The most important details in this text are that the protagonist, Melanthe, is a sorceress who has been

trapped in a dangerous area for two nights. She has thrown up her last meal two nights ago and is now
in a place full of swamp serpents, demons, dragons, and pests. The protagonist takes her in his arms and
cradles her slight weight. He starts along the trail, working to minimize the jostle of his limp, and she
relaxes a degree more in his arms. Ten minutes later, she is out, her head turned towards his chest, her
hands curled against him, and she has fallen asleep in his arms.

This is one of the protagonist's greatest accomplishments, as it feels like one of his greatest
accomplishments. Thronos and Melanthe have been together for a long time, and when they were
young, they would lie in the meadow together, peering up at clouds to identify shapes. When she woke
up, she asked him if he ever gazed down at clouds as he did. Thronos had heard of the mate effect, and
his customary sexual frustration had been ratcheted up to a painful degree. After Inferno, his customary
sexual frustration had been ratcheted up to a painful degree, but he was also experiencing a new
fascination for the female in his arms.

He had been committing offendments left and right, but he couldn't muster much regret. He still burned
for the kiss he'd almost taken, and after that kiss, even more delights awaited him. Thronos had
predicted a bleak future for them, but what if they could share pleasure, building on that? Thronos and
Melanthe have been together for less than three days, and she has already made him doubt the word of
Vrekeners. He believes her about the attacks, but she had to bite back her screams at her young age.

For centuries, he believed her existence had been filled with wanton revelry, but she had grown to be
evil like every other Sorceri he'd met outside of the Territories. If he could get her to the Skye before
then, he could harvest the ability with one of his people's four fire scythes. Thronos' only hope of
keeping her is to convince her not to use it against him.