Siege and Storm

Tamar leads them to the chapel. As the group gets to a dark passageway that leads to the Apparat’s hidden tunnel, the Darkling arrives, demanding Alina give herself up to save her friends. The Darkling brings out a shrouded woman whose woman’s flesh is covered with nichevo’ya bites. It’s Genya. A sympathetic David runs to Genya, who can only cringe in shame, and leads her back to the group. The Darkling promises to put an end to all of this if Alina relents. Alina kisses Mal goodbye and walks to the Darkling, thinking, “Like calls to like” (419).

Alina kisses the Darkling, creating a conduit to his magic. She starts making endless shadow creatures to deplete the Darkling’s powers and her own, determined to kill them both. Finally, Mal pulls her away. When he touches her, she sees “something beautiful as if through a golden door” (421). The Darkling collapses, the nichevo’ya whirling around him. With Alina in his arms, Mal leaps into the tunnel as the entire chapel collapses.

For some time, Alina is in a dreamlike state. She wakes on a litter being carried through a cave system. Mal is on the litter next to her and they touch fingers.