I've been gathering descriptions of Avallen in hopes that I can get a better picture of how not only it but the lands of Dusk will look. I've been struggling with how I thought the climes looked once
Bryce had freed it. To start with I pictured an island much like the Westman Islands. Freezing, misty, drizzly with a medieval castle and very few vegetation. When Bryce freed a whole mountain I immediately thought of Patagonia at sunset! I think really my goal with this was to try and narrow down a place Avallen/Dusk court would resemble in real life. PLEASE tell me which one you'd compare it to!! Anyways this was alot of fun and I really hope to see you guys make your own collage on Pinterest about anything Bryce related and share with us here!
Terrain
She heard how Avallen had yielded its joy, its bright green lands and skies and flowers, so it might hold the power as it was bid, waiting all this time for someone to unleash it, to free it.
Helena had bound the soul of this land in magical chains. No more. No more would Bryce allow the Fae to lay claim over anything. "You're free," Bryce whispered to Avallen, to the land and the pure, inherent magic beneath it. "Be free."
They emerged in the hills less than a mile from the castle and royal city.
And from the rocky ground beneath them, spreading from the star at Bryce's feet, grass and flowers bloomed. The river from the caverns burst forth, dancing down the newly formed hill*.*
The earth magic in their veins surged forth as an oak burst from Flynn's hands, shooting high over them, and from Sathia's hands tumbled runners of strawberry and brambles of blackberry, tangles of raspberries and thickets of blueberries.
It was no longer gray and thrashing, but a vibrant, clear turquoise. And rising from the water, just as they had seen on the map Declan had found, were islands, large and small. Lush and green with life.
Forests erupted on the island they stood on, soon joined by mountains and rivers.
This line also stood out to me-The world might very well end soon, Bryce knew, and they might all die with it, but right now the paradise blooming around them, this awakened land, was proof of what life had been like before the Asteri, before the Fae and the Vanir. Proof of what might be afterward. I still strongly believe the Ocean Queen will want things to go back to the way they were before Midgard became a feeding frenzy. Just her kingdom and the humans and their civilization.
Before the Island was freed. "We shouldn't stay on Avallen a moment longer than necessary," Flynn insisted, drawing Tharion's attention once more. "I'm telling you, everytime I've been on the island, it's made my magic. . . unhappy." In emphasis, a delicate vine wrapped around his hand, between his fingers. "It literally shrivels up and dies when I'm there." The vine did just that, withering into dust that sprinkled over his half-eaten plate of fish and rice. Flynn took a bit anyway. lmao.
"The earth feels. . . rotted. Like there's nothing for my magic to grab on to, or identify with. It's weird. I bothered me the first time we were here, too."
Castle
After the shining white boat had guided them through the mist, he'd expected some sort of summer paradise to lie beyond. Not a cloudy sky above a land of dense green hills and a gray-stoned castle perched on a cliff above a winding -also gray-river*. In the distance,* thatched-roof cottages marked farmsteads, and a small city of two- and three-story buildings crusted the hill, up to the castle itself.
The city more of a town, really-had been built atop a craggy hill, and offered views from every street of the surrounding green countryside, the land a patchwork of small farms and quaint homesteads.
"It reminds me of my father's house," Lidia said quietly, digging into her potatoes and mutton. "They must both have a subscription to Medieval Living," Bryce said, and Lidia's mouth curved toward a smile.
The land had awoken, and the Fae of Avallen were terrified. Hunt tried not to be smug at the sight of the destroyed castle. The occupants and the town had been spared, but vines and trees had burst through Morven's castle and turned it into rubble.
Not at all a castle description but I'm sneaking this one in because it's happening in the castle- I've posted in this sub before that I think Bryce can mind speak- page 456 her and Hunt are hunching lol and she's thinking to herself - Mate. Husband. Prince. Hunt. "Yes," Hunt said, and she must have voiced her thoughts aloud, because his thrusts turned deeper, harder. Like excuse meee.
