Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2)

 Siege and Storm

(The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2)

By Leigh Bardugo

My Rating: 3

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Finished On: 24th Sep, 2020

Ohhkay 😕

Honestly I'm not sure what happened in this book. This was unnecessarily dragged for so long? I took so many pauses in between, and had to force myself to resume, because the plot wasn't moving anywhere. 

In the beginning things got bit exciting now and then. Mostly during the scenes where Nikolai was involved. Apart from that I mainly just wanted to punch Alina for being so stupid (Sorry, no offence). 

So how did I feel about this book from beginning? 

Let's start talking. 

In the beginning Mal and Alina both were in hiding. Alina tried her best to hide the fact that she's the Sun Summoner, because of course, else her cover will be blown. She wears heavy clothing to hide the Morozova’s collar on her neck, because that's one thing which will easily give away who she really is. So they travel, and are staying in Novyi Zem. 

I was casually reading until I read the word "Jes". Oh.. Kay.. 

Jes? You mean Jesper? From Six of Crows?? 

I immediately got attentive, assuming there'd be more to this. But sadly this was the only occurrence of his name. Maybe I'll have to search again in Six of Crows and see if Jesper mentions any such meeting with her and Mal? I'll do that after reading the 3rd book though. Don't want to encounter any spoiler now. 

So yeah. 

While reading I wondered, which part of the book would she be encountering Darkling? What would this book even be about? Hiding their whole life and hoping Darkling doesn't find them? Of course that can't be the case. But I had to wonder. 

Thankfully we didn't have to wait long. Looks like Darkling knew where they had been and planned an ambush. And this ambush was not only to take them away, but also to show what he had become after the incident at Fold. 

Alina could see darkling wasn't much hurt, except for a scar at the face. Some of his men made out alive too, since they were standing by him. But something was different. Darkling seemed a bit weaker from his appearance, and his men were little frightened and hesitant around him. Wary. As if they are starting to be scared of who this Darkling is. 

But why? Why not before? 

Before that was revealed, Darkling even thanks Alina for giving him this gift he didn't know he had before. 

And the gift was revealed soon.

Darkness engulfed them, which Alina easily thwarted away using her power. But that wasn't it. With the darkness, the Darkling created something else too, something which was approaching her and Mal maliciously. And something which didn't disappear even with Alina's power. 

It was a creature wrought from shadow. It was almost like a volcra, but its shape was more human. And it did not fear the light. It did not fear me.

No matter how much light she blasted, they kept approaching her. Even the weapons won't work for them. That'll only slow them down, and their shape reforms again after the weapons have sliced through them.

The onlyy thing which worked is the cut which Alina learnt at the Fold. That kills them. And she used it, making sure she doesn't hurt Mal along the way. 

The creatures surrounded the Darkling too, protecting him. And Alina notices one thing in his expression. It was costing Darkling when he creates these creatures. It was almost like a part of him was being taken away. 

But right now, at this moment, there were a lot. And she couldn't quite stop one of them from approaching her too fast, it's reaches at her neck and bites her, and the pain was so excruciating for Alina, she passes out. 

And doesn't remember the rest. 

She wakes up to find she's in a ship. And let me tell you, she wakes up after some 5426289 attempts, because in the book every time she woke up, she was too weak and her vision was hazy, so she was put back to sleep. 

When she finally does, there's no surprise that she and Mal are found to be held captives by Darkling. Well, Mal is. But Alina is free to walk around under the supervision of Darling's men. 

And also come to know Darkling is not in his own ship, but someone's else. 

Someone named Sturmhond.

This name rings a bell, doesn't it? I took a pause and tried remembering where I first heard of this name. And sillyy of me to forget it is the very same Sturmhond which Kaz had a deal with regarding freeing the Grisha's from Ketterdam in Crooked Kingdom book! 

Sturmhond! The secret king! So is this guy King Nikolai?! 

Of course we don't know that, and of course not yet. As of now, he's a privateer and allowing Darkling to remain in his ship with some men. They both probably had some deal which Alina is not aware of. But Alina is a bit uncertain. In her million attempts to wake up from her long sleep when she was in the ship, she was almost certain Sturmhond had been in one of them. Standing above her, and talking to someone regarding her. There could have been his men, two already got introduced to us, twins Tolya and Tamar. 

But were they really there? 

When Alina subtly asks him about this, he denies ever being there. 

What is he really planning? 

And there's also someone else in this ship. 

Genya. 

