About Burned

Subject: About Burned Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:43 pm

Zoey`s soul has shattered and has gone to the Otherworld due to Kalona killing Zoey's human Consort, Heath. In order for Zoey to get her shattered soul complete again, Stark must find a way to travel to the Otherworld without dying and save his High Priestess. The narrative mode is told from multiple points of view in third-person limited and first-person narrative in Zoey's point of view. In other words, we see the world through Stark's, Zoey's, Kalona's, Aphrodite's, Heath's, Rephaim's, and Stevie Rae's eyes; we share their thoughts and feelings and sometimes share their stream of consciousness.

Zoey is stuck in the Otherworld. Her friends are desperately trying to find a way to save her as she slowly starts fading away. Aphrodite is able to say that her soul isn't in her after praying to their goddess, Nyx, for the sister she never had (Zoey), and discovering that her visions had something to do with the Otherworld. After some research into ancient-forgotten Vampyre legends and religion, they find out about the eternal struggle between Light and Darkness personified by a Black Bull and a White Bull respectively. Stevie Rae and Rephaim together figure out that Neferet has imprisoned Kalona's body in this realm using Darkness and sent his spirit to the Otherworld to ensure that Zoey does not put the shattered pieces of her soul together and stays trapped in the Otherworld.

Zoey's friends discover, from ancient scrolls, that to travel to the Otherworld without dying they need to know more about forgotten ancient beliefs regarding the two bulls. Stevie Rae accidentally summons the White Bull, which is basically Darkness personified, to find a way for Stark to enter the Otherworld. It tells her a poem about how it's possible, but almost kills her as payment for that knowledge. Rephaim saves her at the last minute by offering himself. Stevie Rae summons the Black Bull and saves them both at the price of always staying connected to Rephaim's humanity. Since she survives, Stevie Rae is able to pass on the poem with the way to the Otherworld to Aphrodite.

Stark is overjoyed to find a way to help Zoey, and according to the poem goes to the Isle of Women also known as the Isle of Skye to find Sgaich, an ancient Warrior who can help him enter the Otherworld. He undertakes a perilous journey to the Otherworld where he slays his Warrior self to become a Shaman and thus reach Zoey. Stark convinces Heath that he has to leave Zoey and move on so that she, in turn, can move on and save the world from Kalona and Neferet.

Meanwhile, Stevie Rae is having huge problems of her own. She is trying to hide the existence of Rephaim from the red fledglings, and at the same time she seems to be developing feelings for him. Stevie Rae struggles with being Bonded to Rephaim and tries to gets Dallas to have sex with her to break the bond. However, Rephaim feels what is happening and tries to stop her from abandoning him. Finding out that Stevie Rae has been keeping Rephaim a secret infuriates Dallas, and he lets Darkness come into him and becomes the third Red Vampyre, though he is evil and not good, like Stark and Stevie Rae. He nearly kills both Stevie Rae and Rephaim using his affinity for Electricity, but they escape.

Heath moves on and says he will meet Zoey again in his next life.

Meanwhile, in the Otherworld, Kalona and Stark engage in a dangerous fight. When Zoey sees this she realizes that she needs to pull herself together, and she pulls the pieces of her shattered soul back together. Before she can intervene, Kalona manages to make Stark die (again). Zoey attacks Kalona and manages to overpower him. She demands that he pay up the life debt he owes her for killing her Consort by bringing Stark back to life. When Kalona refuses, Nyx intervenes causing Kalona to share a part of his immortality with Stark and bring him back to life.

Zoey fully accepts him as her Guardian and lets him drink from her so he could heal, the elements fill her again and all her tattoos come back. Both Stark and Zoey manage to get out of the Otherworld safely.

Rephaim and Stevie Rae are together and finally seem to be starting a relationship when they feel Kalona and Zoey come back into this realm. Rephaim says that his heart has never mattered enough, and Stevie Rae says that he should come back to her when his heart is as important to him as it is to her.

At the end of the story, Stark and Zoey kiss to celebrate coming back from the Otherworld, and Zoey tells Stark that it's all over. She hears Nyx laugh and say that "it's only just begun."