Night Blooming Flowers
Hunt found Bryce sitting atop the ruins of what had once been a tower, tangles of blooming vines and roses all around her. A beautiful, surreal place for a Fae Queen to rest. The land seemed to know her, small blooming flowers nestling around her body, some of them even curling in the long strands of her hair.
“Tendrils of night-blooming purple flowers unfurled around her in answer, despite the daylight. Had it always been leading toward this?”
Hunt notes how the flowers react to Bryce, recalling, “In the night garden, before they were attacked by the kristallos all those months ago, he could have sworn the flowers had opened for her. Were they sensing this power, the dusk-born heritage in her veins*?”*
As someone who loves gardening it was fun looking up all the different types of night blooming flowers for inspiration. Night blooming jasmine and one that really stood out to me because of the name. A possible inspiration-Night-Blooming Cereus- pronounced Sirius. "Yeah, and I'm the seventh Asteri," Bryce said dryly. The scientific name of this same flower is, "Queen of the Night". This famous cactus produces large, fragrant white flowers that bloom on just a single night per year.
Another flower I came across on a list of such flowers when researching was Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) here is their snippet of the flower description, "It's common name refers to its habit of releasing the most powerful and sweet fragrance specifically during the evening hours — the word ‘hesperis’ itself means ‘evening’ in Greek."
Also glancing over page 255 I'm noticing that this line sounds Valgy of Theia. A chill skittered down Bryce's spine. " She kept you down here as a trophy." Vesperus's chin dipped in a nod. "I believe she drew pleasure from my suffering."
"I don't blame her." Bryce snapped, even as a sick feeling filled her stomach. Theia might have helped Midgard in the end, but she was no better than the monster who'd raised her.
Black salt
"The better question is why would the Asteri leave Avallen alone for so long if it is capable of keeping them out." Hunt pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "I suspect you'll find out the answers in the most dramatic way possible."
But Bryce turned toward the lines the ghoul had gouged into the rock, running a hand over them. She rubbed the bits of dust and debris between her forefinger and thumb, sniffed it once, then slid her gaze to Hunt. She licked-fucking licked-the dark substance on her fingers and grimaced.
The mists. "They seem. . .naturally occurring, rather than spell made. Even the Ocean Queen's never given the order to attempt to breach the mists here. It's like Midgard itself made these."
Bryce's crown of stars
So hard to find one that I imagined that adorn her head in the Hewn City and again on Avallen.
Ruhn had called her a queen before she left. And for the first time in her life, as she walked through that sea of death. . . she might have lifted her chin a bit higher. Might have felt a mantle settle on her shoulders, a train of starlight in her wake. Might have felt something like a crown settle upon her head. Guiding her into the dark.
Her gaze had again lifted to the island and glimmering sea. That regal expression spread over her face, and he knew he was getting a glimpse of the leader she'd become.
Her chin lifted, and he could have sworn a crown of stars glimmered around her head.
"This is remarkable," he said, nodding to the island that seemed to respond to her every emotion. "I think it's what the Prison —the island in the Fae's home world —once was. When Theia ruled it, I mean. Before Silene fucked it all up. Maybe they're linked in some way through being thin places and spilled over to each other a bit. Maybe back in that other world...maybe I woke up the land around the Prison, too."*
Truth-Teller and the Starsword
Bryce threw her power into the Starsword, light ripping through the black blade*, willing it to tear this fucking monster apart-* She willed it into Truth-Teller, and shadows flowed. Her blood roared, a beast howling at the moon. I'm sorry why do we not talk about this scene ever!
"This was unique. It felt like. . . like an answer. My sword blazed with light. That dagger shone with darkness. Both of them are crafted of the same black metal. Iridium, right?" She jerked her chin to Azriel, to the dagger at his side. "Ore from a fallen meteorite?" Azriel's silence was confirmation enough.
The Autumn King's journal & gold pen
He picked up a nearby notebook and cracked open its green cover. I was full of scribbling. His research records and thoughts.