Alina is still heartbroken that she betrayed the kingdom by siding with Darkling. All to wear some colourful kefta and being counted among valued Grisha's. 

But something else is revealed which makes Alina questions if Genya had truly been her friend?

Alina asks about her the letter which she had been trying to send to Mal. 

“They were never sent,” she whispered. “The Darkling said you needed to leave your old life behind.”

Genya knew all along that the letters are not being sent to Mal at all. Yet she hid this fact. 

What kind of a friend is she, really? 😒

So the story goes on. Coming back to one question, what are they doing in this ship, and where exactly are they headed? 

It is revealed quite soon. Darkling is after some sea creature, or a sea dragon or a sea whip. And it's no ordinary creature, it is equivalent to the Morozova’s herd. Darkling is chasing after a second amplifier now. 

But couldn't a Grisha possess only one amplifier in their life? Alina wonders. But Darkling is keeping something from her. And Alina realizes the answer lies in the religious book which Apparat had given to her. 

Darkling needs Mal to track the sea creature, and if he fails, every day gone without finding it, Darkling would torture Alina. 

So despite their unwillingness to do anything in this mission, Mal and Alina both are helpless. 

He helps Darkling find the sea creature. 

Rusalye

And that's when things get quite interesting. 

All this time we thought Stormhund is a man who serves himself. He didn't seem much bothered with how Darkling's ways are for things? Although he did seem a bit wary, he didn't try to stop any of Darklings' men for anything. Or rather he tried, but didn't fight them for anything. 

That is, until now. 

The moment they located the sea creature, which is a shiny rainbow-like scaled sea dragon, Sturmhond revealed where his loyalties lied. With the help of his men, he began fighting Darkling and his men, and also tried rescuing Mal and Alina. 

How did they fight Darkling, his men AND darkling's creatures, you ask? There was one twist here. All of Sturmhond's men were Grishas too. 

Tolya and Tamar, the twins, as well. 

In fact, even better, they were Heartrenders! :D

They killed Darkling's men one by one and Alina helped Defeating the creatures, also by making sure she doesn't hurt anyone from her team. 

And this match was beautiful, brilliant. 

I was so very impressed with Sturmhond, and whatever it is that he has planned. But Mal and Alina were still a bit doubtful about this whole situation. They don't know who this Sturmhond is, and what his real motive might be, but in that moment, I think compared to Darkling, any other man can be trusted. 

There was no time. They were losing their men too, they had to get away. Alina asks Genya if she would come along. Genya cries, and tell her to go (or rather LETS her go, as Darkling might have expected his loyal Grisha to keep Alina in check). 

Alina parts from Genya and they aboard Sturmhond's other ship which was nearby. 

They were saved. From Darkling. 

By Sturmhond! :D

Isn't that impressing? 

But Mal was very suspicious, the moment they made sure they are a good distance away from Darkling's ship, Mal corners Sturmhond and asks what his real motive is. 

And he says, he's actually working for a different client, and he wants Alina to meet that client. They are heading towards West Ravka for that. And he wants Mal and Alina to trust him, thought they might not be willing to do so, but not everyone has got the guts to betray Darkling like that. 

To assure them he also says this, his deal with his client is to GET Alina there, but not to make her stay. So if Alina doesn't like this after reaching there and meeting the client, he'd himself put them on a ship and let them go wherever they wish to. 

That calmed them a but. Sounds okay, does it not? 

They agree with this, and head towards West Ravka. 

But before that, there was also another matter at hand. 

Rusalye

The sea whip which they captured. Sturmhond knows about amplifiers, and he knows what this would mean. Alina was still confused about this all. How can she have the second amplifier? But looks like Morozova’s amplifiers are different, unique. And the Apparat's religious book reveals something big, that there are not just two, but THREE Morozova’s amplifiers. 

And third is a Firebird

Alina wasn't sure. So did the Darkling knew about this? And he kept this information from her? Sturmhond wants her to slay and claim this one, as Darkling might have already set off in search for the 3rd one for all we know. 

And Alina remembered how she refused to kill the first. Looking at the eyes, she just didn't feel like ending and claiming its life. 

But this, apparently, is different. 

The stag was innocent, pure. This sea whip had been a wild creature, and also the creature is already taking its last breaths, so Alina might as well end its misery by making it quick. The entire crew was looking at her, gauging her decision. So in the end, she slays the dragon and claims the second amplifier. 

Sturmhond's crew had all Grishas. Squallers, Corporalnik and Materiaknik. 

