He tried to force Keefe to burn me to prove his loyalty when Keefe tried to infiltrate the Neverseen.

He allowed himself to get captured (along with Ruy) when we used the Lodestar symbol to leap to one of their hideouts. He needed to be in Lumenaria’s dungeon (with Gethen) to carry out Fintan’s plan to knock down the castle.

He was killed during the collapse of Lumenaria by Mr. Forkle, somewhat accidentally. (Apparently Mr. Forkle shoved him right as a piece of debris fell, and it crushed him.)

 

Things I know about Gethen

He’s a Telepath.

He tried to grab me before Fitz brought me to the Lost Cities, but Mr. Forkle scared him away.

He has a curved scar on his hand, from a dog bite he got trying to trick me into leaving the Forbidden Cities with him.

He may have also followed me to my human school to try to grab me from there. (I swore I saw him—but I don’t know if I imagined it.) But Fitz was with me and took me to Everglen.

He helped kidnap me from Havenfield—and tried to read my mind and erase my memories while I was a hostage.

He would’ve killed Dex if I hadn’t been able to inflict and leap us away.

He let himself get arrested during the battle on Mount Everest, hoping he would end up in Lumenaria’s dungeon with enough time to build up his mental energy and use it to knock down the castle with his outward channeling, setting Vespera free.

He might’ve killed Cyrah Endal.

He killed Mr. Forkle—using the sword he broke out of the stone in his Lumenaria cell. I guess he was aiming for Councillor Oralie, and Mr. Forkle took the blow instead.

He led the attack when Umber used shadowflux to torture me (and Fitz).

Sometimes I think he’s the villain we should be focusing on. I bet he’s a Keeper and knows all the Neverseen’s secrets—and I know I could shove past his mental barriers if everyone wasn’t always trying to protect me when I’m around him.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hoping Lady Gisela and Vespera will take each other out and leave him the new leader of the Neverseen.

 

Things I know about Alvar

He’s Fitz and Biana’s older brother.

He used to be an Emissary for the Council, assigned to the ogres.

He helped his dad search the Forbidden Cities for me—until Fitz took over.Sometimes he was kind of nice to me. Especially when Alden’s mind was broken.

Keefe used to look up to him.

He’s a Vanisher. And I’m pretty sure he used that ability to spy on his dad (and his brother). Especially when they were trying to find me.

I’m also pretty sure he helped the Neverseen kidnap me.

I know he helped the Neverseen capture Wylie.

He claims he joined the Neverseen because of the Vacker legacy—and I still don’t know exactly what that means. But… I also think he was jealous of his siblings. Especially Fitz.

He had amnesia for a while, after we found him unconscious and injured in Nightfall. And the Council didn’t know how to punish someone who didn’t remember their crimes. So they put him on house arrest to monitor him and see if he’d changed.

I’ll admit, he totally fooled me. I thought that since he couldn’t remember all the reasons he’d joined the Neverseen anymore, he’d finally realized that he’d picked the wrong side and wanted to change. But then his memories came flooding back, and… he chose to go ahead with his awful plan and let the Neverseen into Everglen during the Celestial Festival.

Fitz almost killed him—twice—that night. And the second time, Alvar actually did look dead. But I guess he was using his skills to feign death so he could escape.

Last time I saw him was at Candleshade, and… he didn’t look good. I guess he’s dying from the stuff Fitz did to him during the troll battle at Everglen. In fact, he may already be dead now. That’s why I agreed to his deal and let him get away in exchange for a little information. He’s not going to be able to hurt anyone again. I hope…

 

Things I know about Ruy

He was expelled from Foxfire as a Level Four and sent to Exillium—which he ended up getting expelled from too.

His parents worked in Mysterium.

Nobody knows what he looks like—even after the Black Swan captured him! I guess he wears an addler to make sure no one can really see his face, and he’s destroyed any records of his appearance.

He’s a Psionipath.

He helped the Neverseen spread the gnomish plague by putting force fields around infected trees.

He helped capture Wylie.

He shielded Gethen, Fintan, and Brant (and probably Vespera) under force fields when they collapsed the dungeon in Lumenaria to free Vespera and bring down the castle.

His ability makes it really hard to fight the Neverseen—even when Tam and Wylie are there to break down his force fields. But that may be changing.

Tam did something to him during the battle at Everglen—something with shadows that seems like it might’ve wrecked Ruy’s ability. Though I don’t know how long that’s going to last.

 

Things I know about Umber

Umber wasn’t her real name.

She was a Shade.

She could control shadowflux.

She helped abduct Wylie.

She… hurt me pretty bad. Let’s just leave it at that.

She got crushed at Everglen by the newborn trolls, and the Neverseen just left her there. Didn’t try to get her help. Didn’t even take away her body. I guess that’s what you get for allying with selfish, evil people—and it’s not like Umber didn’t deserve it. But it’s still kinda sad.

 

Things I know about Trix

Trix isn’t his real name.

He’s a Guster.

He helped kidnap me—and helped abduct Wylie, too.

He used to be friends with Umber.

So I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say I’m not going to like this guy.

 

Things I know about the Neverseen’s plan

Honestly? Nothing.

I mean, I have a ton of bits and pieces—and a few theories based on everything.

But none of it actually comes together into anything coherent.

And their plans are constantly changing, so nothing I’ve learned matters anyway.

I do know they’re a million steps ahead of me. And it’s seriously frustrating.

BUT… maybe that doesn’t matter.

Maybe the real trick is to stop wasting time trying to figure out what they’re planning and come up with a plan of our own—make the Neverseen deal with that.

Maybe that’s the secret.…

 

 

The Intelligent Species

 

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE

ANYONE WHO’S READ THE KEEPER series knows that there are only six intelligent species in the Lost Cities:

ELVES

GOBLINS

OGRES

GNOMES

TROLLS

DWARVES

Humans lost that classification after they violated their treaty with the elves—that’s why the human world is called the Forbidden Cities. So you may have looked at this book’s table of contents and thought, Wait—why did Shannon put the human section with everyone else? They’re not an intelligent species! And I assure you, it’s not a mistake—nor is it because I wasn’t sure where else to put that section.