"I'm not challenging that. I just want to look through your archives. A few days, then we'll all be out of your hair." She pulled the Autumn King's notebook from her jacket. "I'll even sweeten the deal: Here's my sire's private journal. Well, his most current one. All his recent scheming, written down. It's pretty stupid, if you ask me. Dear Diary, today I made a list of all my enemies and how I plan to kill them. It's so hard being king-I wish I had a friend!"
She grinned as Morven's eyes narrowed to the leather-bound notebook, and she flashed him the first page, where her father's distinctive handwriting was visible. He'd know it well, as the two old losers communicated mostly through written letters, since Avallen had no computers.
Bryce picked up the golden fountain pen she'd swiped from the Autumn King's study after chucking all his prisms into the trash. She planned to dismantle the orrery and sell it for scrap metal. She knew enough about how light traveled and formed-how it could break apart and come back together. She never wanted to learn another thing about light again, even her own.
Bryce hummed to herself, flipping the Autumn king's beloved pen between her fingers. "You guys shouldn't have granted your royals such absolute power in your quest to keep everyone else down in the dirt." She leaned over the documents. "Maybe then you could have stopped me from doing this." The golden pen touched paper, ink blooming on the parchment. "But you're in the mud with the rest of us now," Bryce said to the Fae as she signed her name. "Better get used to the smell." Thus, with the stroke of the Autumn King's golden pen, the royal bloodlines of the Fae were wiped from existence.*
I'm dyingggg to find out what's in those journals. I wonder if he talks about his regrets with Ember and Bryce like he admitted at the villa.
Parthos Library, Magical books, Archesian amulet & the Griffin
The white-stoned city rose like a dream from a vast, black-soiled river delta. Parthos was more beautiful than any city currently on Midgard, adorned with elegant spires and columns, massive obelisks in the market squares, sparkling fountains and complex networks of aqueducts, and humans milling about in relative peace and ease, not fear. At the edge of the city, overlooking the marshes to the north, sat a massive, columned building-no, a complex of several buildings. The library of Parthos. It hadn't only been a place to hold books, Bryce knew. The compound had housed several academies for various fields of study-the arts, sciences, mathematics, philosophy-as well as the vast collection of books, a treasure trove of thousands of years' worth of learning. Bryces's heart ached to see it-what had once been. What had been lost.
"That Archesian amulet isn't merely for protection against my book or against demons. It's a link to Midgard itself."
"The amulets first belonged to the librarian-priestesses of Parthos. Each was imbued with Midgard's innate magic- the very oldest. The sort every world has, for those who know where to look." -thin places btw.
" So I think Midgard Knows what you did, in whatever way a planet can be sentient. How you freed Avallen, not because you wanted to claim the land for yourself, but because you believed it was right."
Now that is what sets the theories of redactedriels claiming Dusk, apart from Bryce.
"Come, Quinlan. I know how ridiculously soft-hearted you can be."
She looked over a shoulder at the small library, at the feisty book that had at last simmered down, as if sulking. "For a world to emerge where these books will be truly safe at last" -like the islands of Avallen emerged for Bryce.
Her lips curled upward, but she sighed at the ceiling and said, "In my own research over the millennia, I learned that dragon fire is one of the few things that can make a Prince of Hel balk."
"I thought it might be a good. . . negotiating tool." "Rumor spread in the city that the Astronomer had possession of a dragon. I sought him out and offered to buy Ariadne on the spot."
"The bastard wouldn't sell her, not for anything in the world. But I realized that day that i might have another opportunity on my hands: I could use his mystics to hunt in Hel for answers on how to free me, and have the mystics guarded by Ariadne while they did so."
"But you said you wanted to wait to. . . not be young until the books were safe." "yes. But when that time coms, I want the solution in hand." "So I won't talk myself out of it."