So Fabrikator on board did the job of using the dragon's scales and making a fetter for her hand. She already felt powerful, her power more intense than the last. It was only a matter of testing and see what she has become. 

When they thought they are good distance away from Darkling, that's when Alina tested her power. 

It came from every direction, from a million stars, from a sun still hidden below the horizon. It came with relentless speed and furious intent.

It came with furious intent, and Mal had to break her from her trance, because he thought this power would devour her.

They all have seen what the second amplifier could do. 

But what happens if she claims the 3rd? What would she become? We don't know that. 

Mal doesn't seem too happy about this decision, but Alina wants to save Ravka. Save the world from Darkling. 

They soon reach West Ravka, and then Mal and Alina realize Sturmhond isn't stopping at West Ravka at all. He was heading towards East Ravka. Towards the Fold. 

Alina was furious. Now this was sooo not part of the plan! 

So Sturmhond was simply relying on Alina's powers here, to simply cross the fold as he intended to do? At least she deserved a warning? 

Alina starts threatening though. She can simply refuse to use her power and let them all.. Die? Easy right? 

But of course she doesn't do that. Sturmhond makes them fly (yess, flyy, with the help of squallers) through the fold and Alina's blast of powers scares away all the Volcras. But Sturmhond doesn't stop at that. Since he has Alina with her, he wants to use this for something else. He wants to take revenge on Volcras. 

He makes Alina withdraw her power so Volcras be close enough to them, and then blast her power quick, so they are caught by surprise and Sturmhond's crew does the job of taking them down. When it was done, they all rejoiced. This is probably the firrrsstt time they have actually fought with Volcras. Head on. They killed them! 

And naturally Sturmhond doesn't stop at that. He gets a bit greedy. He wants to kill more. So he decided to find the nest of Volcras and bomb it, so the Volcras army shouldn't increase any further. Alina was a bit hesitant at that. Bomb Volcra babies? But Sturmhond reminds her that those are the same babies who'll grow to be the monsters they all fear. 

It has to be done. 

And they do. Almost do. 

Until something else happens. 

Alina sees Darkling. Standing there. In flesh. In front of her. She's caught by surprise, and suddenly there's darkness around her. Before she realizes and blasts her power again, Volcras had already surrounded them, one crew member is badly injured too. Sturmhond orders their fleet to be steered to East Ravka now. 

I think they were done for the day. 

Alina doesn't know what happened. Mal is surprised. Everyone is. Some crew members start blaming her as they almost lost one person to Volcras. But Sturmhond gets in the way. He admits it was his fault, he should have informed Alina. She didn't know what she was getting into. And it was his idea to go near the nests, so Alina is not to be blamed. 

Mal knows something else happened there, something Alina is not willing to share. 

How could she? All this happened and not one person mentioned Darkling. Nobody saw him except for her.

What happened? Why did she see Darkling? 

Was it hallucination? Or something else? 

And there's also another thing to focus here, Sturmhond's different face. Yes, he looked different! His build was same, his voice/personality everything remained same, but his face.. It was more handsome. 

Mal was immediately cautious. Who was he? And what does he want? He had claimed to take them to his client but never mentioned the client is in East Ravka. And what's with the change in face? He clearly used a tailor for that but why?? Who is he hiding from? Or who is he pretending to be? 

Sturmhond tries reasoning. It was done as a necessary precaution. He couldn't risk Darkling knowing who he really is. Although the last time Darkling saw him was when he was 14, but he couldn't take his chances. 

Mal and Alina, and also some of his crew members didn't get it. What does he mean Darkling could have recognised him? Who is he, really? 

Naturally, their little argument at the borders of East Ravka caught some attention, and in moments they were surrounded by the First Army. 

And here's when the interesting part happens.

Sturmhond reveals himself, for who he really is. 

Sturmhond took his clothes off, he had another set off clothes worn beneath them, and it was the uniform of First Army. 

And then Sturmhond introduces himself. 

“I am Nikolai Lantsov, Major of the Twenty-Second Regiment, Soldier of the King’s Army, Grand Duke of Udova, and second son to His Most Royal Majesty, King Alexander the Third, Ruler of the Double Eagle Throne, may his life and reign be long.” 

There were gasps around. Clearly some of his crew members weren't aware too. The lead among the army men present found it ridiculous too. Claimed he knows and have worked with Nikolai, surely he can't be him! That is, until he approaches and has a closer look at him. 

It WAS Nikolai! 

