The Emperor is still neutral. Only three of the Sorcerer Kings are of concern: Kallig, Hasake, and Magog (most… "outspoken" of them).
Jericho talks to the Red King, who shares that he can introduce Jericho to someone who can teach him further in the ways of Umbra.
Brand (as Llylandre) is being retained in Fiona's closet. Rather nice accommodations, that. Fiona's debriefing report generally supported that this is Brand, but there are gaps; the latter suggesting perhaps be is but a fragment of the whole. He says the source of the Sorcerer Kings' power is in a cavern overrun with tentacled creatures.
Ultra high security report to Silas indicates vampirism tests are being conducted on extremely loyal subjects to study its effects.
Silas, Jericho, Natasha, Gerhardt and Lowen leave to go to investigate the power source. Isabelle lags behind and finds that her connection to the wild does work. She leaves a houseplant in "closet land" to… brighten up the place. Then she joins the group.
They arrive at the cavern and see an eyeless ferret. Isabelle is enamored and disembarks the ship to go speak with it. "Watching… watching…" it whispers. Isabelle dismisses it and asks if it would like to join her. It yips excitedly, so she brings it aboard. The group questions her decision, so to placate them (especially her admittedly genius brother Gerhardt, she checks the ferret for other psychic contact. It turns out they are right, so she nips that problem in the bud.
Elodie distributes the report on Netherwing (status, history, disposition, likely can be an ally to Amber, making sure to drop one off with her mother. She is concerned that the report may not be accurate. Elodie pleads with Flora to support this effort to liberate her father. It seems to fall on deaf ears. Her mother is sympathetic, but just doesn't believe that it can be guaranteed that Netherwing won't be a threat to Amber or its people.
Although the discussion doesn't go as Elodie would have liked, she does make ground with her mother. They realize they have a disconnect that needs to be addressed. They agree to go on a trip together. The details will be worked out later.
After talking with the Fiona, Elodie determines that she will no longer be working on cursing the "puppy-eyed dragons". Even though it was an honorable cause (cursing to learn to un-curse), it is just not who she wants to be.
Now about half a mile into the cave, the walls have become more of carved temple walls. A doorway lies a couple hundred feet beyond the 300ft eye/eyes/tentacles. There is about a 70 ft clearance beneath it. Natasha climbs up to stab the eye while Silas and Jericho charge ahead. The creatures becomes aware of the situation and seems to suddenly become aware of the existence of gravity. As it plummets to the ground, Jericho dives out of the way. Poor Silas is not so lucky. His arm is pinned under its weight, and as he pulls it free, he finds it is covered in a disgusting slime with a surprising effect not unlike novocaine. Lowen jumps in and blasts the beast with dark energy. It… uh… liked that.
A huge battle ensues, and the monster begins flailing, sending the whole cave into a quaking frenzy. Jericho flies over the creature which is now physically blocking the door, so he transforms into a giant burrowing creature to try to dig through the stone wall. Silas blinds one of its eyes with an ultraviolet flare and uses a grappling hook gun to pull himself to the top of the creature. Natasha attacks one of the eyes which draws her inside it, but before she does Gearhardt, bolstered by Isabelle is able to shield her. She tries to cut her way to the heart of the creature. Lowen phases through the door and absconds with the soul jar. Everyone escapes back to the ship. Reinforcements are on their way, so Silas skillfully navigates the ship to evade and reaches regular shadow. At this point Lowen trumps with the Soul Jar back to Amber. A boat of some kind pursues into regular shadow, but between [[Silas]] and Gerhardt, they use pattern to make successfully foil pursuit. When the coast is clear, they trump to Amber as well. Isabelle takes her eyeless ferret back to Serendipity Ranch in Erewhon.
In Amber, Jericho learns of the vampirism experiments. He takes the Soul Jar for safekeeping. He learns that the Hasake will always know where the Soul Jar is. He decides to secure it somewhere safe…
Elodie, Netherwing and Dworkin - Flora told Elodie she didn't want Netherwing around when she was younger because she felt he was a bad influence. Elodie finds out that due to terms of an agreement to life a curse on Netherwing, he agreed to certain stipulations including never interfering with Amber, and he was also not allowed to fly. Elodie was eventually able to get these restrictions lifted. Dworkin reveals that Elodie may be the result of a breeding program run by Dworkin wherein he wanted to pair Amberites with various ancients such as Dragons, Faerie… and apparently Angels.