Rhahar and Bele arrive. A mortal seamstress arrive to make Sera’s coronation gown. Sera asks why she hasn’t been ascended. Later Ash says no mortal has been Ascended in centuries, and reveals that he smuggles Chosen out from Lethe because he doesn’t know what happens to them.
Later the two of them get intimate in the balcony and fall asleep in each others arms. When they wake, Sera finds Jadis asleep on her, and Nektas tell her she gives Ash peace, something he has never had before.
Sera and Ector go for a walk and two guards being a mortally wounded chosen with them. the gods try to heal her, but Gemma, the mortal woman dies. Sera decides to act and bring her back to life. Ash is shocked to see Sera’s abilities and tell her she has embers of life.
Ash is worried what Sera’s gift means. The other gods tell them they felt the ripple of her power which means others did too. Ash confronts her asking why she never told him and Sera replies he might not have liked it because he is the Primal of Death.
Ash tells him the source of Sera’s powers is the real Primal of Life, Eythos, Kolis’s twin brother until he stole the embers of life from Eythos.
Sera learns that Kolis was the true Primal of Death. He fell in love with a mortal woman named Sotoria, who panicked upon seeing him and fell to her death off a cliff. Kolis begged Eythos to revive her but he refused.
Kolis then stole Eythos’s embers of life which caused numerous natural disasters to occur and cause other gods to die. He brought Sotoria back who was distraught and angry from being pulled back from her peace. She died again, and Eythos, now the Primal of Death, marked her soul for reincarnation. Kolis tried to find every reincarnation of Sotoria but he couldn’t, to which he retaliated with by killing Ash’s mother Mycella.
As his powers are stolen, he cannot ascend the Chosen and why the Rot is overtaking the realms. Sera, realizing everything she’s been told is wrong, confesses to Ash her true mission of making him fall in love with her and end the Rot in the mortal realm.
Ash is angry of course, but they are interrupted by a siege.
The Siege of House of Haides
Sera wants to help fight against the attackers but the news of her most closely guarded secret spreads and everyone gives her the cold shoulder. Ash agrees to let her come but threatens her if she does anything against his people.
Overwhelmed by feeling of the dying souls around her, Sera is ordered to stay with Ector and Rhain. Sera climbs on a wall to see ships arriving at the harbor and flesh-eating hound like creatures called dakkais tear people apart.
The dakkais begin climbing the walls as Sera and the others try to stop them. Despite being ordered to stay put, Sera joins the fight. The draken arrive, led by Nektas.
The fight ends and Ash returns, injured but alive. He confirms the attack was sent by Kolis who felt Sera’s power. Kolis however, is unaware that Sera is the source that carries the Embers of life.
When Sera asks about those wounded, her concerns are scoffed at, given her recent revelations. The others realize Ash is too weak to heal himself and as he refuses to feed from anyone else, he might be in trouble.
Nektas convinces Sera to offer to feed him, knowing how they both feel about each other despite the recent developments. Sera enters Ash’s chambers who is nearly feral from bloodlust. He warns Sera not to push him, but she continues to do so. She keeps offering himself to which Ash eventually gives in and feeds from her.
As Ash feeds from her, the bite is initially painful but it turns exciting. The encounter becomes sexual and the passion between them finally breaks the tension and they have sex. Ash asks if she was trained to seduce him and if what she acts like is all an act. Sera, guilty and hurt by the accusations tries to leave after telling him everything she’s feeling is real. Ash convinces her to stay.
Ash tells her she was never a real threat to him, because he can never fall in love. Things begin heating up between them again, and this time Sera bites his thumb drawing and tasting his blood.
Sera wakes up alone and although she knows Ash can never love her, she wants to save the friendship growing between them. She ponders surrendering to Kolis if it means other’s live as she always considered her life forfeit due to her duty.
While she’s in the bath, someone sneaks into the room and tries to strangle her. Sera fights the intruder off, and Ector enters and kills him.
Ash arrives and comforts her. Sera has another headache come in and when Ash asks about her symptoms he realizes Sera’s in her Culling. Ash brings the same tea Sir Holland has given her. He tells her the embers of life in her is maturing and he’ll still make her his Consort but he’ll never trust her again.
A Shadow in the Ember Ending Explained
Gemma, the mortal woman Sera has brought back to life has awakened. Despite Ash’s orders, Sera goes with Aios and Bele to speak with her. Gemma says Kolis is looking for his mysterious source of power, his “graeca”, which means life.
Kolis has been experimenting on the Chosen to try and ascend them, making creatures called Revenants but he can’t successfully ascend anyone. Kolis thinks this is because he doesn’t have all of the embers of life.
Sera remembers Odetta knew she was touched by Life and Fates have the answers. The women decide to ask Ash to contact the fates, but before they can do so, Cressa arrives.
Cressa hits Aios with eather, and begins fighting Bele. She stabs Bele in the chest with a shadowstone dagger. When Sera tries to help Bele, Cressa takes the opportunity to snap Bele’s neck, killing her. Sera is surrounded by Cressa and two other gods, Madis and Taric.
Madis looks through her memories and realizes Sera is who they were sent to retrieve. Ash enters the room and in a violent outburst kills them all. Afterwhich, he comforts Sera and gives her shadowstone dagger back.
Sera wants to try to resurrect Bele which Ash refuses claiming the embers alone cannot bring back a god. Aios pleads Ash to let Sera try. To everyone’s surprise, Sera not only brings back Bele, but she also Ascends.
Everything descends into the chaos. They don’t know if Bele is a Primal but she is no longer a normal god either. Bele can now challenge Hanan, another Primal’s authority.
When they are alone, Ash tells her that everyone will feel Bele’s Ascension and Shadowlands might be sieged again. He also called for the Fates to get some answers.
Sera, remembering Taric talk about “viktors”, asks Ash who they are to which he replies with viktors are mortals born to guard individuals who have a purpose.
They are woken by Reaver who was sent by Nektas to let them know the Fates arrived. Ash and Sera kiss but Ash follows that up with claiming nothing will ever change between them.
On their way to the Throne room, they encounter the goddess Penellaphe who tells them one of the fates arrived. Upon entering the Throne room, Sera’s met with none other than Sir Holland.
Holland reveals he’s not a viktor but a fate. While Sera is relieved that he’s not dead like Tavius has planned, Ash is angry that he’s trained Sera to kill him. Fates are not allowed to interfere with the affairs of the realm.
Holland has considered Eythos a friend and looked out for Sera as a personal favor to him. He then reveals Eythos’s ultimate plan.
Eythos had an ember of life to pass to Ash but knowing Kolis, Ash took it back to keep him safe. He placed the ember in the Mierel bloodline for safekeeping. Penellaphe can see visions of the future and based on something she’s seen, Eythos hid the ember.
However future is fickle.
He shows Sera the potential threads of her life to all of them end early and in death. Her current path has begun when she bit Ash’s thumb and tasted his blood. When a mortal is given a god’s blood it jumpstarts their Culling if they have any eather in them.
For her to survive her Culling, she needs the blood of a god who is in love with her, something Ash is incapable of.
Sir Holland then reveals that Sera is the reincarnation of Sotoria, the only person who can weaken Kolis enough to kill him. The embers of life in her is the only way to maintain the balance between life and death between the realms.
If Sera dies, the embers of life also die with her. That would mean the realms would also end, as Sera, the person who carries the only true embers of life is the True Primal of Life.
What did you think of A Shadow in the Ember? Let me know in the comments!
Leave a Comment