Although I already knew this (as I've read Six of Crows before), but this part was still amazing to read. 

The First Army men bowed to him. Alina didn't know how to react, she was still trying to process this all. He was the second son, who never appeared at all. And all this time he was spending life as Sturmhond?? 

And then the Sturmhond name clicked her. 

Sturmhond. Storm hound. Wolf of the Waves.

This made sense why his ship's sales had wolves in it. 

He was Wolf of the Waves. 

At this point, really, nothing much made sense to Alina. All she could focus on was that Sturmhond had been a lying cheat to them all this time. So she did what one think she could think of and wanted to do. 

She punches Nikolai xD

And that was the end of the chapter, and also the end of all the interesting things which happened. 

This was merely the first 33% of it, and the rest got so slow, so dragging. 

Let me tell you how. 

Later Alina confronts Nikolai (yes, from now he's Nikolai and not Sturmhond). She and Mal both want to know what's going on. He's a freaking Prince, why did he lie to them all this time? Why did he bring them here? What does he want with Alina? 

And then he mentions his plan, and motive. 

“The game has changed. The Fold is expanding. The First Army is close to outright revolt. The Darkling’s coup may have failed, but it shattered the Second Army, and Ravka is on the brink of collapse.” 

And he needs Alina to bring them all together, to fight against the Darkling. He also has other plans. His father is sick, and his brother hardly cares about Ravka. And Nikolai can give his life if it'll make Ravka a better place again. So Nikolai wants to rule Ravka. He wants to be King. And a King needs a queen. 

Who else is better than Alina, the Sun Summoner? 

This time it was Mal who almost punches Nikolai. 

How dare he plan all this without letting them know? How dare he even think about this?! 

Nikolai, being the most sassy and amazing negotiator that he is, tries convincing Alina that her power can save Ravka, defeat the Darkling and save the world! And Alina wants that too. She tries reasoning too. She can save Ravka without being his queen. She will NOT be his queen. Period. 

But she has a separate request of her own. She needs the Second Army. She wants to rule it. 

Nikolai is quiet, that is not something which can be done easily, so he takes a minute and then finally agrees. 

Alright. She can have The Second Army. 

She's staying. But Mal is not so sure anymore about any of this. 

And this is when things get irritating. Now apparently before reaching the Palace, they are all roaming the roads of East Ravka. Meeting the people. Letting them know the Sun Summoner survived and ALSO that she'll be a potential queen to future King Nikolai. Though Alina has not agreed with this, but this will give hope to people of Ravka.

What about Mal? Currently he has been given the role of being the captain of Alina's security guards. 

That way, Mal will be close to her. But yet again, compared to Nikolai, not so close anymore. 

Alina could see that she's being treated as Saint by some people. People worship her. 

A Grisha Saint? Or another greedy fool who couldn’t resist the temptation of power? A greedy fool like me.

This went on for quite some time. Finally they reached the palace. Met the  King and Queen, they did not take Mal's return keenly, him being a deserter and all. When Nikolai mentioned he was saved by Mal, that earned a little bit of King's mercy. And here Alina also mentions how the Queen looks now. With Genya not being by her side anymore, it clearly showed how much she was dependant on Genya for her youth and beauty. 

Both weren't present on Queen's face anymore. 

They also met the Grisha's. The Second Army. 

Naturally, there was no surprise that none were too happy with her return. They all heard what happened to Novokirbirsk. Was it just Darkling? Or Alina is to be blamed too? 

They all heard the rumours that she might have died at Fold too. But look, here she is. 

Things got heated when Alina mentions she wants to take over Second Army. That she wants to lead it. 

Many didn't agree, of course. 

She hasn't been here a long time!

She wasn't even a Grisha for long!

Someone from Corporalnik should be leading! 

But there was something different, Alina was getting impatient listening to all of this. 

She was here to save Ravka and instead here there was bickering going on as to who should be leading the Second Army. 

The narcissistic Zoya, who was a mean witch in the first book, was suspiciously siding with Alina in this one. As a summoner herself, she was completely okay with Alina, the Sun Summoner, leading them.

On top of this argument, they were not even agreeing upon how dangerous Darkling has become. Darkling has his shadow army now. And he needs to be defeated by First and Second Army combined. But here they are, disagreeing with each other.

Alina kept losing her cool, and there came a moment where she was about to, almost, kill a person. Once she realised what she's about to do, she immediately averted her sun blast cut over to the roof, which resulted in the roof to split into half. 

