User:Kidpen/Summary:House of Blades

This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of House of Blades, the first book in the Traveler's Gate series.

Chapter 1: Ghosts and Demons

Characters

• Simon
• Kalman
• Edina
• Indirial

Plot Summary

Simon at 8 years old and his parents stop in Latari Forest to inspect their cart. Simon sees a strange figure in the darkness that he thinks is a ghost, and his mother tells him the story of the Forest Demon, a creature that wears a cloak to pretend to be a man and takes people to the center of the forest to hang them on a bloody tree. Simon's parents get into an argument about Edina teaching Simon to be superstitious and Kalman says the strange object was summoned by a Traveler and they need to leave before the Traveler comes back before Edina convinces him otherwise. Two people, a large man with scars and a woman carrying a summoned light, make their way to Simon's family. After telling Simon's family that they should leave, the two begin to walk away before Edina mentions the Forest Demon's bloody tree. The woman is very surprised and upset by Edina's description of the Forest Demon and the man summons a tendril of mist that goes into Edina's mouth and causes her body to start moving in unnatural ways. The woman summons a creature that flies towards Simon, but Kalman tackles it while Simon runs away. The wasp catches Kalman on fire and he seems to be dead until the woman moves to attack Simon and he pushes her to the ground before dying. Indirial shows up and summons his sword and Indirial kills the pair of Travelers in a brief fight. He moves Simon's unconscious mother into the cart and says her mind may never recover. He tells Simon to take care of his mother and to come back to Latari Forest when he's older so he can learn to protect himself against Travelers. Indirial says he'll help Simon in Myria, his home town, for a little while but will have to leave soon. Simon resolves to take care of his mother and keep his family safe.

Chapter 2: Sacrifices

Characters

• Simon
• Edina
• Leah
• Mayor of Myria
• Cormac
• Yakir
• Malachi (mentioned)
• Alin
• Jaron
• Chaim (mentioned)
• Nurita (mentioned)

Plot Summary

Eight years later, Simon has to hide his sword practice from his mother for her own safety and push her into her bed until she calms down when she wakes up. Edina hits Simon with her cane and questions his identity as she drinks wine. She refuses Simon's offer of dinner before going back to bed. Leah shows up at Simon's doorway with a basket of food and other supplies and says that he doesn't have to do any extra work for it, frustrating Simon. Leah tells Simon that the Mayor of Myria and his advisors were speaking to some strangers outside the walls, and they both go to the village's gate to wait for the village officials to return..

Outside the walls, Cormac, a Traveler of Endross, is frustrated at his lack of authority in the mission to collect the annual sacrifice and with the negotiation between Sergeant Yakir and the mayor. Yakir threatens to use force to take people for the sacrifice if the village doesn't cooperate. The mayor refuses to hand anyone over without knowing what is going to happen to them, and Cormac begins to open a Gate to Endross. After a discussion with Yakir about the deadline of sunset, Cormac summons vines from Endross and kills the Mayor and his six advisors. Yakir tells Cormac to capture those he can and kill any villagers that resist.

Simon and Leah arrive at the town gate, where Alin already is. The guard at the gate is Alin's friend Jaron, who tells Simon and Leah that the mayor went to meet with soldiers. Leah asks what colors the soldiers were wearing and finds out that the soldiers are under Malachi based on the colors being purple and brown. Leah says that Malachi may be doing something stupid and says she needs to speak to Chaim, who didn't go with the Mayor. Simon, Leah, and Alin walk through alleys in an attempt to stay safe when they hear a crash and screams from the village gate. Simon runs out to get a clear view of the gate and almost gets killed by an arrow as he sees that the gate was broken down entirely. Soldiers on horses are riding in and Jaron has been killed. The three go back in between the huts and Leah says to get the villagers out through the back gate. without resisting. Alin agrees, but Simon instead runs to try to save his mother. When Simon reaches his house, he grabs his sword and wakes up his mother. Simon pushes his mother out the door and Leah comes up to them carrying a bloody sword. Simon picks up his mother and runs with Leah into the smoke until they stop to hide behind a broken cart. They can see Myria's north gate, where a soldier is riding on circles and watching for people. Simon and Leah agree to wait for the soldier to leave, but four soldiers come out of the houses pulling six collared and injured children behind them. Simon, his mother, and Leah hide under the cart. Leah tells Simon to run for the gate when he gets a chance and goes to cut the rope holding the children. Simon almost runs out to try to help the children, but his mother's confused ramblings convince him to focus on his mother instead. Simon picks up his mother and heads towards the gate, resolving to keep his mother safe.

Leah, being chased by two soldiers, ran to the gate that the soldiers had come through. Eventually she stopped running and instead walked confidently towards Yakir and Cormac. When one of the chasing soldiers cut her off, she used Lirial to trap him and scare away his horse. She defeated some Endross summons without missing a beat, and summoned a crown from Ragnarus to prove her identity to the sergeant. He and all the other soldiers bowed to her. Yakir explained that they were at Myria to collect the midsummer sacrifice, and Leah instructed him to take her to Bel Calem as a sacrifice.

Chapter 3: Travelers

Characters

• Cormac (point of view)
• Leah
• Yakir
• Zakareth the Sixth (mentioned)
• Simon (point of view)
• Alin
• Malachi (mentioned)
• Chaim
• Nurita

Plot Summary

Cormac collected nine villagers, not including Leah, and explained to Yakir where they would need to go to open an Endross Gate.

Simon ran through the land North of Myria and fell to his knees when he saw Alin. They discussed the attack and moved to a cave, but soldiers soon showed up. Cormac began to give a speech and showed the prisoners, but a Myrian villager tried to free them. Cormac tortured the villager to death, and the soldiers began to leave. Simon attacked Cormac from the back in an attempt to free Leah, but was pushed back by Cormac. Alin then attacked Cormac using the golden light of Elysia.

Chapter 4: Hidden Talents

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Chapter 5: A Step Forward

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Chapter 6: Welcome to Valinhall

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Chapter 7: Sharp Lessons

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Chapter 8: Risks and Rewards

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Chapter 9: Deals and Darkness

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Chapter 10: Another Test

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Chapter 11: Orgrith Cave

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Chapter 12: Escape

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Chapter 13: The Chains of Valinhall

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Chapter 14: The Wrong Place

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Chapter 15: Playing With Dolls

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Chapter 16: The Road to Bel Calem

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Chapter 17: Midsummer's Eve

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Chapter 18: Convergence

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Chapter 19: Overlord Malachi

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Chapter 20: Bad Habits

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Chapter 21: A Victory

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Chapter 22: The Hope of Escape

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Chapter 23: Aftermath

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