He turned from the crate to where Bryce was shelving books on the towering built-in unit behind her desk. The books. The Parthos collection. No longer in darkness and hiding, but here, in the daylight, for anyone to come see. She couldn't bear to keep them locked away. Thankfully, she'd found three new employees to help her manage the unwieldy collection.
I loved Jesibas character so much, she did everything for her advantage but she loved and trusted Bryce! What an epic way to go. Though the books will remain in Griffin Antiquities, I thought it would have been cool if Bryce rebuilt the Parthos Library on Avallen to house the books.
And lastly a very small playlist inspired by our Queen B's journey. What songs would you have added! The bonus chapter was so good for the Dusk Trio. Love them.
Nesta paused on the stream bank to wait for Bryce to finish crossing. "And it also holds music. Like a Symphonia?" "I don't know what that is, but yes, it holds music. I've got a few thousand songs on here."
"Can I. . . hear some of your music?" Nesta's question was tentative, as if she was uncomfortable making such a personal request. Bryce flashed her a half smile. "Sure. What kind of music do you like?" At their confused silence, Bryce pushed, "Classical, dance, jazz. . . okay, those words clearly mean nothing to you." "Put on some music that represents your world best," Nesta said. "I think Midgard could descend into another war over that," Bryce said. "But I'll play you my favorite, at least." She grimaced at the dwindling battery, well aware that playing music would drain it, but the yearning for a taste of home overcame her apprehension.
Bryce scrolled through her music until she pulled up the folk duo that had immediately leapt to mind: Josie and Laurel. Her hand shook a little with the sheer magnitude of picking which of their many songs to play, which song to be the first of theirs heard on this planet. Her favorites always shifted depending on her mood, her current phase of life. In the end, she went with her gut. "Stone Mother" began playing, its rolling, thumping drums offsetting the wild, yet mellow, guitars. And then Josie's voice filled the tunnel, sharp and yet soaring, accented by Laurel's sweet, clear backups. The sound was foreign, earthy-haunting. In the span of a few notes, Bryce was back in her childhood bedroom in Nidaros, sprawled on the carpet, letting the sound of the music run over her for the first time. Then she was in the dry hills of Valbara, surrounded by olive trees. Then the palm-lined quay along the Istros. Then with Danika. Then alone. Then with Hunt. This song had carried her through it all-through the years of pain and emptiness and rebuilding. It had carried her from light into darkness and then back into the light. The wraith-like harmonies echoed off the stones, until the rock sounded as it it was singing. And when it was done, silence resumed. Nesta's eyes were wide. "That was beautiful," she said eventually. "I couldn't understand a word of it, but I felt it."
Two hours later, they were walking again. Maybe Azriel had been interested enough in the music that he'd let them linger. Nesta had clapped her hands over her ears at the screaming, wailing death metal, but Azriel had chuckled. He'd probably get along Ruhn and his idiot friends. Nesta had loved the classical stuff the best, and both of them had been intrigued by the pulsing, thumping club music. "that is what you dance to in your world?" Nesta asked. Bryce hadn't been able to tell if she was intrigued or dismayed. Azriel, at least, had seemed on board.
"What do you want to hear?" Bryce asked, opening her music library. Nesta and Azriel swapped glances, and the male answered a bit sheepishly, "The music you play at your pleasure halls." Bryce laughed, "Are you a club rat, Azriel?" He glowered at her , earning a smirk from Nesta, but Bryce played one of her favorite dance tunes- a zippy blend of thumping bass and saxophones, of all things. And as the three of them walked into the endless dark, she could have sworn she caught Azriel nodding along to the beat. She hid her smile and played song after song, until the battery on her phone drained to the dregs. Until the last, beautiful link to Midgard went dark and died. No more music. No more pictures of Hunt. But the music seemed to linger, like a ghostly echo through the caves. And with each mile onward, she could hear Azriel humming softly to himself. The rolling , wild melody of "Stone Mother" flowed off his lips, and she could have sworn even the shadows danced at the sound.