There was silence throughout. Everyone, including Mal gaped at her. And the Grisha realised what she can do with her power now. She walked away after this. 

She was guilty. She was supposed to earn they trust, now clearly she has scared them all. She asked for Fabrikators to fix the roof, and wondered, what next? 

Let me tell you what 'next' was. 

She built her trust one by one with Grisha's. She tweaked with the rules a bit. Now Grisha won't be sitting and roaming with groups. They'll be mingling with each other. Corporalki, Materiaknik, Etherealki. All should be working together. 

It was a disaster at first, but it got better with time. 

And with time, there was distance building up between Mal  and Alina. They hardly got time to be alone with each other, let alone talk. And Alina behaved differently with Mal as every single time she was with Mal, she also spots Darkling (or it was simply hallucination?) and was taken by surprise, and Mal still has no idea about that. Because this idiot refuses to share. 

And aside to this, Alina was getting greedy too. Greedy for the third amplifier. She wants to find it, claim it, and be powerful enough defeat the Darkling. 

She thought Baghra might help with the location, but to her surprise and shock, she found out what Darkling had done to his mother as a price for her betrayal. He took away her eyes. 

And now, Baghra wants to be left alone. She helped Alina because there was still time to stop her son. But now she feels its too late. 

Whom to approach now? Baghra won't help. Who would help her find The Firebird?

Alina thought of David. The Fabrikator.

Also the guy Genya had crush on.

And also the guy who forged Morozova’s collar on her neck. 

During their meals and meetings, she noticed how David keeps looking at the collar, with a guilty look. He must have realised what resulted with his simple act, one whole town had perished. 

So to save it from happening again. Alina wants to be powerful, she wants to find the third amplifier. 

She asks David, what do you know about Morozova? 

“Morozova was a Fabrikator, maybe the first, certainly the most powerful. He did things that no one’s ever dreamed of before or since.”

And this actually made sense. Fabrikators make things. And Morozova did too. The only difference here is, he was so powerful, so whatever he made could amplify other Grisha powers. I wondered instantly, did it work on him? The amplifier? Did it in turn amplify his power so he could create an even more powerful amplifier? It would be like a feedback loop here. It would go on and on. 

But I'm sure that didn't happen, otherwise we would be seeing Morozova ruling the world rather than being on children's stories. 

David didn't know about the third one, so location of that still remained a mystery. 

And so, with that, the story continues.

Grisha's kept training, Nikolai kept planning the strategy of how they'd tackle when Darkling comes with his shadow army. 

David was working on a disk, which could be used to boost Alina's cut, as that's the only thing which can kill Darkling's shadows. 

And on other hand, Mal and Alina are more distanced from each other. Mal keeps going on these random trips, Alina mistakenly assumed he enjoys those trips, but that was only a reason to avoid the awkwardness while being on Palace. He's a guard here. He needs to just be beside Alina and be her guard. They have not been getting chance to talk to each other, and he has to pretend the entire time that he's getting along. Mal doesn't feel he belongs here. At all. 

He tells her how in his trips, his companions admit how much they don't trust her. They think the Sum Summoner is a fake. 

So then Mal tells how he talks about his and Alina's silly childhood stories with them. 

Alina is confused, why would you talk about that? 

“I wanted to make you human,” he said. “All they see when they look at you is the Sun Summoner. They see a threat, another powerful Grisha like the Darkling. I want them to see a daughter or a sister or a friend. I want them to see Alina.” 

This touched my heart. ❤️ :') 

So the story continues. They prepare and plan, and wait for Darkling to come. In their planning, they were to guess which way he would come from. The big question was whether he would enter Ravka from Fjerda or from the Shu Han.

They had their backup at both places though, they should get enough warning before the Darkling comes here. 

But... If only. 

Let me just skip the irritating parts. So short while later, there comes a moment when Alina and Mal had a great fight. Mal is found fighting with Grisha's at night and badly getting injured in those fights. Now that explains the injured marks he has in mornings. And not just that, when he got victory over one fight with a Grisha, Alina found that Zoya embracing Mal. 

It broke her heart. She runs away, Mal notices and runs after her. They fight. They separate. The night ends. 

But just before parting Alina confesses the reason why she has been behaving weird around Mal, it's because she's seeing Darkling. 

She doesn't wait to see his reaction, she simply admits, turns and walks away. 

The night got more worse when Darkling's hallucination or whatever came again and embraced Alina at night. She had been thinking it was Mal, but to her horror, he wasn't Mal. That was the final straw, Darkling had come this close, and it felt real, so real, she couldn't take it. 

