Ghost in the Surge chapters 9 & 10
Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions
Chapter 9
Talekhris nodded. “And I know how we can finally put an end to the Moroaica. But we must act at once. She has already begun the great work, and if we do not stop her, she shall lay the world waste.”
Chapter 9 summary: Sicarion and Caina exchange threats and barbs for a while before Caina asks what Jadriga is planning now. He gleefully tells her about how Jadriga stole a magic staff, about how he took the blood crystal and replaced it with a cheap duplicate for them to destroy, and reminds Caina of the phoenix ashes she'd retrieved that once. He says that she's going to raise an army of the dead. Oh, Sicarion has literally zero faith in his mistress, but he plans to sit back and watch all of the death and destruction.
They fight, and right as things start to seem dire, Harkus shows up to chase the man off. Caina lets him go because she's too tired, and she's no match against Sicarion's magic. Harkus says that they have to team up to stop Jadriga.
Chapter 10
Three days later they left Malarae with the remnants of the western Imperial fleet, escorting the Emperor and the Lord Archon as they sailed to New Kyre.
Chapter 10 summary: Kylon has come back to the city he once lay siege to. As the ship is docking, he thinks about how stupid and foolish his sister had been. She didn't give a shit about taking anything over, and only wanted to use the war as a distraction. Kylon sees that now, which is why he's agreed to the peace offer. Oh, and he's marries now, if anybody cares.
They dock, and are introduced to the local lord as well as Ark, who is the hero of the city for having helped defend it. The lord is angry and upset, and tells Kylon that his son was murdered by a merchant's daughter. Kylon recognizes the false name as one that Caina uses, and since he knows Caina pretty well at this point, he feels like there's something missing from the story. Caina doesn't kill people because she feels like it.
Kylon meets up with our other named characters, where Aeolus gives some more info about how they're going to kill Caina over everything. And you know it's bad when even the leader of an enemy nation is like “Bro, what the fuck.” Anyway, this goes on for a while before they leave to go make that peace treaty.