She noticed there weren't anyone posted outside her room, to guard her. So she took this opportunity to go outside and just... breathe in the fresh air. She wanted to forget how awful of a night she just had. And she didn't realise while walking that she had crossed wall and was outside Os Alta. And she noticed how the number of pilgrims (who worship her) got increased so much.

She recalled her past, the past before Keramzin. How was her life like? But there wasn't much which she could remember. But apart from bits and pieces, the rest is all hazy to her. 

That was all that remained in my memory. The rest was Keramzin. The rest was Mal.

The Pilgrims were chanting her names. And among her different names, they included something else too. 

"Daughter of Dva Stolba"

That rings a bell. Dva Stolba. It translates to a valley which was near the place where she lived, and before she could process and make an important connection regarding it, something else happens. Someone among the pilgrims catches sight of her collar and recognises her. And chaos ensues. 

She was engulfed among the pilgrims, each one wanting to hold her hand, she was being pulled from all sides. And Alina thought, this is it. This is how she dies.

But not so soon. Tamar and Tolya were here to save the day. They struggled a bit to get her to safety, but they managed it just fine. And they were furious. What was she thinking?! 

And they were furious at Mal too. Apparently he was supposed to be posted outside her room for this shift, but he wasn't. 

But there was no time to fight, Alina immediately calls for a meeting with Nikolai, where she discloses an important information. When the pilgrims had called her "Daughter of Dva Stolba", something clicks inside her brain. Daughter of Dva Stolba, Dva Stolba. That was something related to two valleys near the place where she lived, and that gave her the huge realization. 

The place where she lived, there's an abandoned place (can't remember the details at this point haha, sorry) which looks exactly similar to the place in the Saints book where the Firebird was present.

Firebird.

The third amplifier.

Now that they finally have the location, or maybe the first clue of it, Alina wanted to start right away, go and find it. 

But with Sun Summoner gone, they will unnecessarily draw too much attention. So Mal volunteers. And asks Tolya and Tamar's company too, so they will travel fast, be in hiding,  capture and retrieve the firebird to Alina so she slays, and so after this finally Mal can be free of this God Forsaken place. 

The last bit hurt Alina, but before she could respond Mal was gone. 

Nikolai consoles her a bit, but Alina is too hurt. 

She looks at the map. And sees all the places which she and Mal shared. 

Poliznaya, where we’d done our military service. Ryevost, where we’d begun our journey into the Petrazoi. Tsibeya, where he’d kissed me for the first time.

And so this was decided. 

This plan would be set to action after the party of Nikolai's birthday, where it all begins. 

So Alina notices one thing, Nikolai's brother Vasily had disappeared for few days, they didn't think much of it. 

When he returned for Nikolai's birthday, he seemed super happy, still they didn't think much of it. 

But the reason for that happiness took away the smiles of everyone. He stood up to give toast to his brother, while also revealing where he has been. 

To make it short and simpler, he was going around making deals with Fjerdans, and this deal compromised one of the two locations where Darkling could have come with his army. 

This deal compromised the security they have had before. 

This deal, compromised everything. 

Vasily didn't know, in fact, he was proud to have achieved what no one could do before, deal with Fjerdans! 

But Nikolai had gone pale, and lost his cool completely. 

He tries explaining how this will cost them everything now that Darkling could be marching towards them with his army, and could be anywhere near them and they would have no prior warning for that. He shouts that they must all evacuate immediately. But every guest there is confused. Alina and Mal exchange grave glances. 

And that's when they hear the warning bells. 

(Crooked Kingdom Spoiler!! : This reminded me of the bells which rang in Crooked Kingdom when the plague started)

Before anyone could properly react to what's happening, all hell broke loose.

From the entrance swarm of Darkling's Shadow Army were coming in and devouring whoever came on their way.

Even at this point the idiot Vasily couldn't admit it was his fault, he accused his brother to have set this up to frame him and take the throne himself.

(Seriously? Nikolai endangering lives of the very people he cares so much about?) 

But few moments after his accusation he became a victim himself by one shadow creature. 

The Queen was devastated, but Nikolai took hold of her. There is no time to waste, they have to get to safety. 

Nikolai had been building a ship as a backup, if things go wrong, he had planned to put his parents, Alina and Mal on that ship to sail them away to safety. 

But this time, Alina chose not to go. This would be a complete massacre. She can't let them all die when the only thing which can save some of them is her power. 

She asks Nikolai to take his parents to safety, and they both give one look to each other, which was a promise to meet again. 

Alina and Mal rush to the area where David's two dishes are present. That's there onlyyy hope now. 

She reached there to find one dish was already broken in this chaos, she'll have to do with just the other one. 

She uses that to kill as many shadow creatures as possible. 

But that wasn't enough. 

She saw the dead ones and the dying. And it was hard to believe she cannot save them all. She couldn't save them all. 

If only we’d had both dishes. If only we’d had a little more time.

It wasn't long that the few sensible shadow creatures realised what has been happening and joined forces to destroy the one remaining dish now. 

Is there any hope left? 

There were so many dying. Alina saw Sergei holding Marie's body and wailing. Marie was gone. 

To still save themselves they rushed to a room and locked themselves, which had the walls and doors constructed by Fabrikators using strong Fabrikator materials. They knew this will buy them some time. But how much? How long? 

Alina noticed Zoya was among the few survivors who made it till this room. And Zoya was adamant. She didn't want to wait here waiting for death to come. If there's a place from where they could escape this place, she would go out and take her chances rather than wait here to die. 

(Wow, you go girl, Zoya!) 

And everyone.. Agreed with her. 

Using a bomb which David had at his disposal, they blew the door and with help of Alina's power, they all ran their way through. 

When they were out, there were more, more and more shadow creatures coming their way. 

Alina almost lost hope. 

But then she heard something. 

Some chanting. 

And then she saw. 

Large crowd of people, pilgrims, holding torches, and marching towards them, so save them from the Shadow creatures. They were all marked by the Sun's symbol, to represent whom they serve. 

But that just wasn't the exciting part, the exciting part was to see who was leading them all. 

Only two were unmarked. Tolya and Tamar led the charge, eyes wild, blades flashing, roaring my name.

She couldn't properly comprehend this. Tolya and Tamar? Leading the pilgrims army? What does this mean? 

But againnn, there's no time to waste, they screamed Alina and the others to head to The Chapel. 

Claimed there's a way out from there. They had no choice but to listen to that. 

They made their way, as the Sun Soldiers were taking care of the Shadow army from behind. The Sun Summoner needs to be saved. 

When they were inside, they waited for Tolya and Tamar to show them exactly from where they could have another way from here, and they walked up front and opened a latch which had some underground path underneath. 

So that's how Apparat had been coming in and out of palace without being seen. Another realization dawned on her, Tolya and Tamar knew this all along. And they were also part of the Sun soldiers!

Okay, so Alina needs to have some serious talking with Tolya and Tamar, but that's only possible if they made it out in one piece. Before they could rush to the latch and make their escape, Alina's scar at her throat started throbbing badly. 

He's here. 

(Btw, Harry Potter much?) 

They all could feel it. And no sooner they did, they saw Darkling entering the Chapel with his army in tow. 

Welcome and Greetings happened. 

There was also another person, who was stooped and covered in a robe. Alina assumed it to be Baghra, but no, they were all horrified to find out who it was. 

It was Genya. 

Genya, the most beautiful Grisha, who was also responsible for making others beautiful. Now she was barely visible, barely alive. All over her body they were bite marks of his shadow creatures, almost like he made her suffer by barely keeping her alive. Oh Genya. 🤕

This was price she paid for siding with him and also betraying him by letting them go with Nikolai back at the ship. 

Even more painful part was when David rushed to her and she refused to meet his eyes. All this time it was Genya flirting with him while he pretended not to care. And now that he showed that he finally does, Genya was too ashamed to face him. He didn't mind that. He took her and brought her to their side while she stifled her sobs. 

Now back to business. 

Darkling put his terms. Alina was to side with him and there would be no more violence. No more deaths. All would be forgotten. 

Alina was calculating her chances. There was no way they can make it to the latch without his army attacking them. 

And there was no way she was letting any of them die. Not after all this time. 

So she decides. Much to Mal's shock and surprise, she decided to side with the Darkling, but wants everyone to be set free. Everyone to be let go. 

Mal protests and she orders Tolya to hold Mal, while she makes her way to Darkling. 

This was the last chapter, what is Alina planning? What is she going to do? 

Also, can't she just use the cut on Darkling? 

Is it hard or impossible to do so? (-____-) 

I'm not sure. 

So she goes. And not only does she sides with him, but also embraces him, and kisses him. Yukk. 

And this reminds me, much to Alina's horror, Darkling confessed that it was reallyyy him whenever Alina saw those Hallucinations. Back in the Fold, in the palace, in the room, everywhere. 

Ouch. What a creep.  (._.)

What else can his power do? 

And while Alina was at it, we knew it was fishy, why would she go and embrace that one being she hates from the core of her heart, and also betray and hurt the very person who is right now watching her and whom she cannot ever imagine to hurt? 

As we go on reading, we realize what she reallyyy was up to. 

Like calls to like. I’d sensed it when the Hummingbird entered the Unsea, but I’d been too afraid to embrace it. This time, I didn’t fight. I let go of my fear, my guilt, my shame. There was darkness inside me. He had put it there, and I would no longer deny it. The volcra, the nichevo’ya, they were my monsters, all of them. And he was my monster, too.

And we then saw, how Alina consumed his power, took his power and then used his power. Used it to produce more and more number of shadow creatures, because Alina knows each and every shadow monster costs him, and now will cost her too. 

Alina now understood why although he was after the 2nd amplifier, he didn't readily claim it. 

Maybe because he saw how the 1st one formed a connection between both of them. Had he slayed and claimed the second one, how would their connection turn out to be? 

Maybe he was afraid to find out. 

But for now, this simple connection was enough. She kept producing monster upon monster and making sure one by one pieces of her and Darkling's life were being taken away. 

She could hear Mal shouting from distance. But this was Important. She has to end it. 

(Honestly, again, couldn't she use her cut on Darkling? -_- ) 

Darkling realised what she's trying to do too. But he couldn't stop her as her grip was stronger. Slowly, slowly she felt herself get weakened. 

Until there wasn't much strength at all. 

Until everything was black. 

She woke up to find they were travelling, in some tunnel. 

So she assumed that she made it, and must be on their way to whatever we place the underground path led them to. 

She was being carried by Mal. Mal was angry, he never gave a thought that her plan might have been to end herself with Darkling. But, that was the only way. 

And Alina was angry with Tolya and Tamar. For them to letting Mal go, who was responsible for breaking Alina's grip and preventing her from completely killing herself. 

And she was also angry because they lied. They lied about having been part of Pilgrims all along. Part of the clan who worships the Sun Summoner. 

They knew where Apparat is, but had hid the information from her. 

They bent their heads and apologised, they wanted to protect Sun Summoner at all costs. 

Another bad news was that they heard Darkling survived too. And with some healers at his disposal, probably at this point he's getting back in shape, and plotting what next can be done. 

They reach their hiding place. Where now Alina rests and is also trying to get back in shape. 

Mal is with her. Now in the entire book they had their drifts between them, but now finaaally they seem to be back together. Finally. 

But now Alina is too weak. And she confesses one thing to Mal which actually makes him concerned. Whether it's because they are deep underground or whether it is because of her newly discovered fusion with the Darling's power, Alina doesn't know, but she tells him that she is no longer able to summon the sun again. 

She lost her power. 

Knowing this now, she has no idea how everyone will treat her. People sacrificed their life to save the Sun Summoner after all. She's their savior. She can destroy Darkling and the Fold. 

But how will they treat her when they find out she lost her power? That she may no longer be the savior Sun Summoner anymore?

Can Ravka or the world be saved now? 

But at the end of the book, Leigh tells us that Alina has not given up, with Darkling out there still posing a greater threat to world, she cannot give up. 

She would rise.

The End.

____________________________________________________________________

And thaaat, was Siege and Storm for you. 

Honestly, though I admitted in the beginning that I found this one boring, then while writing the review I realised, I guess it wasn't so bad after all. 

But whaaaaat exactly made it boring, you ask? 

It was the tension that stayed between Mal and Alina throughout. It was Alina's constant behaviour change which made a bit intolerable to read. 

One moment she wants to save the world, in the other moment it almost looks like she wants to conquer the world and she'll hurt anyone who comes on her way. 

Is her power getting too much on her head? 

And this Darkling's hallucination has been irritating throughout. 

And what even was the plot of this book? Them training and waiting for Darkling to turn up with his army? 

Siege and Storm

Am I the only one for whom this title didn't make much sense? 

There was Siege yes, but where was the Storm? 

There was only waiting, and Darkness in the end. 

Anyway. It's a bibliological fact that the 2nd book of trilogies will always be boring. 

So I'll be keeping my hopes and expectations up for the 3rd one. 

Let's find out what happens! :)

Words: 7542

Chars: 41392